IS IT TRUE August 2, 2012
IS IT TRUE the editor of the City County Observer has yet another word published in the urban dictionary?…this word is “Plotiticianâ€?…the submitted definition that was accepted is “A person who seeks or uses political office for personal gainâ€?…that the example of the use of the word in a sentence is “The unscrupulous Plotitician who hatched this scheme has decided to run for office so he can make it happenâ€?
IS IT TRUE the Evansville Convention and Visitor’s Bureau is drastically looking for ways to spend the growing pile of cash at their disposal courtesy of the Innkeeper’s tax?…these dollars have lots of strings attached to them and that for some idiotic reason a certain portion has to be spent on brick and mortar projects?…that some of these dollars can only be spent to build something even if there is no need whatsoever to build anything at all?…that this may be one of the keys to the dogmatic drive to overspend to build 8 ball fields for over $10 Million that are routinely built in other locations for under $4 Million?…that whatever government entity agreed on the bricks and mortar requirement and advocate for overpaying for everything built have are so out of touch with reality that they could be deemed to have no common sense at all?…that if we have to build something that the most bang for the buck would come if we were to build some irrelevant shiny object that the federal GSA would run after?…that even after being berated, forbidden, and fired for wasting taxpayer dollars that the GSA is in Nashville at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel as we read squandering even more taxpayer dollars than they already have in Las Vegas and Hawaii?…the purpose of the GSA seminar in Nashville is to learn how to use a credit card?…this is an absolute outrage that if the government will not hold these irresponsible moochers responsible for then a group of people may be required to do so?…there are plenty of people in this country right now who are willing to work (not to be confused with professional moochers) that can’t afford the basics of life at a time when our federal government’s property management agency is living large in Nashville? UNACCEPTABLE!
IS IT TRUE that the Vanderburgh County Council approved the use of $300,000 to remodel the Pagoda where the Evansville Convention and Visitor’s Bureau is located and conducts their daily business?…in the very same meeting a request from Dr. Ray Nicholson for an infusion of cash less than $300,000 to continue operating a free dental clinic was tabled until a later date?…that sometimes governments and their surrogates make decisions that literally make one shake their head in disbelief?…the motto for this embodiment of the Vanderburgh County Council should be deemed to be “PAINT BEFORE HEALTHâ€?…that maybe this City and County are so blasted poor that we can afford neither of these things but if there is a choice to be made this was the wrong choice?…this is just another example of POOR PUBLIC POLICY?…that for those who are of the opinion that the braintrust of Evansville is in County government this sounds about par for the course for what the City has been doing for over 50 years?
IS IT TRUE that the estimate to repair the Combined Sewer Overflow problem has been released and the tab is expected to be only $227 Million over the next 20 years?…that this is encouraging as the expected cost was closer to double this amount even though there has already been $120 Million spent on sewer improvements?…that this $227 Million figure is eerily only $100 Million more than was just spent in a period of 2 years to construct the temple to games known as the Ford Center?…that we cannot turn back time but if the choice was posed honestly to the people of Evansville in 2007 on whether to spend $127 Million of the Ford Center or $227 Million to repair the sewers that the CCO is quite confident that the people of this city would have chosen the SEWERS BEFORE THE STADIUM?…this makes Andrew Smith who has since left town for entrepreneurial purposes look like a visionary that should have been elected rather than ostracized and run out of town on a rail?…things like this make one wonder what kind of mind altering substances that the government of this town was on during the period from 2007 to 2011?…there were so many reckless and irresponsible decisions and policies pursued during that time period that south Chicago would be envious.
Marsha, Marsha, Marsha you did it again. Paint over dental care for the most needy of this community. Shame on you.
Correction: Marsha is a County Commissioner. The aforementioned business was before the County Council
What was the funding source for the Pagoda improvements? Was it the hotel/restaurant tax or the Riverboat fund? I don’t know yet, I’m asking. But let’s keep the discussion on point. If it was the hotel/restaurant sales tax fund assigned for EVB use, that’s one thing. If it was the Riverboat funds that could’ve been used for the Dental Clinic, then that’s another thing altogether. When making a connection between funding the Pagoda upgrades and neglecting the Dental Clinic, report the whole story, please. THe Clinic is too important to use it just to stir the pot.
Nevermind. I went to the Courier & Press and got my answer. Jared Council reports: “The money for the project would not come out of the county’s general fund, but rather the Tourist Capital Development Fund — or lodging tax revenue.” So, again, if the $300,000 had come from a fund that could be used to keep the Dental Clinic open, this would’ve reflected very badly on the County Council. But the money came from a fund assigned for Visitor Bureau use, right? As long as CCO is Evansville’s FOX, let’s keep it fair and balanced :::wink:::
Supposedly the $$$ is coming from Bill Jeffers’ Rounders Pizza since its such an economic revenue machine…How do you get Bill Jeffers off your Pagoda porch?… You pay him for your pizza…
Your about 12 years and three owners behind the times, which should come as no surprise considering your thought processes and political affiliations.
Well I suppose after Borries and Aiken the party did go all downhill…Glad I got out myself…
For the real source of the problem with the “bricks and mortar” fund and the Innkeeper’s tax as a whole, please look into when the increase of the Vanderburgh County’s Innkeeper’s was requested and granted by the state. (Vanderburgh Co has the highest Innkeeper’s tax in the state.) It seems to me that this increase happened as prelude to the new arena and ball fields fiasco. I believe the increase was a set-up for the ball field spending.
That increase should have never taken place. We have heard from folks who are required to stay in motels/hotels in the area that this is an expensive area in which to stay relative to the type of location it is. I speak specifically about the people who come into town for Frog Follies. This could backfire and cause the loss of hotel business. This tax can add $10 or more to rooms considering that the room rates are jacked up for high demand time periods.
Of course it will backfire…just as assuredly as pressing a stop button on a CD player will stop the music from playing.
The whole point here was to stress that the reason so much money was allocated to the bricks and mortar fund is that so much was planned to be spent on the ball fields to justify their existence and the razing of Roberts Stadium to protect the new arena. This is the reason that the % of the hotel tax was increased. It had to pass the state legislature for the increase to happen and it might be fruitful to look at when this was voted through. I would recommend rescinding this increase and reapportioning the CVB budget.
Didn’t the Vanderburgh Convention Group people estimated that the Nationl Golf Contest held in Newburgh would bring in enough people to fill 5000 plus hotel rooms in area? Word is that they only filled 12000 rooms. Can this mean the Convention Group lost thousand of dollars of revenue on hotel tax income?
After those excellent results, now they want to spend $300,000 to paint their headquaters. Dental healthcare for the poor or over paint. Shameful!
Guess they used the same math they are using to build new baseball fields.
The second section of today’s “Is It True” concerning the Innkeeper’s Tax is a wonderful illustration why the libertarian approach of lowering regulatory hurdles and taxes across the board and in equal measure and with no deference of business type creates a rich, diverse, and competitive business environment, whereas protectionism, favoritism, and selective robbing of taxpayers to fund a bureaucratic approach to economic development actually STIFLES the very thing it purports to promote.
“Wherever government bureaucracy takes over, costs go up and quality goes down.” – Milton Friedman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViAT1TxhBk4
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