Thread: EarthQuest Park / Don Holbrook / Contour Entertainment / Frank McCrady of EMCID

The awful posts on Scam referencing Don and viciously attacking ProfHenryHiggins, myself and others with false criminal allegations have been removed. My gratitude to the folks at Scam. Kudos!

Mr Holbrook cannot continue to feed from the public trough and claim immunity from scrutiny.

He was the one who chose to make himself a public figure.

Public money = public scrutiny



Perhaps the taxpayers of East Montgomery should adopt a new emblem for their county

Breaking News Alert:

Lennar Homes of Texas Land and Construction Ltd. has won the Earthquest property at auction for $11,850,000. The bank is vigorously objecting to Marlin Atlantis White, which is the same group of people as the bankrupt Whitestone getting $500,000.00 out of the sale. The bank should get every penny of that as they are owed in excess of $19,600,000 dollars. MAW is an insider of the debtor and any money going to them should land right into the hands of the bank!

Bank's Objections.pdf

Soapboxmom

The HAIF forum clown in action:

Mister X

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Posted Today at 09:04AM
The EarthQuest Institute is a not-for-profit organization, NOWHERE has it ever claimed to be a charity. There is a difference - just like there is a difference between reporting facts and reporting opinion.

The Institute (if it ever gets back on track) will employ people and pay salaries. Don't expect them to ask for soapmoxmom's approval when contracts are negotiated.
Edited by Mister X, Today at 09:15AM.

Soapboxmom

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Quote
Are all nonprofit organizations public charities?
Public charities represent a substantial portion of the nonprofit sector, but not all nonprofit organizations are public charities. Public charities receive their tax-exemption under subsection (3) of Section 501©. This privileged status allows donors to make tax-deductible contributions to the organization. The IRS defines these organizations as "charitable" because they serve broad public purposes, including educational, religious, scientific, and the literary activities, among others, as well as the relief of poverty and other public benefit actions.


The Earthquest Institute is a 501 © 3, which is a charitable organization. They are under the Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division.

Mister X

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Posted 30 minutes ago
I have never seen one thing written by the EarthQuest Institute that said it was anything other than a Not-for-profit.

"Charities and not-for-profit organisations are not the same things."

http://www.hmrc.gov....s/vat/intro.htm

Even still, charities also employ people for their services. Holbrook committed no crime by accepting a job from EQI.
Edited by Mister X, 21 minutes ago.



...he started it.

#625 Soapboxmom

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The EQI is not in England. What do the British VAT taxes have to do with anything in Texas??? The IRS has received complaints and they or the Texas Attorney General's office will make any determinations about how funds were used.

The HAIF forum clown just got us both banned for 2 weeks for taking the thread off topic. I asked the admins for help. They booted us, so I guess it will have no alternative but to come over here and carry on endlessly about how Don Holbrook should be suing me for having an opinion and posting the current court papers or whatever it is it is melting about. With friends like Mister X who needs enemies, right, Holbrook? I suspect Mister X may also be the charmer that got banned on Scam and had all their posts removed.

Those who still strongly support the project might fare much better credibility wise if they would simply point out false statements of fact and refute them appropriately. The meltdowns are much more harmful to those that they appear to be defending and the project itself. What investor wants to risk money in something getting this type of publicity? It is obvious that those attacking the naysayers (legitimate journalists and investigative bloggers mind you) don't have a shred of evidence or a leg to stand on. HAIF has every right to end discussions going into the crap Mister X was throwing in. I fully agree with and respect their decision. The owner gets the call just as I did when I banned Holbrook's high school friend and Mike Anderson (likely Mister X himself) from the Earthquest Facebook page. That is a fan page for quick updates and a place for folks to get questions answered. Bloddy battles may be entertained here as long as they stay within reason.

Now, the question is will Mister X have the moxie to come on RS and discuss his concerns in an intelligent fashion with facts to back up his points?

