IS IT TRUE AUGUST 10, 2015

35

IS IT TRUE its alleged that ERC Board member Cheryl Musgrave attempted to purchase a vacant lot  located at 1226 Parrett Street from the non-profit Evansville Brownfield atbout 90% less than the assessed value?  …this vacant lot is located next to the property that the Musgrave’s own? …earlier this year Musgrave expressed interest in buying this lot located at 1226 Parrett Street for $500 by contacting Brownfield Coordinator Carolyn Rusk?  … Musgrave ask Carolyn Rusk to put her request to purchase this lot on next Brownfield’s Corporation agenda for discussion?

IS IT TRUE Carolyn Rusk e-mailed Cheryl Musgrave that her offer of $500 was not acceptable with HUD guidelines? …that HUD income eligibility requires that a prospective buyer must be under 80% of the area median income?  ….because Musgrave did not meet HUD’S minimum income requirement she would have to pay the HUD guidelines? …the assessed value of this property is presently $7,300?

IS IT TRUE Carolyn Rusk alleges that a man who lives near Musgrave is considering making an offer on the vacant lot?  …Ms. Rusk stated that this individual was HUD income eligible and could purchase this property below market value?  … Ms. Ruck makes comment that she wonders if this individual is fronting for Musgrave?

IS IT TRUE it’s also alleged by Ms. Rusk that Cheryl Musgrave contacted at least two Brownfield board members about the property?  . …its alleged Musgrave questioned the sale contract language  with them concerning this property and suggested the idea of changing the contract terms?   …Musgrave adamantly denied trying to use her power or influence to acquire the property at a rate that the average citizen would not?   …County tax records show that Brownfield Corp. currently holds the deed to said property?

IS IT TRUE we found four pieces of property that Cheryl acquired near her home?  … 3 parcels were acquired in 2003, 2009 and 2014?  …an additional piece of property was acquired initially by Musgrave in 1999, but is now is listed in her daughter’s name?  …the assessor’s site doesn’t indicate what Cheryl paid for the these properties?  …we bet she didn’t pay $7,300 for them?

IS IT TRUE we think that there is a good argument what Cheryl have been doing is buying dilapidated properties in their neighborhood when they become available at a reasonable price?  ..,Cheryl Musgrave action both eliminates blight in the area and through the planting of gardens, grass, and trees, creates an asset to the neighborhood?  …  we would like to stress that this was done without use of taxpayer dollars?  …we would like for Brownfield’s Director Carolyn Rusk to put the 1226 PARRET Street property up for public auction and see if she would get the $7,300 appraised value for it? ….if Ms. Rusk acquired the aforementioned property at $7,300 and she receives a solitary bid for $500 then she made a bad investment with taxpayer dollars?  …our guess is there would be one bid submitted at the the auction for $500 from the Musgrave’s?  …we strongly feel its time for Ms. Rusk to put up or shut up, and let the auction begin?

IS IT TRUE If DMD Director Kelley Coures and his employee Carolyn Rusk believe that Cheryl Musgrave attempted to acquire the Parrot Street property through some type of illegal means, they need to contact the United States Attorney’s Office to file a formal complaint for influence peddling?  …on the other hand, if Cheryl Musgrave has attempted to acquire this property legally; has invested her own money into the remediation of this property, and essentially accomplished the task that programs like Brownfield and Front Door Pride are supposed to be accomplishing, then we should thank her?  .

IS IT TRUE we are aware that Mrs. Musgrave and the DMD Director Kelly Coures have an extremely toxic political relationship and we hope that the above allegations of Ms. Musgrave’s using political pressures to obtain surplus Brownfield property isn’t factual, but is simply a good ole Vanderburgh County “Political Witch Hunt”?

IS IT TRUE people in glass houses shouldn’t throw rocks?  …we hope that the main stream media will investigate if there were any political motives concerning DMD, ERC  or Brownfield Corporation purchasing about $1 million dollars on vacant and dilapidated property on North Main Street,  the awarding of 2014 facade grants,  purchasing dilapidated property in the Haynie’s Corner area and either giving them away or selling them well below appraisal price,  awarding of contractual professional service contracts, the rationale of DMD/ERC giving the proprietors of the McCurdy Hotel a $600,000 (paid by the taxpayers) parking lot for $1 dollar, the awarding of grants and extremely low interest loans to start up businesses located in the Arts District and downtown,  low interest loans and grants for the development of condos downtown and the actual amount of money given by the City to the dormant Alhambra Theater restoration project thus far?

