IS IT TRUE December 19, 2013
IS IT TRUE with yesterday’s publishing of the naming rights agreement for The Centre between Old National Bank and the Vanderburgh County Commissioners comes the scrutiny of that contract by anyone who wishes to clink on the link and read it?…there are indeed things in this contract that can only lead to a conclusion that all of the financial ducks are not in a row for a serious ground breaking ceremony for the downtown convention hotel?…the first oddity about the contract has to do with the amount of money that will or won’t be changing hands for the advertising value of putting the ONB brand on The Centre?…in section 4.1 of the agreement it clearly states that ONB will make “UP TO” $14 Million in “economic investment in downtown Evansville, Indiana, including specifically the downtown hotel project”?…while the County may think it has consummated a $14 Million deal, the reality of the situation is that ONB is not on the hook for more than a dollar contractually?…those words “UP TO†are in that contract for a purpose and that purpose is for the shareholders of ONB to have an out of this deal at a much smaller price than the $14 Million that the headlines proclaimed?…all this contract really does is hand ONB a lock on advertising, 10 free VIP tickets to every single event held at The Centre, 2 FREE RENT private events for ONB annually, for an investment “up to” $14 Million?…this is not a minimum investment at all, it is a maximum fee for the naming rights?…ONB could invest only $1 during the term and technically not be in breach of this contract?
IS IT TRUE that the agreement is not binding on ONB due to a 60 day cancellation provision granted to ONB that can be exercised by ONB for any reason at all?…things are not so good for the County because the cancellation rights of the County are only exercisable for ONB’s failure to satisfy a material obligation?…that basically translates into ONB can get out of this up until they write a check for some amount that they are free to determine themselves as long as it is less than $14 Million and that the County can get out of it if ONB does not give them a thin dime for the 30 year naming rights?…all three of the Vanderburgh County Commissioners (Marsha Abell, Joe Kiefer, and Steve Melcher) signed this agreement on behalf of the County?…only CEO Bob Jones signed on behalf of ONB?…ONB seems to be very safe in its commitments but the County seems to have exposed itself to unnecessary risk?
IS IT TRUE it would be interesting to learn just how the $14 Million maximum figure was arrived at and how ONB will spin whatever the investment in naming rights ends up being for their shareholders?…one thing for sure is that the investment in naming rights value will need to be backed up by some formal valuation of the benefits provided by the advertising?…usually things like this are determined by comparable investments and the closest thing to it sits across from the Civic Center in the form of Ford Center?…the naming rights deal for the Ford Center was a 10 year deal at $400,000 per year?…if this was a 30 year deal the math works out to a total of $12 Million for the Ford Center naming rights?…in most instances when one pays up front there is a discount extended based on an assumed interest rate?…of course the two free rentals and 10 premium seats at The Centre have some value as well?…given all of that the $14 Million could well have come from an analysis based on the Ford Center deal?…that value will have to be tested to pass the smell test?
IS IT TRUE the deal to get a hotel seems to have changed dramatically with this new revelation?…the previous deal which we had deemed to be a good deal involved a $20 Million assistance package from the City and County, an $11.5 Million local investment in equity (led by ONB), and the balance of the equity being paid by HCW in cash and loan?…the truth of the matter is that any naming rights to The Centre are revenue that should be accrued to The Centre and owned by the taxpayers of Vanderburgh County?…the hidden change in this deal is that in a $14 Million naming rights deal THE PUBLIC ASSISTANCE PACKAGE JUST WENT FROM $20 MILLION TO $34 MILLION, the $11.5 Million local investment may just go away, and the equity investment by HCW will be reduced by $2.5 Million?…the public assistance percentage just went from 29.4% (20 of 68) to 50% (34 of 68)?…the reality today my friends is that this deal has put us right back to where we were when the City Council balked at putting up $37.5 Million toward a $75 Million project?…three card monty is a thriving game in downtown Evansville when it comes to handing out taxpayer dollars to subsidize a convention hotel?
…we wonder if the naming rights for The Centre have this much value why it has sat there collecting not one dime for 13 years?…at the rate ONB may pay the County Commissioners have squandered a $6 Million opportunity by sitting on their hands for the last 13 years and leaving The Centre naming rights to rot?…this is once again a SNEGAL activity to cover up laziness and complacency on the part of elected officials?
wow-just wow.
