IS IT TRUE that Rick Davis true to form stood in the Soldier’s and Sailor’s Coliseum on Thursday night and announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Mayor of Evansville?…that Democratic City Council members Connie Robinson, Dr. H. Dan Adams, and Don Walker were among those in attendance?….that over 200 people signed in at the registration table?….that the room where the announcement was made, the hallway, and even the foyer were quite full of well wishers?…that a rough body count would indicate that the crowd was closer to 400 people when those who did not sign in were counted?…that those well wishers included Democrats, Republicans, and a large contingency of Tea Party members led by Evansville’s Mr. Tea Party himself Frank Peterlin?….that Mr. Peterlin has been highly complementary of and encouraging Mr. Davis’s candidacy on Facebook lately?….that the next Mayor of Evansville will need broad support to handle the collection of problems in need of solutions that he or she will inherit on January 1, 2012?
IS IT TRUE that the Democratic Central Committee was not represented at Mr. Davis’s announcement event?…that the faces of Party Chairman Mark Owen, current Mayor and Gubernatorial hopeful Jonathan Weinzapfel, the group of City Council members that habitually vote as a block for whatever Mayor Weinzapfel supports were nowhere to be seen?…that Councilwoman Robinson while attending the event expressed her support for Mayor Weinzapfel?….that Councilwoman Robinson is wise to show respect and support for Mr. Davis, who may just become the next Mayor of Evansville?…that Councilwoman Robinson showed her independent spirit and good judgment in breaking with the block last March to cast her vote for strengthening the City of Evansville’s smoking ordinance?….that the next Mayor of Evansville will govern better with a City Council made up of independent minded people with cognitive skills and the courage of their own convictions?…..that blindly voting as a block by legislative bodies undermines good public policy for Mayors, Governors, and even the President of the United States?…that the City County Observer admires Rick Davis for his independence, his passion for Evansville, and yes his determined servant leadership?….that the CCO is pleased to see enthusiasm for a candidate who has endured attacks from within his own party yet has remained positive and focused?
IS IT TRUE that the Evansville Convention & Visitors Bureau has suspended its attempts to win County government approvals to issue bonds against the Innkeeper’s Tax that would finance the construction of 8 little league ball fields at Wesselman Park and the site of Roberts Stadium for $18 million?…that when they put their thinking caps on like Tom Terrific they were able to identify $2 million worth of savings in one day?….that if they would have put their Tom Terrific thinking caps on everyday for a week back in April that they may have been able to identify $10 million in savings?….that such foresight and planning could have saved much of the $765,000 that has already been wasted on the plans for the Roberts Stadium site?….that a proposal for an $8 million project may have actually garnered support as opposed to ridicule for overpaying and maxing the Bureau’s credit card?…that the City County Observer is proud to have been part of the discussion process that returned this proposal to financial sanity? 
IS IT TRUE that the terms of the agreement offered to the ECVB by the Evansville Parks Department that took a perfectly acceptable $4.9M set of ballfields and added $12.6M of bailouts for the City of Evansville is what really undermined this project?….that other locations like the Goebel Soccer Complex or the Hamilton Golf Course will not come with such a laundry list of bailouts for the City of Evansville attached to them?…that a little more thinking and a little less rush to judgment based on ulterior motives may just yield a better and more efficient use for the $18M credit limit?
IS IT TRUE that we still don’t have an agreement in place for a Downtown Convention Hotel?… that we are really curious about the status of the bids that are soon due from the three interested developers?….that the opportunity to have a simultaneous opening of the Arena and a new Downtown Convention Hotel has lapsed?….that every day that there is no binding development agreement for a Downtown Convention Hotel is in place is another day that the ECVB and the Centre are handicapped in achieving one of their fundamental mandates to attract or retain conventions to Evansville?
It amazes me that the CVB has been so focused on the ballfields when their view of the river is obstructed by that ugly orange fence. Our best asset is the beautiful riverfront and we leave it looking like a construction zone for months? Orange fences always do a lot to attract visitors!
