By: Ralph Edwards
I have seen enough of what is going on in this city that I care so much about and I feel it is time to say something about it. I have read in the news and heard the words straight from the mouth of Mayor Winnecke claiming that the downtown hotel will employ 250 people in full time jobs when it is finished. This is a either a gross exaggeration or a bare faced lie.
Think about it, have any of you ever stayed in a hotel that had one employee for every room? Industry standards and real life experiences show that hotels of 253 rooms will only have about 70 full time equivalent jobs. By full time equivalent I mean what President Obama means and that is 30 hours a week or more. Mayor Winnecke with his lies about creating 250 jobs in this hotel had just as well be telling us the moon is made of green cheese. We all know better and I hope the City Council does too. If our mayor wants to tell bare faced lies he should at least have the sense to make it believable.
The sales pitch for this hotel to the public has been missing any real numbers from the developer. City Council President Connie Robinson asked on TV the other night for the job commitment from HCW and got no answer at all. I will assume either there is no answer or the HCW attorney did not want to expose the mayor as a liar. Either way the people of this town are being lied to, people who oppose this are being bullied, and anyone that has a dime of tax money like the CVB is being intimidated into coughing it up.
Mayor Winnecke ran on a platform of transparency and honesty. This hotel pitch has been dishonest and behind closed doors. The people of Evansville deserve better. When faced with the truth Mayor Winnecke like the character in the Jack Nicholson movie “can’t handle the truth”, so he resorts to outright lies.
Before holding a vote on this hotel our city council needs to demand the written commitment of truth. They are the last chance for us to all hear some truth. The ERC didn’t get the truth before voting, the CVB didn’t get the truth before voting, and this group Mr. Hafer is working for seems to be in charge of making up lies too. Please city council at least give us a chance to handle the truth because this mayor does nothing but lie.
Ralph Edwards
amen-
DERP refers to the extravagant, aimless spending ascribed to characteristic Republican behavior. (I had to look it up-it was spot on) I just thought it referred to persons who are dorky. (not far off the mark, either)
Lies? Incessant lies from beginning to end, secret meetings, refusing to allow public information out to the rightful owners of the information (John Q. Public, the persons whose money pays for all of this) Budgets and IT systems that “never ran correctly” ??? Pure insanity, incessant smoke to cover where the real fires were. Smoke and subterfuge.
Who are you Ralph Edwards? I could not find you in the phonebook and I could not find you as a registered voter in Vanderburgh County?
Addition jobs is a good by product of the project. The goal is to have a convention hotel downtown to bring convention “dollars” to Evansville like Fort Wayne and others have done. This project is not being done just for jobs. It is great that jobs will be created if the project is approved because people need the work.
What is the basis of your statement “CVB didn’t get the truth before voting” ?. The ERC is made of of smart business people. They do not operate in the dark.
You may not agree with the Mayor Winnecke or Ed Hafer on certain issues and that is OK. They are good honest people trying to make Evansville the best it can be.
How are you helping out?
Wayne Parke
wparke@wowway.com
If your boy Winnecke is so honest why is he sticking to his “intentional incorrectness” by saying the hotel will create 250 jobs. Seriously Wayne there is no way they will ever hire a person for each room. He is either a fool or a liar on this one. As Ralph’s letter said, “he can’t handle the truth. It was shocking after he spouted off all over town about the 250 jobs that the attorney for HCW would not back him up. How about we add a line in the contract that says for every job less than 250 that is not hired they give back $150,000 and see how they back your boy up. The construction will not create 800 either. It won’t even be close.
Wayne, the City Council made the mistake of thinking I wasn’t real the other night. Now you’re repeating that mistake and being a bit insulting in the process even suggesting this man isn’t doing anything for his community.
There are easily explainable scenarios for why he wouldn’t be in the phone book. Cell phones. I’m not in the phone book either. Neither is my wife, or virtually anyone I know under the age of 40.
