It has been quite obvious lately that our Senior Administration on the 4th floor{solicitor,chief administration officer,mayor} don't give a hoot about citizens or Council as highlighted by the Port Property sale to Barbusci being referred to the Police along with the credit card scandal.Recently Council approved a deal with Doucet to build an apartment complex along the Esplanade which would include a new Central Library which has been on the table for 15 years {click link below for related article}.The issue now is that the deed was transferred a few months ago according to the mayor.Prior deals and 4 years of extensions with Doucet included a condition of a construction start before deed transfer which wasn't much but better than nothing.The deed should not have been transferred until the building is complete given Doucet's poor track record.In fact,they have not even completed blueprints or site plans.Was Council aware of the deed transfer portion of the deal prior to approving by a 12 to 0 vote??? The late Mary Campbell an intrepid reporter/owner of the Cape Breton Spectator wrote an awesome article about opening negotiations with Doucet dated May 31/23{click link below for article}.It has lots of detail which Mary was noted for but here are the highlights: -negotiations began in camera{secret} prior to Nov./22 -on Nov.22/22,way behind schedule a presentation was made by Doucet to Council and the public -it was a razzle dazzle type of affair with over the top drawings even including the land now occupied by NSCC -one notable item which Mary included as part of the "dream" was a building which may include a library as an anchor tenant but that would likely take 15 years,bringing the ribbon cutting to 2041 -WAIT,HERE'S THE KICKER:Doucet promised public consultations before proceeding to solicit citizen's input which obviously didn't happen and now that the deed has been transferred and a deal approved by Council...IT'S TOO LATE !!! Obviously with all the hoopla,delays and extensions negotiations should never have been taken seriously enough to approve such an awful deal. So here's what we got:a deal with no firm commitments,the two main driveways for access to the Boardwalk blocked,no walkers,no entertainment,no treats and you know the drill by now...maybe forever with nothing to show for it.They can simply leave it vacant as an investment property.We've been bamboozled !!! P.S. I'm sure by now you all heard the name of the person that a Doucet executive is related to...well connected,including to inside CBRM Senior Administration.Funny how that works. https://capebreton.lokol.me/cbrm-boardwalk-now-you-see-itnow-you-dont https://capebretonspectator.com/2023/05/31/doucet-developments-gray-group/