IS IT TRUE April 9, 2014

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IS IT TRUE one of the reasons given by the anti-business group against John Dunn for him being singled out for protecting his own business interests is the potential for losing one convention of the Cities and Towns of Indiana due to the delay in the construction?…that is one convention and a rather small one at that?…the CCO realizes there is potential for that to happen and that it may give them a hollow talking point as the delay was created by HCW dragging its feet and not applying for a franchise of any kind until too late?…we wonder how many conventions have been lost in the last 5 years because there has been no convention hotel at all?…there is no convention hotel because the City of Evansville miscalculated, jumped the gun, and eventually demolished the old Executive Inn before it should have?…if the dubious claims that a convention hotel will bring in as many as 50 conventions a year are true then the CITY OF EVANSVILLE is responsible for the loss of 250 (50 x 5) conventions and countless dollars?…if the building formerly known as the Centre and managed by the County Commissioners were run like a business the City of Evansville would already be the respondent in a lawsuit for destroying the business model of the Centre with their ill conceived buffoonery?

IS IT TRUE in a way what the City of Evansville did to the Centre’s cash stream by prematurely tearing down the Executive Inn is exactly what they are doing to Dunn Hospitality by subsidizing a branded competitor in the same market?…even marginally decent minds should realize that the bad guy in both of these transactions is the City of Evansville?…maybe that is why the number of “likes” on the anti John Dunn Facebook page has not grown beyond several dozen finger pointing people who believe in the anti-business practices when it comes to a successful person’s private business?

IS IT TRUE the golden shovel day has happened for the ball fields out by the Goebel Soccer Complex?…after 5 years of bumbling the project moved to a location that is already being used for children’s sports?…this may not be the best place for this project but it is better than Roberts Stadium?…after 5 years the cost of the 8 ballfields and their gilded accessories has been reduced from the original $20 Million price tag to $14 Million which is still among the highest priced youth ball diamonds in the country at $1.75 Million per ballfield?…we also wonder what kind of intoxicants were being served at the golden shovel event to convince Bob Warren of the CVB that 8 ballfields have the capacity to draw up to 200,000 visitors who spend $16 Million per year?…those numbers are coming from the same orifice that Mayor Winnecke’s 800 jobs at the new hotel came from?…the last time the CVB wanted to build 8 ballfields their claim of bringing a paltry 100,000 visitors to town was refuted with data from other similar venues that only attracted 40,000 visitors per year?…we can expect 40,000 visitors per year when the ballfields are managed well and little more?…most of these will be coming from driving distance and will go home at night?…to bring in 200,000 visitors per year in the 20 or so weeks per year that Evansville has good weather would mean 10,000 visitors per softball tournament (200,000/20)?…that would require about 200 teams per tournament?…it is mystifying as to why such Quixotic claims are cooked up by public officials?…Warren, Winnecke, and others who toss our unrealistic projections not only sound like fools they are setting themselves up for failure?

IS IT TRUE that County Councilman Pete Swaim has broken from the small pack of Republican candidates who are ignoring the CCO and has agreed to answer the questions we put together earlier this week?…we welcome Councilman Swaim back into the fold and will publish his answers without edit, opinion, or bias?…with this step forward it seems as though only Commissioner Abell and Party Chairman Wayne Parke are the remaining pair of the political boycott hardliners left out there?…we wonder if those two are part of the lynch mob that is chasing John Dunn around for exercising his rights as an American and a business owner?

IS IT TRUE Friday is a big day in Southwest Indiana?…IU will be announcing the location of the new medical school AND the audit of the City of Evansville will be posted to the SBOA website?…we will know with that audit whether the City of Evansville has finally cleaned the mess left of the financial records by the Weinzapfel administration or whether Controller Russ Lloyd is looking at another year of sleepless nights cleaning the mess he was left with?

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82 COMMENTS

  1. ….

    “The credit belongs to the person who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who does actually strive to do deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion, spends oneself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at worst, if he or she fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”

    Editor:

    Man. The IS IT TRUE’s are dominated by second-guessing the guy in the arena lately.

    How much of that CCO Editor behavior is due to anxiety over corruption VS fear of change?

