On June 7, the City released a State Board of Accounts report reviewing the capital expenditures associated with the construction of the Ford Center. There were several inaccuracies in the report and a lot of bluster following its release. I want to clear up some misconceptions.
Mayor Lloyd Winnecke and City Controller Russell Lloyd, Jr. were right about several aspects of the report. The Ford Center was completed on time and under-budget. The State Board of Accounts asserted that the project was over-budget, but it failed to include $1.3 million in funds left over from the project and count the double payments made by the bond trustee to contractors in making its conclusion. Furthermore, the State Board of Accounts itself says that $5.8 million which is attributed to the purchase of the former Executive Inn property should be allocated to the hotel project instead of the arena project. Once you take this into account, it appears that the arena project was at least $7.5 million under budget.
The other issue cited by the State Board of Accounts was the bond trustee’s overpayments to vendors and contractors who worked on the arena. The City, working through its bond trustee, is currently seeking repayment.
Many people do not understand the role of the bond trustee. The bond trustee is put in place to operate “independently” of the city. Typically, it is a bank trust department and its job is to make sure that you have an independent financial firm monitoring the income and expenses, paying the bills and generally assuming the accounting and financial aspects of a project of this magnitude. You don’t manage the bond trustee. Instead, once a project is complete, the City should audit the bond trustee’s activities to make sure all funds were handled correctly and professionally.
Consequently, contrary to statements made, at no place in the State Board of Accounts report does it state that the city’s oversight of the project and its bond trustee was insufficient. So, any calls for enhanced oversight should be closely scrutinized. With a project the size of the Ford Center, there will be errors made by the bond trustee. This is inevitable. However, these errors are generally found by the bond trustee or found during the audit process and then corrected. This in fact is what happened. There were some overpayments and some accounting errors made by the bond trustee, however, with the process that was set in place, these matters were found and corrected. This is how it should work.
We have heard that there needs to be greater supervision of the bond trustee. This assertion undercuts the independence of the bond trustee. Furthermore, how would the city actually supervise a bank’s trust department? Again, the proper approach would be to audit the project and bond trustee’s activities when the project is complete.
Some have suggested that in the future the City should hire an owner’s representative whose role will be to focus on project finances and provide monthly reports to both the Administration and City Council. I agree. However, this is nothing new. That is exactly the role that John Kish played in managing the construction of the Ford Center. John has a long history of managing major projects and was hired to represent the city’s bestinterests.
Others have stated that some problems were caused because the Redevelopment Commission and the Redevelopment Authority did not know what the other was doing. Frankly, this is simply untrue. These two bodies played different yet complementary roles as facilitators of the project and its financing. They shared the same staff at the Department of Metropolitan Development. Kish would take decisions made by one to be reviewed and approved by the other. It is very clear that the project was appropriately coordinated between the two bodies because the work was handled by the same staff.
Additionally, others have said that the State Board of Accounts report demonstrates that there needs to be an internal auditor to review these transactions and report back to the city council on a regular basis. As stated above, the proper time to review the work of the bond trustee is when the project is completed. Furthermore, if city staff is not managing a project well, then replace them or get them some help. Adding an internal auditor that reports to the city council is simply an effort to usurp the responsibilities of the executive branch of city government.
The Ford Center was a high profile project, the largest that the city has ever undertaken. It should be highly scrutinized. However, city officials should be careful with their rhetoric and chest thumping. At every level of government, citizens are rightfully calling for public officials to operate with civility and honesty, and they rightfully are tired of the type of political posturing they have witnessed of late. It is time for all officials to rise to the public’s expectations, and it can start right here with our own city government.
I recently heard a public official state that you don’t get things accomplished in government by shaking your fist. Instead, you roll up your sleeves and find a way to work together to get the job done. Isn’t that what really needs to be happening right now?
Jonathan Weinzapfel
THIS LETTER WAS POSTED WITOUT EDITING, OPINION OR BIAS.
THis clown spent Evansville into a debt our grandchildren will be paying on for many years!!!! Keep blowing smoke King John. I do not think the people will forget your record when you try your next run!!!!!!!!
Wienie-Boy, you cratered your reputation long before you left the Mayor’s Office. The time has long passed for you to leave Evansville for good and disappear into obscurity. As things are now you only make things worse for yourself every time you open your big, fat, dumb mouth.
Good riddance!
Here we have an enormously inflated Ego, continuing to live his fantasy of adoration from everyone that encounters his wonderfulness, and totally incapable of realizing he hasn’t ANY Creditability.
Worst Mayor Ever!
Napoleon, it turns out had a Weinzapfel Complex.
