IS IT TRUE August 12, 2013

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Mole #3 Nostradamus of Local Politics
Mole #3 Nostradamus of Local Politics

IS IT TRUE the City County Observer Mole Nation reports that the Edmund L. Hafer, Chairman of the Evansville Redevelopment Commission is also President of Evansville Regional Business Committee located at in a plush Executive office at One Vectren Square on the Seventh floor of the Vectren building?…we wonder who are the other members that serve of the Evansville Regional Business Committee located in the Vectren headquarters building happen to be and just what contributions to local prosperity this rather secretive group has made?…we wonder who is subsidizing the entire operation of the Evansville Regional Business Committee?…we wonder would appoints members to serve on the Evansville Regional Business Committee?…we also wonder what the mission of this group is and how they have been able to operate in such a stealth manner for so long? ….we wonder if this committee is registered with the IRS and whether they are for profit or a non-profit entity? …our readers look forward to either Mr. Hafer and/or Vectren’s response to just why this difficult to Google group merits accommodations in the showcase floor of a company that enjoys a monopoly over electric and gas utilities in SW Indiana?

IS IT TRUE the recent readers polls in the CCO have been solidly against the City Council voting to borrow money to give to an out of town hotel developer without a sufficient amount of time to thoroughly VET the project?…by a margin of 3 to 1 our readers agreed with the statement that the ERC is a lapdog organization for the Mayor of Evansville?…our readers also voted by a 3 to 1 margin that the City Council should not even vote on funding the hotel until 45 days after the end of the 2012 audit of the City of Evansville’s accounts?…the current poll at the time of this writing is running 5 to 1 in favor of the City Council waiting until 45 days after they have a copy of the entire business plan including critical assumptions and a pro forma for the hotel project has been in their possession to evaluate?…Councilman Al Lindsey did sponsor a resolution during the last year to strip the ERC of any ability to obligate the City of Evansville to any spending period unless pre-authorized by the City Council to do so?…this will be the subject of tomorrow’s poll?

IS IT TRUE the ERC is nothing but an appointed commission with enough mayoral appointments to turn it into an alter-ego of the Mayor whomever that is at a given time?…during the last 5 years the ERC has authorized the purchase of a $603,000 parking lot that sold for $125,000 at auction, supported Mayor Weinzapfel in his McCurdy ambitions that fell flat on their face, authorized three different hotel deals without doing sufficient VETTING of the companies on the Mayor’s preferred list, and managed the cash flow for the construction of Ford Center after biting hook line and sinker on a pro-forma that had the Ford Center profitable by now including servicing the debt?…the ERC has even had to endure the indignity of seeing one of the appointed members caught up in an alleged money laundering scheme for drug money?…in all honesty we cannot think of one damn thing the ERC has made an informed and competent decision on in the last 5 years?…it is time to just disband this appointed commission of puppets for the Mayor of the month and let the City Council assume these responsibilities?…if you agree with this premise the CCO would appreciate it very much if you would let your City Council member and all three of the at-large council members know this by phone or email today?

IS IT TRUE that prudent policy would be to vote on Councilman Al Lindsey’s resolution to clip the wings of the ERC before bringing any other funding vote to the floor for discussion?…the CCO believe it or not does recognize that a convention hotel will aid Evansville in bringing conventions to town?…we also recognize that conventions are going the way of the buggy whip and vinyl records?…there are still some stodgy old fogeys around who do the convention thing but the internet, “go to meeting”, and social media are rendering expensive travel to attend conventions obsolete?…attendance at conventions are down all over America but communication is increasing?…we therefore question the rationality that conventions are a significant enough economic force today or in the future to merit handing $37.5 Million of taxpayer dollars to a hotelier on the basis that the Centre will make up for that cost in new convention revenue?…the Centre lost money when the Executive Inn was open and run fairly well and will continue to do so with or without a new hotel?…for these reasons learned people in the financial spectrum need to do a thorough job of VETTING the payback to the City of Evansville in terms of real new tax dollars before proceeding with this project?…the case for this is not made because if it was we would not need tax dollars to make it happen?…the recent excuse of every other city does it does not hold water either?…we challenge those who use that argument to show us one that has worked with a 10 year track record of real results?…we don’t think they will be coming forth with any example of success?

