IS IT TRUE the dust up over the fact that 8 members of the Evansville City Council gave in to Mayor Winnecke’s demand that they come into his office for a one-on-one meeting and sign a non disclosure agreement in order to be given a copy of the proposal from HCW Development of Branson, MO to put up a convention hotel with all the trimmings including retail space of the lot next to the Ford Center?…the 9th member of the City Council Al Lindsey requested a copy of the proposal but was denied access because he has a fundamental belief that anything asking to get a $40 Million taxpayer handout should be done in an open forum?…the real cash value of the improvements are going to be what they are with little room for variance so the range of negotiation that will be acceptable to any developer will be small?…building a hotel in downtown Evansville is not the plans to the D-Day Invasion so the cloak of secrecy that the Mayor has demanded is pretty much political theatrics?…before the City Council will vote yay or nay on financing this hotel the details of any negotiation will be made public?…to do everything behind closed doors now under the threat of prosecution for talking is just fanning the fires of mistrust of the Winnecke Administration and oddly enough the fires are being fanned by the Winnecke Administration?…the secrecy has not kept the naysayers from complaining, it has not kept the speculators from speculating, and it will not likely change the eventual outcome?…if this was such a great proposal (as in a private investor is building a hotel with their own money) it would certainly already be made public?
IS IT TRUE that the CCO will not be surprised of a group of innkeepers already doing business in Evansville take the torch of discontent that was started by Mr. Nickolick who owns a local hotel last week?…there are indeed local innkeepers who have done their homework on the feasibility of a hotel in downtown Evansville as a prosperous investment and have determined that it is not one?…one developer is actually going forward with a Comfort Inn and has not come forward to ask for any government handout to do so?…for this or any other private investor to be forced to collect the taxes that are then given to their out-of-town competitor is about as destructive to free enterprise as the Gulags that made people dig their own graves?
IS IT TRUE that old curmudgeon Morton Marcus put what he intended to be a smack down on the state of the State of Indiana in his most recent column?…his factual observations of the trends in the economic progress, or lack thereof in Indiana are something that we all should take to mind and do a careful analysis of why the drip drip drip of prosperity has once again eluded the Hoosier state?… In 2003, Indiana’s per capita income was 9 percent below the national average?…in 2003 Indiana ranked 33rd among the 50 states in per capita income but in 8 short years our rank fell to 40th in the nation at 14 percent below the United States average?…Indiana’s average annual growth rate was only 2.4 percent, the fourth lowest in the nation?…the only states that Indiana seemed to be able to lead in economic categories chosen to profile by Marcus are Ohio and Michigan?…considering that Michigan was the only state in America to lose population from census to census it was only population losses that kept Michigan from leading Indiana?…economic decline is a tough problem to get to the bottom of and one that seldom finds the political will to make necessary changes to fix?…all of the states floating around the bottom of the growth rank have built temples to sport while ignoring critical infrastructure?…these states have also gone for the band-aid of job creation which is to subsidize and celebrate jobs that are lower on the food chain than the ones they replaced?…there are many institutionalized policies that are encouraging the decline of Indiana and other places?…the ranking will not start to rise again until the infatuation with games and fun are replaced in government by infrastructure, knowledge, and investment in intellectual property based business?
Why didn’t you write about the democrat precinct leader sitting in jail for robbing a store with a gun?
When we get the official confirmation from the Evansville Police Department concerning the above alledged arrest we shall be glad to print it. Also, at this point we shall wait for detailed information concerning the above individual alledged act of commenting armed robbery.
Editor
You can go to this link to see if they are in jail.
http://www.vanderburghsheriff.com/inmates/copyofdefault.aspx
Conformation???? Have you ever heard of spellcheck?
Thank you.
What do predators do when they hunt? They don’t attack the whole herd (City Council), they separate one from the herd and attack the one. This is exactly what Winnecke and his entourage did to the council members in these one-on-one meetings.
Predators pick off the weakest members of the herd and work from the back so the strong leaders don’t even see what is happening. Predators are basically bullies and cowards while their prey are followers. What a way to describe our city leaders. It makes Al Lindsey look even better.
I think Lindsey separated himself from the herd.
high roller you may be correct , for I too will seperate myself from a group of individuals if I feel I’m in the right , which IMHO Mr Lindsey has a pair and he is standing up to political corruption , which this is all about
I don’t see the corruption.
There was a public forum on it at the Redevelopment Commission which was the board that made the decision. As a courtesy, the Mayor talked to all the city council members except Lindsey one on one. This gave them the opportunity to ask questions and to find out specifics about the project.
If one was to ask Lindsey about the project, more than likely he would not be able to give one a correct answer. His ability to actually influence the project in a meaningful way is greatly reduced.
The RDC meeting will be public and will let members of the public participate. Mr. Lindsey should attend just like he expects the public to attend his meetings.
The non union paradise is here, but where are the jobs and increased wages?
Ask Wendy McNamara.
“…one developer is actually going forward with a Comfort Inn and has not come forward to ask for any government handout to do so?…for this or any other private investor to be forced to collect the taxes that are then given to their out-of-town competitor is about as destructive to free enterprise as the Gulags that made people dig their own graves?”
Well said. It is a mystery to me how any honest politician could support a scheme wherein government goes into business by subsidizing a hotel to compete with other innkeepers from whom they already levy a special tax. These are not the actions of politicians who are considerate of the people they represent. These are the actions of politicians who owe campaign contributors special favors and will go to any lengths necessary to see that more of the people’s money is wasted on political quid pro quo.
I-69 or the Lloyd Expressway doesn’t bring business to the Comfort Inn?
Most conventions need a hotel to succeed. To expect somebody to book a convention then expect those attending the contention to drive back and forth from I-164 and the Lloyd is ridiculous.
Yet the recent numbers show just as many conventions now as there were when the Executive Inn was in place. The losses at the Centre are similar to what they were when the Executive Inn was going strong. If conventions do not want to be in downtown Evansville it is because of the lack of nightlife as opposed to the hotel shortage. You can put a Ritz Carlton in Detroit but it is still an ugly nasty place.
I don’t have all the facts on that but it is a given that we are not getting the conventions we could be. How would one market it? We have this brand new arena but unfortunately one will have to walk across Downtown to the Casino Aztar Hotel and if one has two meetings 30 minutes apart, one can sit outside on the park bench.
We don’t need a $40 mil hotel to market the arena and the center. A $10mil hotel would have the same effect. Not to mention that a $10 mil hotel can be privately funded. Did it occur to you that the hotel has to be self sustainable? A $10 mil hotel can be self sustainable with a strong franchise. Can you imagine what the daily operational costs could be for a $40mil hotel?
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