Don Holbrook is trying really hard to outdo Lenny Clements in the long winded rant department:

How to Value our Economic Impact as a Professional Economic Developer? « economicdeveloper

I would say that anyone in our industry of economic development is normally not the most beloved person of the media, because we recommend the invest of taxpayers monies in order to create the right atmosphere for these types of outcomes to occur. If they were going to occur naturally I think the outcome would already be well down the road. Thus it takes strategic thinkers, visionary leaders, and supporters that want a better tomorrow to agree on taking some form of calculated risk at the expense of their constituents.

So, that is what we call living the lifestyle of the rich and famous on the taxpayers' dime. McCrady seriously wined and dined Holbrook while the taxpayers were paying him hundreds of thousands of dollars. Why???

With the advent of bloggers we sure draw in many cases our share of unwarranted abuse by uninformed and sometimes malicious and usually people who had no experience and/or involvement in the actual projects being discussed, they are just arm chair experts, with no experience themselves in being game changers, and adding measurable value to our society.

Since when did posting public financial records, the words of Don Holbrook and asking questions constitute abuse???

So when people ask me what is your experience and then they down play my expertise, my accomplishments and my impact on my industry and our society of course it is hurtful. But the main reason is there is no single method that has been endorsed and/or recommended by our IEDC organization on how to answer this question.

But, Holbrook does answer The question with no substantiation.

The following is my current tally I have been continuously questioned about by the bloggers, general public CAVE people but for some reason not ever have my clients and/or my industry asked me to produce this list.

His clients aren't asking? Are you sure about that, Holbrook?

My results have been what some might say quite remarkable and some would say unbelievable, so rather than argue I just kept my statement simple, but impact. I have maintained for the past few years that my economic value to my industry has been approximately “100 projects, 50,000 jobs created and over $1B in economic impact and investment.” So after yet another barrage of naysayers and even an attack on my ethics and conduct related to my work in our industry.....While I feel such malicious and defamatory bloggers will never be capable of accepting the truth or admitting they were wrong in their comments and accusations. Nor will any amount of disclosure or discourse sway them from their conspiracy minded thoughts.

He made the lofty claims. No one else did it for him.

Here is my official tally sheet to the best of my knowledge as of this my 52 year of my birth month:

• Total Direct Jobs Created from all Measured Sectors- 37,503-38,153 jobs
• Total approximate indirect jobs created-150,012- 152,612 jobs
• Total approx. indirect jobs (using Morgan rule of thumb multiplier)-93,757
• Pending direct Jobs in process- 4310 (current projects)
• Estimated In-direct jobs impact- 17,240 (current projects)
• Pending construction Economic Impact- $613M (current projects)
• Pending estimated Economic Impact Once closed annually- $155M (current)
• Pending Estimated One time construction value- $673M (current)
• Total One-time construction economic impact (completed)- $419.3M
• Total financing Invested into businesses-$2.3B (completed)
• Total Annual Economic Impact Cumulative of projects- $5B (completed)
• Total number of businesses served- 168 (without pro-bono-completed)
• Total number businesses served cumulative w/pro-bono-1657 (completed)

No I am not going to name all the projects, but I do have a written record of them now thanks to these most recent allegations.

Wait for it.......

So in my opinion this case is now officially closed.

If Don Holbrook was smart he would name the projects!!!!!

His Earthquest debacle (remember he was hired by EMCID to handle the fundraising and secure the financing) has done incalculable damage to Texas. Many families and businesses made decisions based on Earthquest being built. Numerous start dates have been put out there as fact and have come and gone. Thanks to Holbrook and McCrady many have been terribly harmed financially. I assume we can deduct those horrific losses from Holbrook's totals. Perhaps, he will cover the losses incurred by those that took the groundbreaking dates seriously and acted on that information.

What incredible arrogance. This pompous blowhard brags of all these projects and after all the trauma, drama and threats, he declines to name them.

Soapboxmom

ac·count·a·ble/əˈkountəbəl/

Adjective:

(of a person, organization, or institution) Required or expected to justify actions or decisions; responsible. Explicable; understandable.

ignoring my projects that have won the Governor’s award in Minnesota as the Economic Development Project of the Year, “New Flyer Industries.” The New Flyer project so transformed the Minnesota economy that it created the number one automotive industry in Minnesota and attracted yet another expansion by the company in St. Cloud.

