ProMedica and Toledo notes - Jan 22, 2015

"Count me as one who thought it smelled funny ..."

That's understandable, or maybe I'm confused by the arithmetic.

On Feb 4, 2014, news broke about ProMedica's downtown Toledo plan. At that time, Randy Oostra, ProMedica president and chief executive officer, said that he envisioned an underground parking structure, and ProMedica expected 700 employees would be moved to the downtown location.

The Jan 5, 2015 Memorandum of Understanding (pdf file) between ProMedica and Toledo said that 800 employees would be moved to the downtown location, and an above-ground parking structure would be needed.

On Jan 6, 2015, Toledo City Council held a public meeting to discuss the Jan 5, 2015 MOU. At this meeting, Robin Whitney, ProMedica’s vice president of property acquisition and development, said that up to 1,000 employees could be moved downtown. Obviously, that employee number disagreed with the MOU.

I have no idea if MOUs need to be accurate. Maybe an MOU is simply a vague outline.

On Jan 8, 2015, Randy Oostra, ProMedica’s CEO, said that up to 2,500 employees could be moved to the downtown location.

Has ProMedica said why or how the number mushroomed from 800 on Jan 5 to 2,500 on Jan 8?

Changing the number from 700 to 800 over 11 months is no big deal. But a 1,700 increase over three days seems puzzling.

The 2,500 approximation has remained as of this week. It has not increased to 100,000.

On Jan 20, 2015, Toledo City Council voted to "authorize a memorandum of understanding" with ProMedica.

What MOU did Toleco City Council approve?

The most recent MOU that I can find is listed on the front page of the City of Toledo website, and it's dated Jan 14, 2015 (pdf file). A summary is also posted.

Does a more current MOU exist?

The Jan 14, 2015 MOU states the following information:

• approximately 800 employees
• parking availability for up to 750 vehicles
• parking facility would consist of 6 above ground levels and 1 below ground level