The raw, unedited video below is of the Hartford Stadium Authority's meeting earlier today. During that meeting the members voted unanimously to "call the bond" on the Dunkin Donuts Park stadium
Many of you have called me to ask me what happened, so here it is.
-
17 comments:
A squad leader. I hope u stay in the penalty box for the next couple of years. You make the rest of us quite normal. You failed at every leadership position.
Good good good. So The chief field director was crying that pulling the bond would stop construction. Fricken great. Let them all eat shit. Thank you Stadium Authority and Mr Matthews, for doing the right thing. And thank you Luke Bronin, too.
It's over. Time for the lawyers to make the dough. (And speaking of dough, time for me to make pizza this weekend. I make the best pizza in the world and I celebrate when something goes right like pulling the bond.) Time for Josh the Bald to leave town. He played Hartford against Springfield. Now who does he have to play with? Probably himself.
All these people were scheming to influence council to vote for this monstrosity so they could line their pockets with the taxes that Hartford residents work had to pay.
Payback is a bi-tch, ain't it?
Mayor Bronin did a terrible job of protecting Hartford. He bargained in January and did not protect us for this eventuality where there would be a work stoppage and meanwhile the bondholders will be expecting their interest of over 5M annually. That is what happens with an amateur who has no skill set in hardball negotiating negotiates against folks who have the requisite experience.
The are several examples I could cite of how awful our amateur Mayor fell down on the job...and here is one...
Luke could have insisted that Centerplan/Domo agree in the settlement document of January 2016 that if the performance bond is called, that they will continue working..that was not put into the document.
Another....Luke coould have insisted that Centerplan/Dono put up a bond for any liquidated damages in case they refused to pay,said bond could have been held by an escrow agent that the City could have contacted if Centerplan/Domo refused to pay the liquidated damages and drawn down on the bond...once again there was not anything like this in the agreement that Luke bargained for in January 2016.
I could go on...but you all get the idea...Mayor Bronin failed and neglected to protect the City of Hartford in January when he bargained away our protection in January 2016.
@10:34
If you are so brilliant, uncloak yourself and say "hi." Do you practice contract law?
I don't know what the specifics of the January agreement were, but more likely than not the bond incorporated the contract. And assuming it did then direct damages, like completion of the project, and consequential damages, like liquidated damages, are potentially payable under the bond. The other big issue will be delay damages, there's where the fight will be. I've never seen a bond for LDs, but it could be possible. Again, if the bond incorporated the contract, then such a scenario would be unnecessary. Also, some contracts do not allow the contractor stop work unless they haven't been paid, and typically that would be at 60-90 days. I don't know if that was incorporated in this contract. If the City claims the contractor is in default then I see no reason why DoNo wouldn't walk off.
And just to add to the above, typically the bonding company (people need to stop calling it insurance because it is not, although it may have the name insurance in the title) will have the ability to seize assets of the construction company, more importantly it will try to get to the accounts receivable of the obligor/construction company. (That's one of the reasons it's not insurance, the bonding company bases a company's capacity on its financial stability, not on future losses). One problem will be the construction company's financial arrangement with their bank. Most likely they have accounts receivable financing where the bank sweeps all of the money coming into DoNo to pay down their revolver or the note. The surety will want to get that money and the fight begins and the lawyers go wild.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10206830936635188&set=o.455541584635159&type=3&theater
Voice of Batman:
I normally only protect the good citizens of Gothom City but I just read that Hartford, that little city in the hinterlands of Connecticut, is in deep trouble. Henceforth, I am sending my right hand man, Robin, and a small army of nose pickers, up to Hartford to help untangle this growing mountain of mechanized madness. If Robin needs further assistance, I will drive my Batmobile straightaway up I-95 to I-91 and take the Trouble street exit to the ahum... ballpark, and do what Batman knows best. POW... KURPLUNK...KAPUTZ...The first to be ejected is Josh Solomon. I will put that little nicker wonker under arrest and place him in stocks, both hands and feet, in the city square for the good citizens of Hartford to tickle his feet.
@11:45am, apparently more brilliant than you and you have the law degree. you go first with revealing your identify and show us how it's done.
And one last thing before I move on. The bonding company would have negotiated an irrevocable letter of credit with DoNo when they worked out the bond limits. And, like I mentioned above, they may have gotten a guarantee from the parent company because I suspect DoNo is a shell with no assets to speak of. The city could have gotten a letter of credit of credit directly from DoNo rather than a bond, but chose the bond route. In that case, the bonding company would have some security, most likely a letter of credit, possibly representing 10% and up to 30% of the bonded projects. If the latter, then Arch would have a large letter of credit to draw on due to the default.
I just had a few minutes to watch the video of meeting. Thanks for posting it. These guys have no clue what is going on. The chairman himself summed it up: "DoNo knows more about that construction than anyone on this board." Well, that statement may be technically correct, but that board better know a damned lot about that project. What is the experience of these guys when it comes to building something? Hill, Cloud, Matthews, Rivera, and Griebel.
That entire Authority is clueless. Oz Griebel talking about the "organization" he represents, I thought he was there to speak for the people of Hartford, not a special interest group. And where did Texidor come from and what experience does he bring to the table? Darryl Hill and I. Charles Matthews seem to have both received their degrees from the University of Clueless
@8:56
What do you think this is? You no. Me no you go first. Be more creative. Oops. That was your best.
Hartford residents don't really care listening to what they said. Hartford residents want performance, Hartford residents want to see results. Talk is cheap. Results, show us results.
@8:56
I assume you mean 'who' and not 'what'? If your reply is any indication of your negotiating skills than its no wonder the residents got fleeced.
Hartford must move forward. Mayor Luke Bronin has already made some bad decisions. Hopefully, he will use his wisdom to direct this train wreak. Let us not forget former Mayor Pedro Seggara created this messy mess. Seggara is clueless. He walks the streets of Hartford as if he were a brilliant person. This is far from the truth.
Luke only made one less than intelligent decision; which was to not sit down first with the unions. In a way, this could play into his strength since if they don't give back enough, then he can say, "I told you so." School consolidation, pension adjustments health plans must be worked on. And this blog will continue to play an extraordinary role evaluate there are many insiders who agree with the waste and they will continue to bring exposure to filthy game of government waste. One one understands the concept that, "we can't afford to continue to do business as usual." And least of all is Public Works.
Post a Comment