This story involving Wayside's purchase of Hotel Louisville has definitely generated a bigger response than I ever imagined. It's also been the largest amount of viewer feedback since I began my career.
There are a lot of you who disagree with our reporting on the issue. Questions have been asked like, "Why don't you leave this group alone!? They're doing great things in our community." You're right. Wayside does a great service to so many people who are without. What would we do without their ministry? However, a non-profit group must operate much like our government--with transparency and openness. Countless people donate to Wayside trusting their dollars will go to help the needy. It is our responsibility as journalists to make sure that money is used for that very purpose. That's why we're trying so hard to get solid answers about this $10 million dollar purchase of a hotel.
That said, this afternoon's Jefferson County Commissioner's hearing answered several questions but also left several big questions unanswered.
Gus Goldsmith essentially owns Hotel Louisville because he's owed the most--more than $6 million. There are others owed money--including Metro Government and the IRS. Goldsmith's attorney said in the meeting they're working with Wayside to accept payment directly. Afterward, the Jefferson County Master Commissioner explained to me that Goldsmith could accept less than what he's owed simply to get the money faster and get out of the mess with the sinking hotel. That means Wayside could spend less than $10 million for the property. That's certainly a deal for Wayside and the homeless. However, it begs the question of why Wayside wouldn't offer less money upfront if that's the end goal anyway? Many of you will remember the response we got a couple of weeks ago when we tried to find the answer to that question.
Jefferson Community & Technical College made their interest abundantly clear today by sending two attorneys to the meeting. They repeatedly tried to interject and object to the proceedings but the commissioner stopped them because they're not owed any money by the hotel. Essentially, they want to slow down the process in hopes the college can still buy the hotel once they get legislative approval. One of them even said they have "not ruled out trying to intervene [legally]." JCTC also told me they met with Wayside just last week trying to convince them to sell the property (all of it) to the college once they get legislative approval. They said Wayside didn't rule that out.
There is also the matter of whether Wayside can even open a homeless shelter on the land. Metro Government says their zoning folks haven't figured out yet if the current zoning for the land would allow a homeless shelter of this magnitude. There would be nothing else like it in terms of size.
If Wayside can't open up and decides to sell to JCTC- they could rather easily turn a profit. Even if Wayside pays the full $10 million- JCTC has $10.5 million set aside for the property. However, all signs point to Wayside buying the property for less than $10 million further increasing their chances of a profit. Keep in mind that any money JCTC gives to Wayside for the hotel would be taxpayer money, your money. If that's the way things turn out--it's totally legal. There's no wrong-doing that we're aware of--however, the question for donors to Wayside to answer would be "is that the way a non-profit should generate income?"
One more question we had--we couldn't get an answer to either. The official auction documents show Hotel Louisville being sold to "Timothy Moseley" and NOT to Wayside. The non-profit actually has several organizations registered in Kentucky. One of them operates specifically to buy and sell property. Why would Moseley not purchase the hotel under that organization instead of his private name? You'll have to decide for yourself about that because neither Nina Moseley nor their attorney would answer any questions.
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