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Public commenters accuse city leaders of poor transparency over MDC hotel funding and call for more review
Summary
During the public comment period multiple speakers criticized city leadership and the Midland Development Corporation's handling of a proposed hotel project, questioned conflicting project-cost figures and alleged conflicts of interest tied to the city manager; speakers called for items to be placed on a future agenda for fuller review.
At the open public-comment portion of the meeting several speakers sharply criticized city leadership and the Midland Development Corporation for perceived lack of transparency around a proposed hotel/convention project and other MDC actions. Nino Rodriguez alleged the council and mayor were misrepresenting crime and policy; Robin Campbell and Judd Campbell urged the council to publicly review whether MDC-funded projects (and whether they should be financed under Type A or Type B tax authority) complied with state code and to present complete project cost and incentive figures.
Judd Campbell pointed to differing project-cost figures he said appeared in various public documents and filings and asked for a public agenda item to lay the figures out for review. Robin Campbell asked staff and council to show the public the specific NAICS/code language authorizing the project as presented. The meeting adjourned to an executive session afterward to discuss legal, real-property, personnel and economic-development matters.
