IS IT TRUE October 2, 2014

18
Mole #??
Mole #??

IS IT TRUE that in a communication titled with the headline “CONVENTION HOTEL PROJECT MOVES FORWARD”, Mayor Lloyd Winnecke & HCW CEO Rick Huffman jointly stated that,

“Today was another productive meeting to move the convention center hotel project forward. Through the re-bidding process, Hunt Construction has been selected to build the new Doubletree convention center hotel in Evansville. With selection of Hunt Construction, the city and developer will now finalize documents, secure private equity and make necessary arrangements to work towards a closing date.”

IS IT TRUE that the wording in this joint statement raises red flags that are of concern to anyone who has even a fleeting grasp of the difference between debt and equity financing?…thus the phrase “secure private equity” jumps off the page as code for the intention to sell a percentage of the project instead of borrowing the money to do the construction?…the fact that will eventually sink in is that the taxpayers of Evansville and Vanderburgh County are putting up $ 20 Million and will own absolutely no part of the downtown hotel?…the other interesting conundrum is that the shareholders of the Old National Bank are paying $14 Million for the allegedly worthless naming rights for the Centre as a pass through to the hotel project and will own absolutely nothing for their investment/donation?…that amounts to $34 Million of the $71.3 Million getting nothing for the money they are supposed to be good stewards over?…HCW on the other hand needs to come up with $37.3 Million either out of their pocket, securing debt, or selling off part of the hotel?…if the end game here is for some outsider to come to town and own say 49% of this hotel project for about $30 Million leaving HCW with say 51% for $7.3 Million that the taxpayers of this town and the shareholders of ONB will have been bamboozled so bad that it will make the Earthcare Energy LLC owners looks like angels of mercy?

IS IS TRUE the other bright red flag is the disclosure in the SNEGAL statement about “finalizing documents” to work towards a closing date?…that translates into the fact that a deal is not yet finalized between the City and HCW (because it expired again), making it impossible to seek private equity or even a loan, which fundamentally prevents any construction contract?…what we have here people is what we had 6 years ago when former Mayor Weinzapfel was boasting about the deal he had with Browning and that is simply a City and a developer who were dreaming of working together to get a downtown convention hotel?…the passing of time has not yet tangibly changed a thing?…a real ground breaking looks closer but it may not be closer as once again weasel words have emanated from the Civic Center about the true status of the downtown hotel?

IS IT TRUE the case remains that both bids were analyzed in the vacuum of a closed door meeting?…the public has to rely on the words of people who have intentionally been coy in misleading the status of this project that the bids are what they say they are?…if the Hunt Construction bid is really conformal to the RFP in terms of product and pricing there is no justifiable reason to withhold it from the taxpayers of this city?…until the bid, the agreements, and the financial details are made public, we should all assume that there is something to hide and that our elected officials are doing the hiding?…as we said yesterday, we will believe this when we see it as the secret nature of this whole sordid series of tasks are not indications of transparency or good public policy?

IS IT TRUE  that speaking of closed door meetings, the Civic Center Moles are telling us that some closed door meetings that may well violate Indiana’s sunshine laws are being held by some members of the Evansville City Council to hammer out a 2015 budget they can agree to vote yes on?…this violates the sanctity of having budget hearings in the first place?…if a deal magically appears that comes from the shadows, we the people of Evansville will have once again been jobbed by our elected leaders?…we have a right to know what the trade-offs were to reach a deal and it is the legal obligation of the Mayor and the City Council to hold these discussions in a public forum?

IS IT TRUE that the following e-mail was sent out by City Council Vice President , Dr. Dan Adams recently to City Council members?  … this meeting was called by Dr. Dan Adams for the purpose of pounding out a composite on the proposed 2015 City Budget?  … we wonder if you feel that Evansville City Council violated the Indiana Sunshine  law by having this meeting behind closed doors?   .this e-mail was posted by the CCO without bias or editing.

On Sunday, September 28, 2014 5:38 PM, “DRHDA501@aol.com” <DRHDA501@aol.com> wrote:

Ladies and Gentlemen, Since John will not be back from vacation until late Tuesday, let me go ahead and suggest that we meeting in Scot Danks’ office at 3 pm (1500 hrs) on this Wednesday to attempt to pound out a composite 2015 Budget that a majority of us can vote for. Connor, John, and I are supposed to meet with the Mayor AGAIN on a week from this Monday. It is my sense that there is not a majority that wishes to vote for the Budget as it was presented to us, but I could be wrong. I would like for all of you to have a hand in creating this eventual plea in that the City reserve funds are not staying level and the predicted revenues seem over stated if you allow for past trending …Thus, cometh the rub !