I agree with most of the responses above with the one exception. Mr. Weinzapfel is more than welcome to stay in the community and I wish him nothing but good. I hope he is successful in his future, just as long as it is not in politics of any kind.
Old Weinzapfel is sure spending allot of time trying to scrub the dirt from his record. He was a bad mayor, a useless banker, and I have been told he isn’t interested enough in being a lawyer to even try to run a decent practice. It is obvious that all of his recent writing is a prelude to a run for something. Getting elected is about the only thing this guy can actually do. Hopefully the people of Evansville will rub two brain cells together and send the guy packing when he throw his hat in the ring to campaign again.
My fellow police officers are extremely glad that this jerk is not long Mayor.
All he did was play political games with department while he was in office.
I feel sorry for the way he mistreated and talked down to Chief Brad Hill.
Why didn’t Weinzapfel talk about the status of the city parks, new convention hotel, city books not being balance during the last 12 months of his last year in office, forgot to build the $7 million dollar storage area onto the Ford Center, failure of McCurdy project, the real failures of “Front Door Pride” and most of all about the low moral of city employees when he left office.
Oh well who cares, when he left office he had only $750,000 in his political re-election war chest he took with him.
Glad this self serving idiot is gone.
Another example of where the City thinks that it knows better than those who review their work. The current administration tried to block the 2011 audit report from being released to the public by harassing the Governor’s office and now Whineapple knows better than the CPA auditor. Hope that this hack’s political career is over!
I worked on the Ford Center and have worked construction for 42 years. The time frame shoul have been about 3 months longer. The selection of Hunt was wrong in my opion. They forced local contractors to perform work when the conditions were not ready. Drywall was hung when the roof was not on and the building in the dry. They even tried to finish drywall with water running down the walls. The walls were filled with insulation. You don’t even fast track a house project utilizing this kind of schedule. However, the job was completed on time so they received their bonus.
Robert Gooch (Bob Gooch)were you working for ICI when you were working at the “Ford Center”? I thought you were an electrician not a drywall hanger, but if you were working for ICI, that makes you a “Know it All” anyway!
The new name for Weinzapfel is now “Johnny, the Revisionist” His new book on history will be on Barns & Noble bookshelves any day, now…Actually, who is JW referring to as the Bond Trustee…Is JW placing the entire responsibility on the “Bond Trustee”? According to JW’s statements, it sure appears he knew more than asserted by other sources..maybe Dr. Adams had it right when he motioned for the forensic guys to take a look at this project. BTW, according to the SBOA report, the EVSC seems to be on the fringes and where is JW’s spouse employed?
The biggest mystery of the month is just what Weinzapfel said or did to get John Friend to call him “A GREAT MAYOR” after he dinged him for leaving a “mess”. Friend knows better but somehow got himself quoted as a Weinzapfel worshipper. I wonder what our nasty little ex-mayor has on John Friend to make him his puppet?
My bid is either he forgot his meds that day, or the paper did not finish the rest of the sentence…like “if you don’t believe me, just go and ask him” JW of course….Friend needs to retire from the diplomatic corp!
Here it is, not even in the P.M. and you are obviously into the scotch….JW is placing the entire blame on the Bond Trustee, who is Old National Bank…Did JW work for this organization at one time?? In reviewing the report, it states clearly that the Bank was paying only what was directed by the ERC and if DMD was doing their job, (reconciling) much what the then City Controller, apparently was not doing. Again, typical politician, when cornered, just DENY, DENY, DENY and deflect and distract!!!!
“I recently heard a public official state that you don’t get things accomplished in government by shaking your fist. Instead, you roll up your sleeves and find a way to work together to get the job done. Isn’t that what really needs to be happening right now?”
Why is it Jonathan that both you and Lloyd run over anyone and everyone you can to get your way but when things suddenly go against you it magically turns into a let’s all shake hands, work together, and sing cumbaya? Both you and Lloyd should be the last people complaining about political divisiveness, yet you two are the only two crying foul.
The most absurd part about this article is that you have now come out of hiding to produce MULTIPLE articles whose only intention is to change public perception about you. I pity a person who puts career over community.
I find strangely ironic and sadly humorous that the same folks who consistently distrust and find chronic fault with local elected government will turn around and unquestionably take the word of state accounting bureaucrats as gospel.
When it comes down to it just like my money says on it , in God I trust , JW and LW ain’t worth a plug nickel as far as trust
I think the argument goes something like, “if even THESE bureaucrats agree things are this bad, then by golly, it must be the worst thing since playground tar pits.”
