IS IT TRUE SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

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IS IT TRUE that we wonder, if any current member of our City Council went to a new car Dealership  and signed a legal contract to purchase a MERCEDES-BENZ  and they told our City Council member that they had to accept a Volkswagen for the same price,  would they agree to the transaction?  … their answer should be “HELL NO”?

IS IT TRUE City Councilwoman Connie Robinson, 4th Ward Democrat’s comments about the new Downtown Hotel were spot on when she commented that  “We’re Getting Less For More”?   …the Mayor deleted  from the HOTEL,  plans for an indoor swimming pool, a rooftop restaurant, and reduced the proposed 10 story Hotel and Apartment Complex to a 5 story Hotel, while the construction price remained the same?

IS IT TRUE  City Council unanimously approved $20 millions of the taxpayers dollars for a First Class 10 Story Hotel, which also included a shared parking garage with the IU Medical School, pedestrian bridges, an expensive apartment complex, indoor swimming pool and first class Convention and Banquet rooms?

IS IT TRUE we totally agree with Mayoral Candidate Gail Riecken’s comments that the redesigned project is a “Lower Quality Motel”?  …we don’t agree with  Gail Riecken statement that the redesigned Hotel will cause “BLIGHT” to that area?  …we have to believe that Mayoral candidate Gail Riecken made a non-thinking remark when she said; “that the new Hotel will cause blight to the area”?  …we also feel its might be wise for Mrs. Riecken to clarify her comments about the soon to be built Downtown Hotel causing blight to the downtown area?  …a sign of a good leader is when they admit that they made a mistake?

IS IT TRUE every taxpayer of this community should be personally offended that Mayor Winnecke pulled a “BAIT AND SWITCH” deal that has given them a “Lower Quality Hotel” for their $20 million dollars? …we are also offended that every present member of City Council sat silently and approved this unacceptable “BAIT AND SWITCH” Hotel deal without vigorously challenging what was a “BAD PUBLIC POLICY” decision for the taxpayers of this community?

IS IT TRUE it is shameful that our elected officials didn’t use the same criteria for the new Downtown Hotel Deal, that they would have used when purchasing a car from a local Auto Dealership?

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24 COMMENTS

  1. Is it true the CCO can’t spin Ms. Riecken’s calculated reference to the hotel as “blight” into a “non-thinking remark”?
    Is it true other Dems running for city office are distancing themselves from her calculated “blight” reference while trying to give her cover?
    Is it true that if Ms. Riecken does win the mayoral race, she will cut the ribbon on the hotel “blight” and gush about how it will be cherries and cream for downtown?
    Is it true the word “blight” will become part of every reference to Ms. Riecken until the day after the election unless she wins, at which time it will be with her for a political eternity?

    • The third-rate Hideous Hilton will send a bad message about what Evansvillians consider “upscale” accommodations to every guest that stays there. Anybody that thinks the “value engineered” Doubletree is a “nice” place to stay has never been to a four or five-star facility. That, my friend, makes it “blight” and I doubt you’ll hear anyone “gush” about it.

      • At 7 stories tall, the adjacent JFK Towers will be taller than the new hotel. Guests will have a lovely view of the very pedestrian back of the Ford center building to the northwest, a parking lot toward the river, the side of the JFK Towers toward the southeast, and Central Library to the east.

        It would need a lot of amenities on the inside to make up for the exterior surroundings. Unfortunately it does not look as if that is going to happen. Considering the siting, it is probably a good thing that they did not try to force the taxpayers to pay for a 4 star hotel.

      • all that is left for gail reekin and her ignorant apologists…….. is for gail to come out for all to see in a hillary pantsuit……………………………just sayin…………….

      • What attraction that has ever been in Evansville could possibly merit anyone building a 4 or 5 star hotel here? It has a gambling boat and numerous rock piles as it’s major riverfront attractions and a gymnasium across from the main street wall, aka. civic center, that isolates downtown from were the real world is. Next, believe or don’t, there will be a medical school downtown, too.

        Evansburg, the dirty little river town that never could rise above itself.

  3. Blight ? I heard Gail say ‘Black Light’ ! ” This will be a black light hotel which will restore the vim, vigor and vitality to our zombie dead downtown !”.

    • Ms. Riecken became confused while trying to explain how the new hotel will bring more “bud light” downtown.

  4. Quite an orchestrated hit job by the Courier & Press on Gail’s Blighted Winnecke Wide Motel Downtown !

    First that young dude who replaced John Lucas. That reporter said a few weeks ago that his generation couldn’t tolerate a 2 1/2 minute video by Riecken on the topic of transparency.–short attention spans. Now, he is fretting that, if elected, Gail will have to cut the ribbon on the blight in 18 months !. Gosh, young cub can’t sit still for 2 1/2 minutes, but worrying about 18 months out ?

    John Martin weighed in this morning, grabbing Alex Burton’s one soundbite ” I think Gail feels frustrated like all of us that the Hotel is not the one that was voted for” (paraphrased), and making that the headline that Riecken is frustrated. Guessing she is the opposite of frustrated, she’s got her opponent on the defensive.

    And then the coup, a LARGE PRINT unsigned editorial this morning , to make sure all of our elderly nearly-blind citizens can stay well informed.

  5. Current members of our city council should be ashamed of themselves for allowing the mayor
    to pull such shenanigans on the taxpayers of Evansville

  6. At what level height, amenities and such does a motel become a hotel? Are there industry standards for this designation?