Please take time and vote in today’s “Readers Poll”. Don’t miss reading today’s Feature articles because they are always an interesting read. New addition to the CCO is the Cause of Death reports generated by the Vanderburgh County Health Department.Copyright 2015 City County Observer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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35 COMMENTS

  1. Editor: Who wrote this article? Why are you not fully transparent on this issue and indicate who did?
    Is that person a friend of Cheryl Musgrave?

    Wayne Parke

    • This “issue” was created by Kelley Coures and Carolyn Rusk. We all know that lots on Parrett St. aren’t worth $5k or $7300. It’s actually a great example of the gross exaggeration of property values in the City. People notice less with property tax caps, but it’s the only way to raise collections now.

      The City of Evansville has decreased 500 million dollars in its assessed value since 2012. Imagine what it would be if property was accurately valued. We’d be at least a billion dollars down. But that doesn’t work with government’s need for money. The Assessor works throughout the County. County government has struggled to pay its bills. Higher assessments help. It is nearly a crime though when those higher assessments are used for City property taxes. Winnecke has raised property tax rates 15% since he’s been in office and has the parks assessment at an all time high of $7 million.

      Coures and Rusk wrote the memo creating the issue with their speculation and then leaked it to Jordan Vandenberg who’s too stupid to know he’s being used or just doesn’t care. His two years in Evansville is up, so it’s time to move on to a larger market. He probably figures this kind of crap helps, and why would he care about the damage bullshit reporting does to a community? It’s a clear race to the bottom with the local stations and the newspaper.

      If this was such an issue, why wasn’t it leaked to the press last year, when it happened? This lot would have been lucky to sell for $25 at an auction. This is a great example of how Carolyn Rusk is incompetent and her precious Brownfields can’t actually accomplish anything. This idiot has had vacant lots for decades. That’s not the goal of a land banking. They don’t challenge the assessments that are unreasonable and prohibit sales, because it makes them feel like they actually are accomplishing something with higher property values.

      Brownfields is nothing but a front for the administration’s pet projects and Rusk the willing accomplish. This woman has the integrity of a $2 dollar whore in a mining camp.

      • You really don’t pay attention. I believe Jordan has been here for at least five years.

    • Who are you? Whoever you are I expect you to try to attain at least partial translucency by mid October so folks no longer have to look around you. You are a traffic hazard in your current state.

      Can’t blame Cheryl Musgrave for buying properties adjacent to or near her home. Is Carolyn Rusk taking the point on this on behalf of the discredited Coures and our embattled mayor?

      Dealing in innuendo would hurt most administrations, this one has been so far gone for so long it’s almost refreshing. Another peek into the abyss.

      • It seems the “Evansville personality” isn’t following the policy he attributed to Winnie on the front page of the paper yesterday. KC says that the Mayor insists that everyone is treated alike, and the way they would want to be treated. Ms. Musgrave seems to be a very notable exception to that rule, or else it was BS to begin with. I’m betting on BS.

        The truth is that most of the single lots on Parrett St. are worth nearly nothing, because they are too small to build on. Trying to keep people like the Musgraves from acquiring property in that area flies in the face of all reason. Private investors providing green space, keeping them up, and paying taxes on them is the best of al possible outcomes in that neighborhood. Maybe Winnie would rather have the City to mow the lots and hang onto them until a toady comes along that he can give them to.

        Evansville needs federal investigators to look into the dealings of this administration.

    • Hypocrite! Your boy a/k/a Santa Lloyd pays 2 1/2 times for CVS bldg on North Main and that is okay. When an offer to buy from Musgrave and not accepted loss. In Wayne’s World if you are a FOW (Friend of Winnecke) that does not matter.

  4. The analysis with respect to the Parrett property is spot on. Cheryl has been buying and maintaining vacant lots for many years and her financial ROI has got to be negative. The truth regarding the value of these abandoned lots is that after upkeep these lots have negative value. Brownfield’s assertion that this lot is worth $7,300 simply because they paid that for it is poppycock. The assessment is wrong and Brownfields overpaid for the lot.

    That said, the rules that HUD makes with respect to selling these lots is psychotic. Quite frankly it is a formula for selling lots to people who can’t afford to mow them and will keep them perpetually in the hands of government and off the tax roles. This is a case of the dumb following the rules of the dumber.

