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(Editor's note: Below is the latest Facebook rant from Jesse Gooch over his failed proposal to develop the Rapids Theatre. It is printed verbatim. Some of his attachments are below. You can find the rest of his attachments on Facebook.)
Attached you will find FACTS and PROOF that the Rapids deal was “Friends & Family”, with Mayor Resign O, Morgan Genovese, the URA, Chris Ring and Afterdark Entertainment.
You will see the original RFP included 1711 Main St. which is the Rapids Theater building. However, Bobby and Morgan offered 1701 Main St. to Mr. Ring, but they did not include that in my RFP as you will see! The funny thing is the city to this day does not own 1701 which is directly next-door to the theater. Supposedly they are trying to buy it from the previous . owner for 125K and they are planning on giving it to Mr. Ring for free. Mr. Ring even included blueprints and a Drone image of 1701 in his proposal. He directly mentions 1701 as being an important piece of his deal directly in his presentation. Is this even legal for the URA to offer a building that the city does not own to one bidder and not offer it to the other? 
Mr. ring is a democratic elected official in the village of Kenmore. He has many Erie County democratic allies as you will see. He received endorsement letters from Senator Zelner, the Buffalo com Council and even the Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan himself. The letters were made out to the mayor of Niagara Falls and the Main Street redevelopment board which I later found out that my political opponent running for legislature Doug Morridian is on the BOARD! The arrogant Mayor wrote an article to the Gazette saying that the bid process was transparent and Gooch is sour grapes and he cannot use his political influence to get the Theater. I have all of the proof here that him and Mr. Ring used all of their Democratic power to make sure Mr. Ring got the building for free!
You will also see foil requests that have not been answered for months after months. The city Council has also foiled and emailed Morgan and the Mayor to see Mr. rings application in winning bid and they refuse to give it to him. We later found out that the person that handles foil request for the City has resigned, and the Mayor appointed his brother Anthony to handle foil requests moving forward!
Mr. Ring indicates directly on his proposal that he is counting on at least $1 million of taxpayer funded grant money to be able to move forward with this project. You will see that I received lots of vetting and kickback from Mss. Genovese, when it came to financing on my end. I had to prove financing and documentation before she would allow me to come into the presentation.
The funny thing is, they did not do any vetting whatsoever for Mr. Ring. They believed him at his word that he had the funds. After he won the building for free and needed funds to get the grant process started, he admitted on a recorded line with a local investigator that he does not have approval of financing! Later, there was another local journalist from Niagara express who interviewed Mr. Ring and gave excuses for him quoting Mr Ring “We are not used to Grants, We have no experience with Grants, and we did not think the Grant process would be this difficult”. Then there was another discovery that during Covid Mr. Ring received $1 million in Grants for shattered Stage and save our stages Grants.
With most of the local Democratic journalism, this story has been getting swept under the rug. I am fighting for the taxpayers of Niagara Falls, and Niagara County. This is not about winning or losing, again at this point I would not feel comfortable owning this building under this administration. I am exposing the collusion and corruption in government. I will continue to fight for what I believe in, my family, and the community I love so much. Thank you and God Bless.
