Only hours after a defeated looking Mayor Winnecke and wingman Bob Jones were looking exhausted during their announcement that the deal for a downtown hotel had come apart, an unexpected left hook came in from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education when it announced that it did not include the Evansville branch of the IU Medical School campus in a list of projects it wants state lawmakers to fund in the new state budget.
Indiana Senator Luke Kenley, said information he received showed that Indiana University ranked the project last in priority out of all of its proposed capital projects. Of the 31 projects recommended, the Commission only recommended that 7 be funded this cycle
In May, the Evansville City Council approved $57 million in public incentives for the medical school campus, including incentives to contribute to the cost of the project, parking and other infrastructure needs. Recently the combined cost of the incentives for the downtown hotel and medical school came under advisory that the City was nearing the maximum of its bonding capacity. $20 Million of that capacity came off the table today when the hotel as we know it was cancelled by Mayor Winnecke in a press conference at the Labor Temple.
Evansville received the one-two punch of project funding problems within 24 hours and while expressions of confidence still fill the air, this may just be a perfect time to sit back and think about the plan to move forward in a sustainable manner.
time for the city council to go back and re exam their drunken meetings..……..I will drink to the fact I moved out of the ignorant liberal hell hole called etown………a person could not make this up……
An Awful lot of tax money has been used for this project. I think we were lead to believe this was a done deal. Ranked 31 of 31, this is a bigger deal than earthscam. I think the only done deal here is that D’Patrick gets a new high visibility car lot in a high traffic area. Who is the lawyer for D’Patrick?
you don’t think for a minute that it is “billin” Ted, do you????? LMAO
right on right on pov………excellent very smart thought……….the truth I believe you are right on………..
No wonder the committee chose the worst possible option for the location of the Med School. They didn’t intend to build it anyway, but they helped some of the Mayor’s cronies get a sweet property deal. I do hope this gets done once a sensible location is chosen that won’t force the city to issue any bonds to pay for it.
Wow, the way you think is scary sometimes, but I think you could be right.
Warning this is satire.
With all these high priced things off the table there should be plenty of money for a dog park. Is that not what the mayor wanted most.
Dog Park=turd farm
Use the free dog park where Roberts Stadium use to be. Lots of room for dogs and owners. Centrally located. Easy access. Plenty of parking. Or use the free dog park next to the old Grey Hound bus station downtown.
The Winnecke Administration took two massive blows today, blows we all could see coming. Its not ONLY ONBs fault, it not ONLY Council’s fault, its not ONLY Winneckes fault. All of them are to blame. Evansville needs Representative Riecken to break this chain of mismanagment and back alley dealings, use her connections up north to move the Med School deal forward, and keep Evansville as a ligitimate decision maker in indiana.
Yes, Representative Riecken. She will do a phenomenal job manage the cities finances from her undisclosed Illinois hideout. Riecken? You can’t be serious? I can just see her driving to the rescue in here eagle bedecked Nissan Z 350 convertible. What a joke.
Maybe Evansville finally sees that Winnecke is leading us to ruin. He spends money like a teenage girl on a shopping spree. His foresight is virtually nonexistent and his choices do nothing but crumble an already weakened Evansville. Now he has cost the city its really only chance at a revival by focusing on his mythical hotel project. Nothing will change for this city until we toss Winnecke, and all his goons (both republicans and democrats), out on their butts.
How can Mayor Winnecke and his cabal not cower from the light of day?
I really do feel sorry for all my Evansville friends. This is just bad news all around. The only silver lining is the amount of money that will be saved in subsidies if both of these huge projects fall through. Maybe it will be the wake-up call the city needs and maybe some of this money can be put toward updated infrastructure. My instinct tells me it’s closer to the truth to say it’s a bit of a kiss of death.
I can’t imagine anyone with the means to get out of Vanderburgh County not wanting to do so. If the leadership in Henderson was smart, they’d invest in some well-placed advertising for Henderson County real estate. All they’d really need to put in the ad is the average utility bills for Evansville vs. Henderson residents. Just put that on a 30 second ad. They wouldn’t even have to SAY anything.
I thought I read IU moved it to 31st on it’s list of wants and the state said it would only fund the top 7. Are we to believe the Mayor is responsible for this when Super Liberal Democrat Pat Shoulders sits on IU’s board? Did Pat lead the board to nix the school so the fiscally conservative Gail can save the day?
Or, is it that Evansville may not have any power, but obviously, His Honor is great with the Force?
Give us the spin, Laura!
Is it possible that Pat Shoulders is the lawyer for D’Patricks? If so it explains everything. Was this the last payoff for the fraud center?
Anymore, the best all around neighborhood in Evansville is called Newburgh !
Downtown Evansville Indiana is dead as a lead head dead blow hammer. Smack, and no bounce. just thunk’ and that with the silence of the impending grounding. You idiots killed it hard , and only for “what’s in your driveway.”
Simple is, as simple does, and now start counting the downhill steps.
Everybody else down stream is. ‘ Everybody knows that.” But did you know????
Considering your local crew, probably not.
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