    • Brownfields is a way to pay well connected slum lords for their shit properties way above market value. A portion of that gets kicked back to the politicians of course.

    • Your assessment is dead on. Take note go against this Stalin-Style outfit and you will be character assassinated. This is the way most Peoples’ Republics work. Viva the Peoples’ Republic of Evansville!!!

    • “Cheryl has been buying and maintaining vacant lots for many years and her financial ROI has got to be negative. The truth regarding the value of these abandoned lots is that after upkeep these lots have negative value.”

      I’m glad you added that her ‘financial ROI’ might be negative. Too often in these pages, people assume that only the dollars and cents of a deal matter. If I buy a vacant, abandoned property next to my house for $X and can’t sell it for $X + 1, then I’ve made a bad deal? Not necessarily. Having a well-tended lot next to my house might keep the value of my house up, I can sell them together in the future for a better price, I can bundle a few vacant lots I own for sale, I can use the lot next door to expand my existing house, etc. Or, I can just enjoy the peace of mind that I have a buffer lot next to me which I control and can maintain. These are all very good reasons to do what Mrs. Musgrave is doing, finances be damned.

    • Joe

      Absolutely correct. Cheryl and Bob should be commended for their effort to make their local area nicer and more presentable through the use of their PERSONAL funds.

      The purchase of nearby lots to homeowners is done all over Vanderburgh County for the express purposes of allowing a homeowner to take a lot that is usually in total disrepair and overgrown with weeds and tall grass and dilapidated buildings and to allow the nearby homeowner to improve the lot with personal and private funds. People like Cheryl and her husband have paid a tremendous amount of money from THEIR personal pockets to improve not only the neighborhood they live in, but by doing so they improve the overall appearance of the City and County.

      IMHO, this article is a hatchet job of the worst kind, and it reeks of desperation by Coures at DMD and (by extension) the CCO in the way this hackjob was written. The CCO and whoever wrote this diatribe should be ashamed of themselves. The tone of this article is designed to “carry the water” of the head of DMD and his cronyism to slander a neighborhood citizen who is continuing her efforts at improving her neighborhood by personally paying for a minuscule strip of property that would have sat vacant and unused and neglected by City officials.

      CCO, just because you sprinkle the word “allegedly” all over this trash article does not put you above the fray and blameless. It is pretty clear for all people reading this that you and Coures and Rusk are all in the same boat, and that you have an agenda against Cheryl while she should be lauded for her efforts.

      I find it to be a shame that Cheryl has been purchasing land parcels and improving her neighborhood with beautiful land work, investing who knows how many thousands of dollars in yard work in her neighborhood, and you simply want to tear down her efforts thru junk assertions of half-truths and BS. The people who should be taken to task are Coures at DMD and Rusk, both of whom should be ashamed for their political shenanigans.

      While I am at it, maybe you should take notice of the BS post on Facebook by Missy Mosby who wrote that Cheryl should resign from the ERC over this. Can somebody tell the dumb blond (Mosby) to be quiet and let the adults talk?

  5. What a mafia-style administration we have. Disagree with Santa Lloyd and Christmas Carol and your on the character assassin hit list.

  6. Can’t imaging wanting to own a vacant lot on Parrot Street but if I were so inclined I’d make a ridiculously low offer as did musgrave. Why not? To do otherwise would be folly.

  8. Is it true Brownfields/DMD has been known to buy up properties at auctions by outbidding bidding small business owners who would have refurbished the properties at their expense and not costing the local taxpayers a dime. Also effectively falsely raising the property assessments by overbidding for properties.

  9. The HUD program was to build on those lots. Coures says we are in compliance with HUD. Yeah like people on death row are in compliance as long as they don’t escape. No to tax payer land bank schemes. Auction the properties to investors. Close out the brownfields. Give Cheryl all of those lots she can afford to mow or hold for development. Who else wants a couple?

  10. “One difficulty in the current economy is finding someone who can take out a loan, (Barnett) said. Many potential buyers find it hard to prove they have the needed financial wherewithal.

    “There is no point in talking if we have somebody who has no ability to borrow or has no money on their own,” Barnett said.

    To ensure promises of repairs are kept, the city will place a special mortgage on a house. Owners pay nothing on the mortgage unless they fail to do what they said.

    Many of the properties owned by Evansville belong to the Evansville Brownfields Corp., an entity formed in 2003 as a means of protecting the city from lawsuits that might arise from environmental cleanups, as well as pursuing grants not usually offered to local governments. Last year, officials increased their push to buy more dilapidated houses, many of them in the neighborhoods just south of Downtown.

