IS IT TRUE? August 5, 2011

24

The Mole #??

IS IT TRUE? August 5, 2011

IS IT TRUE that the City of Evansville is joining the negotiation with the IceMen through the use of the Courier and Press to forward their position that the Arena’s needs for cash take a superior position to the IceMen’s need for a good business model?…that what the Icemen have been offered is essentially a deal that if they do poorly with attendance that they have to pay more but that if they exceed expectations that they will pay less?…that this is a formula to kill an emerging business?…that if things go poorly they have to pay a higher amount for rent but if they do great they get a break?…that anyone with a shred of business sense would shake their head and just say “give me a break”?

IS IT TRUE that what is needed to help the IceMen grow is exactly the opposite of what the brilliant minds working for the City of Evansville have concocted?…that if ticket sales lag the IceMen need a big break?…that if ticket sales go better than expected (or should I say than the City projected) that the IceMen should pay more?…that we really are starting to wonder what is it about a win-win scenario that our community leaders just do not understand?…that if the IceMen win Evansville should win too?…that if the IceMen suffer at the box office then Evansville should share in the losses?…that we wonder if the deal between the City of Evansville and the IceMen is a partnership or a dictatorship?…that Ron Geary is a seasoned businessman who knows about win-win relationships?…that he is right now in the middle of a negotiation with a collection of simpletons that have never earned a dollar of private profit based money in their lives?…that the City County Observer would like to be a fly on the wall when Mr. Geary tells these guys where to stick this one sided, uncompromising deal that he has been offered?

IS IT TRUE that the leaders of the City of Evansville need to go back to some 8th grade class when the concepts of the free enterprise system and capitalism are taught?…that as long as municipalities elect leaders that know little about the practice of business that they will suffer the consequences of having decisions made and deals put together that would be more at home in the former USSR that they will ever be in a capitalistic society?

IS IT TRUE that there is another situation brewing down at the McCurdy that will reflect very strongly on the lack of business savvy that our Evansville Redevelopment Commission and Mayor Weinzapfel have agreed to?…that we are in the final stages of securing the details of the mortgage situation with respect to this historic property?…that a mortgage on this property is held by the City of Evansville on this property?…that another mortgage is also on the property and that a prominent bank on the Evansville skyline is the mortgage holder?…that the title was transferred to City Centre Properties after the City of Evansville incented CCP with $800,000 in cash and a $603,000 parking lot?…that about a year after the nothing down deal with public money footing the deal that City Centre Properties took out a private mortgage on the McCurdy Hotel in an amount that is larger than the incentive of the City of Evansville?…that if the contract that is now expired is rescinded and a foreclosure proceeding is pursued that the City of Evansville may get absolutely nothing back if the loan that the city holds has been subordinated to the paper held by the prominent bank?…that this arrangement could take years to work its way through the courts, could end up in an auction that brings less than the private mortgage, leaving the City of Evansville out $1,403,000 and with no hotel to show for this inept little exercise?

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24 COMMENTS

  2. I’m sure the Courier in their infinite wisdom will point out that…

    Mr. Geary deserves a deal that is just as “performance based” as the McCurdy deal?

    Just as performance based as the FDP deals… Just as performance based as the Berry deal… Just as performance based as the EVSC’s deals… Just as performance based as Durham’s salary was… Just as performance based as the CVB booze fests were… Just as performance based as the Weaver political firings?

  3. Desperation at City Hall ! The CP, as the mouthpiece for the administration, runs the ‘house organ’ article on pg. 1 of the print version; then doesn’t even put the article in their on-line version (guess they knew the posters would have a field day with that one).

    For those who were treated to the article this morning, Kish says he’s “trying to protect the taxpayers from a deficit” (Kish has been here since January 2009, and now he starts to protect us ?); JW weighs in that ” this facility wasn’t built to turn a profit; it also wasn’t built for a deficit”. BRILLIANT ! BREAKEVEN ARENA has a real ring to it ! If it doesn’t meet projections, can we change the name to LOSS ARENA ??

    Geary has these jokers on the ropes. He needs to stick it to Kish and JW for the first year and opt for one more lap at Swonder. Come back to the table in Year 2, when the Arena will really need the bookings, and get the fee he needs to succeed. Kish has already spent nearly $ 2 Million on ice forming equipment at the Arena. He needs to start focusing on Ice Capades and Dick Button to cover his overhead.

  4. In this 4 YEAR OLD C&P article on the McCurdy, Mr Smith warned the ERC action “calls into question the transparency and accountability of the redevelopment commission”. Mr. Smith stated the ERC was “engaging in the kind of fiscal mismanagement that I think has typified this administration.”

    http://www.courierpress.com/news/2007/oct/09/mccurdy-deal-defended-mayor-developer-say-needed/

    Unfortunately, Mr. Smith concern’s proved 100% warranted. 4 years later the ERC and City have accomplished providing a vacant and crumbling historic McCurdy building with $1,403,000 of taxpayer money apparently flushed down the drain.

  5. Really, does anyone think the Icemen stand a chance of drawing even more than the 4000 that the Aces draw? They should stay at swonder and eke out what ever money they can. It is hockey, people. Men with no teeth beating each other up with sticks. I can go see that for free on Franklin Street any friday nite!