As for his voter registration… All that says is he may not be currently registered in this County. He may have moved here, saw the despicable conduct of local politics, and decided he wasn’t interested in trying. I know a lot of people like that. I also know a lot of YOUNG PEOPLE just coming into politics and getting involved, voting for the first time, and realizing they want to be involved in civics. Don’t discount this possibility with this man too.
What you seem to have done here, Wayne, is further prove his point that anyone opposing this scheme gets roundly bullied by people in comfortable, cushy establishment positions such as yourself.
As for the statement about the CVB not getting full information, I think you know what he means. The three people who voted against the measure from the CVB cited this shortcoming as a reason for the “no” vote.
Your defense of the ERC is even further evidence that you should be replaced as Chairman of the Vanderburgh Republican Party. Any true advocate of smaller, more responsible government should not be touting the ERC as a paragon of integrity and transparency. It’s closer to the truth to say they are among the many in local government who have cushy, appointed, bureaucratic jobs sucking off the lifeblood of taxpayers to give the Mayor the illusion of consensus.
The ERC is made up of APPOINTED members and the Mayor of Evansville makes the majority of those appointments.
You know that Wayne.
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Mister Linzy, not to worry, Parke erodes his creditability with every puny attempt to prop up the Elitist agenda, and the ERBC Puppet Mayor.
Taken down post was off message.
Know what Nixon created with his crazy acts like spying and getting rid of the gold standard?….that’s right, the Libertarian Party.
Taken down message was to personal.
Taken down because post was of message.
I hope this Ralph Edwards guy keep putting the heat on the Mayor. Its obvious Ralph Edwards is one heck of a smart guy. Long live freedom of speech!
I would like meet with Ralph Edwards to discuss this matter. I left my name and email address for him to contact me.
Are some of you guys implying impling Ralph Edwards does not exist in Evansville?
Wayne Parke
wparke@wowway.com
Ralph Edwards still has not contacted me for a meeting.
Any help out there? Does Ralph Edwards really exist in Evansville IN?
What do say Brad Linzy? How could a letter to the editor occur from a non-exiting person?
Please contact me Ralph. I want to set up a meeting.
Wayne Parke
wparke@wowway.com
Wayne this might be the Ralph you are looking for
http://www.mylife.com/l-ralph-edwards-e199230949968
Ralph B Edwards was born in 1963. Ralph currently lives in Arlington, Texas. Before that, Ralph lived in Evansville, IN from 1997 to 2006. Before that, Ralph lived in Saint Louis, MO in 1994.
Thank your for the post 47Ford. While we can never divulge the location of a letter to the editor we will confirm that Ralph is a former resident who left out if disgust but maintains an interest in Evansville. The zeal to find Ralph is testament to the belief that the supporters of this hotel are more interested in silencing non-supporters than they are in making a strong logical case to convince those who do not march in step. There is plenty of evidence of poll tampering, websites being attacked, and even non-supporters being stalked by supporters in social media and through Google right now to make the NSA blush. These kinds of tactics do not win anyone over, it just feeds the belief that there is something to hide. Reference the jobs projected by the Hunden Study as opposed to what the Mayor has been saying. An explanation is in order.
Editor–Have you been watching to many spy movies with a case of wine?
Editor—–your statement: “…supporters of this hotel are more interested in silencing non-supporters than they are in making a strong logical case to convince those who do not march in step…” This statement is a bunch of malarkey. If you wrote this Joe Wallace I am surprised and disappointed. In the 4 public meetings (I attended them) that has been held, the supporters for the hotel out number those opposed in excess of 10 to one. Everyone attending have had an equal opportunity to speak. Everyone has been polite to each other. I do not recall one person saying this hotel should not be built. Those against the recommend hotel plan seem to be saying, I am for having a hotel but I think this should or should not be done. Even Brad Linzy says that.
Every convention hotel recently built, has in one way or another used/received substantial aide/money from the local/state government. Without this assistance this hotel will not be built. We need a hotel.
The main purpose of the hotel is to attract conventioneers to come to town with their money–jobs are sidebar plus.
Wayne, not sure why you’re asking me this. I’m not a CCO Editor.
