STS EDITORIAL: The Overwhelming Majority Opposes the Sale The - TopicsExpress



          

STS EDITORIAL: The Overwhelming Majority Opposes the Sale The author of the following LTE wants proof that the majority of Frederick County Citizens oppose the sale of Montevue and Citizens. This is our opinion: In the first place, this deal does not make economic sense for the county—only for the buyers (Bob Owens and Stan Snow). Blaine will sell this valuable asset to Aurora at a (now) $35 Million loss. (At the end of November the value of the deal stood at roughly $65 M: construction = $38 M; land = $7 M; continuing subsidy = $10.7 M; accounts receivable = $10 M; free parking on County lot = $270,000… sales price = $30 M) Moreover, the facilities were on the verge of meeting original financial projections, when Blaine and the BoCC intervened (interfered, if you will). The last two months of Board of Trustees control, showed profits at Citizens of $83,000 and $225,000; i.e., well on the road to sustainability, if not profitability. Since then, with Aurora in charge, the facilities have shown increasing losses on operations, now averaging some $90,000/month. Worse, the accounts receivable have continued to rise, apace—to over $12 M (from $5.6 M on May 31). Aurora’s books show the A/R’s at $6 M but that figure doesn’t include roughly $6 M in write-offs since June. Aurora “agreed” to buy the A/R’s at closing for $1.9 M. Thus, with an industry-standard collection rate of 98%, Aurora stands to gain the above-mentioned, additional profit ($10 M) when they realize full ownership and get around to collecting… Secondarily: You ask for “proof” of overwhelming opposition to the sale? I’m guessing that, in the last year since the issue came to the fore, the FNP has seen more letters to the editor and has printed more stories on this than any other. Very few of those LTE’s were in support of the sale and the number of column inches in all the other stories was probably divided equally between interviews with Blaine Young, on one side, and all the opponents of the sale, combined, on the other. Also, read the comments on every one of those letters and articles... Not enough? We held the biggest rally and public hearing in opposition to the sale, in Frederick County history—at least that was the opinion of Commissioner David Gray. The 409 seat auditorium was packed, with people sitting in the aisles and others standing outside, unable to get in. When a speaker asked those in support of the sale to stand, ten stood up! (Care to guess whose employees/family members they were?) You ask for a poll? The FNP has conducted several online polls on various aspects of the sale. In every case, overwhelming numbers of participants expressed opposition to the sale. Lastly: I challenge you or anyone to find some record of Blaine’s “promise” to sell Citizens and Montevue--before the election.
Posted on: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 19:28:31 +0000

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