      • I think he’s talking about this:

        “The galleries are full of critics. They play no ball. They fight no fights. They make no mistakes because they attempt nothing. Down in the arena are the doers. They make mistakes because they try many things. The man who makes no mistakes lacks boldness and the spirit of adventure. He is the one who never tries anything. He is the brake on the wheel of progress. And yet it cannot be truly said he makes no mistakes, because his biggest mistake is the very fact that he tries nothing, does nothing, except criticize those who do things.” ~~~ Gen. David M. Shoup,
        Former Commandant, US Marine Corps.
           Medal of Honor,  Tarawa, November 1943

        • Bandana, Agreed, You might be right,General Shoup, however,earned his Decorations under a different kind of tent,with allot more SAND, likewise,wet sand as well.

          • …and shoulder to shoulder with better people. Fighting for something bigger than ego or money.

        • I don’t remember “while using other people’s money” in General Shoup’s address.

          Don’t try to lower a Marine to your level.

          • Weakest straw man yet. Appropriate though, coming from a straw troll. You wouldn’t know a Marine if one jumped up and bit your spiteful little nose off.

      • I’d say the CCO is in the Arena, and they are kicking the Political Thugs butt, and calling them out at every turn of the endless out pouring of falsehoods emanating from from what I’d call, “The Organization” in control of Evansville.

        • Thank you Crash. The proof that we are in the arena was the feeble attempt at a political boycott engineered by the Vanderburgh County Republican Central Committee. If we had a passive approach such a thing would have never even been thought of.

          • You’ve got that right. That feeble attempt was then followed by the embarrassing try at shaming John Dunn for doing what a businessman is supposed to do.
            Stay in that arena, CCO. You’re the only champion that Evansville has, when it comes to delivering information that the public wants and needs.

    • I’m confused by this post because I view John Dunn as “the man in the arena”, and I surely don’t see that he has been the target of criticism by CCO.
      He is fighting because he was challenged by a group of “public figures” with lots of self-interest involved. The difference is that Dunn is doing what he sees as being in the best interest of his business and employees. The “public figures” claim to have the public’s interest at heart, but they have much to gain personally, as well.
      The way this whole thing looks to me is that the Civic Center thugs have a serious “sense of entitlement.” Mr. Dunn, they believe, should just play dead and let them take what they want. Since he chose not to do that, they are trying to use the weapon of public opinion to neutralize him. If they used a gun to accomplish what they want, it would be armed robbery, so they decided on a smear campaign instead.

  3. “we wonder how many conventions have been lost in the last 5 years because there has been no convention hotel at all?”

    It’s a question worth pondering, but given the currently shrinking market for conventions, the answer is likely “very few”.

    • It may be worthy of a special Saturday edition! Very little truth will come from the Courier, and I won’t be reading it.

  5. It appears that all of the “projected numbers” on the drawing power of all of the tournaments and conventions in the area amount to a ginormus pantload, accompanied by copious amounts of Bee Slough-type gas emissions.
    The ballfields can’t possibly be self-sustaining. Granted, there are user fees paid by participating teams, but that won’t be enough to pick up the slack.
    We only have to look at the roaring success of the last years of the Executive Inn’s operation to predict the success of the convention hotel. While the Exec’s management and maintenance left a lot to be desired, I wonder if those failings were more the effect of the failure, instead of the cause.

    • I predict the CP will bestow a prenatal Readers Choice Award, complete with a banner too tasteless to hang, on the ballfields. All they’re waiting for is a fence or static upright field-trodder to hang the banner on.

    • IMHO, the “projected numbers” are rather optimistic. EVV is very possibly a day late & a dollar short with this complex. Popularity peaked sometime ago. In the’80’s & ’90’s, teams were on waiting lists for PRC leagues. Fall leagues were formed. Tournaments every weekend at virtually every field in the tri-state area. Keep your butt in the winner’s bracket and you could play in a couple of tournaments the same weekend. Anyone remember the failed attempt with the multi-field complex out off of Lynch Rd/US 41 area(was it Bergdolt Rd/Hitch-Peters)It was a private venture, but died on the vine.However, I do hope for the success of this project. EVV doesn’t need another black eye.

  7. Brad I’m sorry to see you leave. The young and talented people are leaving Evansville in groves because of all the back room political bull s—. My step son left Evansville about a year ago. Something has to chance or we are going to be a ghost town within 5 years.

    Thanks to the CCO for fighting the fight for open and honest government. Shame on you Courier and Press for selling out to the political power brokers.

    • Do you know that my Vectren bill actually went UP in the 3 months I was not in my home? The bill came with a cute little reminder that my family, who left the thermostat on 60 degrees and had nothing else on but an unopened refrigerator, was still somehow using more energy than 80% of our neighbors?