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35 COMMENTS

  1. In other news, I still have not heard back from the Mayor’s Office about my proposal to clean up Mesker, paint, and install the seating using all unpaid VOLUNTEERS.

    Hopefully I get a call back this week. I won’t be holding my breath, but I will take Sheila at her word she will pass along my proposal to the Mayor.

    • Why not call the Mayor’s mouth on her cell and get a response?

      Ella Johnson-Watson
      Director of Communications
      Office of Mayor Lloyd Winnecke
      812.436.4965 (o)
      812.760.5089 (c)

  2. When Winnicke comes out of the phone booth,who do we see? Mortimer Sneed, that’s who!

  3. Conmen,cronies and clowns start to be exposed oh my!!!! Weinzapfel= Winnecke+Parke = DERP

  4. Can’t wait for Ed Hafer responds to the questions about Evansville Regional Business Committee in todays IS IT TRUE. If he doesn’t then that should tell us something.

    I also wonder if his committee donated any money to any political candidates or proposed governmental projects campaigns recently?

  5. Mobly said on the radio this morning that….”according to what I’ve seen , we should vote to go ahead with the mayor’s plan for the hotel.” What on earth does she know that the rest of the council, AND the voters have been denied access to?

    • Mosby couldn’t read a business plan if it were tattooed to her best friends backside. The people of the 2nd Ward look a little more stupid every time Missy opens her mouth. Of course she and Weaver are willing to support the Mayor’s plan carte blanche without reading it. She is the head cheerleader for the chicken fat dancer.

  6. The sad thing is that the oversight agency (State Board) is handling this like a joke and nothing will be done with Indiana’s own Detroit. You’ve got a supervisor who’s not a CPA. The one in charge of the audit is nicknamed “Airhead” and who is also not a CPA. Then you got three rookies who aren’t CPAs. Heifer, Sheldon Cooper, and Cowabunga. Time to throw them out and get a real CPA firm to roll up their sleeves and do the job right!

    • Click on the 2011 report and go down to line 32. Below line 32 is a list of names that comes as close as any I have ever seen of the people who control the politics of Evansville and Vanderburg county with their wealth or influence, as in Jack Pate’s case.

      ___

      • So the publisher of the Courier and Press is in the pockets of big business too. No wonder the Courier kisses up to everything the city administration does. Don’t look for critical thinking from a place that is a sitting member of a secret society.

      • Looks like they checked “NO” to the question #46:

        46 Did the organization engage , directly or indirectly, in political campaign activities on behalf of or in opposition to candidates for public offlce7
        If ‘Yes’c2mplete Schedule C, Part I 46 X

        Also look where $15,000 went:

        LOCAL GOVERMENT REFORM 15,000.

        Is this not false reporting??

        • Well, given that Hafer was paid by this group to serve on the consolidation committee it is clear that box 46 is a damn intentional lie.

    • Wow, it looks like Ed Hafer is being paid $83,000 a year from a non-profit to serve on boards and push the agenda of the funders like Vectren. How is the hell can someone with this big of a conflict of interest get appointed to a board that spends taxpayer dollars? By the way with ERBC being a non-profit the funders are writing off their dues and any in kind donations like office space. Hafer is milking the public goat just like Winnecke.

        • Dues paying members of the Evansville Regional Business Committee. All the usual names are listed over the years. Vectren/Ellerbrook, ONB/Jones, the Kochs, Romain, Goeble, Allen Braun, Jack Pate/C&P, and of course Mr. Hafer. In short this is the Illuminatti of Evansville and they work behind the scenes to keep themselves at the trough.

