A reader recently pointed out something to me that got me thinking. After reading my self-driven crash course on municipal bonds, the reader sent me a message telling me that the city might be delaying the release of the emails in order to complete the sale of the ballpark bonds.
If you remember, on August 6, 2013 I published a blog post on a preliminary “Official Statement” the city had released in preparation to sell the bonds to the investors. Simplified, the statement is a document detailing how the bonds will be sold and what the investors can expect.
One of the most important items, at least for investors, is what is the likelihood that the city will be able to pay off its debt and is there anything that could impact that ability. More importantly, are there any legal matter pending against the city that would impact the city’s bonds.
You will recall that I posted the language that the city added to the document where the city acknowledges that there is an ongoing FBI investigation into public corruption, adding that this investigation has not uncovered any wrong doing by city officials, conveniently ignoring that Larry Medina is currently sitting in jail.
In another post I wrote about how Larry Medina, a former city representative, is admonished by the judge sentencing him about things that have not been revealed that he did while a city representative. [Read it here]
But I digress.
The reader’s comment to me got me thinking. The reader makes a good point.
We know that the State Attorney General has opined that the emails need to be released. We also know that city council has already told the city attorney to wrap this up as quickly as possible. And, we also know that the city attorney received more time to bring the matter to a close on August 6, 2013.
To the “crazies” this all seems like a delay tactic.
The question is why?
Except for Cortney Niland, who is still a sitting city representative, the only other emails that have not been released are Steve Ortega’s. Ortega has been quoted as stating that the only way he will release his emails are through a court order.
Is it possible that the reader of my blog is onto something really important?
Could it be that the reason that the city is delaying releasing the emails is that there is something in them that could materially affect the bond sale and force the city to raise the interest rates on them?
We have already learned a lot of how the process to demolish city hall and ram through the baseball park down the collective throats of the community from the emails that have already been released. I believe that there is more to learn from the emails that are yet to be released, especially Steve Ortega’s. The city attorney has stated that there is the possibility of criminal repercussions and therefore she must bring the lawsuit against the state’s attorney general carefully to a close.
I originally thought and still believe that the “repercussions” have to do with the open records law but now I am beginning to think my reader is on to something really important.
Is the delay a result of making sure that the investors aren’t scared away from buying the bonds?
If there are negative things in the emails that affect the value of the bonds and the city was aware of them before issuing the prospectus, then our local ball park situation can take on national ramifications.
Security fraud would be a much worse issue for the officials than local voter discontent.
Keep up the good work
Brutus