It's a four star hotel steel cage match!

The City of Paducah is being held hostage by that biggest shitty hotel in America. You need no further proof then the latest front page article regarding the fate of The Big E that we were graced with in this morning's edition of the Republican Sun Also Rises.

Billy Bartleman informed us that Doolittle has been doing little to keep the big wig as yet un-named developer from wherever from changing his plans to buy the Big E - which is, if you believe Budhiper Singh, not for sale - tear it down and build a fancy four star joint where it sits and sprucing up the existing convention center. The City and Turkey Neck Paxton are all about this plan and offering said unnamed hotel guru more tax breaks than Wesley Snipes got in the 90's.

Up against this plan is local dough hoarder and river magnate Ronnie James who has boned up with some hotelier from somewhere's else. Ronnie has some land near the Four River's Extortion Center - that's what I call it after they nickel and dimed my wife and I for fees on every little thing they could when we chose to be received there after our wedding - and has decided to throw up a fancy hotel of his own because he believes downtown Paducah needs a fancy hotel and the river industry needs it as well. I'd say any dude who owns as many businesses as he does in this area probably has some clue about how to run a business in this area. The best thing about his plan, in my humble opinion, is he's said he's going forward with it whether Turkey Neck and the Shitty Commission offer him incentives or not. Kudos to you rich hotel builder guy!

I find all this very interesting for a multitude of reasons. The gent who own's The Big E is so goddman cheap he most likely stole the towel on his head from the Big E and he repeatedly says its not for sale. He has recently stated he's signed an agreement with - no shit I did not make this up - Spacecoast Hotels or something similar to break it down it two different hotels, condos and apartments and has had another partner in contact with city officials and it will take his willingness to SALE the freaking hole to even get the unknown and unnamed guys plan past square one, but yet, the City prefers to give incentives and dough to the out of town guy who has to have the cooperation of the uncooperative cat from California over the local guy who doesn't even want any help or money from the City. Excuse my English, but what fucking cents does this make? Not enough to buy any of value I'll tell you that.

What is this need for Turkey Neck and the City Commission to constantly being wanting to bring people in from the outside to develop our economy when, especially in this situation, we seem to have local people willing to do it right hear? I'm not saying this masked hotelier lurking in the shadows with his unlimited finances, non-rubber checks and super-wrecking ball is not a good guy and would not do a great job with his Big E project, but why in the hell is our City so hell bent for leather on going with his theory considering that a local business man who's family has started and owned a bunch of local business and brought a river of cash and employed a slew of fewls around this area is wanting to develop a hotel in downtown? Let's see, out of towner who wants dough from the City v. local guy who doesn't want dough from the City. Aren't you suppose to take care of you're own? Didn't I read that somewhere? From a purely xenophobicalogical - if that's not a word it is now - standpoint, Ronnie James should win. From a financial standpoint, he should win as well. From a commonsense standpoint he should win. Any time you can deal with your own, you should. It's not like Ronnie James owns a couple of pawnshops and is stringing his finances together by recycling cans. The dude has the dough.

I think our City Commission is so enamored with making this city seem metrosexual and like Louisville that they think bringing in "big city folk" is the only way to do it because they are more cultured or know more than the rest of us. Ronnie James' money buys just as many stars at a hotel as this other unknown guy's money does. The difference is Ronnie James' money will keep our City from spending any money because he isn't asking for any money. However, the City of course wants to bring in the guy from out of town because he's a Big City guy and will culture us all up and make things fancier down there and revitalize that area. An out of town guy is why our City's jublee's are in a vice to begin with. Mr. Singh has squeezed with precision and, as I've stated before, he has every right to because he owns that hell hole and has played those idiots to perfection. If the City had half a brain, they'd let Singh twist in the wind and get behind Ronnie James project. However, like they've shown in the past, they appoint a task force to appoint a commission to tell Doolittle to continue to tell the unnamed guy to keep trying to buy the place from Singh. They just can't help themselves.

.....I'm just sayin....