I would like to see an interview with Peterlin answers to questions along the following line:
1) Will the local Tea Party be voting in the Democrat Primary 2011? Why and for whom?
2) If Rich Davis wins the Democrat Primary 2011 with support from the local Tea Party, will that support continue into the General Election 2011? What would determine continued support and what would determine alienation of support for Davis, should he be the Democrat candidate in the General Election 2011?
3) Does Peterline predict two or more candidates in the Republican Primary 2011, and if so, who? Which potential Republican candidate(s) for mayor does the local Tea Party favor?
4) Does Peterlin foresee a strong possibility that the rank and file Republican Party will work to nominate a mayoral candidate in Primary 2011 that the local Tea Party also supports?
The list of questions goes on …
Let me try to help you narrow down the list:
“TEA party” people are not a herded bunch of sheep… waiting for some (Kennedy club/DNC/AARP) mailer to announce which way they are moving and when.
Be careful not to confuse a “TEA party” – an afternoon social gathering at which tea is SERVED. With the traditional idea of Democrat “party” support or Republican “party” support.
I’m looking for a “Front-Door-Pride homes are too damn high” candidate.
That doesn’t answer any part of any question I asked. You must not be Peterlin. But thanks for the simpleton’s primer on Tea Party.
You should understand that your questions are unanswerable, especially considering all we’ve heard from Davis publicly is “I’m running”.
Plus. Mr. Peterlin’s name shows up for the first time in the CCO pages, as Mr. TEA party?
While that might be the way political elites talk, I would caution “Mr. TEA party” to, uh, qualify his “statements” supposedly on behalf of the “party”.
All I’m sayin’ is if Peterlin is some big time political power all of a sudden, and he shows up at Davis’s announcement, and that is somehow portrayed in this article, or inferred, as support of Davis, then I’d like to see him interveiwed by CCO and answer some of the questions I asked above.
[Or I guess “… and a large contingency of Tea Party members led by Evansville’s Mr. Tea Party himself Frank Peterlin …” is a meaningless quip.]
Is it true? Was hoping to come here to see a newspaper. This thing reads like an editorial from a 10th grade journalism student. If you’re going to report news, report news. If your going to write an editorial, put some thought in it and allow people to believe you wear big boy pants. I still haven’t figured out what this drivel is. News? Editorial? What? Is it true?
Is it true that 1,000 readers a day do figure it out? Is it true that real newspapers intentionally dumb their choice of language down to a 4th grade level? Is it true that we appreciate your readership and your complement with respect to the level of writing as compared to whatever newspaper you were hoping to find? Is it true that some is news, some is editorial, and some is informative? Thank you so much for reading the City County Observer.
“Is it true that 1,000 readers a day do figure it out?” How would I know, you haven’t reported it.
“Is it true that real newspapers intentionally dumb their choice of language down to a 4th grade level?” How would I know, you haven’t reported it.
Legitimate news departments have two sources for major stories. From what I’m reading your source is an anonymous phone call or e-mail. If you don’t know if it’s true or not, why are you reporting it? Reporting something that you have no idea the validity of isn’t reporting news, it’s relaying gossip. Beck and Limbaugh can do it because they don’t pretend to be presenting news. They are part of the entertainment division. If this is just supposed to be an entertainment sheet then say so. If this is supposed to be an alternate news source then have the guts to stand up and present facts. “Is it true” is just a legal out in case you tell a whopper of a lie. That, in itself, should alert anyone with a brain that ventures onto this sheet that it lacks validity. I’m not trying to rag on you I was just expecting more or at least hoping the CCO was more than a gossip column on steroids.