Bill, who would you accept as final arbiter in these situations. I will stick with the SBOA, fully recognizing that they can make mistakes also. Especially since the State has statute that requires them to cover shortfalls in debt service funds with our tax dollars. I want the SBOA to hire the best people they can find, and to move their areas of responsibility often enough that familiarity does not become a problem.
The taxpayers should never be forced to accept that a local government entity has one figure while the SBOA has a different figure. One of them should be correct, although from what I have seen one cannot discount the possibility that both have the wrong figure.
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Press, my comment was more to the point that I find it strange and ironic that the same self-proclaimed “independent” or “libertarian” folk who chronically harangue against politicians and government in general, and often against bureaucracy specifically, will use an accounting from one politically appointed bureaucracy to launch or continue an attack against another group of politicians and bureaucrats.
As to whom I trust or whom I would accept a definitive accounting of the Ford Center project, well I figure time will out the truth. And since I’m retired, I’m made out of time!
However, I do find Weinzapfel’s counterpoints at least worthy of consideration in comparison to the SBOA’s report, because I’d never limit myself to one side of the story anytime politics is involved. To coin a phrase, “ask two politicians for an opinion, and you’ll likely get at least three.”
(“… or from whom I’d accept an accounting …”)
It’s called ‘confirmation bias’, Bill. Pretty rampant in the local/national political dialogue these days.
It’s similar to the disease that afflicts people who rail against gubmint spending unless it’s spending that specifically helps their industry or demographic – – in which case it is an entirely appropriate and necessary expenditure. The specific term for that particular world view is called ‘hypocrisy’ I believe.
Been out of town, but, great to be back in Evansville…what appears evident, these revisionist style statements from Weinzapfel apparently are designed to take off the front page of the news the important headlines, the absurd comments “getting the record straight” in regards to Friend’s comment to Russ Lloyd, on the heels of the Ford Center Report and of course, Weaver’s complaint that Garrett has not produced any reports on the state of the bank reconciliation, but failed to coordinate with Russ Lloyd on the date Garrett received the reconciliation as reported by the media. Yes, shaking fists do not accomplish much, but, ignoring history will doom you to repeat the some mistakes. These reports and conclusions need to be reviewed publicly, not in an absolute critical nature, but, constructively, to learn and establish procedures to provide history from repeating!
Someone dropped the hammer on Friend. He has walked back everything he has said about Weinzapfel. It has really been painful to watch Friend relinquish his position on the poor financial reporting of the Weinzapfel Administration.
In many people’s eyes Friend has now assumed the same status as Weaver and Mosby. Friend evidently sat on the fence as long as he could until someone called his hand. It seems to have happened immediately after the meeting of local democrats at their party headquarters last week.
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“assumed the same status as Weaver and Mosby”.
Pressanykey, that my friend, may be the harshest comment ever.
Don’t forget the back room “Homestead Tax Credit” and the “Gage-Tom Barnett salary” deals that the past Mayor tried to pull off.
Thanks to the CCO Weinzapfel got caught.
What a record of honest and open leadership. Hope the heck he runs for public office in the future because he shall have a lot of questions to answer.
“So any calls for enhanced oversight should be closely scrutinized”–Johnny Boy is trying to defuse the efforts of the forensic accountants. The SBOA doesn’t look for fraud, the forensic people do.
Characterizing the Bank Trust Dept. as ” monitoring the income & expenses, paying the bills and generally assuming the accounting & financial aspects of a project of this magnitude”–utter bullshit. The Trust Dept. safekeeps the Bond Proceeds for its client. It then disburses funds based on batches submitted by its client. It then sends out a monthly statement showing disbursements and balance remaining. There is no ‘accounting & financial aspect’. There is no monitoring of ‘income and expenses’. They just pay the bills, as directed, period.
These 12 duplicate payments were sent to ONB Trust TWICE by JBM (Johnny Boy’s minions).
The idea that “John Kish . . . focused on project finances and provided monthly reports to both the Administration and the City Council . . .”. BAH-LOAN-E ! Kish was an $ 850,000 embarrassment, a grease man and nothing more. He “delegated” any financial project management to that bastion of accounting, Jenny Collins. He gave Council terse, every 6 months or so reports, and blew town before he would even provide a final report.
Weinzapfel for Congress !!
If this audit had not taken place would these dual payments to Old National Bank and to the Contractors have ever have been uncovered?
Why did ONB not sound the alarm when receiving these dual payments every month?
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And lest we forget, it was on John Kish’s watch that the two rounds of EVSC bills were paid by the Arena. How can that be explained away ??
You know, my first inclination upon seeing a snake slither out from under a rock is to shoot it.
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