IS IT TRUE July 9, 2012
IS IT TRUE James Bethel Gresham of Evansville, Indiana was the first American to give his life for his country in World War I?…his home in Garvin Park that was dedicated to his mother is under the care of the City of Evansville Parks Department?…the Parks Department as it seems to do with nearly everything it has stewardship of has allowed the James Bethel Gresham house to fall into a state of disrepair and that the ceiling has fallen in at least one room?…this is the same Parks Department that is about to be burdened with an new Roberts Park to maintain and maybe even the Weinzapfel Administration’s final civic delusion of Centennial Park in the lot behind the Greyhound Bus Station?…the first step of recovery and refocus is to RIGHTSIZE things until they are manageable?…we do not know how what the Evansville Parks Department can actually manage in an exemplary manner but we do know it is much less than they have now?…handing more and more property and responsibility to the Evansville Parks Department given their performance of the last several years makes about as much sense as asking a four year old to babysit?
IS IT TRUE another new park that was to have been built with private money was announced last year after much negotiation at the corner of Main Street and 4th Street?…this lot was mostly owned by Old National Bank that was in the mood to divest of the land so they could stop having to keep it up?…that the Kempf family owned part of it and were the drivers behind the new park?…as we recall a dedicated maintenance fund was to have been set up for that particular park?…we wonder if that privately financed park has slipped through the cracks in the transition from Weinzapfel and Winnecke?…we also wonder why Evansville is hell bent to spend money on parks they will not be able to maintain when a perfectly good downtown park has been offered from private sources?
IS IT TRUE that a new nepotism law went into effect in the State of Indiana on July 1st?…what that means is after July 1st it became illegal to hire family members and cronies onto the public payroll?…it would be interesting to learn just who was hired during the month of June by the City of Evansville, Vanderburgh County, and other government entities just ahead of the ban on nepotism to see if any last minute cronies and family members were signed on to the public payroll in the last month to be able to do so?…we also wonder why Mole #32 tells the CCO that there have been no new conflict of interest statements or amendments to existing statements made this year?…that must mean that none of the new elected officials have any conflicts of interest to disclose?
IS IT TRUE that Evansville City Council President Connie Robinson is now whining about the absence of minority entertainment acts being brought into the Ford Center?…Councilwoman Robinson is even going public in search of a subsidy for bringing such an act in?…she did not state any particular act she is interested in seeing?…Evansville’s promoters have always gone for the guaranteed drawing power of classic rock and country as those demographics always seem to reward the promoter?…that neither VenuWorks nor SMG are promoters?…what they do is manage facilities while promoters like the late Larry Aiken choose the acts they are willing to risk their own money to bring to town?…President Robinson is a business owner that is fully capable of running the numbers and promoting a musical event without a subsidy?…there is no reason whatsoever for the public to bear the cost of any subsidy for such an event and that the fastest way for Council President Robinson to realize her dream of bringing a minority act that she approves of (sorry Darius, you are Republican so you don’t count) to the Ford Center is to take on the role of promoter herself?…that she would be well served to make note that Snoop Dogg only drew 2,000 people to Roberts Stadium yet played this spring in front of 75,000 at Coachella Fest?…promoters can easily ignore demographics and lose their backside by promoting an act that does not sell tickets?…Councilwoman Robertson should do this if she likes on her own and knock off the panhandling?
Ms Robinson is only doing what she knows how to do and that is enjoying life and letting someone else pick up the tab , that is what she knows best
Why not just subsidize the whole friggin endeavor and hand out free tickets too?
Why even pretend a private investor has to make any money at all?
Hand out free tickets is the only way you will get them to show up. They all have their hand out looking for something free.Working for it is out of their league. They don’t want to work ,just give me the free stuff.
If Momma Doc would spend as much time and effort to make this happen as she does begging for handouts and whining like this is racist then maybe Lil Wayne would be coming to Evansville. If you want it Connie, make it happen. All it takes is brains and money.
Connie should watch Wayne’s World 2 for concert promotion tips. Maybe the “weird naked Indian” will come to her in a dream and help a sister out.
Several typos in todays IIT.
Same old crooks and cronies!!!! When will we vote these self serving group out of office!!!!!!!!!!!!