    • Better yet, hire Gov. Rick Perry (TX) as booking agent. After all, he has presold 8,000 to attend his Teabag Revival in the Astrodome (holds 62,000 plus). Gosh, that would damn near fill Starship Jonathan! And with that shiny aluminum sided exterior, it already looks like the buckle of the Bible Belt.

      Oh, even better … let’s convert Roberts into the world’s largest indoor revival tent! With Evansville’s Teabag population, an indoor revival center for far right political sectarianism is just the ticket, don’t you think! And turn the sump pumps off, let the floor flood up to Row 10, and you got an instant world class Baptismal.

      • Jonathan Starship should be the opening act at the stainless mushroom. With that gravely voice the Mayor may be able to do a good thrash band vocal cover.

        Of course the opening song would have to be “We Built this City”. The lyrics would have to be localized for the song to work.

        We built this city on ????? Finish the song please.

        Knee deep in the bulls&#t

        • Don’t know if Pearl Jam qualifies as a “thrash band,” but I think JW would make a great leadman with his particularly smoked vocal qualities. And by the way, downtown is built on quicksand. Just ask the elevator repairmen at the Civic Center, and the pile drivers at the Arena. So, maybe Quicksand Massengill Service?

          • Maybe Jefferson Airplane/Starship’s “White Rabbit” will suffice:

            “When Logic and Proportion Have fallen softly dead,
            and Jonathan W. is talking backwards
            and the Red Kish tells the Icemen “off with your head!”
            Remember what the doormouse said:
            “Build the Arena, Build the Arena, Build the Arena”

        • TRAINWRECK: We Built This City In Hock, and In The Hole !!!!

          Also, how about an ode to Sara Miller of the ERC: ” Sara . . . Sara . . . storms are brewin’ in your eyes . . . . . . “

      • If Governor Perry has a Teabag Revival does that make you The Scumbag? Cut out the crap, and get the balls out of your mouth, Scumbag!

  6. Maybe Johnnie could take the Million dollars that he accumulated by pretending that he was going to run for govenor and give it to the city to offset the 1.4 million dollars that his as usual incompetence has cost the taxpayers. That will still leave him with his cut of the 1.4 million dollars that they are dividing up in Indy right now. He is going to look good in that orange jump suit when the books are audited by the Davis administration.

      • No doubt that question will be answered after he is booted out this fall. With the stack of IOUs he possesses, for all the sweetheart deals, he will land on his feet somewhere.

      • Maybe Obama will put him in charge of OMB. Their views on government spending seem to be identical.

    • LOL…agreed, but will never happen, like Rod Blagojevich or mayor would never admit to doing anything wrong or even making a mistake at least not to the public, he’s a super human incapable of error! But look for some of that money to travel up state and find it’s way back into Mr Winnecke’s coffers shortly, there’s no way they can allow Davis to be elected, just the fact that Davis’s own party didn’t/doesn’t want to support him should tell everyone that he should be elected our next mayor….the nagging question is what are they hiding? is it criminal? and if Winnecke is elected will he dig it up?

  7. The arena was sold to us (taxpayers) as a HOCKEY venue since conception…

    http://www.evansvillearenaproject.com/content/plans-designs

    “In succeeding Roberts Stadium, the new Arena will solve many of the old structure’s problems. Its roof will have a rigging capacity of 180,000 pounds over the stage. The floor will be 85 feet by 200 feet, large enough to accommodate a regulation National Hockey League ice sheet and just about any traveling concert or show.”

    What the icemen need is a scaling lease that starts out low helping them build a bigger fan base and scales up each year based on ticket sales, without the Icemen we are left with the “Clowns On Ice” program also known as “Our City Administration” which hasn’t been drawing much support but like the Hadi Funsters is great for a laugh.

    JMHO

  8. Evansville’s population is running out of adjectives to describe the Sleazy Weinzapfel “group”..

    Sleazy–1. flimsy or thin in texture,or substance 2. shoddy, cheap, morally low, etc. (Websters)

  9. Is it true that the Icemen are not willing to agree to the proposal they submitted in a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP), where there proposal was selected based on their offer?

    Is it true the citizens are interested in the Icemen and would benefit from the publication of their proposal?

    Is it true that the Icemen proposal should be published for the citizens to review in determing who is preventing this agreement from being executed?

    Is it true that UE has signed a lease agreement for the new arena and the Athletic Director, John Stanley, believes the new agreement is fair, and their base rental is $10,500?

    Is it true that we wonder what has changed since the Icemen offered their proposal since they now want a piece of the concession action when they have no skin in the game?

    • Geary was put into a negotiating position with a huge advantage.

      He is also taking a big gamble by paying the increased rent and having to charge double for ticket prices.

      The sliding scale deal offered by the city amplifies his gamble. If the turnout is not as expected, he loses even more.

      What do you mean by “no skin in the game”? He is financially responsible for the team, and the city wants him to take a big gamble on his own dime. What more would it take for one to “have skin in the game”?

      Though I do agree with you on one thing – Geary is mostly responsible for keeping the deal from happening. He has the most to lose, so I am not surprised that he is being cautious.

      • What I meant my “no skin in the game” concerns concessions.

        He wants a percentage of the concessions, even though he has not invested in the kitchen, concession equipment, concession areas, food service employees and cost of product sold.

        Perhaps if they allowed slot machines in the arena, and he paid for the slot machines and upkeep, they could split the revenue.

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