The City County Observer requested a copy of the check or other instrument of payment that led to the changing of the name of The Centre to the Old National Bank Events Plaza. Â Joe Gries, the Vanderburgh County Auditor supplied us with the agreement signed by all three Vanderburgh County Commissioners and ONB President Bob Jones. Â Links to those documents are at the end of this article.
Mr. Gries included the following paragraph with his response which pretty much sums up the content of the agreement quite tightly.
“It appears that in the agreement signed by the Commissioners in section 4.1 Old National has committed to an investment for economic development in the downtown area, specifically for the convention hotel project. It does not appear that the county will be receiving a check with an amount for the naming rights of the Centre. This was also discussed during the meeting in December and we have included the minutes from that meeting. I hope this helps and let me know if you need anything further. Thanks.”
Joe Gries
Vanderburgh County Auditor
Take it, Gomer.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=J6_1Pw1xm9U
Isn’t the city (through the hotel) trying to save the Centre? Sounds fair to me. They county could have built a hotel of their own.
Also, this wouldn’t be an issue if we would have consolidated.
Ah…. that’s the ticket!!!!
Is this the first alternate to the “Top 10 Reasons Why… Yes Is Best”?
Wondered if they were kidding, the only difference would be it wouldn’t be news, we’d be used to it.
First rule of bargaining…never give something for nothing. If ONB needed naming rights for FREE, $1 million in free tickets, and 60 free uses of the Centre over 30 years inorder to justify helping Winnecke out of his embarrasding pickle, they should have been made to put that in writing before Bob Jones went before the City Council and volunteered to be the hero.
This was a giveaway. This is Abell, Melcher and Kiefer saying “ONB are our friends…we have good pals at ONB…I play golf with the Board…they’re some good ol’ boys who can scratch our backs.” That’s all this was.
I’m not sure why I’m surprised at this, because you’ve pretty well described what happened, Brad, but I am. These people have balls!
Balls but no brains. These three just ended their political careers.
My father’s first rule of economics was “Don’t give anything away if you can sell it.” His second rule was “If you can’t sell it now, hold on to it until you can sell it.”
It seems that if all of the pie-in-the-sky hotel and apartments was going so well, those naming rights may have been worth a little once all of it is in place.
Something needs to be done about our County Commissioners now! I think there should be an investigation of this transaction, because it smells illegal to me.
Elkaybee,
So your a hoarder? 🙂
Brent
No, but I sell a lot, and do it cheap!
Your dad and I think alike. Thing is, I doubt they ‘tried to sell’ anything before giving it away.
This is unbelievable. Mr Linzy tried to explain this to Mr Parke but he wanted no part of it. This right here is why the city and county have lost all trust in their governments.
Well supposedly the naming rights were worth zero $$’s and that is what they(the county) got for them.
Is this **** even legal?
What statute gives commissioners the authority to sell the naming rights of public property, whether it is for zero dollars or $14M??
The three stooges (Abell, Melcher, and Keefer) actually paid ONB about $1 Million of real dollars in tickets etc. to name the building. How damn dumb can it get. Here is a video of the latest commissioners meeting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPululen1rg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzZNh0P9K38
Brains,
Couldn’t Friend (or maybe now, Conor O’Daniel) thwart this end-run by ONB by REQUIRING THEM TO ESCROW $ 14 MILLION of Cash to be used solely for the building of the Hotel ? Indeed, doesn’t this ploy require HCW to go out and borrow $ 14 Million more dollars (or is the City’s subsidy going from $ 20 MM to $34 MM and the citizens didn’t get the memo) ?
I noticed in this morning’s C & P that Ted Ziemer is the point man for the “digging” (read: Environmental) needed at the Hotel Site; but Big Z at least admitted that HCW doesn’t have its financing yet. What in the world could HCW be waiting on to get a loan ???? Can you say “Browning” anyone ?
Speaking of abell, has the cco received an article from her telling us which lot in which part of town she prefers for the med school? Has she taken the time to investigate the different sites?
Looks like the CCO finally found the truth about naming rights for the Center. Anybody heard from Wayne Parke lately? I would like to hear his spin on this issue. This transaction is totally unacceptable.
Just heard a rumor that City Councilman Dr. Dan Adams son was 1 of the 8 individuals that was sworn in as EPD member yesterday. If this rumor is true I wonder if Dr, Adams position on city council had anything to do with his son being put Evansville police department? If so, I thought Dr.Adams was against political nepotism.
Marty f ,it’s time to use common sense . Getting your son a job with the EPD ain’t really doing him a favor ,,,they couldn’t pay me enough to be in law enforcement
Uhhhh a job that pays well and you have zero chance of getting fired even if you show up drunk….. sign me up.
Why doesn’t it surprise me that you would covet a job like that ghost. Typical backrider, buying into the something for nothing con.
Sounds like the typical job for your type. Give me everything I want, but don’t expect me to do more than I feel like doing. Someone else take care of me.
