DMD DIRECTOR COURES CALLS GEORGE LUMLEY E-MAIL TONE HOSTILE AND RACIST

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Good afternoon

Since Mr. George Lumley brought his complaints etc. to council regarding his participation in the IHCDA funded Blight Elimination Program with the Building Commission and DMD, I decided that council should have an update on his “volunteer” activities. I am including three things for council so that you have answers to his questions, and you can see the method of communication he is using with the city.

1. You have a spreadsheet showing the properties he has submitted with updates on their status. We have never heard from any of the individuals he proposes to sign up as program partners and we have sent most of them letters.

2.  I am including a photo of the current home of his latest proposed partner. The Building Commissioner believes it shows this individual does not maintain their current home, so we hesitate to submit them to IHCDA as a partner for more land ownership.

3.  I am also including his most recent email. His communication with us has grown more aggressive and hostile as time progresses. We understand his frustration that this program is not an instant thing, and that he cannot get immediate results with it, however his tone is becoming increasingly uncomfortable especially with the women who are working in DMD and the Building Commission. I think the most recent email was racist in tone and very much disturbed us. However, he has the right to send us whatever he thinks proper. I just thought council should know in case he becomes hostile with any councilperson who may disagree with him.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.

Kelley M Coures

Executive Director of Department of Metropolitan Development

kcoures@evansville.in.gov

ATTACHED BELOW ARE COPIES OF LINKS MR. LUMLEY SENT TO DMD STAFF FOR YOUR REVIEW 

Copy of George Lumley properties 08 26 2015

lumley email to DMD

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

20 COMMENTS

  1. I’ll admit I don’t know him personally, but this guy seems like a real jackass.

    • Good call, he is. He is the perfect face for the Winnecke administration. He’s always nipped around the outside of the local political circle, it took something like Winnecke to finally let him in.

    • You must be referring to
      Coures. Most people I talk with will agree with you there. If he wasn’t handing our money out $10,000 at a time he would have no following.

  2. After reading Mr Lumley’s email, I surmise that Lumley simply tried to identify someone he was trying to help obtain an adjacent lot. To this tired, old and slow white guy, nothing about this was remotely racist or hostile.
    It seems to me that if Mr Coures would exert more attention into expediting these land transfers and less into resisting Mr Lumley’s honest efforts to do the right thing, everyone would be much better off. …

    • It appears that Lumley was attempting to assist a person who was having a challenging time dealing with DMD. Coures wants to introduce race into the equation in an effort to shut Lumley up.

      BTW, is Coures still the “interim” director of the DMD, or has he been made permanent in that position?

  3. Kelly you are the politician, I am not. I will never be politically correct that is why I am just a volunteer. I am not the eloquent writer you think I should be. With my limited vocabulary, I usually just stick to the facts.

    At the meeting we had in May, Ron Bean said it would be fall before the houses would come down and that the process would take time. It was discussed that we may have news in August. I have communicated with all of the proposed program partners over the past few months telling them to be patient. No one reported receiving anything from DMD. One family received a demo order from the building commission on the place that had been burnt for three years and they called to tell me. Several of us did celebrate the end of July when we saw the notice in the paper that some of the properties had been accepted in the first round and assumed the others would be in the second round. Again we assumed DMD was taking care of things. Now (at the eleventh hour) we find that even the projects advertised as approved—- are not.

    I don’t recognize the photo as any residence of any of the proposed program partners: However if someone lives there that is willing to take over one of these ZOMBIE house properties for the lot, we should sign them up. That might be the incentive they need to make their property more acceptable or saleable. That is what this specific program is for!

    I am glad Kelly recognizes that the citizens he works for have the right (as much as he hates to admit it) to speak up. It seemed that was challenged at council. Some of us peasants are not as keen on the subjects or eloquent speakers or writers but we try and council should listen without belittling or speaking after us without allowing rebuttal. A discussion is one thing but for Course to get up after me and say Lumley does not know what he is talking about and ending it there, is another.

    If you are calling my referral to one of the proposed program partner’s racist because he reminds me of Forest Gump then you defiantly did not follow up with this gentleman after the May 7 meeting where I emphasized possible special circumstances. This guy is one of my Heroes. He rents or is a contract purchaser of a house on a corner that appears to be a habitat house. Extra lots have been attached leaving him with a sizable yard that is kept better than any in the neighborhood. I knocked on Marvin’s door and asked him what the deal was with such a well-kept place in a rundown neighborhood. Marvin explained that he was on disability and had time to take pride in his place. We discussed the plight of the neighborhood with so many zombie houses. A house and extra lot, not adjoining, but one house down from Marvin’s was of concern to him. Being the Hero that he is, he volunteered to take ownership of the property, pay taxes, and take care of it with pride, a special pride of ownership. He flags me down when I pass to see how things are moving along – he is excited about becoming a property owner and this is a great opportunity to help him do just that.

