William C. Becker, Province Line Road
The Trent Motel controversy generated a barrage of letters to the editor as reported in the Oct. 25 issue, some of which muddied rather than clarified the issue.
Kudos to former mayor Bob Kusek for setting forth in clear, convincing fashion the reasons why the council voted unanimously to acquire the Trent Motel and adjacent property for $2.2 million (was the Republican Council member among those who approved this acquisition?), then later razing the property and reselling to a developer for $500,000. On the surface that looks like a bad deal. But the proposed redevelopment of the razed property holds promise of bringing many future, long-term benefits to Lawrence citizens, revitalizing an area that for many years has been plagued by prostitution and drugs. Viewed in this manner, I see this as a good deal.
However, there is one point that taints the foregoing picture and deserves further clarification — namely, that the sale of the property was not put out to open bid as alleged by Republican candidates and was sold to a developer who allegedly contributed to the Democratic party. If true, a persuading explanation as to why this unusual course was taken needs to be forthcoming. Otherwise, the sale looks like a sweetheart deal. Yes, no developer would be willing to shell out $2 million for this razed property as Mr. Kusek points out. But perhaps a developer would have paid more than $500,000, and perhaps no sweetheart deal would be part of the transaction.