      In the month of March, we were not in our Evansville apartment more than 2 weeks, yet, we are, again, somehow using more energy than 60% of our neighbors. This time I actually turned the damned thermostat OFF, and still I’m being raped.

      Vectren is a giant vampire that comes out at night, stalking and sucking the lifeblood from the slumbering citizenry. It’s state-sanctioned robbery what’s going on. Glad to be out of Evansville and glad to be out of Southern Indiana.

      • Are you in that conservative’s paradise England? Good luck getting anyone to listen to your crazy ramblings over there while you eat your tea and crumpets.

        • Ghost, you of anyone has no ground to stand on when making comments of “crazy ramblings”. You have proven your level of sanity many times over. Including your recent rambling on about EVPD and their master plan to :get all african american folks”.

          Take your victim mentality, your sarcasm and your witlessness and move somewhere like NY or LA. Please.

          • I’m white, thanks. I just call it like I see it. When I have the savings I will move, but not to NY or LA.

      • I get those letters all the time so do my neighbors. I think this is the program the governor is shutting down, or at least the part for business. The greenies are having a fit about it. They will still be able to harass old folks into there over priced energy up grades. Sorry to see you leave. But I am sure you will live well an prosper better else where.

      • Periodically I get these nonsense letters from Vectren about how much power I use than my neighbors.

        Vectren should save their postage money and the money they pay for someone to write their baseless trivia.

        They could probably save the cost of two or three employees who distribute this tripe.

  8. What about the intoxicated unarmed black guy laying down on the ground getting shot by the white Evansville police officer? A police officer who was armed with a camera on his uniform that conveniently wasn’t turned on. A police officer who also had a taser as well as a sidearm and he chose to shoot instead of tase. Total bs. Total bs. That is NOT the kind of trigger-happy cop I want “protecting” me on the streets. Belly Bolin fails again.

    • If I have the facts right..he led them on a chase and when he finally did stop, he would not comply with instructions…then reached into his pockets, luckily for nothing of consequence, but no one knows that at the time. And you are blaming the officer? WOW !

      • I understand it the same way you do, Will. It’s really a miracle nobody was hurt during the chase. He apparently “ran” because of the drugs and gun in his car.
        Judging from the behavior he displayed when he was down, I think that Mr. Fingers believed he had the loaded .38 in his waistband and was groping for it. He was obviously impaired at the time, and the gun was found in his car.
        I do think EPD officers need to be sure their cameras are on in these situations, though. Judging from the account given, in this case, I think the officer made a good call, but there would be no need to guess if the camera was on.

      • The police officer may be in the right for defending himself and possibly other people
        my problem is he was wearing a body camera but it just wasn’t turned on , the camera should be a part of a police officers uniform ,just like a badge or a weapon
        Sgt. Jason Cullum was bragging on the officer about being officer of the year ,that don’t mean a darn thing ,didn’t police chief Billy Bolin recommend firing a officer of the year for fondlind a bar maid while he was on duty?

          • Why the hell can they even turn the things off? Kind of defeats the purpose. EPD is full on corrupt.

          • Ghost: Might, be an batteries issue we’ve presumed. Actually, we also think there is an real cool solution to the battery problem if that’s it. cheap to.

          • Storage. We don’t Will,whens the download? That’s why we’ve looked at this application with a gambit of senses,as a need, from a product users environment type situation.
            Have some solutions,wouldn’t mind a test site,won’t say what that is yet, so far the concepts prototyping works ok.
            We do have someone working on that. One thing though, any police officer in a pursuit anywhere at any speed,let alone,evansville’s crumby streets,that has some azzhatt hauling near 100 mph might his hands full already,we would assume.

      • Agree….While the good officer is putting his life on the line chasing some derelict the officer should remember to turn his camera on wow I believe the camera is more for traffic stops and yes the battery will not hold a charge for the officers whole shift…….

        • This is a great opportunity for someone to make a fortune with a camera enabling accessory. How about a simple digital circuit that turns on the camera when the gun comes out of the holster or even if the officer’s heartbeat changes by 10%.

          • Gees,Joe: Put on the cap,get in the patrol car WWUWANT ! The fellas just told me its old stuff. It is.

            Voice recognition app. like a phone,right number right guy operates it, Go for it Joe partner with the EPD,
            We think its already in license already.
            Hands off! no wasted battery,or storage, Officer ID code,for the courts.

