ECHO HOUSING CORPORATION USED TIF MONEY FOR AN EXTERIOR MURAL

22

IS IT TRUE that the Evansville Redevelopment Commission is spending the funds coming into the Jacobsville TIF District like drunken sailors? …by doubling the size of the Jacobsville TIF last year,  tax revenue for 2014 will near $1.4 million?

IS IT TRUE two bond requests will soon be presented to City Council by ERC in the near future that will create two bond payments of approximately $120,000 for 20 years and $1 million for 25 years?  …the combined TIF bond repayment will eat up the majority of the Jacobsville TIF revenue over a short period of time?

IS IT TRUE of the nearly $14.5 million being borrowed by ERC for the Jacobsville North Main project, $1.5 million will be used to incentivize Haier American to locate in Jacobsville, salvaging nearly 50 jobs that were lost with the remnants of Whirlpool closing its doors?  …the remaining $13 million will be used to redo the 20 blocks of North Main, which is primarily for the addition of trees, improved lighting, new side walks and a two-way protected bike lanes?

IS IT TRUE  ERC also plans to take away curbside parking from one side of the commercial corridor?  …it’s unbelievable that the ERC would waste so much tax money on these projects while ignoring the obvious barriers to positive commercial development along North Main, which are neighborhood blight, crime and a broken infrastructure in every direction that leads to the North Main Street corridor is astounding?

Is it true that the ERC recently gave nearly $32,000 grant to ECHO Housing Corporation to paint flowers on the side of a building and is planning to give another $50,000+ to ECHO Housing Corporation for an artist’s version of a new bus shelter in front of the McDonald’s on North Main?  … even greater waste of tax payer dollars comes from the ERC’s recent approval of the purchase of the old Integra on North Main for $247,000 so that it could be torn down (at an additional cost) for possible off street parking? …but purchasing the old Integra is chicken scratch compared to the $562,000 the ERC board just approved to buy the old CVS on North Main so that it could be gifted to some lucky entity or torn down for off street parking?

IS IT TRUE we wonder why ECHO Housing Corporation spent $31,650 of the Jacobsville Gateway TIF money to paint an abstract mural on the side of storage building behind McDonalds Restaurant?  …this $31,650 would had better spent by ECHO Housing Corporation on additional opportunities for the disadvantaged of Jacobsville area?

IS IT TRUE we have attached a link of the Evansville Redevelopment Commission Grant Agreement resolution that gave ECHO Housing Corporation a $31,650 grant for this mural?  …we wonder why the ERC didn’t put in this resolution that the $31,650 grant was for an exterior mural?  …we also wonder who owns the building that the mural was painted on?

IS IT TRUE we urge you to pay special attention to the mission statement in this Grant Agreement that these funds should be used for the public good?  …we urge you to look at how the adoption vote was recorded on this agreement?

14-ERC-40 Grant Agreement ECHO for Jacobsville Gateway-R
Disclaimer
* Mural used above is not the one currently on the building.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

22 COMMENTS

  1. The ERC needs to be shut down, abolished, terminated, —These Political Butt Buddies are completely out of Control,–there seems to be no way to stop their POLITICAL largess with the Citizen’s hard earned money short of “killing”(abolishing) this runaway threat to the welfare of ALL of us.

    • I second abolishing the ERC. Their handling of the hotel was bad enough. I don’t see them saving one penny in any account.

    • Spot on. Rainbows, Unicorns and $13 million on N Main where no one wants to go? Has the City Administration ever traveled the side streets off N. Main?? We cant even keep our City pools open and now this idiotic spending proposal??

  2. Evansville’s Redevelopment Comedy. Scheezzzzzzz! When are your citizens going break the addiction with that outfit? No standing or sectioned redevelopment benefits observed as profitable directives to applied neighborhood sections, to date.

    Someone needs to track the situational validity of the elementary paint applications by recorded recoverable or accrued benefits per city sectioned neighborhoods, as applied forward First look at the equality per sectioned and written prose, then the equity gained or directed by those balances.
    Find the “tipping points” and weigh for equal value per sectioned benefit.

    http://www.thefreedictionary.com/recoverable

    re·cov·er·a·ble
    rəˈkəv(ə)rəb(ə)l/
    adjective
    r/.1.
    (of something lost) able to be regained or retrieved.
    r/.2.
    (of an energy source or a supply of it) able to be economically extracted from the ground or sea.

    http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/validity

    Definition of PROSE

    r/. 1 a : the ordinary language people use in speaking or writing
    b : a literary medium distinguished from poetry especially by its greater irregularity and variety of rhythm and its closer correspondence to the patterns of everyday speech
    r/. 2 : a dull or ordinary style, quality, or condition

  3. Anyone who knows what TIF funds are and how they are raised must be scratching their heads and wondering how Jacobsville ( or downtown, for that matter) will generate TIF revenue. A true public service would be done by anyone who would obtain a full accounting of this “fairy tale” TIF program deception of the public.

  4. Plundering of public funds to reward those who vote party lines. Our city has been controlled by unions and democrats for over 60 years. The ones who can will leave this city and the ones with no choice will stay. The ones we want to stay will leave and the ones we want to leave will stay. Our sewer/CSO problem has had the attention of local politicians for nearly 40 years and nearly all of those 40 years were controlled by democrats. The local politicians have been dropping millions of dollars into the downtown area since 1974 and the results are dismal. Not much to be positive about in this city.

    • Agreed, and I would add one thought. I’m not so sure the current mayor is any different than the former dem mayors.

      • He is no different, he was voted in by the democrat party and he’s a person of his word, he’s paying for the votes with tax dollars. He doesn’t have a lot of money left to play with, old Jonathon spent a lot.

  5. Could it be true that if the TIF “funds” do not meet expectations property taxes will have to make up the difference?

  6. If they want to make North Main a viable asset then they need to take that money and use it to tear down the Civic Center complex and reconnect Main Street to North Main.

  9. THANK YOU CCO, THANK YOU! My time dealing with ECHO in Jacobsville makes these stories look like a cakewalk. I’m tired of them taking over Jacobsville. And I don’t appreciate the way they conduct their business, especially with people who VOLUNTEER for them.

    Develop, Don’t Destroy, Jacobsville.

    Btw, the owner of 214 West Michigan has contacted supporters of preservation and given us a firm commitment not to sell to ECHO. The insides are in much better condition than the outside. In fact, there are two pocket doors worth 5 grand EACH, not to mention a wooden carved stair case among many others. The big battle will be to get 210 West Michigan out of the hands of ECHO before they tear it down.

    #Don’tVoteBrinkerhoffRiley

  10. “Develop, Don’t Destroy, Jacobsville.” Good plan, needs some vision though, take the assets and mix what you have out with some proven new and rebuild some old. Those aspects draw on histories strengths and use that to develop the new mix. Old and new mix, if the old is classic enough, new adapts ” if” its expandable horizons are still emerging. Used in balance usually “the best is yet to come”
    No ERC, ECHO unicorns, and the wild flowers grow on their own if enough “sunshine” is in the forecast. Take your pick.

    http://image.blingee.com/images17/content/output/000/000/000/649/572277343_1866628.gif?4

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6AY27MaQGU

Comments are closed.