I googled “Ralph Edwards” out of curiosity and I don’t see any results for one in Evansville, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one. Or it could be whoever wrote this letter wanted to disguise their name because they thought using their real name would make them subject to a stalking. I have no idea. I’m the wrong man to be asking on that one.
Regardless, whoever wrote this letter is expressing some feelings I know are shared by a lot of folks around town. As leader of the local Republican Party, that should trouble you more than the identity of the author.
Brad–I believe the way the author wrote the letter implies he/she currently lives in Evansville. The author does not currently live in Evansville. If the author did live here, I wanted to talk to them and discuss the issue face to face just like I have with you.
Subject to stalking?? That is ridiculous. You know full well everyone has been nice/polite regardless of their position.
You and I have attended all the public meetings. You know full well that those who support the hotel far out number those who are against it– probably in excess of 10:1.
Mr. Edwards said nowhere in his letter that he lived here. He does seem to have a heartfelt interest in the place though. Maybe he grew up here or still has friends or relatives. Why don’t you Wayne help explain why Mr. Edwards is not truthful in stating that Mayor Winnecke is a liar about the jobs number. Since Mr. Edwards letter the Hunden Study has completely refuted the mayor’s claims to the tune of $100k plus. Explain away the fact that the Hunden Study says the hotel will hire 41 people and the Mayor says 250. Perhaps if you can explain the mayors fiction away more people will get on board.
Wayne, I will give you that you have been nothing but polite to me in person, which I appreciate and have tried to reciprocate.
I didn’t say the guy SHOULD be afraid of being stalked or attacked, I was saying it’s possible he does have this fear and I would understand it if he did. $37.5 million is a lot of money. People have killed for less. I have been personally threatened on many occasions where my views were a threat to the status quo, particularly where certain unions were involved. I have been personally threatened before, so I know what that feels like.
As for the 10:1 support ratio. I wouldn’t be so fast if I were you. Many of the people wearing the “Hotels=Jobs” stickers have been nonetheless receptive to our arguments against the hotel and are not monolithic in their level of support. Plus, we’re talking about the townhall meetings that are using advance preparation and union members to muster support.
Had we on the opposing side been given the luxury of forewarning, we could have been just as prepared. It’s no secret we’re late to the starting line, but it would be a huge mistake to count us out.
I’d like to say this. When all this broke out I was about 60-40 in favor of a hotel with about 30 % of that 40 being due to my enormous disgust with the way the city treated the Big E and at times just flat out lied about it.
But the more I hear from Mr. Brad Linzy the more I’m convinced otherwise and am now 60-40 against. The enormous success of both those opposed to this hotel as well as those in favor of Mesker is quite impressive. I also believe it’s solid evidence that the destruction of Roberts was more of a complete failure on my part personally to bring the glory of Roberts to the public more than anything else. My hat’s off to the above two organizations for getting done what I simply did not.
Likewise, the more I’m seeing out of Wayne Parke the more I’m convinced that trusting or believing in those pushing this project is just not something I want to do or will ever bring myself to do.
Correct me if I’m wrong (and please do because I’d like to believe that I’m mistaken on all of this), but it appears to me that we have a chairman who…
-has no idea what kind of remarks a council member in his own party is saying about the local city cemeteries one way or the other but tells us he believes this person supports well kept cemeteries.
– has not explained why the Roberts Std task force was assembled yet produced a completely made up general conclusions page that was never approved by the general task force. All this while failing to sit down and investigate the data obtained by the sports business subcommittee with those members. Despite all of this, Mr. Parke goes in front of the parks board and supports the mayor’s plan which is now more than double the price of the roberts renovation for a “great lawn” (aka nothing) on the exact site.
-appears to have no problem with the fact that the mayor is saying $700 million instead of $7 million while quoting a jobs estimate that I have yet to see any proof of in any of these reports, not to mention none of the studies seem to coincide with the belief that the public should contribute $37.5 million to this project (If I’m correct, one went as low as $13.5 million).
And now he is digging through the phone book and voter info for someone opposed to this project? If you’re going to do that to every person opposed to this project Wayne you might as well just list those in support of this project as it would be much quicker.
