IS IT TRUE? January 11, 2011

4

The Mole #??

IS IT TRUE? January 11, 2011

UPDATE: IS IT TRUE that the GAGE board meeting is set for January 19th?

IS IT TRUE the locally owned company Woodruff Hospitality cleared another hurdle yesterday in its quest to be chosen to construct and manage a Downtown Convention Hotel?…that both the Evansville Redevelopment Commission and the Evansville City Council have both passed resolutions supporting the proposal that Woodruff has made and the incentive package that they have requested?….that John Kish project manager is to be commended for his quiet deliberate approach to making good things happen on time and under budget?….that if Mr. Kish would have been the “Entertainment Complex Manager” instead of just the “Arena Manager” from day one the Executive Inn would be gone and Evansville would be preparing for a simultaneous opening ceremony in the Fall of 2011?….that the choice of Woodruff Hospitality validates the City County Observer’s long standing assertion that Evansville people and Evansville businesses should be given an opportunity at the significant jobs and projects and not just looked to as a labor force for outsiders?

IS IT TRUE that Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel moved very quickly to fill the two vacancies that are his to appoint to the Board of Directors of the Evansville Convention and Visitors Bureau?…that the two people that he appointed Ward Shaw of Casino Aztar and Donna Leader appear to be very good choices and fit the mold mandated by state law?….that in the official press release announcing these two appointments that Mayor Weinzapfel pushed the envelope by stating that an “outsider” should be hired to the Executive Director position vacated by the departure of Marilee Fowler?…that the Mayor also expressed a preference that the new board should move quickly to spend the Innkeeper’s Tax on some significant projects?

IS IT TRUE that there are four more board members to be appointed…that two will be appointed by the Vanderburgh County Commissioners and the other two by the Vanderburgh County Council?…that it is the Board of Director’s job to conduct the search and to make the decision on who to hire as Marilee’s replacement?…that the new Executive Director will have the responsibility to find and recommend projects for board of directors approval when it comes to significant projects being done with the Innkeeper’s Tax?…that Marilee Fowler’s departure was brought to us for the most part by political meddling in the affairs of the ECVB?…that “Here We Go Again” is not the right theme song for the ECVB if a local or national search is to yield the kind of talented candidate that is needed in this important position?…that the kind of person needed is not likely to want to be anyone’s puppet?….that puppets are only as good as their puppet master?

IS IT TRUE that the problems on the south side with respect to sewers and flood control are essentially two separate but vexing problems?…that there are four projects that have been approved and financed to address the flooding issues mostly in the second Ward?…that one of those projects has been started and is reported to be 45% complete?…that the other three projects are not yet started but are scheduled to be completed sometime in 2015?…that if your spouse wants four rooms painted and the first room is half done that the other three have not been started that the job is not yet complete?…that it still takes spending time and money to finish the job?…that the City County Observer believes that the south side flooding problem has a solution that will be implemented?….that having a solution on the drawing board and financing in place does not mean that the problem is solved and that announcing that it was solved was about 4 years premature?…that we do applaud Mayor Weinzapfel for doing something about this legacy problem and wish his successor well in finishing the job without incident?

IS IT TRUE that the other problem, the one that we smell when driving down Southlane Drive is still the subject of a Justice Department ruling and will be much more expensive and time consuming to solve?…that problem will continue to dominate local politics and resources for two decades?

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

4 COMMENTS

  1. “Other firms still could respond to the request, but it has been specifically tailored to fit Woodruff’s bid.” (Gootee,C&P)

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    I was under the impression that state statute requires “competitive” bids for projects in this range that use tax dollars.

    How is this “competitive” if the request for proposals: “has been specifically tailored to fit Woodruff’s bid”?

    ___

  2. Well, now that we have the story straightened out regarding the storm water flooding projects and the sanitary sewer projects, can we get an update on any anecdotal-from-relatives-who-live-there or confirmed-by-an-engineer reports on how the half done storm water projects handled the last few heavy storms? Because I heard there were significant improvements noted last fall.

  3. I disagree re: trying to differentiate the “hotel” from the “arena” project. In fact, the Arena project always included the hotel, and that same manager was responsible for both. This fact was borne out by an article written by the CCO which described the comical mismanagement by Mr. Kish–whereby he rushed out after the Haiti earthquake to check on the structural integrity of the Executive Inn. Put another way, if Kish wasn’t responsible for the hotel part, why would he spend $ 100,000 in emergency fashion to determine the Exec.’s suitability ???

Comments are closed.