This also pretty much validates the CCO questioning the success of the private investment group that ONB has been trying to interest in $500k shares of the hotel. THE FUNDING EFFORT FAILED OR THERE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN A NAMING RIGHTS AGREEMENT. The rich folks of Evansville are too smart to risk their own money in this fools folly but our government is right their to feed the panhandler? Marsha got her dumb butt taken to the cleaners and they are passing the bill down to the people of the county.
Section 4.1:
a) Delete the words ‘up to’; and
b) Change to read: ONB shall tender a payment of $ 14 Million to VC on the date certain of / / “.
Any average Joe shouldn’t be banking with ONB, just wanted to throw that out there.
I don’t agree with you on much, but on this one, I think we can ALL agree.
If I wasn’t out of the country I’d be organizing a protest against ONB and the County Council. I sure hope someone there gets something together. The public deserves to know how they’ve been robbed.
You guys in Evansville are more fun to watch than the Daily Show walking through a river of crap when it came to your town. This is impossible to make up.
City Council needs to rescind its approval of the $ 20 Million Subsidy on the Hotel, and focus that money on IU Medical School proposal. An extra $ 20 Million may come in handy.
Let LW and Marsha and the gang at ONB figure out the Hotel, they probably have a lot of other ideas like this naming rights gambit in their quiver.
This is the WORST breach of public trust I’ve ever seen. I knew this was a bait and switch. I just didn’t know how it was going to be pulled off.
Something about this one in particular is so…underhanded, so BLATANT it defies all semblance of explanation through simple incompetence. Guys, this is an outright, premeditated CONSPIRACY to defraud the public and betray our trust. How else can this be viewed?
I am absolutely flabbergasted. Speechless.
I personally believe there must be a provision in state law which nullifies this giveaway of a taxpayer valued asset, i.e. the naming rights to a public building virtually for FREE!
I was just thinking…Shouldn’t naming rights for the Centre have been put up for bids? Maybe another group would have put up more than ONB. At any rate, I just thought that there would be some legal requirement to take bids.
If you’re right about the state law, this should be voluntarily nullified by the City and ONB, THIS MINUTE!!
The IU Trustees look on, thankful for the free peek into how we do business.
Indeed! I still want to know what it is that One Term Winnecke has up his sleeve.
I don’t think anything but maybe a Naired arm. He seems to be making it up as he goes along. However, we must protect him. As much as possible not as much as deserved, to keep our tax money out of the hands of conmen. We can never be sure if they’ll come by land, sea or air, but it is certain the word is out. Those periscopes popping up in the Ohio aren’t attached to military subs, they’re waiting for him to be left unattended.
Did Bob Jones let his mouth overload his ass? Is he on the hook now and scrambling to get out from under his former statements? Have the good ole’ boys of the Evansville Regional Business Committee shut the door i Bob’s face?
Inquiring minds want to know.
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Ok I’m confused.
The CCO seems to being saying there is a huge loophole in the naming rights contract with the words “up to” giving ONB an out not to make any “investment” or any other amount up to $14M. If they back out of the
Then the CCO is saying the $14M “investment” dramatically increases the percentage of public subsidy, but if the money does come from ONB, wouldn’t that be a private investment even though the $14M would technically pass throught the hands of Abel and the County Commissioners.
Nevertheless this is a huge story and I thank the CCO for covering it.
This seems to raise more questions than answers.
Is the ONB “investment” contingent upon the loan amount that HCW is able to obtain?
What is the status of the $11.5M REIT? Is the money there and how much of it? What happens if the money is not there? The Winneke adminstration seems determined to build this Hotel by hook or crook. I sure wish he was as determined to plow my street of snow and take care of the city parks.
What shennanigans will be pulled next?
Why would Bob Jones put a nickel into this rat hole? Is $70M of money sloshing around Evansville and the tri-state worth that much?
This story has more plot twists than a Brains Benton mystery!!
Ok, here’s the bottom line… I read the contract last night. It isn’t long. Here’s what happened:
ONB gets
-10 FREE VIP tickets to every show at The Centre for 30 YEARS
– 2 FREE RENT uses of The Centre annually for 30 YEARS (60 total rent free uses!)
– naming rights to the Centre for 30 Years
– ability to back out of the contract
ONB is REQUIRED to give up in return
– $.01
There you have it. This contract has no teeth. It requires almost NOTHING of ONB, but in exchange they get all of the above real taxpayer ASSETS. In essence, ONB has stolen from taxpayers with the collusion of the signatories of this contract.