I am really, really, REALLY getting tired of projects the city is undertaking being held up to a double standard against those projects the citizens are wanting. We seen this with Roberts, we saw it with the Ford Center, and now we are seeing this with the hotel project and even worse with the ball fields project.
At this point I have to ask: Why should someone care or be active with this city and its government if everything is predetermined, pushed through with fabricated reports and figures, and decided with little to no public participation?
You’re right, Jordan… The fix is in and they are ramming this through full speed ahead.
The media is complicit in it! The C&P didn’t pay any attention to ANY opposition until we basically pestered them to death and made them report on the Facebook protest page, and even still they want to make the debate seem about only HOW BIG of a hotel we need, rather than whether we should be subsidizing it at all, or the ethical quandaries surrounding the funding of a hotel by taxing its direct competitors, or the gross discrepancies in the numbers we are being presented by the Administration. As we have pointed out, the 250 jobs number seems to have been taken from the clouds during an extended Timothy Leary-style drop out session and has no basis in reality.
I gave a long phone interview the other day to WNIN and went into great detail how the Mayor’s numbers just don’t add up. I pointed the journalist to the Hunden Report. I sent her the Hunden Report and showed her the specific pages she could turn to and see these discrepancies. What was reported? A 10 second snippet of me talking about the importance of social media! Basically, it was the most pedestrian, watered down story one could have gotten out of all that information I foisted upon her.
Likewise, I was interviewed by 14 News the other day. They aired it but never put the video on their website. The latest reporting from 14 News is again a diluted, Lite-Beer style pittance that, once again, seeks to make it seem as if the only real debate we’re having is on HOW BIG the hotel will be.
Brad–I do not understand what you are saying. Are you saying you intentionally lied to the reporter?
foist definition
verb (used with object)
1.
to force upon or impose fraudulently or unjustifiably (usually followed by on or upon ): to foist inferior merchandise on a customer.
2.
to bring, put, or introduce surreptitiously or fraudulently (usually followed by in or into ): to foist political views into a news story.
It looks to me like Brad took an minute to make a detailed statement to the reporters who then took the 10 seconds they liked and used it to send a very different message. Parsing someone’s words is an old political trick that I am sure a man in your position has experience with.
But that aside, Wayne please enlighten us as to where that 250 jobs number from the Mayor came from. It seems to have come out of the south end of a north bound horse because there is no hotel anywhere that has an employee per room. Cruise ships don’t even employ those levels. The Mayor’s job creation claims are HORSE APPLES. Prove me wrong Wayne. I bet you can’t
At this time I do not know if the number is a good estimate. I am doing some checking on it. Keep in mind this project is more than just a hotel. There are other facilities that employ workers.
Jobs are a by-product of the project. Mind you a good by-product if you are looking for work and there is a lot of people who are.
The purpose of the project is to build a hotel and other facilities to attract outside dollars to Evansville by the means of conventions.
Wayne, Have you read the Hunden Study? It is quite clear with a pro-forma and a real job creation statement. The statement clearly says that the hotel will hire 41 people at stabilization (year 3) and that 29 other “by-product” jobs will be created in other businesses as a result of the hotel. It furthermore says 70% of the business at the new hotel will come from the other hotels and that 30% will be new. That scales the net new jobs number down to 12 at the hotel and 21 net from all gains. If you do not have the Hunden Study I would be happy to email it to you.
Ha! Good catch, Wayne! 😀
Possibly not the perfect word choice, but I wanted to connote that my information seemed unexpectedly forthcoming to the reporter. I think she thought she was in for a fluff piece, but got food for a full-scale investigation. My sense is, she wanted to follow up, but got shut down editorially.
Ethridge did not list the COIT in his editorial today. Is that correct? Will COIT not be listed in the bond description as one of the sources of revenue available to service the bond debt?
Ethridge also failed to mention that the hotel property would have its own TIF, allowing it to capture for its own use a significant portion of the property taxes it would pay.
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The whole country is burning to the ground and you folks are worried about a hotel???
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