  7. What do you consider blight? A new house trailer in a trailer court is not blight; however, that same trailer in a subdivision with million dollar homes would be a different story. If you just wanted rooms we probably could have given $1 million to 20 different developers and leveraged private funding to develop twice as many rooms. They are building this on the cheep and plan to take all the profits back home with them, Evansville will be stuck with a another failed, outdated, rundown motel in twenty years. It is a done deal but history repeats itself every year in Evansville – what will be the stupidity this coming year? We can”t dwell on the past we have to move on to the next fiasco.

    • Good point, George. And the next fiasco is close. The hotel costs will be minor when the payments come due on the $60,000,000 (+ interest) downtown med school bribe.

      • In stead of sending a delegation to Detroit, it is obvious we should have bought them tickets to London. There they could have extolled the benefits of property development in downtown Evansville, in the good old USA.

        • Press,
          Exploit is a harsh word. The developers are just trying to help. Help themselves!

          looks like, from what I am finding out, there was no need to send the blight delegation to Detroit anymore than there would be to send them there now for ideas on re-purposing Roberts Stadium. The stadium is long gone just as all the decisions regarding the blight issues were made before the trip to Detroit was even booked. How does that go – Fire, ready, aim? The decisions seem to be made, then they have to come up with a plan to justify and convince themselves and the public it was the right decision. The shame of it is they are easily convinced.

  8. The absence of action on the “Bait and Switch” Motel by the City Council, is one more in a long line of boondoggles., that define the Political Animals–SUCKING UP– to the REAL bosses of Evansville,–that lurk just behind the Curtain. The continued pillaging of the Public Treasury,— granted by these Political Wimps is hurdling the City into an uncertain Financial Future –all in the name of “Old Downtown”, An area awash with borrowed money(Bonded Debt) and Red Ink.

  9. Is it true Riecken made a “non-thinking” remark when she referred to the new hotel as blight? probably not. Sounds to me like a phrase that could have been intentionally dreamed up by her out of town campaign “advisor.”
    What is true though, is that the “giddy for Gail” posters here parroted the silly refrain.

  10. Blight is not too strong a word to apply to Winnecke’s Folly. It will now rise on that blighted lot, superceding the wine bottles and signage with changing done dates. It will take the spot of the backhoe our dishonest mayor parked there to make the payers, us, think a hotel was actually going up a couple of years ago. It will be an appropriate mate for the flying saucer arena that was shoe horned in down there. They will both be a drag on Evansville’s finances for years to come. They will both age out, quite expensively, at about the same time. Evansville will make the same mistakes when it’s time to knock them down and put them back up. We always do.

    I’d make this thing, this embarrassment designed and sited primarily to line poliitican’s pockets, something on the order of a Marriott Courtyard. Air units in the rooms, really stretching the word ‘amenities’. A little box of Rice Krispies dropped off at your door by a poorly paid maid wanting in should sure bring the conventioneers flocking once the word about this blighted treasure leaks out. An indoor pool that is usable year ’round is more important than the short shrift it gets from the highly paid, scoreboard challenged clowns running the the ‘economic development’ aspects of our local government. You stash the kids there while the hookers are in the room. Everybody knows that.

    We are seeing the EarthCare economic development model at work. Winnecke’s buddy Ken Haney doesn’t care about swimming pools, but if you want one he’ll damn sure tell you about them. He makes his scores off people like us via willing rubes like Lloyd Winnecke. Oh the st✩rs in Llordie’s eyes while Haney was weaving his tale. Haney’s got it down, takes the money, leaves veiled threats of lawsuits in his wake, and flies away. He depends heavily on the mark, in this case Llord Winnecke, being embarrassed into silence. It works.

    DoubleTree is a fairly recent Hilton acquisition. It has only been one of their lesser brands for a few years. Don’t be bamboozled by the word ‘Hilton’. Think an aging Paris Hilton. Given Winnecke’s record as mayor, such that it is, I do not see a single reason to believe anything he says regarding his motel or anything else.

    • Bandana says the hotel will be a drag on Evansville taxpayers financially for years to come. I agree. He then advocates a more expensive hotel. How about no hotel that requires taxpayer’s money?
      Blight abounds in Evansville, and it’s not confined to downtown. But a new hotel building is not blight when it is built, and it’s silly to suggest it is.

      • Can we instead call it ” The Drag Hotel” ? For this bunch, that may be entirely appropriate !

        • Well, they do llke to play dress up. One of their first acts in office was to dress Llord up in a chicken suit and trot him out.

      • Commonsense, I don’t think the drag of this one deal is the issue as you quote Bandana. It is not the straw that beaks the camels back but the load is adding up. I too, advocated for a more expensive Hotel as was the original plan. I even think the taxpayers could have upped their ante if there was an equity partner and solid business plan for something more elaborate; but, letting the other players draw multiple times from the deck without adding anything to the pot is not a fair game. As the self declared volunteer blight fighter I might add that most of the blighted propertys were not a blight when they were built. It usually take a few years; however, with my earlier example a house trailer in an expensive neighborhood is considered blight and generally not allowed. Maybe this hotel is the best deal? Maybe it is high end for the class of our down town? I don’t know and have serious doubts, but its a done deal. let time tell and don’t forget who was involved.

  11. If her comment was – that the new Hotel will cause blight to the area – – – key word being “cause”… I see nothing wrong with what she said…

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