America loves dreamers, people with big ideas and the chutzpah to pursue them.

Which means you have to root for the businessmen who are trying to bring the Desert Falls Sports Complex to Mesquite.

But when a city government gives their stamp of approval on a speculative, untested project of this magnitude, there's a lot more at stake than just another land development.

The City of Mesquite entered into a Joint Development Agreement with Desert Falls in February of 2009, selling city-owned land at bargain basement prices.

Ordinarily, the source of a land-buyer's money is nobody's business.

When it involves land owned by the taxpayers, and a development partnership with the municipality, that makes it the public's business.

The city's involvement gave the project an instant legitimacy and credibility that is usually earned only when backed by the dollars necessary to make the dream a reality.

Before city officials gave the project that kind of credibility, they had the obligation to the people of Mesquite to do their homework and know the exact source and stability of the funding.

It appears the city failed on that front.

When the city agreed to accept a post-dated check at the 11th hour of the deadline set by those officials, it should have set off warning bells.

It didn't.

If a local business person or a Mesquite resident showed up at City Hall to pay for their business license with a $200 post-dated check, they would quickly be shown the exits.

But in this case, the city saw nothing wrong with taking a post-dated check for $316,000 from out-of-town developers.

And maybe it's just a coincidence that the city set up a meeting between the Desert Falls owners and the investors who appear to have ultimately funded that down payment, a meeting which took place at City Hall two days after the check was issued.

Another question raised by the post-dated check is why the delay beyond the required date of the down payment didn't void or at least jeopardize the agreement itself.

In many circles, a contract is broken if payment isn't received by the deadline.

The Desert Falls developers don't believe their payment, dated 13 days after the Aug. 26 deadline set by the city, violated the contract.

If the contract was so vague as to leave doubts about something as simple as a deadline date, you have to wonder what else is wrong with the agreement written by the city.

One curiosity is why a down payment wasn't required until six months after the sale and Joint Development Agreements were signed.

Ever try to buy a house without a down payment?

One more glaring shortfall is the fact that the contract doesn't say when the developers have to pay the remaining $10.8 million for the land, the city-mandated extension of Hardy Way, and a redundant Fiber Optic line required in the JDA.

It's like a 30-month layaway plan, with the taxpayers carrying the interest on the note.

In fact, according to the city, the only other deadline specified in the contract is Nov. 26, 2011.

By that date, the first phase of the project must be completed, despite the fact that the developers can't turn a single spoonful of dirt until the balance has been paid.

City officials say that's okay, and the public shouldn't be worried.

After all, they claim, if the developers don't pay, the land remains with the city and the taxpayers haven't lost anything but a little bit of time.

Try telling that to business owners lured to Mesquite by City Hall's hype about the coming Desert Falls project, opening businesses here in anticipation of this economy-boosting project.

Tell that to the families who plunked down their life savings on a home here because the city government said this half-billion dollar project was going to create jobs and prosperity for local citizens.

To be sure, if Desert Falls becomes a reality, Mesquite will be a huge winner.

But if it doesn't, City Hall can't pretend that there won't be financial casualties.