Tuesday, January 20, 2009

What does Woman's Hospital in Baton Rouge have to do with Jackson?

Woman's Hospital in Baton Rouge recently halted construction on its planned $350 million new facility. What does this have to do with the price of turnips in Jackson, Mississippi? Actually quite a bit as the Baton Rouge Advocate reported:
"High interest rates and uncertainty in the bond market have forced Woman’s Hospital to halt construction of a new $350 million facility at Airline Highway and Pecue Lane, hospital officials said Monday.
Woman’s had planned to issue bonds to finance the new hospital and has been monitoring the bond market since November, said Stan Shelton, senior vice president and project manager.
Woman’s had projected its borrowing costs at less than 7 percent. In the current economic climate, Woman’s would have had to pay 8.5 percent interest on the bonds.That would have added $5 million to $6 million a year to the project’s cost, Shelton said.
Woman’s does not know how long the bond market’s instability and the resulting construction delay will last.
“It is precisely that uncertainty that had caused us to make this decision,” Shelton said..."
Construction delay due to bond markets

Just an increase of over 1.5% was able to add over five million dollars to the cost of the project.
It is also worth noting Baton Rouge has been a recession-proof city during the current economic crisis and ranks dead lasts in Realtytrac's recent survey of the top 100 cities suffering from foreclosures in the current housing meltdown. However, the increasing interest rates for bonds devastated this project as they will others.

This example is pointed out for two reasons. There are several candidates running for Mayor of Jackson. When they start spewing their talking points, someone should ask them what they are going to do when the bond markets have made it very difficult for Jackson to finance any new projects and what will happen to Jackson's current bond expenses. As I expect at least one downtown project to stall because of the implosion of the commercial real estate lending environment, it would also be a good idea to ask them what their plan b is when one or more of the projects are unable to obtain financing (I'm not saying that will happen but it still needs to be asked in case it does.).

Posted by Kingfish at 7:48 PM

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

The first question to ask any of the candidates is if they have ever seen the voters of Jackson pass any type of advisory referendum signaling agreement that all city efforts and money should be focused on downtown for some defined period of time at the expense of the public safety and infrastucture maintenance funding needs of the rest of Jackson.

There is no mandate to short Jackson for downtown no matter how much rope sanding the wanking cheerleaders attempt to say otherwise.

January 20, 2009 at 8:17 PM
Anonymous said...

Kingfish, what would be your plan B? I'm curious. You asked them for one. I want to see yours.

January 20, 2009 at 10:02 PM
Anonymous said...

The Fools in the Jackson City Government do not even know what a plan B is? There is no leadership WHATSOEVER and it shows!!! They are waiting for the Federal Government to bail the city out as the case of other southern cities with similar demographics. Who needed a convention center when the sewer lines & roads are being overlooked and patched with bandaids.......What vision they Have!

January 21, 2009 at 12:26 AM
Anonymous said...

Maybe anonymous @ 10:02 PM can articulate what plan A is because, whatever it is, IT ISN'T WORKING.

January 21, 2009 at 7:27 AM
Kingfish said...

Plan B?

Maybe I want to start a discussion. You're used to having answers and plans spoonfed to you, obviously. The discussion being is what is Jackson's future in regards to the bond markets instability as well as that of commercial real estate. I'd like to know what a candidate's plan is when he finds he can't use bonds to finance any projects and some of the projects have stalled.

I guess if I ask questions I'm supposed to have it all figured out. No, that is why I'm asking questions, something none of the media is for the most part.

January 21, 2009 at 2:09 PM
Anonymous said...

I was waiting for folks to start bashing urban development and praising the suburbs as soon as gas prices dropped, but when they go up again nobody's going to be talking about unstable bond rates as giving an advantage to suburban development because they'll know better. Exclusive suburban development is a fantastic idea...if you're Texaco. For the rest of us, it can get a little steep.

January 21, 2009 at 10:20 PM
Anonymous said...

If you think the problem is only "unstable bond rates" then you are not paying attention.

January 22, 2009 at 6:07 AM
Anonymous said...

The cat has the downtown cheerwanker's tongue Fish as it becomes more clear by the day that much of the redevelopment effort is a house of cards backed by obscene overleveraging, cheap money, syndicated GO ZONE tax credits and creative class hype.

They can't type and wank at the same time so when they have to choose, they wank.

January 22, 2009 at 10:43 AM
Anonymous said...