If anyone wants to see the inside pics of the James Bethel Gresham house, send me an email (JordanBaer1@gmail.com).
You cannot squeeze blood from a turnip. If there are no public funds available for even the most basic of services required to be an official “City”, then what makes people believe the answer to the problem of unmaintained Parks or historic homes is to go crawling to government for more of its “answers”?
Those of you on the side of having government invest more money into Roberts Stadium for the purpose of saving the building – yes, I’m looking at you Jordan – should have learned your lesson by now.
If a home of such historic importance is falling down, create a website explaining the problem, create a facebook campaign, go to the media for support, and create a fund people can donate to. Go beyond Evansville for support. WWI was a pretty damn big deal. Surely there are people outside Evansville interested in preserving such an historic site. Then lobby the Parks Dept to sell it to you. Create a bed and breakfast or a small antique shop and promote your labor of love either personally or through a corporation.
It is one thing to take up a cause to solve a problem; it is another to turn away from the entity who caused the problem in the first place and realize they cannot and WILL NOT help you.
Now thats a project more at your skill level. A 1000 square foot house vs an 11,000 seat arena. Best of luck to you! Let us know how to help and when the Save the Gresham Home blog starts.
What projects are you working on?
That’s not the point. This isn’t a pissing contest to see who can save the most historic buildings.
If you fall in love with the story of a particular place and are moved to save it, that’s a wonderful thing…BUT your Roberts experience should have taught you a lesson if you were paying any attention. Looking to government to solve the problems you see is the slowest, least efficient, and least successful route to achieving your stated end.
Saving that house long term in a time when our City can’t even bring its sewer up to par is going to require some free market ingenuity, a bit of thinking outside the government box, and probably a serious labor of love for someone. My guess is you’ve been taught somewhere along the line that all solutions must be made by some government official.
It’s awesome you have passion for historical preservation. That is a thing a lot of Americans seriously lack. Unfortunately, a lot of Americans also lack the imagination necessary to solve problems themselves without relying on politicians and bureaucrats.
That said, something needed to be done immediately by the Parks Dept. and you helped get that done. That needs to be applauded.
Poor Jordan. He’s so top down oriented that he always has to have a boss to blame, or a boss to run to with his latest complaint. Someday maybe he’ll be the store manager.
Jordan should be commended for speaking out. He’s got that part right.
I don’t think it’s right to pick on him too much. I mean, I don’t think he’s a lost cause. No one is. We each have to experience the failure of government solutions and open our eyes to the lies in our own time.
He’s almost there. I think once he really sits down and processes his Roberts experience, he’ll come to the realization that the only real solutions are to take the decision-making out of the hands of people who are largely unaffected if their decisions lead to failure.
I was just waiting for Constance to bring up the race BS!! Liberidiots are NEVER happy!!! NEVER!!
Will the paper cup queen merely pass her crown and scepter to one of her relatives, or will there be a fair election with one Republican and the usual two or three Democrats who will stab each other in the back? Or are we going to cut to the chase and just give the seat to Connie’s niece without an election?
I’m betting on the latter outcome.
Have you’all forgot that Connie Robinson was kicked off the Vanderburgh County Democratic Party Central Committee a couple of months back? She is a political out cast and should be treated as such!
The only one that really dances to her political tune is the Mayor snd that too shall end a timely fashion. He will soon find out that she is self serving.
She is a disgrace to her party and the good people of the 4th Ward.
Gresham Home is another success story for the Evansville Parks Department.
Anybody know where the newly appointed Evansville Parks Director got her college degree in order to be certified to run this multi-million dollar department?
She has a degree and experience, neither of which are related to parks, recreation or maintenance.
She was the Mayor’s campaign manager.
Jordon Baer, great work of alerting the CCO about the problems at the James Gresham house. You finally got results for exposing a problem that needed to be corrected.
The park at 4th and Main is moving forward. We are still in the process of raising the final dollars to complete the makeover of the Park. We are also trying to incorporate the necessary rain gardens that will take some of the water off the walkway diverting it from the city sewer system. The Winnecke administration has been working very closely with the Kempf’s and Keep Evansville Beautiful to keep this moving forward. We wished that the rehab of the park could have been done by now but it’s taking a little longer than expected. We are pushing on though. Thanks, Jeff
Glad to here this friend.
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