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He paused and swabbed his handkerchief over his cheeks. “I’m ready to sell the buildings I own downtown to you—I mean the city of Bay Point.”
Gregory raised his eyebrows in surprise. Stodwell had been on the fence for months about releasing his properties, even though Gregory had hinted that the city might be interested in purchasing them. Now it looked as though they would get the chance.
“That’s good to hear. You own most of the buildings alongside Ocean Avenue, except for a few owned by Mrs. Barnell. Why did you decide to sell now?”
Although his buildings were old, they were still valuable. If the downtown redevelopment plan was as successful as Gregory hoped it would be, the buildings and the land they sat on would eventually be worth tens of millions of dollars.
Stodwell edged his body forward. “It’s the right time for me, and for the city.”
Gregory nodded. The man was right. If the city owned the buildings outright, it would make the redevelopment process a whole lot easier.
Stodwell leaned back in his chair. “Besides, some of my tenants haven’t paid rent on time, or at all, in months. Because of that, I can’t make repairs or upgrade the buildings or the apartments upstairs.”
“Why didn’t you ever sue the tenants for the money?”
“Are you kidding?” Stodwell widened his eyes in mock horror. “I gotta live here, too, Mayor. I could have shook ’em down for the money, but that’s not my style.”
Gregory barely held back a smirk. “So now you want us to do it, is that right?”
Stodwell opened both palms, his grin like a swath of grease on his tanned face. “I have to assume if they’re not paying me, they’re not paying the city, either. Am I right?”
Gregory frowned and didn’t respond. As in most cities, businesses had to pay a yearly tax to operate in Bay Point, although some exemptions did apply.
Six months ago, he’d had an independent audit conducted of Bay Point’s finances. The third-party firm had discovered that there was nearly a quarter of a million dollars in unpaid business taxes that were not in the city’s coffers, which was one reason why the city was in a financial mess.
“Once the city owns all the properties, you can call a lien on each one of them.” Stodwell clapped his hands. “Problem solved.”
Gregory immediately thought of Vanessa. “I can’t do that. There has to be a better solution.”
Stodwell shrugged. “Threaten eviction, and people suddenly get very creative about paying up.”
Gregory held back a gasp. Throw his fellow residents out on the streets? He could never live with himself. He’d grown up with most of the store owners.
It would be difficult enough collecting back taxes from them. In light of the economy and the lack of tourists, Stodwell’s business tenants were having a hard time staying profitable. How would they come up with the extra money for back taxes and rent increases? He could never evict them.
“Neither I nor the city is willing to go that far,” he said firmly. “Besides, it’s—”
“Election time. I know.”
Stodwell slurped down the rest of his coffee and set it on the desk.
“You need me, Gregory. And I need...a very nice retirement. I am willing to sell the properties to the city. If you don’t want to deal with them, sell them to the developer.”
“I’m not even sure if he’d be willing to buy them,” Gregory said.
“That’ll be your problem, not mine.” Stodwell twisted a wide gold ring on his finger. “I left a report with your assistant of how much is owed to me by various tenants. Obviously, those monies will be included in the selling price, which the city can recoup however, and whenever, it wishes.”
Gregory thought for a moment. “I need time to review everything and discuss it with city council.”
“You have sixty days.”
Gregory quickly glanced down at his desk calendar.
Stodwell grinned. “Don’t worry. The deadline falls after the election. I’m doing you a favor, Mayor. I could sell outright to the developer.” He lifted his hands and shrugged. “Though I’d make far less money on the deal because—”
“They would be less likely to buy at your asking price because of all the repairs that need to be done,” Gregory concluded.
“Exactly. When I realized that you intended to keep most of the downtown buildings intact, that’s when I made the decision to sell and get out now, while I could still make a little bit of profit, and the city can still make good use of them.”
Gregory nodded, even though Stodwell’s comment irked him. He knew the man didn’t care a bit about Bay Point. He was just out to make a fast buck, and it was up to Gregory to make sure that he wasn’t going to do it at Bay Point’s expense.
“We’ll have to see if we can work your buildings into the development and construction schedule,” Gregory reasoned.
“Are you still going to tear the carousel down first?”
“Yes, plus, a few other buildings will be razed to make way for new condos and town houses, as part of the multiuse lifestyle center that will be built. The rest will remain, and the exteriors will be renovated. If the city buys your properties, we can perhaps schedule the renovations in phase two.”
Stodwell nodded. “This redevelopment idea of yours. It’s a good plan, Mayor. One that will far outlive you and me combined. I urge you and city council to consider my offer.”
Gregory leaned his hip against his desk. “I can’t guarantee that we will be able to purchase the properties at the price you want. I have to be mindful of the budget.”
“All I can do is ask, Mayor. If we can’t do a deal, I’m sure the developer will be interested in this opportunity. But if he buys it, you’d lose some measure of control over what happens with the buildings, other than what’s covered under existing commercial zoning regulations, of course.”
Gregory’s heart suddenly constricted in his chest. Stodwell owned the building that Vanessa’s flower shop was in, as well as Lucy’s Bar and Grille and some others in the same block. He knew the day was coming when he’d have to oversee the collection process of all the past-due business taxes, and he was dreading it. Plus, he knew that city council would likely want to raise rents to help cover the costs of purchasing Stodwell’s commercial properties.
Both would drastically affect his popularity with Bay Point voters.
“I just want to be sure that the residents and store owners will not suffer undue harm. I wanted to gain their trust before—”
Stodwell held up a pudgy hand. “Wait a minute. They elected you the mayor of Bay Point. You already earned their trust four years ago.”
“And I don’t want to lose it, either.”
The man laughed. “You’ve got a lot of things to learn about politics, son.”
“That may be so, but how to piss off my constituency is not one of them.”
“When they see the end result, they won’t be mad. In fact, I’m willing to bet that they’ll thank you.” Stodwell paused a moment. “Need I remind you of the donation made to your campaign by my company?”
Gregory clenched his stomach muscles in disgust. He hated being made to feel as if he could be bought. It was the one thing he despised about politics.
“Your support is graciously appreciated.”
Stodwell stood. “You know, Gregory, your father and I go back a long ways. It would be a shame if you lost this election.”
“I don’t plan on losing,” he said, forcing his tone to be relaxed.
He watched Stodwell wrest his chubby arms into his too-small suit jacket, a visual reminder of the dangers of eating too many doughnuts.
“Well, Mayor. I’m glad to hear you’re so confident. But sometimes the best-laid plans have a quirky way of going awry.”
The two men shook hands.
“I’ll be in touch,” Gregory said, and closed the door behind him.
He walked over to the window, pressed his forehead against the glass and stared down at the carousel. The damn thing never worked now, but it ran fine when he was a kid.
Back when he dreamed about riding it. When he thought just one ride would make his well-to-do family normal, not a constant source of envy or gossip.
He turned away from the window and punched the intercom button. “Mariella, please bring me the list of people who owe commercial-business-related taxes.”
When he’d originally received the list several weeks ago, he hadn’t paid very close attention to the names on it.
Now there was one name he hoped he wouldn’t see: Vanessa’s.
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