01 March 2014, Vol.1, No.10 > 4th
ORDER OF BUSINESS!
The POCAHONTAS CRIER
(Part
of The Crier Coalition of Internet News Services comprised of
The
Pocahontas Commentator, The Pocahontas Crier,
Signal
Fires of WV & Echoes from the Holl’r)
FIRE DONALD TRUMP!
INTRAWEST & FORTRESS ARE
OVER $1.5 BILLION IN DEBT!
Ever since the dream of Snowshoe Ski Resort came
into fulfillment in 1973, the ownership of the mountain has changed hands
several times – but each time it has been the Citizens
of Pocahontas County that have mainly been hired to actually run the resort
& carry out the day to day operations – not the corporate
owners who have just pocketed the profits! And the same has happened with Silver Creek
now that Intrawest & Fortress holding companies as partners own the
combined resorts. Yet Intrawest &
Fortress are financially feuding to the point of financial disaster & ruin
for both – unless the State of West Virginia steps up and either ‘bails’ them out – which is not likely
since the current debt exceeds $1.5 BILLION – or the State takes over &
runs Snowshoe & Silver Creek as a
State Park – or relegates it to this county to operate!
Following the 2008 Winter Olympics, Intrawest won
the right to host the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada,
its corporate head-quarters. At the time, Intrawest was the third-largest resort holding
company in the world with a total of about 28 golf & ski resorts worldwide. Intrawest
immediately began to drain the financial resources of its resort cartel and
direct all funds to Vancouver
for new Condos, parking lots, transportation routes, and all the things
necessary for the Winter Olympics! As
the time drew near for opening, Intrawest had over-extended itself and was
forced to sell 49% of its corporate holdings to Fortress holding company –
owned by Donald Trump! BIG MISTAKE! Anyone who has
followed Trump’s checkered career knows that you can only trust what he does,
not what he says! In short, Trump
did not provide his share of the funds when needed, and the creditors of
Intrawest were prepared to foreclose on the 2010 Winter Olympics on Friday of
the first week – right in the middle of
the Olympics!
In desperation, Intrawest sold off all
its golf & ski resorts but for eight (8), keeping both Snowshoe &
Silver Creek, in order to meet its financial deadlines. Donald Trump was prepared for Intrawest to
fold so that Trump could step in and pick up the pieces for
pennies-on-the-dollar! At the time Intrawest told its Snowshoe & Silver Creek
employees that it had enough of a cash-flow to last through 2014. But during the time in between, the DEBT NOW
EXCEEDS $1.5 BILLION – and only five (5) resorts remain under the control of
Intrawest & Fortress.
Meanwhile both holding corporations are feuding and the debt keeps
climbing! Not even the State Legislature
is sure of the actual debt – the $1.5
BILLION is a low-ball estimation!
Meanwhile the West Virginia State Legislature has
devised a scheme to establish a ‘RESORT AREA DISTRICT’ (RAD), which amounts to ‘corporate fascism’
whereby the Intrawest/Fortress Cartel would OWN the mountain consisting of
upwards to 15,000 acres and run it as a ‘private-corporate-government’, including its own ‘police-force’, called ‘Rangers’,
with its own rules, fines & jails, etc.
Unless ‘checks
& balances’ are established by the County Commission, the
Intrawest/Fortress Cartel could TRANSFER ITS MASSIVE DEBT UPON THE EXISTING
PROPERTY-OWNERS of Snowshoe & Silver Creek since the Cartel would be in
sole-charge of the ‘corporation-run-government’! Such a scheme left unchecked could obviously
ruin all property-owners with the stroke of a pen! The only consolation would be that Pocahontas County would still get part of the ‘hotel/motel tax’! Big deal!
The second option would be for the RAD to
incorporate into a municipality of its own, same as Marlinton & Durbin –
but that means open public elections for a mayor & town council, etc. – and
that means that the Intrawest/Fortress Cartel would NOT have sole ‘corporate-control’ of all governmental
affairs of the new municipality! But if
done, then the ‘hotel/motel tax’ would
remain solely on the mountain under the total control of the new municipality!
The third option is for the State of West Virginia
to take over all the holdings of the Intrawest/Fortress Cartel and establish it
as a public corporation especially since if the Cartel sold off its remaining
five (5) resorts, the total value would only cover about 40% or less of its
current estimated excessive $1.5 BILLION DEBT!
This would be the best option for everyone,
whether repeat customers, employees, the State & the County since Snowshoe
& Silver Creek could be reorganized into a ‘Workers CO-OP’ as done in Europe & elsewhere whereby 60% of
all income goes to the State of West Virginia, and the remaining 40% is shared
among the workers and the County – and still keep the 'hotel/motel tax'!
Just ask yourself, “Who really operates Snowshoe & Silver
Creek, the local workers in day to day operations, or the corporate-owners in Vancouver that continue
to siphon off tens-of-millions of dollars each month of operation?” And does anyone really believe that any
Cartel in Debt in Excess of $1.5 BILLION is ever going to pay off their Debts
with only five seasonal resorts left under its control? Doesn’t Snowshoe
& Silver Creek need a new waste-treatment-facility since they have
over-developed their respective resorts beyond the capacity of their original
sewage-facility built in 1973?
The Cartel has already tried to get PUBLIC-FUNDING to pay for a new
sewage-facility – estimated to cost upwards to $30 Million – and when that
didn’t work, they created a ‘public-service-district’
that actually is taking funds away from Durbin & costing those in Durbin! So why not just let the Intrawest/Fortress
Cartel fall under its own debt of its own making – and LET’S START FRESH with the people of
this county, and the workers from surrounding counties, actually running the
day to day operations FOR OURSELVES instead of seeing those MILLIONS go
to Vancouver, Canada? It’s TIME FOR A
REAL CHANGE IN THIS COUNTY – that’s why two candidates have stepped forward
with fresh ideas & solutions!
Just say ‘NO’ to those who
want to keep this county in Poverty &
Pauperism – and
Just SAY ‘YES’ to real Progress & Prosperity for
the future!
Therefore on Primary Day – YOU have a chance to elect two persons
that will always put YOU first! They know that:
THE
GREATER COMMON GOOD ALWAYS COMES BEFORE SELF OR ANY SELF-SERVING SPECIAL
INTEREST!
Find out more – Stay tuned to these Websites:
The Pocahontas Crier
is an independent Internet News Service that has so far endorsed two candidates
for County Commission,
one a Republican & the other a Democrat – in addition to providing in depth
news reporting on important issues directly affecting the Citizens of Pocahontas County!
► IF YOU are registered to vote as a Republican,
you can
Vote for Norman
Lee Alderman in the Primary Election
on 13 May 2014;
► IF YOU are registered to vote as a Democrat,
you can
Vote for Patti Heinemann in the primary election on
13 May 2014;
► If you are not registered to vote, then you must
register
to vote on or before 22 April 2014;
► If you are registered to vote, but with no party
affiliation, then you must request
Loud & Clear either
a Republican or Democrat ballot
on Primary Day when
you go to the polls; &
► Since Norman
is unopposed, he recommends that you
request a Democrat ballot to vote for Patti so that
this
county can again have an Honest & Just county
commission!
Email
comments & suggestions to: The Pocahontas
Crier at
pocahontascrier@gmail.com
& if
you wish to financially assist, kindly send all campaign contributions to: The United Campaign for County Commission (UCCC), c/o
Citizens for Common Sense Alternatives (CCSA), a registered Political Action
Committee, 7837 Wesley Chapel Road, Green Bank, West Virginia 24944-9063
Phone:
1.304.456.4565 or 3282 (also fax)
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