Just the Facts!
By Donna Ladd
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/more.php?id=9204_0_9_0_M
The Saga of King Eddie
Melton moved into the mayor’s office last July saying a HUD application for loan money to cover remedial costs for renovating the King Edward never got mailed. Weeks later, Melton said investors were taking too long to get their act together and gave them a 30-day deadline, or he would “implode” the building. He then reported to the media that his own administration was actually the bottleneck and gave his own office workers the same 30-day notice. His administration quickly mailed out the HUD application that following week.
Weeks later, investors learned that the city missed its deadline for the $2 million BEDI environmental grant, but HUD extended the deadline due to extensive hurricane damage in the region. Four months later, HUD declined the application, despite the deadline extension. The city blamed national competition for the money; investor HRI blamed the city. Investors and their supporters coaxed the Mississippi Senate to authorize a $2 million interest-free loan to replace the lost HUD money, due to be signed by the governor this week. Congress passed the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act of 2005, qualifying investors in storm-ravaged Mississippi to take advantage of more tax incentives.
