IS IT TRUE APRIL 27, 2017

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IS IT TRUE the taxpayers of Evansville should be demanding to see all legal documents illustrating who really has legal rights to the ownership of the Evansville Thunderbolts?

IS IT TRUE we hope that the ERC and Mayor Winnecke hasn’t gotten into another Earthcare type deal?

IS IT TRUE that it seems like Mayor Winnecke has cut a backroom deal with VenueWorks that will take away any financial exposure from any debts that the Thunderbolts/Venueworks may have acquired during the 2016-17 hockey season?  …it looks like theERC and Mayor Winnecke  may have signed a “debt forgiveness agreement” with Thunderbolts/VenueWorks for a total of 5 years?

IS IT TRUE that the ERC and Mayor Winnecke didn’t inform the majority of the Evansville City Council  members concerning “debt forgiveness agreement” until long after the fact?  …we wonder if the Evansville City Council should had been allowed to voted on this “debt forgiveness agreement” with VenueWorks/Thunderbolts and the City since it has to do with using our tax dollars to cover any financial liabilities of the Evansville Thunderbolts hockey team?

IS IT TRUE that at Monday evening City Council meeting the GM of VenueWorks/Ford Center stood in front of the Council and seemly gave the impression that he wasn’t concerned  about the Evansville Thunderbolts making a profit?

IS IT TRUE yesterday that former City Councilman and Finance Chairmen John Friend, CPA posted the following comments concerning the alleged partnership agreement between Mike Hall and VenueWorks/VW LLC that we felt worth re-posting?   …Mr. Friend posted the following comments “under the IRC 701 provisions, partners in this case, Mr. Hall could receive all the loss allocations, but only to the extent Mr. Hall had hard money therein or on the hook for the entity’s debt. For example, it Hall had invested hard many of $100,000 and VenuWorks invested $200,000, and if the agreement stated that Hall was responsible for all the losses, and the first year of operations generated a $200,000 loss, Hall would receive only $100,000 of the loss and the next $100,000 would go to VenuWorks. This is referred to as the AT-RISK rules. If during the next year, the entity’s loss was $200,000, VenuWorks would receive another $100,000 of the loss, which would wipe out their total hard money input, the next $100,000 in the second year would be allocated based on debt, generally, if Hall was the only one on the loan, he would then receive the next $100,000 because he has AT-RISK on collections from the bank. Hope this explains the mechanisms of “Partnership Tax Law”.

IS IT TRUE that the City of Evansville has joined John Blair and Valley Watch along with Citizens Action Coalition as interveners in Vectren’s filing of a $514 million dollar grid maintenance and improvement plan? …Vectren’s residential electric rates remain among the highest in the area and Midwest?  … It has only been about 6 years since the City County Observer ignited an effort to question Vectren’s request for reimbursement for their “dense-pack” generator improvement? … this was a $32 million dollar investment Vectren had already undertaken and its tracking proposal was ultimately denied by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission after holding a hearing in Evansville?

IS IT TRUE Vectren on another front is bringing large scale solar to the Evansville market by partnering with the City of Evansville to capture the sunshine in the Oak Hill Cemetery and turn it into electricity to sell to the customer base of the Tri-State?  …this is of course a welcome addition to the generation capacity?  … will the IURC mandate net zero metering and time of use billing so homeowners and building owners can put up solar panels to completely offset their use?   …while it is encouraging to see Vectren embracing renewable solar energy, they still are pursing homeowners to pay their fair share of the grid should they want to do the same?

IS IT TRUE another local leader of things which seek success at the Ford Center has tendered his resignation and is heading out of town.?…Evansville Sports Corporation Executive Director Jason Sands has left his job in Evansville and headed deep in the heart of Fort Worth, Texas for a similar position?…Bob Warren and the staff at the Evansville Convention and Visitors Bureau will manage the position until a new director is hired?…according to Warren they are about to get busy to hire a replacement?…in all fairness Mr. Sands must have been pretty darn good to get the NCAA Division 2 Basketball Elite Eight to sign a four year deal with a location that can’t get 1,000 people to a conference tournament with a home town team in the tourney?

Todays “READERS POLL” question is;  Are you pleased that City Councilman Justin Elpers requested that the Manager of the Ford Center update Council on the current status of the Thunderbolt hockey team?

12 COMMENTS

  1. Thank you to John Friend, you nailed it on the AT RISK rules re: the 10% ownership stake of Mr. Hall in the hockey team, and the 90% stake of Venuworks. If the Venuworks guy Scott still proclaims that the City will bear no losses for the hockey team, then the City needs to provide proof that Hall is, indeed, on the hook solely for bank loans, or he himself funded all the cash for the operation (indeed, why would a 10% owner put in all the cash or take all the liability ?).

    Anyone filing a public records request will likely be met with ‘those records are not public, as those are the private records of Mr. Hall and Venuworks’.

  2. Well you would be wasting your time trying to get the local prosecutor to look into this deal. Which leaves the State Police, or the Indiana Southern District Attorney. Or I suppose we could take up a collection and hire a private investigator, from outside the area, with a track record of exposing this sort of stuff. Or we can do the usual, shut up and grab your ankles.

  3. Ascension Health, parent company of St Vincent Healthcare/St Mary’s Healthcare, CEO and CFO video interview:

    http://www.360.hmacademy.com/single-post/2016/05/11/Management-Team-Alignment-at-Ascension-Anthony-Tersigni-EdD-President-CEO-and-Anthony-Speranzo-EVP-CFO

    The 2015 Form-form 990 filing for Ascension Health shows compensation of:

    CEO Anthony Tersigni………….$17,491,695.00

    CFO Anthony Speranzo…………$4,879,259.00

    Ascension Health is headquartered in St Louis, Missouri

  4. I recommend that Evansville should legalize marijuana and rename the team the Thunderblunts. It will reduce the need for winning games and increase consumption of overpriced snacks at Ford Center.

    • I see a possible patriotic tie-in to the famed Evansville cigar company Fendrich. Yes, if that came to pass it would be nice to get in there and get part of the Cheetos concession before fan Hall locks up his 10%.

  5. Being as malls are losing favor and proditability, the city of Evansville might want to diversify their losses and invest in Eastland Ford mall.

    • The Tesla Mall in the current fraud center. Maybe get some retail back down there, perhaps people would follow. The current contrivance, the phony hockey team as desperate filler, would be supplanted by tenants who could survive without having to go across the street for a handout.

    • Washington Square Mall is available. And it already has a bar in it so City Council meetings coukd adjourn to it for libations…

  6. It’s time for Winnie, Hall and company to come clean and confess the hockey hoax. Hall was likely a put-up front man, without a dime of investment. The investment was likely solely tax dollars and Hall was utilized for the slight of hand diversion.

  7. Remember when Winnecke said no tax dollars will be spent on hockey? I hope he didn’t delete that tweet because his future opponent could have a field day with that.

  8. Everyone relax and calm down. Another CPA is about to become part of City Hall. The Country and Western fellow will be joining them soon. Put him in with Elvis who I see smoking outside of the Civic Center a lot, and you will have one hell of a show!

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