I just called the AG, who referred me to the Sec. of State and inquired about a law requiring bids for naming rights. I was told that they “do not give legal advice”. When I countered that it was not advice I was seeking, that all I wanted was an answer about the existence of such a law. Then I was told, “Well, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Get a lawyer.”
It is time for us to get a legal opinion. Are ther any attorneys who know, out there?
There is only one “SAFE” place to locate that IU Med School, and that is on the campus of USI.
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I read the RFP literally, and then “between the lines.” Between the lines, that’s what I took away from the RFP.
Do you mean in Vand. Co.? What is unsafe about the Warrick option?
Red Bank and hwy.62 can’t handle that much traffic. 1600 to 2000 more students, that would be a circus.
Old National gives the County “up to” 14 million for naming rights to the Center. County spends 3 to 4 million on renovations. Where is the rest of the money going?? A reasonable person would think the County has sold an asset, therefore the money due the taxpayers will go into a “rainy day account”. WRONG, you just bought a hotel.
The Centre 2012 Budget
DEPT 1440 THE CENTRE
ACCOUNT NAME ALLOWED
11301440 LEAD MAN $ 41,627.00
11401440 CUSTODIAN $ 38,017.00
11501440 CUSTODIAN $ 38,269.00
11601440 MAINTENANCE $ 45,023.00
11701440 CUSTODIAN $ 42,537.00
11901440 CUSTODIAN $ 37,931.00
1530 SHIFT DIFFERENTIAL $ 3,000.00
1750 CLOTHING ALLOWANCE $ 6,000.00
1850 UNION OVERTIME $ 35,000.00
1900 FICA $ 21,987.00
1910 PERF $ 35,176.00
TOTAL BUDGET CLASS 51 PERSONAL SERVICES $ 344,567.00
3536 CENTRE CONTRACTURAL $ 758,000.00
TOTAL BUDGET CLASS 53 OTHER SERVICES AND SUP $ 758,000.00
TOTAL DEPT 1440 THE CENTRE $ 1,102,567.00
* * * * * * * * * *
It would appear that the county could run The Centre for at least 8 or 9 years on the $11. Million left after the stated renovations.
Put the money in an approved account and for the next 8 years the proposed appropriations for the new budgets for the item called The Centre can show a zero!
That would be the way you should treat the local taxpayers.
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Good Grief Charlie Brown!
How can the Voters EVER elect these DOGS to ANY office again?
These CREEPS must be mentored by Bernie Madoff!!!!
Beyond disgusting,
the populace should ostracize ALL the thugs involved in this “SCAM”!
How about Joe Kiefer, County Councilman, telling WFIE yesterday that ” The Centre couldn’t keep operating without this support from ONB”.
How’s that working out for you this morning, Mr. K ?
Why was nothing reported on Steve Hicks in the CCO?
Is it true that the CCO never investigates anything negative about the EPD?
Plus one. If that scumbag was officer of the year in 2012, imagine what other characters they have.
Great question! What other types are there? Let’s see. There is the officer who saved an 8 year old girls life when he put a tornequet on her severed arm. There is the officer who talked a suicidal guy off the 9th floor balcony. There is the officer who rescued a little girls teddy bear from a bust roadway. There is the officer who just last week saved four kids from getting hit by a runaway bus.
Hicks does not represent the EPD as a whole anymore than your complaining represents the publics thoughts as a whole.
I have been a vocal EPD critic and to the CCO’s credit they have published numerous critical articles and letters I’ve written on the subject of law enforcement.
You guys are right. This officer’s alleged conduct, if true, is bad, but to EPD’s credit on this one, he was fired. This is the kind of behavior we should be encouraging from the EPD.
Good work, Chief Bolin!
Elkaybee has a good point. What are the laws around naming rights.
Are public officials just allowed to wheel and deal with the private/free market as they see fit? And if so does the public/taxpayers/voters have a say so over the proceeds or can our officials also just spend the proceeds however they want?
What’s next the McDonals’s Civic Center? The Courthouse brought to you by Wal-Mart?
And since our idiot SCOTUS has declared money is speech and corporations are people along with no campaign contribution limits, what’s to prevent the next step.
The Vectren Wessleman’s Woods? For a $1 for naming rights with a quid quo pro of $1M to the Mayor/Commission/City council’s campaign account?
Aye jaye jaye SMH.
Apparently the ERC will have to approve this, as it had to approve the Ford Center naming deal. Apparently it was not put up for bids, either, so this may be legal. Of course there are some strong family ties between the local Ford Truck dealership and the City Attorney’s office. All I know for sure is that this deal reeks.
