Tags: 
– News about Quincy from Quincy Quarry News.
Yet another Koched-up Edifice Complex
A City of Quincy rendering
Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch caught tapping federal COVID relief funds to buy even more property on the down-low.
As one could have only reasonably expected, Quincy Mayor Koch has already tapped tens of millions of a $46 million in federal COVID relief grant provided to Quincy to buy even more land for the City of Quincy so as to attempt to feed his Edifice Complex jones.
In turn, such provides the impetus for this latest exposé directed at the soft underbelly of the Koch Maladministration.
Annoyed over taking hits to the soft underbelly?
An old Facebook image
After the Quincy City Council made it clear that it would not fund his pipe dream for a likely to run upwards of $200 million, all costs duly included, to build a combined high-rise (for Quincy Center, that is, ed.) home for foundering Quincy College and new space for City Hall – as well as surely including plans for a sixteenth-floor penthouse view for a new and even grander mayoral office suite, Mayor Koch then opted to tap $15 million in federal COVID ARPA aid to buy the needed property – the Munroe Building and its nearby parking lot – in early July on the down-low at a price roughly twice the two parcels’ assessed value while the City Council was out for its annual summer recess.
In short, Mayor Koch did the property’s now-former ownership a solid by paying a sweet price for a rundown old building that is all but assuredly worthy of closing for multiple building code violations or at least should be hit with numerous fix-it orders for same.Â
Some has some ‘splaining to do
A Quincy Quarry news exclusive file photo
So what, apparently, for Mayor Koch’s claims that he was planning to have a public discussion as regards (perhaps, ed.) buying the Munroe Building and its nearby parking lot.
And then Mayor Koch spent another $4.5 million to buy a privately operated marina, also on the down-low as well as a price almost twelve times its appraised value after Mayor Koch’s Chief of Staph Pinnochio Walkbacker claimed that he did not know of any plans to buy the property – see Pinnochio (clumsily, ed.) walk back things beginning at around the 1:03:00 point of the June 21, 2021 City Council meeting (video link below).
Future Thayer Crew Boathouse (left)? Bow of the Salem (right).
A Quincy Quarry News exclusive image
At the same time, Pinocchio failed to address how the purchase could grift Quincy-based Cashman Marine with at least a seven-figure solid by providing a place to berth the private foundation-owned USS Salem somewhere other than where it currently is tied up in Cashman’s facilities within the former Fore River Shipyard via a sure to be less than profitable rental agreement.
That and so also bail out the long-foundering USS Salem Museum via the only to be expected outlays of many millions of various sorts of tax money to provide a new and permanent berth for the Salem in ways similar enough to how Mayor Koch is already propping up also foundering Quincy College with local taxpayers’ money even though 81% of the college students are not local residents per the college’s president.
Up in smoke?
Image via cheatsheet.com
After all, among the numerous things Mayor Koch does not want to go south on his watch, high on his list is to not see the Salem set sail to somewhere else or Quincy College closing and as has been the case with many fourth and especially fifth tier colleges such as Quincy College in recent years as well as which is a trend that is expected to continue in spite of gazillions of COVID relief money showered upon them by the feds.
This report made my blood boil.
Government is out of control!
Mayor Koch continues to shaft taxpayers!
So why is he still the Mayor of Quincy?
Isn’t he breaking the law doing what he’s been doing?
I think he should be thrown out of office before he does even more damage to Quincy.
Kathy,
No argument with your sentiments within the Quarry newsroom.
The thing is, when our peerless mayor saw to it that the local mayoral term in office was boosted from two years to four years, it appears that a recall provision was not included.
Surely but inadvertent, however.
Another property removed from the city tax rolls. Oh, wait — there’s more — there’s the marina. (as referenced in the article) — And the VERC property at the corner of Southern Artery and Furnace Brook Parkway.
When will the spendthrift Koch make a lucrative offer on my house? Or yours? Or yours?
I’ll sell for a million.
Dom, did you remember to factor in Koch campaign fund contributions so as to score yourself a million dollar sale price?
Good point. The most I’ll do is ask for a million and a quarter and discount it to an even million. That’s as far as I’m willing to go. Not feeding the city’s Koch habit.
Koch pretends (loudly) that by buying all these properties he’s eliminating the threat of developers coming in and building whatever they want — while at the same time, through creative land deals and lucrative incentives, he’s basically giving developers free hand to build whatever they want, essentially wherever they want.
Additionally, HIS ideas of what constitute appropriate municipal development are — at best — somewhere south of mediocre.
So, who benefits from his schemes? As always, the developers and the contractors.
And also as always, taxpayers are stuck with the bills.
Fredzo,
On behalf of the Boston Planning & Development Agency (née BRA) as well as for my own posterity, I would like to thank Mayor Koch for making us look less bad.
Not an easy task but one he’s certainly up to.
No offense Fred, but “up” is not the word I would have used.