Why was Wyomissing’s mayor speaking for both sides of a private real-estate transaction in a story about a delay in closing for the sale of the Berkshire Mall (“Pushed back,” Reading Eagle, June 12)?
Mayor Fred Levering admitted, “I have not seen anything in writing” yet announced a September closing, explained prospective buyer Abrams Realty Group’s financing and tenant needs, described its layout and said that current mall owner and said current mall owner Namdar Realty Group recognizes it has “a good one in Abrams.”
The article quotes neither Abrams nor Namdar and does not say whether either was asked to confirm those claims. Instead, a public official supplies Abrams’ favorable narrative and explains the seller’s thinking. That is not right.
Abrams has submitted no formal redevelopment plan. Yet Levering’s repeated promotion creates the appearance that Borough Hall has chosen a preferred private party before any application, hearing or vote. When the buyer and seller stay off the record while the mayor supplies the story, he looks less like a neutral official and more like Abrams’ spokesman.
Two days earlier, borough council voted 5-1 to hire a $350-per-hour special counsel after being told it should retain ultimate authority over the community’s interests. An Abrams affiliate is already litigating against West Whiteland Township officials over the Exton Square Mall. That does not make litigation here inevitable. It means Wyomissing officials should be exceptionally careful. Nonbinding statements can still become exhibits; friendly encouragement can later be characterized as a promise.
Adrian Jadic
Wyomissing