Edgewater complaint filed

Former alder Brenda Konkel is another of Madison's concerned citizens hot on the trail of what appear to be less-than-transparent lobbying efforts on the part of Hammes Co. in their pursuit of building the new Edgewater Hotel.

Konkel just posted the contents of her first full complaint against the process. Read it here. I only hope that more people jump on board with this effort to find out the truth and hold the company responsible for any violations. Having it be Konkel alone who files these complaints leaves the effort open to easy poo-pooing by officials who've grown sour with her activities in the past (which is a shame, because though I don't always agree with her, Konkel has been a tireless champion of what she thinks is best for Madison--and you have to admire that tenacity).

I will be very curious to see how the City Attorney handles the complaint. I would think that, with this much solid documentation, they'd pretty much have to at least investigate the charges. Regardless of the verdict, I expect at least that much to be done.

If, on the other hand, the whole thing is dismissed out of hand, then we need to seriously reexamine 1) the meat of Madison's lobbying ordinances, and 2) how we go about enforcing them.

UPDATE: Everyone's talkin' about the Edgwater it seems. The Sconz weighs in here, and is actually interviewing some of the developers soon. Over at the Cap Times, they raise very reasonable objections to the request for TIF money to help fund the project.