IS IT TRUE MARCH 2, 2016

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IS IT TRUE the real name for “TIF FUNDS” should be called “POLITICAL SLUSH FUNDS”?

IS IT TRUE we wonder why DMD Director Kelly Coures didn’t tell City Council that crime is running rampant on North Main before they voted for the $18 million dollar “Bike Trail” project located in that area?

IS IT TRUE last Saturday George Lumley (The Blight Fighter) made an extremely informative presentation to the local Tea Party organization about the alleged misuse of Federal TARP funds by DMD?  …he also presented detailed information about the alleged financial misconduct of the Evansville Brownfields Corp?…we urge Mr. Lumley immediately turn over his information over to State and Federal agencies so they can investigate his allegations of misuse of taxpayers money by DMD and Evansville Brownfields Corp?

IS IT TRUE we are anxious to see if the new owner of the soon to be launched Professional Hockey team agreed to the same terms that Evansville IceMen had?  …we hear that Evansville IceMen paid the city a $2 per patron fee,  gave all the food and beverage income to the Ford Center and paid the City $11,000 per game to rent the facility?

IS IT TRUE every time we turn around we bump into Dr Richard Moss candidate for United States  Congressman in the Republican primary?  …if hard work is an important criteria to getting elected to public office then Dr. Moss should be elected as our next Congressmen?

IT TRUE Brad Ellsworth of Vectren is going to present a proposed plan to install additional utility poles in the Historic District ?   …he will present Vectren proposed plans to install new period lighting to the Preservation Commission at a Meeting next Monday, March 7 at 5:30 pm at the Civic Center?   …the reason for this presentation is to answer questions concerning the installation of new utility poles in that area?  …didn’t Vectren help fund and install new utilities poles in the Historic District  a couple years back? ...didn’t members of a neighborhood group help pay for the period. lights and poles a couple years back?   …we wonder if they are doing similar this time around to help defray the costs of installing additional period lighting in that area?  …we wonder why Vectren Corp isn’t spending their time and resources in improving the lighting in the less fortunate areas of the city?

IS IT TRUE attached is a post by CCO blogger Meter Maid In reply to elkaybee we found interesting?  …attached are the comments made by Meter Maid?  …”If Winnecke & Company had reported the City’s Financial Statements in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) like Indy, Ft. Wayne and South Bend, the General Fund would have been presented in the correct matter. In addition, instead of the General Fund being falsely reported as a positive $307,000 the advance from the water dept of $2,440,000 (which by the way, Friend was the only councilman that discovered the midnight raid on the Utility treasury) and the failure to pay the General Fund portion of the medical bill of $3,700,0000, the General Fund would have properly stated a negative $5.9 mil. But, wait a minute, Russ in addition to the medical bill, failed to pay $5.1 million in vendor bills as of end of 2014 compared to $2.3 million at the beginning of the 2014 year. This my friends would have added to the deficit the difference of $2.3 mil.lion. So, the General Fund is actually negative at the beginning of 2015 by $8.1 million.”

IS IT TRUE to paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, “When the people fear DMD and Evansville Brownsfields Corp board members there is tyranny. … When DMD and Evansville Brownsfields Corp board members fear the people there is freedom.”

FOOTNOTES: Our next “IS IT TRUE” will be posted on this coming Wednesday?

Please take time and read our newest feature article entitled “HOT JOBS”. Jobs posted in this section are from Evansville proper.

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Todays “Readers Poll” question is:  Do you feel that Evansville Brownfields Corp should be considered a public or private entity?

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25 COMMENTS

  1. Transparency from elected officials on the use of taxpayer funds….this is a given, right?
    I mean, who would be against that?

    The City County Observer is appropriately demanding all elected officials who currently serve on the Evansville Brownfield Corp Land Bank – the EBC land bank spends and invests millions of taxpayer dollars – either open their meetings and records to the public, or resign.
    Who would be against transparency?
    I can think of two people who will not support that need for transparency:
    1. City Councilperson Connie Robinson – the longest serving Executive Board Member of the EBC Land Bank.
    2. Frequent contributor to the City County Observer Laura K. Blackburn/ELKAYBEE.

    How can ANY elected official support closed door meetings and off-the books budgets of taxpayer funds?
    How can ANYONE who “say they champion transparency”…not support transparency in this case?

  2. Glad you noted the hysterical light project in the affluent part of the fourth ward. These citizens who can all afford to pay for lights to match their homes successfully lobbied their buddies in government to help foot the bill for light poles that resemble those from Menards. Now they are complaining about how slowly Vectren is removing the old, offensive cobra head lights. Boo hoo. Life is tough in the mansions on the riverfront. You are correct to note that some parts of town have no street lights to illuminate the crumbling sidewalks below. You will also find that a close relative of the OEHA leader sees the mayor’s wife on a daily basis.

  3. I found this part of the new hockey team contract interesting from the C&P this AM.
    The way the new three-way agreement works: VenuWorks owns 90 percent of the franchise while Mike Hall owns the remaining 10 percent. If Hall wants to sell, back out or leave the city, Evansville Redevelopment Commission President Randy Alsman said VenuWorks will take over. Then the city will have the chance to buy the entire franchise.
    10% does not sound like much skin in the game. sounds like us tax payers just bought a hockey team.

    • Of course we purchased a hockey team. Winnecke gives Snake-Oil salesmen bad names. What’s very clear? When you elect anyone without any business sense things become screwed up. The hotel which cost us more and more with less and less. The North Main debacle starting at 13 mil and now 18 mil. Wait and see the IU Med project will most certainly follow the pattern.

