IS IT TRUE? December 29, 2011

IS IT TRUE that the City County Observer would like to thank and congratulate Sara Miller and Jay Miller, both members of the Evansville Redevelopment Commission for their cognizant yet practical thoughts that lead them to vote “NO” yesterday on the McCurdy Hotel assignment and extension issue that was brought before them?…that the last four years would have gone much smoother if such deliberation and thinking would have prevailed for the whole time?…that going forward that the ERC needs to be a group of appointees all of whom are willing to think and vote to use the taxpayer’s dollars as they would use their own?

IS IT TRUE that yesterdays proposal made by Randal Lloyd on behalf of the newly formed McCurdy Development LLC essentially said this “I don’t know if your project is worth doing or not, I know it will cost $2 Million more than has been thought, I know that you ERC are in a bind, your project needs to be vetted, and I won’t even vet you unless you vote to assign the deal to me”?…that given such an open ended ultimatum that two members of the Evansville Redevelopment Commission, namely President Bob Goldman and Jody Phillips voted in favor of Lloyd’s ultimatum?…that calling a last hour special meeting to try and cram through a face saving deal for the Weinzapfel Administration just backfired in a 2 – 2 no-action vote but exposed the allegiances of two members of the ERC as face savers as opposed to stewards of the taxpayer’s money?…that we hope Mayor Elect Lloyd Winnecke will make a note of this as he contemplates on who should make good appointees to the 2012 ERC?

IS IT TRUE that attorney Marco DeLucio, City Councilman Elect Al Lindsey, City Councilwoman Elect Stephanie Brinkerhoff-Riley, and Rodney Witherspoon all spoke before the ERC to urge them to take some time and make a prudent decision?…that fortunately for the people of Evansville there were two members of the ERC who stood up and stopped the insanity of this four year saga?…that the CCO truly hopes that a real plan with a well funded and experienced developer comes forward to develop the McCurdy Hotel into something of beauty and significance early in 2012?…that this action will erase the four year failure of the boondoggle forever etched into the legacy of the Weinzapfel Administration from the memory of the people of Evansville?

IS IT TRUE that the CCO still stands beside our assertion that the highest and best use for the McCurdy Hotel is to be the Vintage Historic Hotel that it was meant to be?…that we hope that when this happens that the owners take better care of the painstaking renovations that the owners of the Victory Theatre have taken care of it?…that some of the beautiful restoration work in the Victory Theatre is beginning to peel and flake yet no budgets are allocated to maintain it and no discussions are held to talk about what needs to be done?…that the Victory Theatre is a big ticket deferred maintenance project about to happen?…that the Winnecke Administration would be well served to appoint a Minister of Maintenance to tabulate just how many neglected treasures that there are in the City of Evansville?…that the last four years has truly exposed how negligent the caretakers of the City of Evansville have been when it comes to taking care of the things that we have?