I got this email today in the course of a very
involved discussion about the ongoing T.J. Waconia
mortgage fraud saga, and whether Tom Balko and
Jon Helgason are evil criminals or just unlucky and
badly portrayed by the local media. (I lean toward
"evil criminals," but my jury is still out)
Near the end of the discussion, the sender (whose
name I'm keeping under my hat) offered the
following opinion of my desire to live on the
North Side:
________________________________________________________
On another note...
I think you are honestly INSANE for even thinking of
living in N Mpls.
There is such a high possibility that you could get shot at,
robbed, beaten, killed... or all of those things. And that is
said with the assumption that no one there will even know
who you are!
Maybe you have some wild hair up your ass which is making
you see living there as a challenge or something? If you want a
challenge that bad...
Why not find another challenge that is equally as hard but
much safer? I don't know.... maybe you could sky dive with no
parachute. Your chances of surviving that would be much higher.
_____________________________________________________________
My response: Exaggeration. Hyperbole. Drama.
Give me a break.
However, I am airing this point of view because experience
tells me it is a very common outlook. It's funny, because this
is now people from North Dakota sound when they talk
about Minneapolis.
No, not NORTH Minneapolis. This is the kind of stuff
Nodaks say about ALL OF MINNEAPOLIS.
However, I'm going to ask this guy if I can share the email
he sent me a few weeks about about the time somebody
shot at him in North Minneapolis while he was doing
nothing but repairing stucco. Clearly, that MUST HAVE
some kind of impact on his point of view!
ON ANOTHER NOTE: I spoke to Juley Viger today
and I'll be closing on a property at the end of the month.
I'm not revealing all the details right now because,
well, it's business and best to have one's business
completed before airing all the details. I'm meeting
Juley tomorrow at Starbucks to sign paperwork.
Then I'll be picking up my 10-year-old son later
in the day for weekend visitation, and telling him
the good news:
Daddy got himself a house in the Twin Cities, so he
can always be near you, at least until you are big
enough to pursue your dream of going to MIT and
studying robots.
Johnny - Good luck with your endeavor in N Mpls - Wish you great luck. As an avid researcher regarding the ins and outs of Tj Waconia, and your concern for the North Side your future home, thought that you may be courageous enough not to delete the following. "When it comes to facts - the topix website along with the victims site appears to delete such information. I hope that you have the courage to let people read and examine for themselves. Good luck to you!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
No longer a Believer
Join the community
Minneapolis, MN 1 min ago
An outsider wrote:
I am left only at this point, but to question the validity of the information on this website.“Victims” have told their story, now I ask myself, how much is fiction and how much is truth. I have arrived at the conclusion that the information on this website needs to be questioned. It was stated that Balko and Helgason “took 871K in a government grant in 2006 to help fix up the North side, what do you think that they did with the money”, direct quote from a “Victim”. When questioned as to the validity of this claim, a website was posted, by a “Victim” where you could see the information for yourself . As there appears to be more than 1 Victim, I cannot say if it would be the same person, but the city of origin appeared to be the same. I reviewed that document and was amazed that this “Victim” claimed that it was for fixing up the North Side. If someone would have done just a little reading they would see that this was not in fact a “grant”, but a Certified Development Company Loan made by the Small Business Administration. Also known as a SBA 504 Loan, and yes it also states that this “assistance type” was a loan,(both direct and guaranteed). You will notice that in that same section was also a spot for an amount if it was “Grants And Cooperative Agreements”, of which there is no amount listed, NOT a GRANT ! So with what was indicated and not wanting to discredit the statement entirely by this “Victim”, researched the SBA and their 504 Loan, maybe there was an error of sort. Don’t take my word for this – read the information on the link provided. It clearly states under Eligible Business,“loans cannot be made to businesses engaged in speculation or investment in rental real estate”. Not to mention that their Business Plans must be reviewed and approved, as well as what they are borrowing against becomes “collateral, and personal guarantees are required”. I understand that this can be quite a rigorous process, as this is a LOAN given by the Government.“Berettahunter” in this same blog “stated that this was a loan for Dancer’s Edge”, one of their previous companies. Last time I checked, Maple Grove was not a part of North Minneapolis. And I think I may say with certainty that the “collateral” had a lien placed on it by the SBA. I at this point have been left with no question in my mind that this was NOT used to “fix up the North Side” of Minneapolis.
http://www.sba.gov/services/financialassistan ...
Please forgive me, but I must also question all on this blog. One “Victim” indicated that they had been in court and received a judgement for money that was owed them. So once again I need to question the facts. Did they show up in court? Did they contest to the fact that they owed you money? If they did NOT appear a judgement in your favor would be entered. Inquiring minds. I apologize, I am be able to find the information on these blogs, but am not willing to waste any more time in reading these blogs to answer this question.
Interesting information - this appears to put a different slant on these allegations. Previously someone pointed out that some information has been deleted, and asked why - some victim claimed that it was because of "infidelity" reasons, which may or not be appropriate. They also alleged that there was a discrimination on the part of the so called victims and their agenda. More interesting is that this information regarding a "so called Grant" has been deleted. Can someone explain this??? Inquiring minds!
Johnny Northside - care to investigate this information??
March 6, 2008 9:31 PM
No, I don't care to investigate that info.
ReplyDeleteAs I've made clear on the "TJ Waconia victims blog" and the "Minnesota Topix" forum AS WELL AS the "TJ Waconia thread at Behind The Mortgage Dot com, my sympathies in this case are with the victims.
Is it possible there is something complicated going on? That the victims may have flaws? I'm sure any story like this is complicated. But no matter how hard anybody digs into those facts, will it lead to JUSTIFICATION for the things done by Jon Helgason and Tom Balko?
I seriously doubt it.
However, I believe in a substantive conversation, and this comment is, beyond a doubt, substantive. So I'm leaving it up for now, in the spirit of Voltaire. I'm sure well-read people know what I mean about Voltaire.