IS IT TRUE FEBRUARY 20, 2017

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IS IT TRUE that former Evansville Icemen Hockey team over a three year period of time paid the Ford Center the following amount of base rent for 36 home games (a range of rent per  game of $10,926 to $11,479)?  …from 2015-2016 they paid $413,244 ?  …from 2014-2015 they paid $403,164?  …from 2013-2014 they paid $393,336? 

IS IT TRUE that the former Evansville Icemen Hockey team paid the Ford Center approximately $49,968 a year to use audio-video equipment and paid the operating camera crews for 36 home games over a five year period? .

IS IT TRUE that the former Evansville Icemen Hockey Team paid the Ford Center a $2.00 Facility Fee for each ticket sold ( less a credit for season and group tickets sold) over the last three years for the 36 home games they played at the Ford Center?  …from 2015-2016 they paid Venueworks $119,603?  …from 2014-2015 they paid Venueworks $180,320?  ...2013-2014 they paid Venueworks $206,190?  

IS IT TRUE that the total  expenses incurred by the former Evansville Icemen paid to the Ford Center for per game lease, audio-video services and $2.00 Facility Fee  for the last three (3) years were: 2015-2016 was $582,815, 2014-2015 was $633,412 and during 2013-2014 was $649,455 this amount was among the highest paid expenses for these categories in the 28 team ECHL League?

IS IT TRUE that City Officials received from the Evansville Icemen 20 comp tickets for 36 home games?  …of these 20 comp tickets, 10 of these tickets were reserved for the “BEST TICKET” section at the Center of the Ice? … the Evansville Thunderbolts receives 40 comp tickets for City Officials to attend 28 home games?  …20 of these tickets are reserved for the “BEST TICKET” section at the Center of the Ice? …we wonder if it’s legal for elected city officials to receive free comps for anyone doing business with the City of Evansville?

IS IT TRUE in the coming days we shall be comparing what the former Evansville Icemen and the Evansville Thunderbolts have and are paying the Venueworks for the use of the Ford Center?  …we feel you will be surprised in the difference that both team have and are playing to use the Ford Center for Ice Hockey? …because of the ways both lease contracts were written you shall see that home game attendence play a major role in the overall income derived by Venueworks for the lease of the Ford Center to both the former Evansville Icemen and the Evansville Thunderbolts?

IS IT TRUE the official unemployment rate is currently 4.8% which indicates that the United States is at full employment?…the broader measure of unemployment, which includes those who are underemployed or who’ve given up looking but want a job, is still a shockingly high 9.4%, rendering the “official” unemployment rate to a lesser reality?…it was 8.8% just before the Great Recession started, and has been as low as 6.8% since the Bureau of Labor Statistics started this separate measure in 1994?…14 million people have dropped out of the labor force since the economic recovery started in June 2009?..That is more than the number of jobs created over those same months during the Obama Administration?…The labor-force participation rate is just 62.9%, down from 65.7% when the recovery started, and the average length of unemployment today is 25 weeks, which is three weeks longer than it was in June 2009?

IS IT TRUE when it comes to incomes, there are also plenty of problems to address?…The overall real median family income climbed less than 2% over the past seven years, but the poorest fifth of households saw their incomes decline, according to the latest Census data?…There were more African Americans and more Midwesterners living in poverty in 2015 than in 2009, and 11 million more people are on food stamps according to that same Census data set?…the economy is certainly not,on the brink of disaster when President Trump took office last month but it is certainly reasonable to say that it was, in many ways, a mess when it comes to jobs that pay a living wage that are attractive enough to get people who have given up back into the world of working and paying taxes?

FOOTNOTE: Todays “Readers Poll” question is: Are you surprised what the former Evansville Icemen team paid Venuworks to lease the Ford Center for each home hockey game?

 

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26 COMMENTS

  1. Former Mayor Weinzapfel has zero influence and credibility in Indianapolis, so him demanding anything will be met with laughter and derision. He is merely a foretelling of the current mayor’s future stature in state government’s perception.

  2. Interesting. The mayor kicks out the Icemen, who actually drew crowds and paid a sizable amount of rent, in favor of something calling itself the Evansville Thunderbolts. Can’t wait to see how much rent they pay.
    Meanwhile, in what seems to be an act of actual reporting (rare for them) the Courier yesterday noted the city is obligated to $8,000,000 per year bond payments until 2039. And that’s after refinancing which supposedly saved $10,000,000. Oh yes, also, the Ford Center has not shown a “profit” for any full year since it opened.

      • The C & P article from Sunday, for ‘Fiscal 2015’ (undefined) showed a Ford Center loss of $ 690,000 and the reporter said that was ” about $ 100,000 more than last year’s loss”.

        If ‘Fiscal 2015’ was the calendar year, then the $ 690,000 loss is the amount WITH receiving a lot of money from the Icemen. That means . . . .(drumroll) . . . the 2016 Ford Center results, with the assumed much less revenue from the Thunderbolts will make the loss north of $ 1,000,000 ???

    • Imagine these local goobers trying to wade their way through this type of maze:

      http://www.indianaeconomicdigest.net/main.asp?SectionID=31&SubSectionID=72&ArticleID=55028

      Is it any wonder that they had trouble meeting the first bond payment for the arena? So why can’t the city sue the Indianapolis firm that did the revenue projections for the bond payments? Instead, they keep using the same company time after time. So much goes on behind the backs of the people tagged with making up the payments when plan A fails, and of course none of that ever comes out until after the bond is sold.

