July 23, 2007
THE INCREDIBLE STORY OF THE 17 BOXES OF BEALE STREET DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION FILES HIDDEN AT 701 N MAIN
There was a remarkable story yesterday in the Commercial Appeal entitled Dance club discord written by Marc Perrusquia. In it he revealed a number of facts concerning Kevin Kane, John Elkington, John Ford, Harold Ford Sr., the Tennessee Valley Center for Minority Economic Development, the Memphis Convention and Business Bureau, Club 152 and the Beale Street Development Corporation (BSDC). My head is still spinning as I read the facts and it called to mind something that happened a few years ago. I received a tip that there were 17 boxes of BSDC documents at 701 N. Main in a locked closet at the Housing and Community Development Building. These documents were City records concerning BSDC going back years. I called Sara Hall, then the City Attorney, and told her about them and she said that she could not go down there herself as that would raise questions. Instead she sent Elbert Jefferson, the current city attorney) down there and he found the boxes of documents and brought them to the 3rd floor of City Hall. She called me and told me about the boxes and I went down with Wil Gotten, a retired lawyer, and we spent an afternoon looking through the documents. I made some copies which I have but basically the documents showed that the City made no effort to get the quarterly and annual statements from BSDC and that they made no effort to audit or collect any money from Elkington. They just did not care that BSDC had not paid one cent up to this date. Here is the article about BSDC that I put on my website two years ago.
October 25, 2005
We keep harping on why the City has received not one cent from Beale Street and John Elkington since 1982 when the lease was signed. Where are the quarterly and annual reports and where is the 1992 $265,000 City authorized audit that the Mayor does not think we should see?
Here is what we know to date. Two open records requests have been filed, one by Mr. Will Gotten to Sara Hall, the City Attorney, and one by memphiswatchdog.org to Mr. John Elkington.
Mr. Gotten has heard from Ms. Hall that some of the reports were in the hands of an attorney, Ricky Wilkins and he was out of town. Mr. Saino first heard from Mr. Elkington that he filed all the reports required with the City and that I was free to come down to his office and see the reports even though he said that he was not subject to the open records law. I took him up on his invitation to visit and he said that he needed a few days to get the information from his accountant. Within a few days I got a letter from his attorney which is shown in an attached pdf file refusing my request to see the documents.
There can be no doubt that since Beale has received millions of public dollars, that they are subject to the open records law. Also the City is dragging its feet on responding to Mr. Gotten’s requests. The question is WHY? What are they hiding?
Here is a sample of past statements from articles in the Commercial Appeal concerning Beale Street and Elkington and Keltner (now Performa Entertainment Real Estate, Inc.).
In a 1985 article in the CA, it was reported that some restaurants and shops in the Beale Street Historic District have been unable to repay loans from a special fund set up with public money. Six businesses have received loans totaling $490,000. A seventh loan for $150,000 has been approved for a company that isn’t sure yet what kind of business it will have on Beale Street or who will operate it.
The loan fund is administered by the Tennessee Valley Center for Minority Economic Development which got $1 million in deferral money. Also in a 1985 article it was reported that the $12 million Phase I development is nearing completion.
In 1986 John Willingham said that he will open a World’s Champion Bar-B-Que restaurant on Beale Street. Willingham is now a county commissioner.
In a 1988 article in the CA, here are some of the financial dealings that were listed.
Leader Federal sued the company for defaulting on a $75,000 promissory note. It has been paid off.
Citibank was seeking $369,000 it claims was unpaid on a $1.35 million loan. The suit was still pending at the time of the article.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development helped Elkington get a $2.89 million loan in 1986 for development of Hidden Woods, a 98-acre tract on Covington Pike.
And there were many other actions at that time.
In March of 1992, Herenton hired Ricky Wilkins, attorney Charles Newman and two accounting firms to review Beale Street operations and suggest strategies for its future. In October of 1994 Herenton said that he had no audit to share after the City spent $276,123.00 dollars and 2-1/2 years on audits. Herenton said he was satisfied that nothing was amiss financially. Relations are said to be cordial on both sides now, and Elkington says he informs the mayor directly about the Beale Street plans and operation.