Holbrook goes on about this in his previous rant and his heated responses on Amazon. He named two downtown revitalization projects on Amazon as well. Bringing in an auto production plant is great. A few restaurants and small businesses to downtown happened in my little hometown and Dallas just the same and without Holbrook or any outlandish expenditures.

The auto plant did not require him to secure 600 million to 1 billion dollars in financing. There folks is the problem. EMCID paid this clown to handle the fundraising and secure the financing in 2007. He obviously has little hope of accomplishing that. And, frankly the extravagant trips, wining and dining of Holbrook and the rest should never have happened until the financing was taken care of. Millions were spent in development costs as well when there was no money lined up for the project. Why???? Will Pahrump and the next bunch of hicks he approaches have to spend hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars before it becomes obvious the project Holbrook is peddling is a pipe dream that will never be more than signs, pretty drawings and models???

Soapboxmom

Hey, all. As the founder of EarthQuest concept for theme park and nonprofit conservation institute, and a former journalist, I have many reasons for supporting your and others efforts to bring to the light of day all that has blocked the progress and wasted taxpayer money, and my own, on the project. All that's gone wrong is a huge disappointment to me too, but I hope people will not throw out the healthy baby with the dirty bathwater. A lot of good development work was done on EarthQuest planning it and demonstrating how it's a good investment, even though the public money spent should have produced even more. It's still a viable project, especially now without the deceptive, perhaps criminal, leadership of Marlin/Atlantis. Under new ownership and management, here is still a reasonable chance the project can succeed. If so, I think it will do a great deal of good for Montgomery County in education, entertainment, and revenue.
Also, I am hopeful that people will truly do their homework and be specific in their allegations. There is some serious wrongdoing here, not to be confused with ineptness or plain old greed. I think it's important to look at the distinctions. Personally, I am not happy with stone-walling going on now by many involved, and EMCID definitely didn't do its proper homework before getting themselves, and me, into bed with Marlin Atlantis. And I think the nonprofit was poorly managed by its board (including me) and not well managed by Holbrook. But I don't see where EMCID or Holbrook for that matter are guilty of any crimes. In fact, much as he might self-promote, Holbrook actually did his job quite well for the for-profit theme park, which was to interest EMCID in the project and get state benefits for the project. One could certainly take exception to the style or the expenses involved in all paid people's work on this project, but I do want to make clear the distinction between EMCID and Holbrook's conduct, and that of the developers which may have been outright illegal if they misrepresented their ownership of the land.

Originally Posted by Don Lessem

Hey, all. As the founder of EarthQuest concept for theme park and nonprofit conservation institute, and a former journalist, I have many reasons for supporting your and others efforts to bring to the light of day all that has blocked the progress and wasted taxpayer money, and my own, on the project. All that's gone wrong is a huge disappointment to me too, but I hope people will not throw out the healthy baby with the dirty bathwater. A lot of good development work was done on EarthQuest planning it and demonstrating how it's a good investment, even though the public money spent should have produced even more. It's still a viable project, especially now without the deceptive, perhaps criminal, leadership of Marlin/Atlantis. Under new ownership and management, here is still a reasonable chance the project can succeed. If so, I think it will do a great deal of good for Montgomery County in education, entertainment, and revenue.
Also, I am hopeful that people will truly do their homework and be specific in their allegations. There is some serious wrongdoing here, not to be confused with ineptness or plain old greed. I think it's important to look at the distinctions. Personally, I am not happy with stone-walling going on now by many involved, and EMCID definitely didn't do its proper homework before getting themselves, and me, into bed with Marlin Atlantis. And I think the nonprofit was poorly managed by its board (including me) and not well managed by Holbrook. But I don't see where EMCID or Holbrook for that matter are guilty of any crimes. In fact, much as he might self-promote, Holbrook actually did his job quite well for the for-profit theme park, which was to interest EMCID in the project and get state benefits for the project. One could certainly take exception to the style or the expenses involved in all paid people's work on this project, but I do want to make clear the distinction between EMCID and Holbrook's conduct, and that of the developers which may have been outright illegal if they misrepresented their ownership of the land.

