Over the years, Marshall Thompson and his wife, Susan Tellem, have written a series of letters that have been either inaccurate or intentionally misleading. And last week they were at it again. Marshall Thompson stated that the City has not received any income from the lumberyard Site. In fact, the City has received an $870,000 deposit, $130,000 for the City’s attorney fees, and $77,083 for just March rent alone. That was income for just the lumberyard and does not include the more than $1 million the City has received from the other two properties on the Chili Cook-off site.
And double teaming their efforts at obfuscating, Susan Tellem keeps saying that she’s opposed to development in the Civic Center, but then bitterly criticizes the Council for purchasing the Chili Cook-off site and building Legacy Park (which she calls “Lunacy Park”). I guess the naysayer duo would prefer the proposed shopping mall there instead of a park that will help to clean up the pollution in the lagoon and Surfrider Beach.
Could this constant drumbeat of misleading criticism against the Council have to do with the fact that losing council candidate Tellem has already announced she is running again in two years? Well, she has a slight problem with her strategy. She keeps holding Mayor Pam Conley Ulich as her political hero. However, Conley Ulich has consistently voted with the Council to buy Chili Cook-off, build the park, and clean up the water instead of having the planned shopping mall. So go figure.
Ken Kearsley