    • That was a rock-solid article by the C&P, exactly the kind of in-depth reporting that a local newspaper is uniquely qualified to conduct. It’s too bad that lens isn’t focused on many more of the shady dealings our local government engages in.

      • @Delta: I agree, not a bad effort considering it was a C&P article. But my most favorite part was when the reporter asked none other than Russ Lloyd, Jr., he being the one unable to reconcile the bank accounts, to explain why the Ford Center loses money.

        Russ started slowly . . . newness of facility has worn off; the vagaries of sports fans who respond to won-loss records (I assume he meant UE mens basketball). And then he got into the Ice Hockey, and basically BLAMED IT ON THE THUNDERBOLTS. Hello, Russ . . . Earth to Russ . . . it was your boss who pulled the plug on the negotiations with Geary and the Icemen. Where I come from we call that a ‘Self-Inflicted Wound”.

        The CCO analysis of comparative money paid by Icemen and T’Bolts will prove that the City Administration has, once again, lost a toe due to another round of foot shooting.

    • If they’re not turning a profit, then how in the H**L did Venuworks get another 5-year contract?!? On top of that Venuworks is about to kick SMG out of The Old National Events Plaza!

      According to the city’s contract with the Thunderbolts, Venuworks owns a portion of the team. So its no surprise that the team is getting a sweetheart deal to play while Venuworks gets to keep their contract.

      How about the city spending $18 Million on the Jimtown Scooter Expressway, while the water mains on North Hidelbach keep breaking every other week? I have heard the city is about to face a major lawsuit from neighbors in the area.

      The cronyism of our local government knows no bounds and its going to end up bankrupting our city.

    • @Dann Coulter: don’t be fooled by the C & P reporter’s comments on the Ford Center turning a profit in its first year (a two months year). The State Board did a review of the Arena Construction, and determined that $ 800,000 of operating expenses had been charged to to the Construction Accounts. We are talking about things like the Vectren bill being charged to Construction !

      So sorry, no operating profit in 2011 (two months), those damn accounting regulations always getting in the way of progress !

  3. The Labor-Force Participation Rate is a horrible metric to use for employment numbers. Just horrible.

    Why did that number go down under Obama? Baby-Boomers choosing to retire.

    That is why we use the unemployment rate, and not Labor-Force Participation Rate, because the unemployment rate factors out things like old people retiring.

    • So, are you saying “old people”, by which you must mean those 62 and older, choosing to have jobs should not be a part of the employment rate also? Any worthy statistician knows you must eliminate all objective perimeters of a participating group to have reliable results. Therefore, only 19 thru 61 year-old “young people” must be used in computing a true unemployment rate?

      • Those who choose to no longer work should not count as one who cannot find work.

        The Unemployment Rate adjusts for this. The Labor-Force Participation Rate does not.

        Your premise is faulty. There are 40 year olds that retire too. They shouldn’t count against the Unemployment Rate when they choose to retire either. They are not looking to work, so they are not Unemployed.

        The true unemployment rate is those who are wanting to work and are not. How else do you propose we measure it?

        Because counting my 87 year old grandmother who can barely walk as not in the labor force is a pretty inaccurate way of doing it, per the Labor-Force Participation Rate.

        • Lot of straw dogs you’re throwing there, dude. Just because there is a miniscule number of 40 year-olds (your age pick) retiring does not negate my premise, rather reinforces it. Your arbitrary age is not comparable to the massive number of employed over the age of recognized retirement which is 62 years old.

          By your wanting to remove those in a particular age group from only one part of the equation but not in other parts is just a way to skewer the results to achieve your desired conclusion.

          Do you do polling for a living?

          • No, but obviously you don’t either. And you obviously missed the point of the 40 year old analogy. They, like my 87 year old grandmother, aren’t looking for work. They are retired because they don’t have to work anymore. That has a negative affect on the Labor-Force Participation Rate, but it not a representation of people not able to find work, because that 40 year old isn’t looking for work. They are retired.

            But since you mentioned polling, what kind of political poll do you think is more accurate, a poll of just anyone, or a poll of likely voters?

            The current unemployment number is based on, to continue the analogy, likely workers. Labor-Force Participation Rate is just everyone.

            But you don’t like 62? Pick another age. At what age do we stop counting people as not wanting to work? At what age do we consider the majority of those not working people who don’t want to work anymore?

            Or does my 87 year old grandmother who lives in a nursing home count as unemployed?

    • And maybe supplemented by young people looking at what is available and choosing to never enter the workforce. One thing is certain, and that is more people working means more paying taxes and less drawing entitlements.

      The ration of workers to non-workers is quite important to assess the potential of a nations workforce.

  6. Remember when Alsman told that whopper of a lie that the IceMen pay “virtually no rent” for the Ford Center? I guess after writing a $2500 check to the mayor’s reelection campaign, you’ll spin any lie to keep your job. Right, Randy? And the local media won’t research it either.

  7. Karma!
    …….

    The “Day Without Immigrants” protest demanding amnesty, lax immigration enforcement, and cheap labor practices fizzled in most U.S. cities, and now many demonstrators have lost their jobs for skipping work.

    NBC News reports at least 100 workers lost their jobs at different restaurants and businesses after the February 16 protest.

    http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/02/20/day-without-immigrants-transitions-life-without-job-protesters/

  8. rector “its not unusual for municipal arenas to finish in the red……….they’re community assets for the benifit of the taxpayer”………………if that is true then why screw the icemen that was bringing in coustomers……….the ford center that has and will always loose money is a community asset while a working sewer system is not a asset……………

  9. Someone check the phone book. Do we have any Trump’s living in Evansville? Got a slough to drain.

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