On Wednesday, April 4, 2007, I released the below letter to the media around Jackson. I have no idea whether or not this will be printed or discussed. In my comments prior to the release, I stated I had no ill feelings toward John Allen and the Horton's and that is true. John is a business man who is reacting to a plan developed by a joint private / government agency that stated that the city's downtown growth would eventually require a parking garage. The city council took it upon themselves to supplant the free market theory of business with a more aggressive form of market enterprise. They decided to use the money of the taxpayers to fund the process by agreeing to a Letter of Intent.

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On April 3, 2007, the Jackson City Council, on which I preside, decided to start the process that will make a few more select individuals wealthy through the use of your tax dollars.

The council, excluding myself, voted to approve a Letter of Intent from John Allen and his partners, David and Laurie Horton. The letter states that:

"...it is an expression of Owners' intention to undertake the design and build out the Project (a parking garage for city employees) as well as formalizing the intent of the City to participate as a Lessee of all or such portion of the project as would be mutually agreeable between Owners and the City once construction of the project is completed."

A Letter of Intent may also be referred to as a memorandum of understanding, or in laymen’s terms can be described as something like a gentlemen’s agreement. Some legal minds state that a Letter of Intent is also a document outlining an agreement between two or more parties before any agreement is finalized.

Letters of Intent resemble written contracts, but are usually not binding upon the parties in their entirety. Many Letters of Intent, however, contain provisions that are binding, such as covenants to negotiate in good faith.

“…the City and Owner would exercise good faith and diligence in negotiating formal terms, conditions and provisions of a separate written Lease Agreement for the Project or a portion thereof.”

Letters of Intent may also be interpreted as binding the parties if it too closely resembles a formal contract which in my opinion this letter did.

One of the main purposes of a Letter of Intent is to provide safeguards in case a deal collapses during negotiation. For example, if Mr. Allen and his partners complete this project, and the city decides through council vote not to enter into agreement for leasing any of the said spaces, Mr. Allen and his partners may have legal recourse to sue the city for the entire contractual agreement. The second purpose of the Letter of Intent is to provide a means of establishing a legal format for which funds may be borrowed. 5 million dollars is a lot of money, and unless you are the federal government, it does not grow on trees.

While the other members of the council may disagree with me, as evidence of their vote, it is my opinion that this is tantamount to a handshake between men that says that if Allen and Horton do what they say they will do, then we must lease whatever amount of spaces as to make this a profitable association between men and governments. While profitable to Allen and Horton, who have eliminated risk, this may not be such a profitable deal to taxpayers who once again have to fund another public / private association.