    The Vanderburgh County Assessor’s Office has 192 properties listed as belonging to the Evansville Brownfields Corp. or entities of a similar name. In total, the Department of Metropolitan Development has about 260 properties, owning them either directly or through various affiliates.

    Many were bought at sheriff’s sales. In 2005, Evansville Brownfields Corp. paid $37,243 for 63 properties at a sheriff’s sale.”
    ….

    http://www.courierpress.com/news/local-news/citys-demolition-derby

  12. Only those who know nothing about Evansville Redevelopment Commission member Cheryl Musgrave’s history on the commission would think that this latest revelation is about a vacant lot.

    What it IS about is that the puppet masters with the fat bank accounts want her off the commission because she asks too many questions, so they sicced their media whores on her.

    People are not exactly forming lines to purchase lots in Cheryl’s neighborhood. One wonders how much it costs to keep the lot mowed and trash picked up off the lot. Since the lot is adjacent to the Musgrave’s home, and they would likely keep it in good order, where is the major problem with selling it at a discount?

    I repeat, that is not what is happening here. What IS happening here is the same thing that happened to Evansville City Councilwoman Stephanie Brinkerhoff-Riley, who took it upon herself to expose the farce of an audit that the Indiana State Board of Accounts did on The City of Evansville Financial Compliance Audit. Now it is Cheryl’s turn.

    The big losers are the useful idiots in the media who only come out to do the bidding of the regional puppet masters committee, and could not care less about the public good.

    • Pressanykey

      While we sometimes disagree, I support and commend what you just wrote 100% (and more).

      Bravo, and this is spot-on for what is happening.

      I still think the CCO should be ashamed for what appears to be active participation in this hatchet job.

    • Press. A little late with this, but your comment is “spot on”, especially the last sentence.

  13. Word on the street is that Beavis and Butthead will have the audacity to motion for Ms. Musgrave to be removed from the ERC at the City Council meeting tonight. Never mind that there is ZERO reasons under local or state code to make such a stupid recommendation, a motion that has no substance (like them) and no logic (like them) and is complete and utter nonsense (like them), they will be mugging and cheesing for the cameras anyway. The actions of these illogical and childish City Council members continues to be an embarrassment for Evansville, and it is past time for them to be bounced from office and told to go back to whatever it is that they do for a living. Far too many people know that they genuflect and kowtow to a certain office and the spouse associated with that office, and the same large group of local citizens who have grown in asking for accountability have speculated and asserted for many years that this obvious conflict of interest certainly strays into the realm where everyone is confident that there is malfeasance in both the spirit and intent of good government. How can a City Council member have a boss that is married to the head of Evansville government and that not be a conflict? There is constant pandering to various factions of local government, and this is clearly done for self-gratification, and in doing so there is a complete and utter failure to uphold even the basic tenets of what makes a good “public servant”. The longer they sit on City Council the more revolting their actions are, and the number of people disgusted by how they act grows exponentially each passing day.

  14. Cheryl Musgrave may be someone I have had considerable disagreements over time. Many will remember the very difficult 2010 state representative race when we ran against each other. However, Cheryl is fiscally responsible and I have not heard one complaint from the community about her performance on the Evansville Redevelopment Commission.

    • Thank you Gail. This is something one rarely sees in Evansville, that being respect between political opponents like Cheryl and Gail were at one time. This is classy behavior from two professional political members of Evansville/state government. Could everyone else in politics please grow up!!

  15. At next guns and hoses there needs to be the special bout between SBR and lil Jonny Beaver followed by Musgrave vs Messy.

    Early odds:
    SBR 30-1 fave
    Musgraves 3-1

  16. First how can you possibly do a story like this and not even mention the $ 20000 that Boren Developement llc was paid for the property by Evansville Brownfields. The real story is the amount of transactions between (Ron Boren) Boren Developement llc and DMD et al… gifts grants and purchases !!! But this is the really good part so please be seated.
    River City Builders transferred the property to Boren Developement llc on 7-30-09 ( deed in lieu ). Boren Developement llc sold the property to Brownfield on 8-29-09 for 20k. Now here is the really good part River City Builders inc could not legally transfer the property because they were no longer a legal corporation in the state of Indiana. They were administratively dissolved on 8-22-08. And could no longer transact business. Now… how do you unwind this and what idiot did the title work. Hmm carolyn.

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