    It was my impression that Marvin was not as technologically savvy or up to speed on being able to fill out the paperwork. I assured him that either the city or I would assist him with the application process. When I presented the project to Ron Beane’s team I suggested they would probably have to actually go out to his house to assist him and if there was a problem to let me know.

    I spent quite a bit of time with the people in the neighborhood and talking to people with title interest. I had worked out methods of acquiring title at very little cost. There was no reason to wait for the Brownfields to become a Land Bank and transfer the properties. That wild idea had not yet been announced. When Senate bill 415 passed it made provisions for an even easier transfer; however, land banking was all that DMD wanted to see.

    It’s hard to be nice and eloquent with Mr. Coures pissing on me and this project because he doesn’t like the quality of program partners, choice of area, and fact that I am questioning and uncovering his methods of finding money that was really never lost – just mis-appropriated.

    DMD/Building Commission asked for projects. I brought them one. I participated in the public blight fighting task force meeting where DMD led us to believe our opinion mattered but was ignored for a “brownfields corp land bank initiative”. Coures had already decided what they were going to do. Just the same as when they had a community task force looking to repurpose Roberts Stadium even though they had already signed a contract that the seats had to come out?

    I now find myself aggressively trying to make up lost time because of some ones lack of follow-up. There is more than one way to skin a cat. That phrase might be politically incorrect, but that’s me. DMD could have made this project work. If they did not want to, they should have said so early in May. I submitted properties, Program Partners, and title solutions at the May 7th meeting. If they didn’t understand what I presented on how to make it work they should have asked for help. If they can’t understand how simple some title transfers can be – especially if you are just making a green space, they need to be fired. If the property is needed for building a house 10 years down the road, fine, do that time consuming costly 30 year Quiet title search then. At the May meeting an issue (excuse) was brought up that I thought was a non-issue. I volunteered at that time to go to IHCDA and ask for a variance if they could not make it work. I wasn’t contacted because there was no follow up to make any of the properties work.

    Kelly, we both offend people every day. The big difference is that I don’t generate negative votes for my boss like you do.

    • Your enthusiasm for this project is appreciated, but you probably need to step back and recognize that you hold no authority to do anything about it. I have found that Evansville “task forces” are usually “task farces” that rubber-stamp whatever those in authority want.

  4. Please Mr. Coures, submit that hostile email. So we can judge for ourselves. Because right now? Mr. Coures looks like he has lots to hide and hates anyone who dares to question authority.

    • Thanks I’ve read it now. My thoughts are: I bet Mr. Coures did a pirouette in his office when reading it “oh I gots him now”
      Yes, it seems Lumley is racist. Not surprising to me. He is a man of a certain age in white privilege America. However, his flaw does not mean he is wrong about this.
      The fact that the messenger of the Earthcare scam drank, did not negate the fact that Earthcare was a scam. And the fact that Mr. Lumley is a racist does not negate the fact that Mr. Course is running a non-profit Brownfields out of the DMD office for the benefit of the mayor’s donors.
      Does Mr. Coures expect us to believe that he has only love in his heart for all people. Because it seems there is one group he does hate: Evansville taxpayers. He has no problem lying to them, cheating them, and scamming them out of the tax dollars and grants. All he could do about Mr. Lumley was assassinate his character, and Mr. Lumley handed him some ammunition. Sounds like Coures is trying to justify not cooperating with Lumley, but even racist have rights and Mr. Coures needs to be waaaaaay more forthcoming on the secrets of his office.

      • I surely didn’t like the tone of Mr. Lumley’s email when I first read it, but the man is not a professional public servant. KC most assuredly is a professional public person, who seems to have forgotten about the “servant” part of the deal associated with the paycheck he gets regularly from the people who employ him.

        I’ve noticed that a particular kind of nastiness is exuded by Mr. Lumley when “affordable housing” is mentioned, and that is not the reaction a person who is truly motivated to do better things for the people of this city should have. I suspect Mr. Lumley is shooting for a paying position with the City of Evansville, and Mr. Coures already has one. That being said, I know KC’s performance in his job is questionable at best. I suspect Mr. Lumley’s also would be.

        • elkabee, I am glad you picked up on my distaste for the term “affordable housing”. Affordable housing is subsidized housing. Not market rate housing. It irritates me terribly that the government is trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the average taxpayer on this assistance to families by changing the terminology. I think assisting families is the thing to do – but call it what it is.
          I am new to this game. When people were talking affordable housing – I looked around a saw all kinds of housing. There are hundreds of affordable rentals available. I didn’t realize “affordable housing” was an industry specific name for a type of subsidized project. I kept asking what was an affordable house, $40,000, $80,000? Looked like lots of homes around that are pretty affordable. Lets have transparency- call it what it is.
          As far as that Job – my working days are as limited as yours. My current ambition is to volunteer when I am able and learn to write as express opinions as well as you. Does it pay well? I plan to have your Job someday.

