FORT GROUND: Don’t fall for talking points

Where to begin? Ron Hartman, a candidate for the NIC Board of Trustees? Best I can tell he’s new enough to the area that he probably hasn’t paid property taxes yet. Brent Regan has a way of suckering in the new people to do his talking points so he found Ron Hartman, and gave him the talking points of the sale of the historic Fort Ground Grill.

Ron has been assigned the responsibility of buffaloing the rest of the new people that haven’t spent a lifetime building relationships with the community.

There was a buyer of the historic Fort Ground Grill prior to NIC purchasing the property. I initiated that sale, just by chance. They did purchase the business for $1.2 million with a 30-day right of refusal. In that 30 days, they worked to develop a staff but in our current labor market they found it impossible.

So, NIC was in the bullpen. They purchased the business for $1 million. That’s $200,000 less than the previous buyers. That’s pretty good negotiating skills on NIC’s part.

Where Brent Regan and his boy Ron Hartman’s argument falls short is the county assessment. The county assesses real property, not the business within, which the state taxes.

What I’m trying to say here is don’t fall for the B.S. talking points from someone who is just a mouthpiece for Brent Regan. My hopes for the Fort Ground Grill is an active classroom as a working restaurant. Lots of lessons can be learned.

RUSS MCLAIN

Coeur d’Alene