Who said it was in negotiation? Not the board. One would presume if the board told the president he could sign it, the negotiations were hopefully over.

Until a lease is signed the details should not be made public.  I think you know exactly what Jeff meant using the term "negotiation" and are parsing in an attempt to make a point.

Lots of things are read and all details are not remembered.  I do not know what Les Purcell told you, nor is if he made an error a fact important.  The details of the lease were reviewed and rereviewed by the Board before I signed it.  You know that.  And, the people who are on the contract review team all have business backgrounds and looked at the contract from a business sense and not just for legal sufficiency.  I think you are well aware of that, too.  Contracts are not signed as before and the payments are not paid as before, and I am sure you know that, too.

As for an outsider coming in and providing us his professional opinion on fair-market value, that was based on lots of variables and was, in fact, considered.  There are no real good comparables to this parking/lease situation.  FMV, however, also depends on what someone is willing to offer and someone is willing to accept.  Yes, maybe if we had asked you for assistance, we would have been able to play hardball and gotten more, who knows?  Maybe if we said we would install a 8' high fence across our property we could have gotten more; using threats and all of that might get better results -- and it might not. 

I/we happen to believe it's a good and fair deal ("just as you expected me to say").  Your opinion, provided in advance of knowing much, may be posted for all to see, but it's my job to cast one vote for this based on my best judgment, not yours.

As for the "debacle" of the 99-year lease, that was a process that we looked at because more than one director asked that we do so.  The final decision may have been obvious to you (and to me), but the process put it to bed for almost everyone who is willing to accept a majority vote.  To have not taken our time in coming to that decision would have been to bring it up again.  I think it's been put to bed.  Things done in "committee" mean everyone must be heard and some times that means they take longer.  I thought you might understand that.

And, yes, Joe, Jeff Knepper along with Ted Moroney are on the contract review team.  They have seen the lease and provided us with ways to make it better.  Although, by associating with us, they are probably having brain loss issues or whatever you intended to imply. 

Really!  One can't make this stuff up.

As always, you will continue to have the last word.