We always have at least two sources but do not name them. The so called Moles really are people. Consider them anonymous sources. Is it true is more of a brand than a legal maneuver. People seem to like it and actually send us hundreds of pieces of “is it true” content. We report our traffic ranking which I do realize does not translate to readers. We are currently ranked #51,109 in the US for total traffic. Both hits and total time on site go into the calculation done by Alexa.com and is over the past three months. Our traffic has gone up by roughly a factor of 6 in that time period but our ranking has gone up by several million places. Just to give you a perspective this is a higher ranking than Fox 7, News 25, and all of the local papers except the Courier. WFIE is ahead of us but not by much. We have just over 4,000 unique readers and generate about 3,000 hits per week with over 10,000 page views and an average time on site of about 4 minutes. There are no full time staffers. We get way more in terms of leads than we can possibly handle. Thank you again for reading and for the constructive critique.
Got it! A brand! OK, I’m a little slow on the uptake but as i go back and read i can see it now. I’m not sure how you could change that now that it’s become a brand but it does look bad for a newbie that’s reading this for the first time. Thank you for taking the time to explain it.
Connie Robinson is Vice-Chair of Democrat Central Comm.
My mole tells me there were 100-125 people at best.
I was there and promise you there were a bunch more than 125 people in attendance, there were 200 people signed in and I know that not everyone signed in. they ran out of materials at least 20 minutes before 6.
IS IT TRUE that the Evansville Convention & Visitors Bureau has suspended its attempts to win County government approvals to issue bonds…..and a pie in the face to David Dunn…..
Is it true that putting Roberts Stadium in moth balls will cost a minimum $300,000.00 per year, and meanwhile all that useless pavement continues to shed massive amounts of storm water run-off into the intersection of Lloyd and Boeke, and flood out Kipplee’s?
That’s 1/2 the reported carrying costs that were incurred on the old Welborn property. (http://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/oct/26/kunkel-group-buys-old-welborn-building/)
So using a quick multiplier assumption, maybe the City could unload it to, say…. Kunkle for maybe $20, ballpark? (pun intended) Think they’d be interested?
If Weinzapfel doesn’t think just dumping the property is an option… (http://www.courierpress.com/news/2010/nov/12/weinzapfel-sees-few-alternatives-best-using-wessel/)
He’s more stubborn than I thought.
By creating one monument to his ego, he devalued the Roberts property to a massive liability.
If he demands TWO monuments to himself OR a LIABILITY for all to see forever… This may be political retribution, Weaver style.
I’d be happy to see the city unload it on any sucker willing to pay the taxes on the property when converted to private enterprise. But since that ain’t happenin’, maybe you can tell us how to better utilize this white elephant after the arena opens … I mean other than payin’ to moth ball, and watching weeds grow up through cracks in the pavement.
If Weinzapfel doesn’t think just dumping the property is even an option.
(http://www.courierpress.com/news/2010/nov/12/weinzapfel-sees-few-alternatives-best-using-wessel/)
He’s more stubborn than I thought.
By creating one monument to his ego, he devalued the Roberts property to a massive liability.
Any honest debate of selling his new stadium should have included those costs, and a full plan for Roberts.
Instead we get piecemeal – now we gotta do this – because there’s nothing else to do – political BS.
Maybe the 1+ million annual visitors bureau treasure chest will just have to cover the mothball costs until the bureaucrats ram down some other entertainment scheme?
You are correct that the mayor did not own the responsibility about the city wanting Roberts stadium razed. He just assumed that the CVB’s ball field would be the answer, so no plans were made along with the arena costs. (Although TIF money could not have been used, other options were possible.) And the public was not included in the planning process for the stadium because there was none except in the mayor’s mind. The stadium’s demise occurred in 1990 when it was “remuddled” losing all it’s character as an historic structure and giving it much more liability due to the water problems that provide a great ongoing expense. I think the pavement and the building need to go but to replace them with bloated $ in ball fields is nonsense. Evansville needs to suck it up and J.W. needs to face the music by honestly telling the people his errors and finding a way to raze the stadium. Then the fun begins to plan for the best use of the land, not the “only funded” suggestion as we keep hearing. We have year. Let’s use it wisely.
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