Typing and wanking at the same time isn't all that hard actually.

January 23, 2009 at 3:34 AM
Anonymous said...

2120 does it ALL the time. In fact that is ALL he does. Type and wank.

January 29, 2009 at 5:25 PM

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Trollfest '09

Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, “How I sold out to da Man.” Robbie Bell again performs: “Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells” and “Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine”. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to “Dancing with the Stars”, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango.

Wrestling returns, except this time it will be a Battle Royal with Othor Cain, Ben Allen, Kim Wade, Haley Fisackerly, Alan Lange, and “Big Cat” Donna Ladd all in the ring at the same time. The Battle Royal will be in a steel cage, no time limit, no referee, and the losers must leave town. Marshand Crisler will be the honorary referee (as it gives him a title without actually having to do anything).

Meet KIM Waaaaaade at the Entergy Tent. For five pesos, Kim will sell you a chance to win a deed to a crack house on Ridgeway Street stuffed in the Howard Industries pinata. Don't worry if the pinata is beaten to shreds, as Mr. Wade has Jose, Emmanuel, and Carlos, all illegal immigrants, available as replacements for the it. Upon leaving the Entergy tent, fig leaves will be available in case Entergy literally takes everything you have as part of its Trollfest ticket price adjustment charge.

Donna Ladd of The Jackson Free Press will give several classes on learning how to write. Smearing, writing without factchecking, and reporting only one side of a story will be covered. A donation to pay their taxes will be accepted and she will be signing copies of their former federal tax liens. Ms. Ladd will give a dramatic reading of her two award-winning essays (They received The Jackson Free Press "Best Of" awards.) "Why everything is always about me" and "Why I cover murders better than anyone else in Jackson".

In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.

In order to help clean up the legal profession, Adam Kilgore of the Mississippi Bar will be giving away free, round-trip plane tickets to the North Pole where they keep their bar complaint forms (which are NOT available online). If you don't want to go to the North Pole, you can enjoy Brant Brantley's (of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance) free guided tours of the quicksand field over by High Street where all complaints against judges disappear. If for some reason you are unable to control yourself, never fear; Judge Houston Patton will operate his jail where no lawyers are needed or allowed as you just sit there for minutes... hours.... months...years until he decides he is tired of you sitting in his jail. Do not think Judge Patton is a bad judge however as he plans to serve free Mad Dog 20/20 to all inmates.

Trollfest '09 is a pet-friendly event as well. Feel free to bring your dog with you and do not worry if your pet gets hungry, as employees of the Jackson Zoo will be on hand to provide some of their animals as food when it gets to be feeding time for your little loved one.

Relax at the Fox News Tent. Since there are only three blonde reporters in Jackson (being blonde is a requirement for working at Fox News), Megan and Kathryn from WAPT and Wendy from WLBT will be on loan to Fox. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both and a torn-up Obama yard sign will entitle you to free drinks served by Megan, Wendy, and Kathryn. Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required. Just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '09 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.

Note: Security provided by INS.

Trollfest '07

Jackson Jambalaya is the home of Trollfest '07. Catch this great event which promises to leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Sonjay Poontang and his band headline the night with a special steel cage, no time limit "loser must leave town" bout between Alan Lange and "Big Cat"Donna Ladd following afterwards. Kamikaze will perform his new song F*** Bush, he's still a _____. Did I mention there was no referee? Dr. Heddy Matthias and Lori Gregory will face off in the undercard dueling with dangling participles and other um, devices. Robbie Bell will perform Her two latest songs: My Best Friends are in the Media and Mama's, Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to be George Bell. Sid Salter of The Clarion-Ledger will host "Pin the Tail on the Trial Lawyer", sponsored by State Farm.

There will be a hugging booth where in exchange for your young son, Frank Melton will give you a loooong hug. Trollfest will have a dunking booth where Muhammed the terrorist will curse you to Allah as you try to hit a target that will drop him into a vat of pig grease. However, in the true spirit of Separate But Equal, Don Imus and someone from NE Jackson will also sit in the dunking booth for an equal amount of time. Tom Head will give a reading for two hours on why he can't figure out who the hell he is. Cliff Cargill will give lessons with his .80 caliber desert eagle, using Frank Melton photos as targets. Tackleberry will be on hand for an autograph session. KIM Waaaaaade will be passing out free titles and deeds to crackhouses formerly owned by The Wood Street Players.

If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.

Note: Security provided by INS.