Springfield's 9th and Main: Curse or Con?

[gatorback]

Who is William Stephen Griffin and does anyone need an attorney to help oversee or discuss any civil complaints? I don't mind taking a look pro bono to start.
I see that a pro se complaint was filed against Van Horn and Owens on 2/12/08, but I haven't gone to the courthouse to look at it. It doesn't appear that defendants have been served yet. Curious stuff.

Who are you?  I might need help!

[Colony]

go to colonyjax.blogspot.com for info and email address then feel free to drop me a note. i am a concerned springfielder with a law license (three actually) and live just steps from 9th and main.

[stephendare]

What ever happened to going to a bank, getting a loan, and buying a building, doing your own demo/construction with permits from the city, and making or breaking on your own?  Or, if you are leasing, what happened to getting a real-estate attorney or property manager to sit down at the table with you, go over the lease agreements, get signatures and then pay your monthly due every month and keep in compliance with the terms of the agreement?  If you or the other party are in violation, you take them to court.  It only costs a couple of hundred bucks to file a small claims suit against someone (if that).

most of the parties have contracts, several of them very detailed and written up with the help of attorneys.

The problem for most people is finding and paying an attorney to represent them.

None of these claims are small claims court, as they exceed 15 thousand dollars in damages.

The filing fee for a claim is 256.00, plus the cost of service.

The cost for an attorney is usually a few thousand dollars in retainers in order to get them to file any of the paperwork.

Most of the parties had already put their money into the restaurant.  Especially in the case of the Steins, where the restaurant and the relationship with Van Horn actually drove them into bankruptcy.

[Ocklawaha]

I really don't care if Craig Van Horn, turns out to be my fairy god-mother and Stephendare the son of old Joe Banana's (Hey you did say he was a "Made Man", how many know what THAT means?). I'm more concerned with my waist line. All the legal BS aside, now where in the hell do we go for those soups and that Southwestern Sandwich?

Hey Stephen, I have my hands on an old NYC Subway car that would make a most cool restaurant...or interior room in a restaurant... anyone interested?

Ocklawaha

[stephendare]

hard to say.  If the judge rules for boomtown, then the restaurant may open back in the same space.

Or it may just open back up at the space between 7th and 8th.

Parts of Henrietta's menu unded up at Harpoon Louies.

None of nOSH's or Crush's menu are available anywhere local.

Perhaps the girls from Drayton's will open up somewhere else.

Its one of the damning things about this.

All of these groups wanted to come to Springfield.

Jeff and Erica were talking about it for a couple of years.  Same with Carlos and Cherrise.  In fact, Carlos ran the place that is now ShantyTown very successfully before he sold it---turned out that he couldnt run both the bar and a full time Job managing Hooters.

Streetscapes, Roost, Terry Netter, Draytons......but for the fact that they ended up in the orbit of Craig Van Horn, Springfield would already have a fully developed retail and restaurant scene.

[EvenStillLeader]

This is scary. But, what is done in the dark shall come to light eventually.

[stephendare]

Theres a whole lot more, EvenStill, a whole lot more.

[77danj7]

Stephen really hit it on the head...The shame of it all is that if it weren't for all of this Springfield could be booming with retail and restaurants. 
Hopefully through all of this and hearing all of this we can still become the retail destination that this neighborhood deserves!

[stephendare]

Thanks, Dan.

And thats not including the marginal businesses that most likely would have had a chance if Van Horn hadnt been so destructively competitive.

The article contains no mention whatsoever of the bad blood between Van Horn and the Paul Shockey/Tony Alligretti group.

Allighretti is way too well mannered to mention it, and hasnt, preferring instead to simply immerse himself in positive projects, but Van Horn created a lot of hostility with those guys as well.

SAL (springfield arts and living) is gone, after Tony left the neighborhood, he went downtown and got involved with The Urban Core building, helped open the Burrito Gallery, and brought The Art Walk in to adulthood from its infancy.

Imagine what Springfield would have been like if there had been some cooperation from Craig, when he had the blessing and good will of the city?

Imagine a Springfield full of all the things Craig should have completed, the stuff Allighretti and Shockey would have brought, all the stuff revolving around boomtown as well as the various independent ventures mentioned above.

[stephendare]

I keep getting emails from people over this story asking why he got away with this stuff for so long.

I guess mostly because of the perception of superpowers that he had.

After all, he was Folio's Man of the Year.

But one of the things not mentioned in the article is the fact that he also has a practice of providing housing for the people who work on his projects.  This was apparently a factor in the Scott Jacobson story.

His victims definitely feel the bitterness strongly enough.

[brooklyn-ite]

all you restaurant people need to open up in Brooklyn ... we have to go up into 5pts to get anything to eat.  And even then it is the same old same old ....

[cherrise]

Hello to all,

I have to say that I was slightly surprised to hear about this article today.  As so many of us know, this town is so much smaller than one may realize.  I will neither confirm nor deny the "quotes" made in this article.  The conversation I had with the individual who apparently wrote the article were between that person and myself and I was not made aware that anything I may or may not have said or confirmed were for publication.  That being said, all my best to those who still hold hope for the Springfield area.  I am very happy in my new life.  The Springfield chapter of my life is closed.  A personal note to all those who thrive on "drama"; concentrate on your own lives and not those of others.  You just may find your own has more interest than you thought.  My best to all.  "What goes around, comes around".

[stephendare]

Hey Cherrise!

good to see you!

What comes around goes around indeed!

[cherrise]

Thank you Stephen!

Indeed, indeed.

[blizz01]

Ock - Do you really have this (subway car) for sale?  How is it transportable?  The wheels were turning last night with some buds............