At the February Ward 4 town hall there was an interesting exchange between the presumed candidates to fill the open Ward 4 seat being vacated by the term-limited David Wiechman.  During the spirited discussion about the upcoming City Council vote to annex 300+ acres in the southern half of Rooney Valley from Morrison, the presumed establishment candidate Jon Ludwigson responded to all the disadvantages of a Rooney Valley annexation with the standard establishment line that we need to annex/re-zone because otherwise the alternative might be even worse.  However, he took it to the extreme by suggesting if Lakewood doesn’t proceed with a Rooney Valley annexation then Morrison will build an ethanol facility.

          Dave Skilling, the presumed independent candidate, corrected Ludwigson by pointing out all the current zoning rules (Morrison, the recently passed Rooney Valley Master Plan, developer’s proposal, developer’s advertising, etc.) would not permit any industrial uses.  When pressed to explain his fear tactic, Ludwigson observed the name of the developer is Theraldson Ethanol and drew the conclusion the developer will therefore build an ethanol plant.

Lawyer Skilling pointed out billionaire investors often have several “companies” they use for administrative purposes.  For instance, the Rooney Valley properties in question are owned by Theraldson Motels of Las Vegas.  Again, just because the company name says motels doesn’t mean he is going to put in 300 acres of motels.  Even Mayor Paul had to repudiate the ethanol story.  At the February 27 City Council meeting, in response to questions about the ethanol issue, Paul noted the rules would not allow such a use.

              Lakewoodpols has to wonder what the establishment candidate was trying to accomplish by injecting such blatant misinformation into the Rooney Valley annexation debate.  While we understand his support of annexation and we know the use of the “it could be worse” fear tactic is a standard establishment tool, but by going out into left field with the ethanol story, it raises serious questions about his basic creditability.  In the political arena, truthfulness is critical in garnering voter support.  The whole exchange reminds us of the misinformation put out in 2015 during the failed proposal to buy the contaminated land on the Federal Center and put it a housing development.  The proponents argued that if the City didn’t buy it then a Walmart or car dealership would go in.