How hard did Mesa try to keep Mattas?

Thanks to everyone who sent me tips since I posted my email address in one of the comment sections about Matta's closing. I am now getting a lot more interesting details about a lot of things including the situation around closing the restaurant down. For those who haven't figured it out, you can send me your insider information to mesaissues@gmail.com.

Here is a tip that someone sent me:

"Without going into too many details that I can't 100% confirm because although they come from extremely reliable sources, I only heard a few of them first hand from the Mattas. Matta's tried working with many people from the city including at least one city councilmember to relocate downtown. There was basically no offer from the city of any help or even a real concern that Matta's would be closing down. The Matta's weren't looking for a handout but they were looking for help with things like permits and the likes if a new building were to be built or an existing one remodeled because of age. Riverview was an option pushed quite a bit and it will more than likely be a place one of the sons will go... I'm sure time will tell and I wish this were a story the reporters really picked up on because I know it goes deeper than this."

I think that Riverview would be a great option for a restaurant, but certainly not the only option for replacing the one that is shutting down. Mesa should be working with these guys to grow their business. This rings especially true since Mesa would see less sales tax from the project since they still have to give some of that money back to the developers as part of the Riverview incentive deal. I hope that Mesa can work harder to sustain businesses.