A big hearty Texas Welcome! We are very honored you took the time to share with us here on RS.

"His profession is about professional bullshitting," Lessem says.

This was the cutest comment in the Houston Press article. It nicely illustrates some of the issues I have with Holbrook as this thread shows.

Getting rid of John Marlin, Trey White and their gang is a huge step in the right direction. They had the Earthquest property up for sale in 2006 I believe and it appears it may have been up for grabs the whole time the project was being planned for that specific property. I, of course, had a field day questioning why Marlin Atlantis White didn't just buy the property outright and fund the project since Trey White was in MLMers' videos and promotions (sometimes hamming it up for the cameras) being introduced as a multi-billionaire.

I am so looking forward to updates about the project. I thank you again for taking the time to set the facts straight!

Soapboxmom

Comments from the Houson Press article:

Donlessem

As the creator EarthQuest sustainability theme park, and the knucklehead whose misadventures start off this very-well written piece on the many problems afflicting the park, I did want to make clear the distinction between those project-stalling actions that were numb-skulled or self-serving, and those that may have been criminal.
There's been way too much blustering and stone-walling going on from the project principals and employees, which doesn't help clarify matters. But in short, some of us were simply misguided and have nothing to show for it - I'd include myself and science advisor Dr. Matt Gardner among those. Many others made a lot of money and delivered nothing. East Montgomery County's development organization spent a lot of taxpayer money without doing proper homework on the project team. Don Holbrook, the economic developer whose record is questioned here, made a good deal of money and is owed more, but actually did his job of getting the government interested in supporting the project very well. So by the standards of that profession, he is entitled to what he earned.
The rest of us, taxpayers and myself included, are still hoping this all pans out.
But the developers, Marlin/Atlantis may have criminally misrepresented their ownership of the land, and misappropriated bond funds from County citizens. I'm hoping that continued investigative sleuthing and perhaps government investigation will bring answers to what became of that money.
Meanwhile, oddly enough, the EarthQuest project is in a better place than it ever was. The company purchasing the land from Marlin/Atlantis is apparently open to supporting the project and the concept developers at Contour Entertainment are honestly trying to broker a funding deal from investors internationally. I wish them luck and I wish some good news for us all.

Don Holbrook 1 hour ago

Thanks Dino Don for attempting to set the record straight. Those of us that were hired under contracts based on our performance to achieve objectives stated in our contracts by our clients have been wrongfully accused and defamed based on innuendo, rumors, bloggers and slanted media. I doubt no matter what facts are given they would properly report or blog the facts correctly. With regard to the Fantasyland article, I actually gave the reporter facts, and he chose to deflect them and not base the article on factual evidence. He chose to purposefully mislead the general public in order to sensationalize his own fictional conspiracy theory. I have chosen not to respond to these folks because of their inability to be factual, fair and impartial in their alleged investigative stories. Soapbox is just a housewife with too much time on her hands and a delusional vision of her own misguided contribution to society in my opinion. My experience is you can't reason or debate with people that are so self absorbed they can't tell fact from fiction. I do appreciate your valiant effort to set the record straight. I also agree the project, thanks to EMCID's strategic intervention is now in the best position ever to bring this project to fruition. Nothing of this scale and magnitude comes without criticism, but when it opens all this will be washed away like a sandcastle on the beach of time.
__________________________________________________ ________________________________________________
Lessem and Dr. Gardner were always the science guys. Lessem is not a knucklehead at all. Openly and honestly discussing things is a brilliant strategy. I spoke to Dr. Gardner and he was sincerely very discouraged that the Institute was shelved for now. He really believes in it and fully supports it being brought back to life. I in no way fault them for the confusion and apparent breakdown of the project. I would never have expected them to participate in the business end of things.