Thanks, Dan

FOOT NOTE:  THOSE elected City Council members attending this meeting yesterday in Scott Danks office were President John Friend, Vice President Dr. Dan Adams,  Finance Chairmen Conner O’ Daniels, Missy Mosby and Jonathon Weaver.  After this meeting Jonathon Weaver made a public call to hold the next budget discussion in a public forum.

 

 

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18 COMMENTS

  1. We finally get what I feel like is a great budget that rightfully cuts Wesselman Woods, the Parks Dept, VOICE, unRoberts Park, and so much other waste that is finally up for the axe and now we’re going to have another closed door meeting where all this garbage will get a second life. Unbelievable.

    I am glad they left SBR out though. That was the only good move they made.

    Leaving out Al signals to me they might show the EFD some leniency. That is unacceptable.

    • My understanding is that all Council members were notified, but only the Fab Five attended. Am I wrong?

    • Dude, quit flailing about making a fool of yourself on public issues. It’s embarrassing.

  2. I guarantee you not one council person fights to keep the cemetery headstone repair funds in the budget. It’ll be nothing but talk about how the cronies departments are being mistreated for being cut off the gov’t cash flow river. A disgrace of all disgraces.

  3. I believe the deal was ONB gets an equity position in the hotel AND the naming rights. The only party getting hosed on this deal is the taxpayers.

      • As I understand it, ONB is paying for the naming rights out of their marketing budget which is not subject to regulations. If they made a direct equity investment or gave HCW a loan regulations would have been applied. I am not a shareholder in ONB but if I were I would question the value of the naming rights. Only the shareholders of ONB have a right to question this purchase.

    • That’s my understanding also. ONB has something tangible unlike the city. Should there be a referendum on that giving of that $20 million? What magical pot does this money comes out of that is not a tax? Could it be that the $20 million will be repaid by the taxes that hotel block is assess in a reasonable period of time?

      • Old National Bank

        SHEPARD RANDALL T Director 05/02/2014 Acquisition (Non Open Market) direct 1,238 14.1300 4,291

  4. I wonder if this secret meeting at Mr. Danks’ office was as much about the budget as the participants would have us believe, or if the hotel deal was discussed as well. Can’t the City Council save the taxpayers’ backsides by not granting another extension on the hosing we’re scheduled for?

  5. I think Winnecke turned sand yesterday. He is pretty much unnecessary for the cloverleaf so it might actually get done. I guess Indot let him show up with his peripatetic shovel out of pity. Surely to God his isn’t trolling for photo ops, thinking of running again. The man has no shame.

    • I want Him to run again and a white horse to run as his opponent. It will be a lot easier to clean up the manure the horse would leave behind.

    • Gonna have to start playing “Enter Sandman” at golden shovel events. It is a close to Mettalica as Evansville is ever likely to get.

  6. To save eye strain, you may want to high lite and copy the IIT section and paste it into notepad, etc. for the time being.

    You can also write your replies in notepad and copy and paste them back into the comments section at this CCO website.

  7. Mosby is not smart enough to know she violated the law (IC 5-14-1.5) by attending a closed door meeting. She advertised the meeting and topic:
    Posted 09/30/14
    Re-Elect Missy Mosby – Second Ward City Council
    Dear Constituents,
    As you know, Councilman Weaver and I have requested a special public meeting for YOUR voices to be heard on the proposed budget cuts. To date, it has been almost a week, and we have not received any response from Finance Chair O’Daniel!
    Council Leadership have called a caucus for Wednesday to go over the proposed budget and I plan on attending so I can voice yours and my opinions on these proposed budget cuts. Councilman Weaver and I also plan on requesting a date and time for a public meeting so YOUR voices can be heard! Just wanted to be up front with you and let you know what is going on…..I’m back from vacation and will continue to fight the good fight for you!
    Again, thank you again for all of your emails, letters & messages regarding the budget for I am listening to YOU!
    She was also kind enough to admit it happened and report on the results:
    Posted 10/2/14 at 6 am
    Re-Elect Missy Mosby – Second Ward City Council

    2015 Budget update…..we had a very productive meeting yesterday with Council Leadership regarding the proposed budget cuts! I’m very hopeful that OUR voices have been heard and several of these proposed cuts will not take place. Our next City Council meeting will be held on Monday, October 13 and you are more than welcome to attend to voice your opinion of the proposed 2015 budget. Councilman Weaver and I will continue to keep you posted!

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