When I said I think this might be illegal, I didn’t mean because of lack of bidding, I meant because a governmental body just (sold) a valuable asset, or series of assets, the market value of which totals in the MILLIONS, for $.01.
This can’t be a truly legal contract. I can’t search through mountains of Indiana code looking for the restrictive clause on this iPhone. Someone help me find it.
Help me out here if you will.
Is this $14 mil (up to) going to the County, for what? It infers in the contract that it is going to the hotel which is a City project.
So does this negate the $11.5 mil already promised to the City or is this in addition to that?
Just trying to understand what the County is getting in return for the naming rights. Seems to all be very confusing.
The $11.5m was a lie. They inflated the figure to $14m and released it to the press like they upped the amount to compensate for the additional naming rights. The local media lapped it up.
It’s all a fraud and the $11.5m does not exist. They don’t have it!
The only thing the County is guaranteed to get out of this contract is “UP TO $14m”, or in layman’s parlance $.01.
ONB got the gold mine and the taxpayers got the shaft.
It looks like the county is once again bailing out the spendthrift city. Didn’t we vote down consolidation last year? Well you damn county commissioners may need a refresher course in what that means. It means that Marsha and the Vandals can’t just sell off county assets and give the proceeds to the city. What the hell do these thieves think they are doing by selling the naming rights to a county property to support city projects? Damn thieves I say. How much of the Ford Center naming money did the county get?
Speaking of which, why is it if the naming rights to the Center is worth $466,666 per year that the collective group of county commissioners since the year 2000 are derelict in their duties. Why weren’t the naming rights sold before? Maybe that useless pile of bricks could have lost $6 Million less dollars if the lazy commissioners would have sold the naming rights earlier? Did they even try?
Instead of ONB being the hotel project’s investor, it is really the County.
I’m pretty sure Evansville is part of Vanderburgh County.
Mykfridley,
Yes, Evansville (117,000 population) is part of Vanderburgh total population of 180,000.
County government covers all 180,000 population. Evansville City government is separate of the county government and covers 117,000.
You will have to ask the city why they have duplicating departments above and beyond county government.
Can we impeach Winnecke?????????
Unfortunately, no. If a Judge issues a warrant, Eric Williams can arrest him, though.
Lets do some math for a minute and see the real value of what ONB just stole from taxpayers…
This deal includes 10 FREE VIP tickets per event at The Centre.
The Centre averages about 4 ticketed events per month. The average high end VIP ticket for these events exceeds $50, but lets be conservative and say $50. It’s nice and round.
That means the Centre puts on about 48 ticketed events per year (12*4).
48 events * $50 * 10 seats = $24,000 per annum
$24,000 * 30 years (contract duration) = $720,000 of lost revenue opportunity on the VIP tickets alone!
If ONB gets all these free tickets for a $ 14 Million ante into the pot, what do the CITIZENS get for their $ 20 Million investment ?
A seat at Roberts Stadium ? A seat at the Executive Inn? Seat at Welborn Hospital ? Greyhound Bus Station ? L&N Railroad Depot ? A kick in the SEAT ?
That’s in TODAY’S dollars, too … My first concert ticket in the mid-80s cost $10 or less for great seats. How much do concert tickets cost these days? I rest my case.
Right. That’s not adjusting for inflation.
That should be about $1.02m assuming an average low annual inflation rate of 2% over the next 30 years.
The only other time naming rights for the entire complex were ever attempted was in 1990 but the plan ended up failing to gather public or political support.
I’m also trying to figure out how we’ve gone from $11.5million to up to 14.
We have gone from an investment in the hotel to the purchase of naming rights. So if these jackals were truthful before we should have $25.5 Million available. That would be the $11.5 Million from the fat cats and $14 Million from the naming rights. I really hate to see the county bail out the damn city again. That is why we voted this nonsense down last year but here goes Marsha and company doing exactly that.
Did you hear that idiot Joe Kiefer on TV last night. That moron said the Centre could not survive without the naming rights deal and then signed off on giving the money to the city. Is that turd head retarded? The operation of the Centre won’t get a damn thing from this deal. Kiefer made Missy Mosby look intelligent with that comment.
Keep in mine ol’ Joe “denounced” county government back almost 9-10 years ago while being on the cities “dime” as a elected city official. He was the one that started the “failed” consolidation movement which cost both city and county government unknown upfront money and all “lost productive time” as “Fischer” went nosing around “both” governments different departments.