            Read about some guys with a pursuit GPS bounce that was cool the vehicle getting pursued gets illuminated like a speed laser,locks on residual left by the signal emitter,to ROV,you can run,but you can’t hide,drone,to subject,subjects to slammer

            Innovation stuff the issue would be the Constitution and traffic safety as usual,and, if some jerkabanian decided to build and “add” a launch feature follow up surprise to the “paint”. Old stuff,as well. 🙂

            • You are correct. Such a thing is old technology. More of a sophomore lab assignment than an IPO candidate. What I can’t believe is that it is not already in use in the Ville.

          • First wack at it they didn’t even use ROV Tech,first conception, was tethered blimp tech like a car lot add. Duuuuuh.

          • I was thinking the same thing this morning about the holster switch.

            A 10% rise in heart rate trigger could cause a lot of false positives. Could easily be attributed to a bevy of hookers parading by, wondering why all the little red lights on the officer’s camera jewelry were flashing so fast. The Donut Bank doesn’t need such publicity.

            Red lights, hookers and police. Two of the three are not what got them where they are, at the very summit of Evansville Cheese Danishhood.

      • We don’t know what happened because the officer didn’t turn on his department-issued camera to show us the shooting was justified. Kind of like the LA cops beating the shi@ out of the black guy back in the 90s and calling it self defense. But they didn’t know someone else was filming the scene. How do we not know this isn’t the same kind of incident. Furthermore – on the flip side I can’t believe he shot someone at close range laying on the ground and that man is still alive.

  9. I shall come back to the GOP fold this coming primary to vote for Bruce Ungethiem because its time for change. I don’t know about this Montrastelle guy. I hear he is big buddies wit Jim Raben, Tom Shelter, Marsha Abell and the Mayor. Looks like i’ll be forced to vote for Pete Swaim.

  11. I was told that the President of CVB John Montrastelle push to award one of the bids to construct the new ball fields to a company that is presently bend sued by Vanderburgh County. Does anyone know if this is true or not? If it is true I hope Pete Swaim take Montrastelle to task on this issue. Also, if this is true it shows me that Mr. Montrastelle don’t have the good business sense to be elected to the County Council.

    • Yes it is the same group that built north green river road. And they are being sued by the county. But what’s a law suit among friends. And they are very good friend with a lot of politicians.

      • The lawyers are likely “connected” as well. Expect an out of court settlement that has “undisclosed terms.”

    • John Monastrelle as a council member would be a disaster just like the whole ECVB. He shouldn’t be allowed within a hundred miles radius of any public service job.

    • I think Pete was just temporarily “blinded by the light” that is Wayne Parke’s political genius.

  12. Editor,

    You are way off base re: Russell Lloyd Jr. and “the mess he was left with” re: the announcement of the State Board Audit.

    Mr. Lloyd CLEARLY did inherit a “mess”; however, he has publicly proclaimed both in the media and in the City Council Minutes that “everything is in balance, it’s all perfectly reconciled”. In other words, HE FIXED THE MESS.

    If the State Board report is adverse, then that means that Mr. Lloyd has engaged in a COVER UP–making intentional false statements to try to trick the State Auditors.

    Mr. Lloyd had his chance to blame it on his predecessor, but he didn’t do that ! By not doing that,it’s all on his back/ he’s given the prior Administration a pass. He can’t come back now, if the SBOA report is bad, and say “it was all THEIR fault” !

    The sleepless nights you mention may be at the Graybar Motel (” 3 Hots and a Cot; no charge ! “).

    • After the damage done by 8 years of Jonathan Weinzapfel, the last thing we needed was an administration like this one. In stead of coming in and cleaning up the mess, they have added to it.

      We will only be able to make meaningful change in Evansville when good, honest, ethical people start running for office and the machine can start to be dismantled.

  13. I tend to agree that Russie is being given a too-easy “out”. He should have been on top of what was being handed over to him. He could have given himself some justified “cover” early-on, by making public any questionable situations he was assuming. My theory is that he passed on that because all of the “big fish” are swimming in the same tank.

    • To a large extent I agree with you ,my feeling is he thinks Evansville owes him more and he wants to be a big fish too

      • I think in large part that is Evansvilles biggest problem now and in the past. There are to many local politicians or wannabe politicians wanting to be a “big fish” and ignoring or dismissing those who really are the big fish. Who might those be? That would be us the citizens.