Tremendous sarcasm… Aren’t all union jobs like that?
These are truly unwarranted cheap shots. If Dr. Adams’s son did make it on the EPD, is was through his own merit. Same for all the other new officers. Good for them and may they serve the City well and with compassion. Would you take the same cheap shots if his son graduated Marine boot camp? There is a huge difference between earning a merit based position on the EPD and being hired at the County garage. My apologies to Dr. Adams for these cheap shots.
Anytime anyone (like Bob Jones) uses the phrase “a one-of-a-kind public/private partnership” I start running for Ye Olde Puking Trough.
That would be the fountains at the Civic Center, right?
EKB, Heck with that new tap next door,you could be real close with that speculation.
So what’s the big deal? The $ 1 MIL isn’t lost revenue because we all know the people that use those “free” tickets are people that usually wouldn’t go to an event but will if it is free. They’ll probably even spend a few $$ while downtown so it’s really a non-issue.
ONB stepped up & helped the hotel project be viable enough to pass instead of being denied again and possibly ruining it for all future investors looking to build downtown.
To wishfully hope “These three just ended their political careers” is ridiculous.
Come to think of it all the issues I address seem to be raised by one political hopeful. I hope he has more in his quiver than this.
Heisenberg,
Did you not read about the problems at Sunday’s Aces game ? ONB is going to give these free tickets away to people, they’ll stand in 1-Hour long lines to get their food and vow never to return. ONB will go bankrupt and the Ford Center will lapse into foreclosure.
Call it “Cause and Effect”.
The people using the freebie tickets probably wouldn’t go back anyway. At least, not until there is another freebie.
EKB,Yup like [diss grace] said, they could be,affected. Because.
This argument is invalid. What you’re missing is, these are going to be VIP seats in a prime location that could have otherwise been sold. Now they can’t be sold because they were already given away.
Saying it over & over & over again doesn’t make it true. It does reinforce your unwillingness to have an open mind & concede an issue or two.
ONB did the city a solid & got something in return. To Monday morning quarterback the deal is not helpful but IS right out of the liberal playbook. I’ll sit back as the name calling commences 🙂
Where’s the money?
Don’t bother replying. I’ll do it for you.
“What money?”
Sad to see our county a party to such a one sided agreement. Nothing is required of Old National but on the plus side Melcher’s signature seems to have improved (deniability??).
Whose on First? What’s on Second ? I Don’t Know’s on Third.
It doesn’t matter if the $$$ from ONB are for naming rights or hotel construction. They have to write someone a check for $ 14 Million. Period.
ONB, Where’s the Beef ?
I suspect it’s in the freezer, and will stay there until HCW secures its financing. I hope it doesn’t wind up getting freezer-burn.
Correction – ….up to $14 million
Yes, they don’t even have to give the City a hamburger, much less some real beef! Every day that passes makes me think the hotel deal is “iced.”
Response to Cheryl Musgrave’s Letter to the Editor of EVV C&P: “Current Tax System Puts Indiana at Economic Disadvantage”
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January 30, 2014
8:36 a.m.
Suggest removal
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pressanykey writes:
Where to begin? First of all, since you are aware of it, you should have mentioned the fact that all of these businesses apply for and receive abatement on new equipment. Perhaps it is this fact that prompted the State to look at that particular tax. If you really needed that revenue to support your budget, would you not lower the abatement in the first place?
According to Forbes, Nevada is the 3rd most friendly state for business, but Nevada has an unemployment rate of 9.6%. Do we want that?
When are we going to talk about the real problem, which is the unwillingness by politicians to trim the fat from bloated governments that pass out taxpayer dollars like tic-tacs to businesses and government employees?
When was the last time you even heard of a panel of citizens being put together to study local government cost and efficiency? We can not even get the Indiana State Board of Accounts to do their job of financial oversight of local government in a timely/statutory fashion so we can know where we stand locally. There is one (1) day left in this month, which is the month the city’s financial audit is supposed to be published.
Where have you been Cheryl on the abysmal financial reporting of this and the previous city administration?
There is only ONE way to lower taxes and that is to lower SPENDING.
If some people of average intelligence out here in the community could get a look at the financial books, and offer suggestions, I am convinced that spending cuts could be made.
I firmly believe that abolishing the Redevelopment Commission would be a great first step in getting costs under control.
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What in the world are our County Commissioners naming rights money given to the City of Evansville to build a hotel? Don’t they realize that this money was derived by an asset (The Centere) owned by the county taxpayers and not the city. I tell you that $14 million dollars in the county coffers would help keep our taxes down. Shame on you Marsha Abell, Joe Kiefer and Steve Melcher for allowing this transaction to happen! I supported Maarsha Abell every time she ran for public office. This time I shall cast my vote for Bruce Ungethiem. It’s time for change.
Has anybody heard from Wayne Parke lately? Wonder what his spin will be on this subject?
Wayne-Wayne- Wayne. Marsha-Marsha- Marsha.
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