That can’t be. It has to be the same money – $11.5m private plus an additional $2.5m for naming rights, which were not part of the original deal. If it was both, the hotel would be grossly overfunded.
I think the idea here was to provide cover for the fact they hadn’t yet gotten $11.5m by telling an even BIGGER lie, making people believe the deal got better when it didn’t. Now ONB has an out if they cannot raise all the funds and they get payment for gathering (or attempting to gather) the investors together.
One thing is certain…this needs action on the part of the City Council. They need to begin asking serious questions about the private financing, because their agreement to chip in $20m was completely contingent upon that!
I fear a scenario where construction begins without full funding, then taxpayers are left at some point with a half-built skeleton of a building we will be forced to either finish or let rust.
There are no investors..the $14 MILLION from ONB is your replacement for the supposed REIT. You have the government funding, this naming rights cash and a loan from banks or finance compaines.
Two different buckets of money and both have big problems.
While I commend the City Council for sticking it out and ostensibly going from a requested subsidy of $ 37.5 Million down to $ 20 Million, the fact is that we are seeing today the hazard of not doing ANY VETTING on this transaction. The moment that LW said he would bring “private money” into the transaction, the $ 20 Million was signed, sealed and delivered by City Council. As I recall, LW would not even identify to the Council who, specifically, the whales were who would buy-in to the REIT.
Are we now to understand that there ARE NO INVESTORS who will be paid interest and have a subordinated position on this transaction? Is the ‘naming rights’ the only thing ONB takes away for $ 14 Million ?
I hope Council uses this as an occasion to PUNT; does anyone remember ‘ We ARE the business plan’ from HCW ?
I’m surprised that County Commission attorney Joe Harrison Jr would style a legal contract with ONB concerning a $14 million naming rights agreement. This contract is shameless.
Looks like it’s time to choice a different County Attorney this next time a round. He has let the county taxpayers down.
Anyone else notice a distinctive lack of Phyllip Davis and Wayne Parke comments on this subject?
Duly noted.
They’re waiting for marching orders, I suspect. Although Phyllip, aka Mr. Subsidy, should be along any minute to tell us he’s again decided the CCO is a tabloid.
I had noticed that conspicuous absence, too.
This all boils down to the fact that the powers that be are planning to build a hotel that will cost $40M+ to build and will appraise at $25M the day it is completed.
So the question is who or what comination of whoms will get stiffed for the $15M and whose career will be ruined by this
Will it be
A) The REIT investors
B) ONB
C) HCW
D) City Taxpayers
A) Bob Jones
B) Marsha Abel
C) Lloyd Winneke
D) Joe Kiefer
E) County Taxpayer
it is true if the voters would have listened to a young professional named andrew smith sewers before stadium this would all be mute……..instead on top of all this evansville has at least a 540 million sewer bill on the way……a person can not make this up……..
Now the beautiful people of Evansville are trying to round up several million to renovate the Wesselman Woods entrance. I think before any decision is made a task force with representation from those who want a stadium parking lot on the land should be formed.
Anybody heard from Wayne Parke?
Does anyone remember …..
All the hotel supporters trumpeting the “savvy” weathly investor as the seal of approval on both HCW and the financial viability of the convention hotel?
Winneke and Bob Jones yucking it up and slapping each other on the back at the City Council meeting and other photo ops congratulating each other on their financial wizardry?
The hotel supporters giving everyone, including the City Council, that the $11.5 REIT investment was “in the bag” sitting in cash and that Bob Jones was an investment genius and investors had snapped up the REIT units like hot chocolate at a cold football game?
Bob Jones being asked if he was comfortable about working with HCW and him saying “I wouldn’t be investing $11M if I wasn’t” and everyone laughing and applauding like it was the funniest thing since Seinfeld went off the air?
Correction: The hotel supporters giving everyone “the imppression”….
I just shot Hobgoblin out my nose.
Heck Brad, with this country as screwed up as it is, lasso the little bugger,give it a name,and certificate.
List your wifes name,and get the dang thing a SSN,it seems thats the way of the world anymore.
Don’t forget in 18 years,the little bugger could vote,might be swing vote,important stuff there Ya’know. Dang.got stop that,way to much South Park thinking,kinda like your local politics. 🙂
Where’s Wayne?
Anybody heard from Wayne Parke? I guess he is waiting for the Courier and Press to tell him what to say.
Maybe Wayne is waiting for County Attorney Joe Harrison Jr. to give him political directions.
Wayne? U there?………. Birds chirping………………
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