In a 1993 Ca article, the following was stated. “Elkington’s company, Beale Street Management, has a 52 year contract to manage the city owned district and lease space to tenants. The management company is entitled to 10.5% of the gross rental income, 5% leasing commission, a fee to administer the common area maintenance and a portion of the parking revenue. According to the 1992 budget submitted by the management company to the city, those fees amounted to $113,606.
After 19 years, Beale Street manager John Elkington is ready to pay the city its share of profits from clubs, shops and restaurants in the popular downtown entertainment district.
The amount for 2001 could reach $400,000, Elkington said, based on the $240,000 collected so far this year.
Despite the long wait for income from Beale Street, city officials have let Elkington hold onto the dough for six months while matters remain unsettled with the third party owed money - the Beale Street Development Corp.
On Wednesday, General Services deputy director Darrell Eldred said he will be instructing Elkington by letter to put money into an escrow account, where it will wait until BSDC's future is clear. "Funds he has identified as the excess profits from the street will be transferred to that account pending our resolution of the Beale Street Development leadership dispute," Eldred said.
Private developer John Elkington, who sublet the management rights from Beale Street Development Corp., keeps the profits once he pays expenses connected to his company's management of the district. Last year, the profits totaled $131,486.
We demand that the missing reports and the withheld audit be made public and we demand that the City collect the money due the taxpayers of the City of Memphis.
I have attached the IRS 990 reports for TVC and the Memphis Convention and Business Bureau. In briefly looking over these documents I note the following.
• TVC is sitting on $497,000 cash.
• TVC in the latest report (2006) said that their total service cost $5691 to promote and encourage economic development. Only a lousy 5 grand and they have ½ million in the till.
• The Memphis Convention and Business Bureau is sitting on $8.4 million in net assets.
• Kathryn Bowers and Ricky Peete were on the board as of the latest 990 report.
Click here to read the details of the IRS 990 reports for Tennessee Valley Center for Minority Economic Development,the so called non-profit organization involving John Ford and Harold Ford Sr
Click here to see the IRS 990 report on the Memphis Convention and Business Bureau involving Kevin Kane and the millions of our dollars spent on economic development,
THE INCREDIBLE STORY OF THE 17 BOXES OF BEALE STREET DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION FILES HIDDEN AT 701 N MAIN
There was a remarkable story yesterday in the Commercial Appeal entitled Dance club discord written by Marc Perrusquia. In it he revealed a number of facts concerning Kevin Kane, John Elkington, John Ford, Harold Ford Sr., the Tennessee Valley Center for Minority Economic Development, the Memphis Convention and Business Bureau, Club 152 and the Beale Street Development Corporation (BSDC). My head is still spinning as I read the facts and it called to mind something that happened a few years ago. I received a tip that there were 17 boxes of BSDC documents at 701 N. Main in a locked closet at the Housing and Community Development Building. These documents were City records concerning BSDC going back years. I called Sara Hall, then the City Attorney, and told her about them and she said that she could not go down there herself as that would raise questions. Instead she sent Elbert Jefferson, the current city attorney) down there and he found the boxes of documents and brought them to the 3rd floor of City Hall. She called me and told me about the boxes and I went down with Wil Gotten, a retired lawyer, and we spent an afternoon looking through the documents. I made some copies which I have but basically the documents showed that the City made no effort to get the quarterly and annual statements from BSDC and that they made no effort to audit or collect any money from Elkington. They just did not care that BSDC had not paid one cent up to this date. Here is the article about BSDC that I put on my website two years ago.
October 25, 2005
We keep harping on why the City has received not one cent from Beale Street and John Elkington since 1982 when the lease was signed. Where are the quarterly and annual reports and where is the 1992 $265,000 City authorized audit that the Mayor does not think we should see?
Here is what we know to date. Two open records requests have been filed, one by Mr. Will Gotten to Sara Hall, the City Attorney, and one by memphiswatchdog.org to Mr. John Elkington.
Mr. Gotten has heard from Ms. Hall that some of the reports were in the hands of an attorney, Ricky Wilkins and he was out of town. Mr. Saino first heard from Mr. Elkington that he filed all the reports required with the City and that I was free to come down to his office and see the reports even though he said that he was not subject to the open records law. I took him up on his invitation to visit and he said that he needed a few days to get the information from his accountant. Within a few days I got a letter from his attorney which is shown in an attached pdf file refusing my request to see the documents.
