Facebook Group Calls on Mayor to Withdraw Support for HCW Deal in View of New Findings

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Mayor Winnecke and his Puppets
Mayor Winnecke and his Puppets

Evansville, September 14, 2013: The Facebook group opposing the taxpayer funded hotel is calling upon Mayor Lloyd Winnecke to formally withdraw his support from a deal that would have given $37.5 million in taxpayer subsidies to hotel developer HCW out of Branson, MO.

In a recent email to City Council members and the Mayor’s office, proposed vetting firm Crowe Horwath have formally turned down the contract to review the personal and professional tax information of HCW partners citing a lack of cooperation and unworkable restrictions applied to the process by HCW.

A. Ridgeway Miller, a CPA of Crowe Horwath said in an email to both City Council members and the Mayor’s office, “HCW’s requirements and prohibitions inappropriately place Crowe in possession of information that the Council should have, and HCW’s restrictions provide no way for Crowe to give the Council the information the Council needs to make an informed decision. Crowe cannot proceed on that basis.”

Brad Linzy of the Citizens of Evansville against a Taxpayer Funded Hotel Facebook page believes this should be the death knell of the deal. “This is totally unacceptable. If the Mayor does not withdraw his support now, he runs the risk of further alienating constituents and appearing to be in total disregard for transparency of government.”

Linzy further has called upon the City Council to reconvene at their earliest convenience and vote down this hotel deal with HCW. “The vetting process has failed,” Linzy continued. “HCW has refused to cooperate. This is not a company with whom we feel the taxpayers of Evansville need to be doing business. Even if you supported the subsidy up until now, this should give you serious pause for thought.”

The Facebook group still plans to hold a protest when a final vote is scheduled, which could come sooner than expected considering these developments.

https://www.facebook.com/EvansvilleSaysNo

7 COMMENTS

  1. Money is a commodity. If it costs you $82. million to purchase $37.5 million of it, your total debt is $82. million! GET IT RIGHT!

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    • I agree, but putting the $82 million figure in a press release would confuse journalists when the purpose is to call upon Winnecke to withdraw. That’s where the story is.

      • The public needs to understand what their REAL would be if this goes through. Currently the public does not have a clue because no one is talking about the REAL cost. Why? Because the $82 million figure would scare the hell out of them.

        Once the public fully understands that they would be paying $82. million so a private out of state corporation could OWN another hotel property, the city and the common council would be forced to pull the plug on this project or face the consequences at the polls.

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        • Don’t equate net present value with future absolute value. It’s like comparing apples to gorillas.

  2. GREAT, but need these revisions to the Puppets:

    1) Add the C & P to the 5 puppets already shown;

    2) Add a puppetmaster by the name of Weinzapfel pulling the strings up above Winnecke; and

    3) Add a puppetmaster by the name of Evansville Regional Development Committee (ERDC) pulling the strings of Weinzapfel.

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