  14. ” My theory is that he passed on that because all of the “big fish” are swimming in the same tank.”
    AMEN Somebody pull back the curtain.

  15. Why was Winnecke at the ball fields ground breaking? It’s not a complex inside the city thanks to his phantom leadership.

    If he thinks it’s proper to show up to a ground breaking on North Green River, than I don’t think he should have any problem showing up to a ground breaking for IUMS outside of the city limits either.

    One other thing, VERY glad to see Swaim back and answering questions. The last thing we need is for Monastrelle to beat him all because Parke doesn’t know how to work with the media or anyone in this town for that matter.

    Side note: Why didn’t the CCO ask the candidates about the dental clinic?

    • He’s just in that mode. He senses sand, he grabs a shovel and moves toward it. The mideast could be in for a taste of his leadership if he ever finds out they’ve discovered sand there. It will be the Winnecke Emirate, peace will reign.

        • That’s entirely possible. A cat’s brain is about the size of a Walnut, you know. It all kind of fits together.

    • Winnie just doesn’t have what it takes to be Mayor. Peter Principle at work. But come on R & R, implying it was improper for him to attend the ground breaking on North Green River? If he had not attended, would you have criticized him for that? I respect you for your convictions, but come on…..

      • Yeah really. Winnecke can’t resist a golden shovel. A golden shovel to this guy is like a willing intern to old Slick Willy. He just can’t resist.

        • Oh, Oh, Oh, Do you know what you have done Monica? You just branded our mayor as SLICK WINNECKE. Kinda has a Clintonian ring to it don’t ya think.

      • “would you have criticized him for that?”

        Absolutely not. He would have sent a strong message that this complex belongs in the city, specifically down North Main from this hotel that he’s going to all ends of the earth to shove down everyone’s throat. What is good for one should be good for the other, especially given the fact one sends customers to the other.

        There’s two cases of hypocrisy coming into play here. 1 is the fact that when they were trying to shove this over Roberts Stadium’s dead body we were given the whole “Baseball teams want an urban area and we must build in an existing park.” Now that their golden Roberts plan has been dashed, suddenly none of that is necessary.

        The second is the fact that we have a mayor advocating for the IUMS to be built in Evansville and in downtown. I was on board with that idea til he picked a lot that will do nothing but box in the FC with ready, fire, aim development. It just isn’t consistent to go to an area that is too far north to be east and too far east to be north and proclaim it’s a great area for ball fields only to turn around and do a 180 on the IUMS.

  16. “this may not be the best place for this project…”

    I think we need a little more detail than that. After all, that sentence is the difference in millions of dollars and thousands in indirect investment.

  17. One would think hosting 50 conventions a year would attract more prospective investors who would have been more aggressive in getting the hotel project under way.

    • You really think Evansville could attract two conventions a month? I seriously doubt that.

      • Sure we can. What we can’t do is attract any convention of national significance that brings big spenders to town. That number will be zero. That said Evansville can attract barber shop quartets, quilters, flintlock riflemen, corn hole tournaments, and those sort of conventions of the local variety pretty easily. The trouble with such conventions is that they are most poor, local, don’t spend the night, and eat fast food. All of these lofty dreams of competing with Chicago are just stupid. The CVB, the Mayor, and even some members of the city council are Legends in their Own Mind. The trouble with little fish is that they don’t know they are little. The trouble with little dogs is that they do know they are little. Evansville in the convention business with or without a new hotel is little and insignificant. Some know it and some don’t but none have the magic to change the situation.

  18. It is time for the powers that be chase SMG out of town. They are nothing but Marsha Abell’s political puppets. SMG has lost the taxpayers of this community hundred of thousands of dollars over the last several years.

  19. Why don’t the powers that be, the movers and shakers, et al , just take a trip to Owensboro and ask them how to do it?

  20. $40M in “pork” from the evil federal government

    http://www.heraldsun.com/opinion/x583709550/Ashley-A-riverfront-transforms-is-it-pork

    and evil tax and spend policies

    http://insiderlouisville.com/news/2012/05/09/owensboro-ky-a-must-visit-place-shows-a-town-taxing-and-spending-with-vision/

    Of course in 2008 McTurtle crowed about progress in Owensboro

    Then in 2013 McTurtle and Curly Top went to Henderson and told them there wasn’t any money for their riverfront.

    It will be interesting to see the results of each county this fall. I say Grimes will take Henderson county.

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