There can be no doubt that since Beale has received millions of public dollars, that they are subject to the open records law. Also the City is dragging its feet on responding to Mr. Gotten’s requests. The question is WHY? What are they hiding?
Here is a sample of past statements from articles in the Commercial Appeal concerning Beale Street and Elkington and Keltner (now Performa Entertainment Real Estate, Inc.).
In a 1985 article in the CA, it was reported that some restaurants and shops in the Beale Street Historic District have been unable to repay loans from a special fund set up with public money. Six businesses have received loans totaling $490,000. A seventh loan for $150,000 has been approved for a company that isn’t sure yet what kind of business it will have on Beale Street or who will operate it.
The loan fund is administered by the Tennessee Valley Center for Minority Economic Development which got $1 million in deferral money. Also in a 1985 article it was reported that the $12 million Phase I development is nearing completion.
In 1986 John Willingham said that he will open a World’s Champion Bar-B-Que restaurant on Beale Street. Willingham is now a county commissioner.
In a 1988 article in the CA, here are some of the financial dealings that were listed.
Leader Federal sued the company for defaulting on a $75,000 promissory note. It has been paid off.
Citibank was seeking $369,000 it claims was unpaid on a $1.35 million loan. The suit was still pending at the time of the article.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development helped Elkington get a $2.89 million loan in 1986 for development of Hidden Woods, a 98-acre tract on Covington Pike.
And there were many other actions at that time.
In March of 1992, Herenton hired Ricky Wilkins, attorney Charles Newman and two accounting firms to review Beale Street operations and suggest strategies for its future. In October of 1994 Herenton said that he had no audit to share after the City spent $276,123.00 dollars and 2-1/2 years on audits. Herenton said he was satisfied that nothing was amiss financially. Relations are said to be cordial on both sides now, and Elkington says he informs the mayor directly about the Beale Street plans and operation.
In a 1993 Ca article, the following was stated. “Elkington’s company, Beale Street Management, has a 52 year contract to manage the city owned district and lease space to tenants. The management company is entitled to 10.5% of the gross rental income, 5% leasing commission, a fee to administer the common area maintenance and a portion of the parking revenue. According to the 1992 budget submitted by the management company to the city, those fees amounted to $113,606.
After 19 years, Beale Street manager John Elkington is ready to pay the city its share of profits from clubs, shops and restaurants in the popular downtown entertainment district.
The amount for 2001 could reach $400,000, Elkington said, based on the $240,000 collected so far this year.
Despite the long wait for income from Beale Street, city officials have let Elkington hold onto the dough for six months while matters remain unsettled with the third party owed money - the Beale Street Development Corp.
On Wednesday, General Services deputy director Darrell Eldred said he will be instructing Elkington by letter to put money into an escrow account, where it will wait until BSDC's future is clear. "Funds he has identified as the excess profits from the street will be transferred to that account pending our resolution of the Beale Street Development leadership dispute," Eldred said.
Private developer John Elkington, who sublet the management rights from Beale Street Development Corp., keeps the profits once he pays expenses connected to his company's management of the district. Last year, the profits totaled $131,486.
We demand that the missing reports and the withheld audit be made public and we demand that the City collect the money due the taxpayers of the City of Memphis.
I have attached the IRS 990 reports for TVC and the Memphis Convention and Business Bureau. In briefly looking over these documents I note the following.
• TVC is sitting on $497,000 cash.
• TVC in the latest report (2006) said that their total service cost $5691 to promote and encourage economic development. Only a lousy 5 grand and they have ½ million in the till.
• The Memphis Convention and Business Bureau is sitting on $8.4 million in net assets.
• Kathryn Bowers and Ricky Peete were on the board as of the latest 990 report.
Click here to read the details of the IRS 990 reports for Tennessee Valley Center for Minority Economic Development,the so called non-profit organization involving John Ford and Harold Ford Sr
Click here to see the IRS 990 report on the Memphis Convention and Business Bureau involving Kevin Kane and the millions of our dollars spent on economic development,
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2:39 PM
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