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South Bend Commission
<br />Regular Mee �edevelopment
<br />ing - December 4, 1981
<br />9. NEXT COOMISSION MEETING (continued)
<br />�I
<br />Mr. Wig ins: All these people that are saying this, Jay,
<br />have no intention of ever taking a bus. In defense of the
<br />Commission, some years ago I asked Ernie how smart
<br />you haVE to be to be as successful as he was. He said,
<br />"well, 3ou have to be smart enough to hire experts and
<br />listen to them, and then make your decision." Now, in re-
<br />gard to what Tom was saying about this Commission and this
<br />staff -- an, we've hired experts, we've hired him as an
<br />expert, and the decision hasn't been made off the top of
<br />their h ad or out of ignorance, it's been made on the
<br />basis of experts. In fact, the whole requirements of
<br />the process demand that you get expert opinions before
<br />you can dot an "i" or cross a "t ", or blow your nose.
<br />Mr. Nim z: Well, I didn't want to get into a debate with
<br />T. Brooks. We're good friends. As I said the other night,
<br />Leatha and I eat over there quite a bit. He comes over and
<br />sits at the table and talks to us.
<br />Mr. McM hon: We just gave Mr. Brademas $150,000 on another
<br />City pr ject.
<br />P1r. Nim z: Yes, but you know, that piece in the paper he
<br />called s incompetent, inexperienced. You know, I could
<br />have to en offense to that, but I...
<br />Ms. Aubdrn: I did.
<br />Mr. Nim z: I have been in politics 50 years and I have been
<br />in the Prmy 29 -1/2 years, and it takes quite a bit to get
<br />under m skin, and you can't do it very well. But my reply,
<br />you kno , should have been, "T. Brooks, the staff, the
<br />former members of the Commission, Don and Mr. Helmen, Rich
<br />Hill, PL t together the Marriott -First Bank thing. I don't
<br />know of any more complicated piece of financial arrange-
<br />ment then that thing, stuff I have been in, in 40 years of
<br />law practice. The engineering, the legalistics, the title
<br />work, t e financing, vaas the most complicated piece of bus -
<br />ness, a d if we were incompetent, then that is no criteria,
<br />you ,no .
<br />Mr. Wig ins: One further thing I'd like to say as long as
<br />we're all letting our hair down. Thirty years ago, Eldridge,
<br />who was the principal in Wyman's, offered to rebuild that
<br />buildin , make a substantial investment, but she conditioned
<br />it upon the City acquiring some vacant land and creating
<br />some pu lic parking lots. At the time that came before the
<br />City Council, I think Dan Clark and I were the two people
<br />who werE advocating the City following this procedure doing
<br />that. We lost it nine to nothing. This was the point in
<br />40
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