Bottom line? The sale of the MCPS Peary High School site was a bad deal. What happened? The sale idea was dropped for a few years until 2010 when County Executive Ike Leggett and a majority of the County Council were able to ram the deal through in record time. Were MCPS buildings overcrowded then? Yes. Did County Executive Ike Leggett and a majority of the County Council care? No.
From the 2006 Evaluation of the proposal to sell a MCPS public high school and land to a private entity:
...In a fair and equitable sale, the value of the land would accurately reflect its current market value. If the County, recognizing the scarcity of large available sites for new school construction, would like to be able to re-purchase the property at some later date for use as a public school, then it would only be fair to discount the sale price. However, it would not be reasonable for the County to discount the sale price without adequately protecting its ability to repurchase the premises at some later date. As explained in this memorandum, it appears that the proposed deed offers the Academy a low price and offers little or no protection to the County’s interests. As such, the information available would indicate that this is not a good business deal for the County. A review of the Lease, the Proposed Deed, and the analysis prepared by the Administration (hereafter, Analysis), as well as other supporting materials illustrated the following:
•The Analysis was not an “apples-to-apples” comparison.
•The Analysis was not consistent with the often confusing language of the Lease and the Proposed Deed.
•Given that the County’s interests here are more than just financial and given that the time frames contemplated are fairly lengthy, a private-sector analysis of this proposed transaction would be more qualitative than quantitative in nature.
•Under the Proposed Deed, it may not be possible for the County to repur-chase the school for use as a public school at less than fair market value.
•The Analysis performed by the Administration did not clearly convey to the Council that the proposed transaction was a sale of a rare asset probably well below market value with no guarantee that said asset would be available for repurchase should the County need to re-use it as a public school.
•A sale under the proposed terms does not represent the best deal available to the County...
Reading this report (an analysis generated at the request of the Montgomery County Council, at taxpayer expense), one has to wonder what possessed the MC Council to give away nearly 20 acres of prime school property with a school on it for pennies on the dollar. Oh wait, it’s because the fix was in and they’re all corrupt! It’s pretty obvious that the Montgomery County Council is working hard for special interests and not for the voters, who put them in office. When your child is sitting in an overcrowded moldy MCPS portable, remember actions like this and vote incumbents out of office in the June 2014 Primary.
ReplyDeleteI so miss Marilyn Praisner, a good person and politician with integrity. The present Council - not so much.
ReplyDeleteThe County Council is choosing the next District 5 'representative' now. Interviews began last Friday, and are televised on county cable.
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