      • I knew this guy and his hockey team was just too handy, but I never figured we had a 90% stake in the thing.

        • Yep, it just didn’t look right from the start. They have gotten by with a lot. It will get worse. There is nothing really that can be done about them. Just keep calling them out for their lies and ineptitude, maybe history will put a dripping asterisk by the Winnecke administration.

  4. The CP is reporting that the ownership of the new hockey team is 90% VenuWorks and 10% Mike Hall. That really changes things. Mr. Hall who is known to be a huge hockey fan and loyal local business owner is not in a position to make big decisions. He is technically not in a position to make any decisions. A 10% stake in a private business only means something if the business is sold but as I read the CP article that is essentially impossible to happen due to a restriction on free market acquisitions. Mr. Hall’s involvement seems to be symbolic and his ownership percentage is trivial.

    VenuWorks seems to have made a deal with themselves to keep a hockey team in town and the city is the option holder on the team’s location. This ought to be rich.

    I also see that the price for the bridge to nowhere has unexpectedly increased by $400,000. That brings the price to exactly the $3.5 Million that was predicted in the CCO 5 years ago. Expect more surprises.

    • He will get a nice box though. Wonder what 10% cost. I am assuming it is a tax write off.

      • If they were really smart about it and he formed it then followed that up by selling off an equity investment by VenuWorks for 90% ownership the answer could easily be zero. There is also a path to collecting cash from the city for the purchase option. Whether that level of sophistication was incorporated is something that I doubt we will ever be told.

    • Maybe VenuWorks should make the City some money before it spends any more. It must be great to be in a business that doesn’t need to make a profit.

  5. Now we not only have a third rated hockey team the deal assures us to continue to have a third rated Ford Center events org in the likes of VenuWorks. Just sign the renewal agreement without any questions asked, Winnie!!! Hollywood can’t write this script better

    • VenuWorks will continue to raise concession prices and ticket prices and then question why no one will attend the events. They are taking the city for a ride. Sad.

  6. Name Searched On:
    DELTA PROPERTIES LLC (Legal)

    Current Information

    Entity Legal Name:
    DELTA PROPERTIES, LLC

    Entity Address:
    4763 ROSEBUD LANE, NEWBURGH, IN 47630

    General Entity Information:

    Control Number: 2002040200120
    Status: Active
    Entity Type: Domestic Limited Liability Company (LLC)

    Entity Creation Date: 4/1/2002
    Entity Date to Expire:
    Entity Inactive Date:

    The Business Entity Report(s) is(are) due for this entity by 04/30/2016 . Click here to file the Business Entity Report.

    There are no other names on file for this Entity.

    Registered Agent(name, address, city , state , zip):
    EVAN L BECK
    4763 ROSEBUD LANE
    NEWBURGH , IN 47630

    Principals(name, address, city, state, zip – when provided)
    [This Limited Liability Company Does Not Have Managers.]

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    I am confused as to the last line above. The sales document below shows that this Limited Liability Company does indeed have a manager. The purchaser of this property clearly signed as “manager”.

    http://www.vanderburghassessor.org/SalesDisclosures/C82-2014-2028819/2028819.pdf

    • 2625 Kotter Avenue is in the public notices today. The Evansville Common Council will be meeting at 5:30 pm on the 14th of March to vote on a resolutionthat was presented to the Council on the 8th of March, seeking designation of the property as an “economic revitalization zone” subject to real estate tax deductions.

      It appears that this legal notice was placed in the Evansville Courier&Press by the Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville (GAGE).

    • Evan Beck owns Woodward Commercial Realty. He is a fair and honest man. He also has private real estate investments. This just looks like he sold some land. LLCs have to have a managing partner. It looks to me like Evan signed off on this sale as the managing partner of the LLC that sold a parcel of land. This does not look SNEGAL to me.

      • Joe: Did you get your buyer and seller confused?

        Part of the problem here is that local government expenses are outstripping income by a significant margin. If everyone gets significant tax breaks, the problem only gets worse unless spending is diminished accordingly. We have only increased spending on our horizon.

        The former owners of the property were tax exempt. Now that we have the “possibility” of returning this property to the tax rolls, it seems the city/county feels compelled to offer up the obligatory property tax exemption. When will this madness ever end? The local taxpayers are about to revolt over their Sisyphean existence.

    • I got an idea for a new slogan to put on billboards on 41. “If you think our river is dirty, you should meet our politicians.”

  8. The big difference between Evansville and its cheapo hockey team and Greenbay and the Packers is that the public KNEW it when they bought a professional sports team, and they got one that draws outside money to the city.

  9. A TV station is reporting on the continued vandalism and crime in Jacobsville, where Winnecke & Co. just decided to pour $16 million worth of new concrete. At least the criminals will have some nice white pavement to walk on. Talk about your waste of TIF money.

    • At a meeting the other day and the police officer (Evansville Specialist) said crime problem was like a balloon in your hand – you squeeze it in one place and it pops out somewhere else. Is this the norm in other cities or just Evansville? Have they planed on where the crime will move to or are they just concerned about driving it off N Main st?

      • All that will change on North Main is the way it looks, until the vandals do their thing.

      • They don’t care if it goes anyplace, as long as it stays out of their nice little neighborhoods. I hope the Scooter People of Evansville enjoy their new place to ride.

Comments are closed.