The business end of things is where I would expect to see Holbrook as the one leading the charge. No one would expect anyone to work for free if they needed to make a living, but Holbrook paying himself $185 an hour (derived from the 2009 compensation) from a charity that in essence was bankrupt from the get go according to my calculations and those of mainstream press articles suggest very poor judgment on his part. That charity paid Holbrook $328,000 I believe and paid a Marlin Atlantis flunky a sum nearly that large when only 2 fundraisers were hosted and no charitable activities save for a little computer game project by Dr. Gardner ever took place. Another $600,000.00 went to professional services. With Lessem and Gardner on board the creative end would have been incredible, but there was way too much money going out the door to ever get the thing on its feet. I do not agree with Holbrook paying himself such generous amounts. Holbrook is extremely foolish to withhold documents that are required by law to be available. Hiding things just leads to more embarrassing questions and the involvement of enforcement agencies.

I would be much more in favor of the high pay for Holbrook if he had come in with some investors lined up before this went so far. He was contracted to do the fundraising in 2007 according to the Houston news. It seems we may have put the cart a bit before the horse. Without a good indication of the funding being attainable I can't see how we ended up spending this much money. The extravagant spending is especially disturbing when the local charities in Texas are struggling to help the homeless and hungry. The lifestyle of the rich and famous bit is an insult to those in the area that are truly in need. Why should they see their tax dollars used to take Holbrook to Chez Nous and the sports arena???

As I noted previously, the Earthquest land seems to have been for sale in 2006 and possibly thereafter. The bond expenditures are up on the EMCID site and those do need to be researched and explained. Accountability is a good thing.

I am not sure how getting funding in the post Madoff era will go. There is a new and I think good amount of caution. Having watched Six Flags struggle for years here in Dallas it is obvious this needs to be very well thought through. They have been in the business for years and faced a lot of challenges. I can also say having grown up in the construction industry, costing out jobs way under what will actually have to be spent is easy to do and happens more than folks might think. It would not be out of line to be thinking in terms of having closer to 1 billion available before the first shovel of dirt. The Disney parks show us that valuable lesson.

Holbrook might want to consider publishing the contracts he is braying about. Again, we are to take his word without a shred of documentation. We haven't seen and don't know the terms of his contracts and he is refusing to release the charity papers. He won't name his 100s of projects. If he is in the right he should not have any issue with everything being made public. Transparency is the hallmark of an honest person with nothing to hide. So, Holbrook, you can keep attacking me personally or just release the documents and prove me wrong!!!

Soapboxmom

Holbrook is viciously attacking me hoping to threaten me into silence.

http://www.realscam.com/f11/iedc-int...html#post19787

This dishonest realtor is advertising land around the new park. What new park? Years later there is no park. The financing isn't even in place!

EARTHQUEST ~ A NEW DESTINATION PARK FOR MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TEXAS

Here is a sobering history of Six Flags. DId Holbrrok look seriously into these issues? I am not surprised no investors have stepped up.

SIX FLAGS TIMELINE

http://www.realscam.com/f11/iedc-int...html#post19822

http://www.realscam.com/f11/iedc-int...html#post19824

EMCID Clairvoyance - Monday, April 30, 2012 - Copyright 2007 Ourtribune.com

Inexplicable is a very kind way to phrase it!

Originally Posted by Soapboxmom

EMCID Clairvoyance - Monday, April 30, 2012 - Copyright 2007 Ourtribune.com

Inexplicable is a very kind way to phrase it!

Approving a loan prior to a loan request, things that make ya go hmmmm...!

EarthQuest 2009 bond sale: where did tax dollars go - Monday, April 30, 2012 - Copyright 2007 Ourtribune.com

This small park cost 400 million to build and quickly ended up bankrupt. So, how can an mega international destination like Earthquest be built for a mere 600 million??? How will the Houston area get in enough visitors to keep something afloat? This place was really nifty and unique as well. Another thing to make us go hmmmmmm!!!