          • George. You write well and investigate even better. Steel yourself against the inevitable slings and arrows coming your way and carry on, please.

      • I read the e-mail. And I read George’s explanation of the person he was referring to, letsallgetalong. I think you owe him, and all “white men of a certain age” an apology for calling him and them racists.

  6. NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

    The City of Evansville applied to Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority’s (“IHCDA”) Blight Elimination Program (“BEP”). Our application was successful. We have received a total award of $1,791,000. Working in conjunction with Evansville Brownfields Corporation, Habitat for Humanity of Evansville, JBell Properties LLC, James Bradley and Jonathan Page we intend to acquire and demolish the following residential structures:

    1016 EDGAR ST

    211 S BEDFORD AVE

    333 TAYLOR AVE

    1145 B BAYARD PARK DR

    221 S GRAND AVE

    502 E GUM ST

    1307 W FLORIDA ST

    2813 DENNISON ST

    505 COVERT AVE

    1309 W FLORIDA ST

    2815 EGMONT ST

    514 S LINWOOD AVE

    1619 FLORENCE ST

    2816 W VIRGINIA ST

    606 608 N FOURTH AVE

    1709 JUDSON ST

    2819 DENNISON ST

    608 BAKER AVE

    1717 S MORTON AVE

    2824 DENNISON ST

    618 E ILLINOIS ST

    1718 S GARVIN ST

    2833 DENNISON ST

    705 SWEETSER AVE

    1732 S GARVIN ST

    2837 EGMONT ST

    708 TAYLOR AVE

    1911 S FARES AVE

    305 E FLORIDA ST

    901 W MARYLAND ST

    The goal of the Blight Elimination Program is to reduce the number of blighted and abandoned homes in our community and neighborhoods. We believe the acquisition and demolition of these structures will stabilize neighborhood property values, prevent avoidable foreclosures, and assist us in our efforts to keep our community and neighborhoods safe.

    We invite you to attend a public hearing at 5:30 pm, Monday, August 31, 2015 in Room 301 of the Civic Center Complex at 1 NW MLK Jr Blvd, Evansville, Indiana to discuss the positive impact this program will have on our community.

    If you have questions about a specific property listed in this Notice, please contact Ron Beane at 812-436-7885. If you have questions about the Blight Elimination Program, please feel free to visit http://www.877GetHope.org/blight or email feedback@ihcda.in.gov.

  7. Mr. Lumley, I welcome you to our community and regret that I had to leave yesterday’s Westside Improvement Association meeting early to get my son to his soccer game. I have seen some of your work on CCO and really wanted to have an opportunity to speak with you. I appreciate anyone that wants to improve things in our community. Especially ones that are willing to do the grunt work to make the necessary changes. I understand how frustrating that it can be when the wheels of government do not move at the speed that we wish. However, I appreciate it when people in our government do the due diligence to make sure that the right resources are allocated to the tasks at hand. It seems like you’ve gotten well-acquainted with the malcontents that hang in the CCO comment section. Be careful of where you get your information, most of these people on here would hate Mother Teresa. From my experiences with Kelley Coures, he’s always been informative and helpful. Don’t take my word for it, just a few shorts years ago he was awarded with the Sadelle Berger Award from the Human Relations Commission which tells me that he cares about all people in the community. As for the PC comments, I am the least PC person that you’ll ever meet. Generally speaking, I say what’s on my mind. One exception to this is professional correspondence, which I think that your letter is. When trying to get anything done, we must be mindful to not upset the stakeholders and decision makers that can help us attain our goal. Best of luck to you on your projects. I hope that you are successful. After the CCO reported that the grass had not been cut at the property on Main & Florida that you wrote about a couple of weeks ago, I drove by the property and was going to cut the grass for them. However, they had already cut the grass. If this was done because of your work, Kudos. We all need to work together to make the community better. Most of your newfound friends in the comments section wouldn’t lift a finger to help with any project in Evansville. They just type insults and accusations.

    • Phyllip Davis

      I agree with you that Mr Coures is very knowledgeable and willing to help. He has provided me a lot of information. Each bit of information provided also usually contained an insult on my intelligence or ability. If I wanted to harp on this issue I would go back to those written communications and abstract the insults for all to view. There would no misunderstanding on how communications have deteriorated to this point. I will focus on that professional correspondence issue.

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