          • Have we finally confirmed “The Machine” = Evansville Regional Business Committee ??

          • Jack Pate??? the publisher of the courier and press??? So much for objective reporting when the publisher of the local paper is in bed with the Illuminatti as you call them. This is looking more cloak and dagger all the time. Seriously, this bunch of vultures captured the publisher of the CP to spread their damn propaganda. I wonder what the initiation ritual is. Word on the street is that it is down right evil.

  8. Speaking of the McCurdy fiasco, I heard last night that Kunkel is being sued for breach of contract by one of the local unions. That plus that Whirlpool suit makes it sound like the McCurdy is at risk of rotting down again.

    • How in the heck would Kunkel and the unions enter a contract? They used all kinds of scab labor on their downtown projects. I smell a rat named Weinzapfel as a matchmaker of some type for these two adversaries to be in any contract. Probably Kunkel borrowed money from the pension fund and didn’t pay it back.

  9. “Plush executive office at One Vectren Square…” Obviously, you have never seen his office.
    But, you have an agenda to attempt to make Mr Hafer sound as if he is dishonest.

    • Lets see. 7th Floor on the Riverfront with a nice desk, internet provided, phone provided, a security guard in the lobby, and all things like business cards, stationary, and maybe even some clerical help provided. It may not be gilded like a Wall Street tycoon but by Evansville standards this set up is plush.

        • Remember when Ed Hafer represented the Evansville Regional Business Committee on the CONSOLIDATION COMMITTEE? He was part of the attempt to annex the county into the city and one of the authors of that rat bag plan that was voted down by a 2 to 1 margin. They (ERBC) surely tried to influence a vote there leading more strength to the argument that they lied on those tax returns.

  10. What is the secret handshake to enter the Evansville Regional Business Committee ? I’d like to pay them a visit this afternoon !

  11. Sometimes I feel that the local citizens are being played for fools.

    We have countless committees and organizations that give great lip service to recruiting business to Evansville, but there is an unspoken caveat: No one is going to mess with my cheese.

    That is the danger as I see it when you have all the current top players so well entrenched that no one from the outside could come in here and do anything if a single committee member decides his cheese might be vulnerable.

    It is more of a mutual aid society than it is a legit business recruitment effort.

    We need to start approaching business recruitment here in Evansville in a way that mitigates the influence of these powerful individuals, opens the gates, and levels the field.

    Then Evansville can shine once more.

    ___

    • Some people [or most depending on your take] believe that the “competitive” nature of capitalism includes fighting/competing for said cheese…

      Is this where we are in Evansville, 99.9% crony capitalism?

  13. Friend is grandstanding. The truth is he sucks at the public tit as much as any of them but wants to appear he’s looking out for the taxpayer.

  14. I will bet Mr. Friend knows of what he speaks..from what has been public knowledge or better yet what has not and banking on his finance and accounting career, in layman terms..show me the money..how can we do this? Being in business, I know how to read balance sheets, financials or a prospectus. Why are they withholding the information he has ask for? Re: Johnson Controls, after I looked at this I think Mr. Friend did pare the amount by maybe..what, 11 million? This plan is not all bad in concept and in my opinion nor is the downtown hotel but make it work for Evansville!

    • Run silent/Run deep:

      You carry the mistaken belief that one can take a bad project (Johnson Controls) and improve it by merely lowering the price. After the $ 11 Million reduction you seem to want to hand credit to Mr. Friend for, the resulting $ 45,000,000 price is still a grotesque, unneeded waste of public money.

      I have an idea: since you brag about knowing how to read financial statements, do so on the Johnson Controls project and get back to us with your (revised) opinion.

  15. How much do you want to bet Jonathan Weinzapfel other Vectren cronies, Joe Kiefer, John Friend, Curt John, BJ Watts and all those other morons are part of that regional business committee. What a crock. The same people have been holding this town back for years.

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