Theme park's future uncertain, three years after opening : News : CarolinaLive.com

Hard Rock Park

Google Image Result for http://www.bumpershine.com/wp-images/posts/hard_rock_park.gif

S.C.'s Hard Rock Park files for bankruptcy after inaugural season - USATODAY.com

Lack of funding for promotion and attendance having been overestimated shut this one down right after it opened. How has Holbrook figured those issues into the planning for Earthquest?

Even after getting the park for $25,000,000.00 after the first collapse into bankruptcy, the second owners couldn't keep the thing open. What real chance does Earthquest have in an area that is not a big tourist draw and not surrounded too many wealthy neighborhoods to support it?

http://www.smokymountainnews.com/com...musement-rides

Another sobering tale. Why invest hundreds of millions in a new park that has almost no chance of being profitable when there are so many in financial trouble that can be bought for a song. In some cases they can be bought for a lot less than the taxpayers spent courting Holbrook!

I can see why the reporters were not given copies of the studies related to this floundering project. I think it is very naive to think that with 18 million people within 4 hours driving distance that this park can ever become profitable. Someone truly unbiased and not hooked up with Holbrook needs to take a hard and realistic look at this clunker!

Soapboxmom

http://www.grandtexas.net/visit_info.html#directions

Grand Texas Theme Park in Tomball: Bringing Some of that Texas Frontier Spirit to Texas » Swamplot: Houston's Real Estate Landscape

UPDATE: Developer of Tomball theme park hopes to emphasize educational, economic value - Your Houston News: News

This looks much more likely to come to fruition. It is a great low cost, but incredible entertainment option for the family. Notice, there was apparently no robbing of the taxpayers to the tune of millions of dollars. Don Holbrook and Frank McCrady weren't living the lifestyle of the rich and famous to develop this very charming venue. I will be there!!!!! No need to waste another dollar on Earthquest if this deal can be completed!

Soapboxmom

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• Don Holbrook 2 hours ago in reply to Heather Dawne Clarke Dobrott

  
  There is no comparison between these two parks. I know for a fact as I did the evaluation and review of Hard Rock Park in SC for another client. The Houston market is the best market in the United States for a major theme park and is centrally located in the 4th largest city in the United States, with a major hub airport, gulf port, and exponentially more visitors and population than a remote city in SC. You are no expert on theme parks and should bias your statements as to the lack of knowledge you actually have on such subjects. Secondary to that the Hard Rock Park in SC was built for adults mostly and theme parks cater to 10-18 year olds mostly and thus an adult theme park would be more likely to be Las Vegas. Children should not be expected to view some of the raunchy stuff on the theme at Hard Rock in SC. In addition, Hard Rock did not have a public-private partnership in SC, they knew more than everyone and felt their brand and strategy was enough to carry their project. Obviously they were wrong. The Earthquest project has had three official world class theme park economic analysis groups report independently that the Houston market is the best and only one they feel could support a theme park in the US today. That was further backed up just last year by another 4th opinion from yet another of the world's most renowned theme park experts. The only issues with the EarthQuest project lie squarely with the lack of performance by the private sector developer and the timing of the unforeseen global financial crisis. The developer situation is able to be remedied by EMCID and the financial markets are now finally beginning to show signs of new investment mindsets.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Heather Dawne Clarke Dobrott 1 hour ago in reply to Don Holbrook

  
  Have all those reports been made public as requested? Please give us the links.
  Can an independent park that is not affiliated with Disney or the like really get funded? What if this park does have cost overruns and will actually cost more than a billion dollars to construct? How much has been budgeted to promote the park? How many visitors must come through the gates yearly for this thing to break even? If the project has been downsized and the resort isn't built early on, where are visitors supposed to stay? Has anyone really addressed the astronomical cost to maintain a 550 acre park? Lots of questions. Where are the answers?
  
  
  
  
  
  

Mr Holbrook can go 'round and 'round the mulberry bush as much as he likes.

The point remains, he's dealing with public money here.

Public money = public scrutiny and accountability.