IS IT TRUE that Downtown Evansville CEO Joshua Armstrong has been around Evansville for about 2 decades now with 2 failed restaurants under his belt?…one was called the Firefly that specialized in Louisiana cooking in a building on the Lowe’s parking lot on the Eastside?…the other was a smaller version of that inside the eating space in the ONB Building?…after these two failures Armstrong did a stint at the Olive Garden before being recruited to take on the Presidency of Downtown Evansville?…Armstrong comes to us from Southern California where he earned degrees from UCLA in political science and art history?…these are not degrees that typically lead to commercial positions and it is sort of suspect to ask what qualified Armstrong to be President after two failed enterprises and a stint working at Olive Garden?…he must have a decent reputation where it counts though because the “Mole Nation” tells us that he is being paid over $100,000 per year and recently was given a $10,000 raise?…that is pretty good pay for making sure the Christmas lights are up and claiming to be an important deal maker?…we wonder how many other people who work for the City of Evansville or its surrogates make that kind of money and got a $10,000 raise last year?
Tax credits will propel three Evansville affordable housing developments forward
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Tax credits awarded to three affordable housing developments in Evansville will allow them to start construction, taking a few more bites out of the city’s much-discussed affordable housing shortage.
One project is being developed by Memorial Community Development Corp. That is Memorial Lofts, which is spread over two locations: an old Boy Scout office on Bayard Park Drive and in a Lincoln Avenue strip mall near Lincoln School.
The other two projects are Evansville Townhomes II, spread across different locations, and Erie Pointe, on the former Erie Homes site at Southeast Tenth Street and Lincoln Avenue. Those are projects of the nonprofit Evansville Housing Authority and its for-profit arm, Advantix Development Corp.
Memorial Lofts will have a total of 50 units at its two sites, and Memorial CDC hopes to start construction in 2020, said Serita Cabell, executive director.
The two other projects also are anticipated to get going in 2020.
Erie Pointe will have 38 units. The Town Homes II project involves rehabbing 60 existing housing units with new appliances and other upgrades. Those developments will provide housing for families earning up to 80 percent of Evansville’s area median income.
More:Â Old Boy Scout building in Evansville eyed for affordable housing
More:Â Former Erie Homes site in Evansville to come back to life with new housing
“We’re able to rehab and sustain units we already have, and we can fold in new ones,” Evansville Housing Authority Director Rick Moore said.
The three Evansville developments are among 18 in Indiana announced this week as recipients of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits by the Board of Directors for the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority.
The program incentivizes private developers to build new affordable housing or acquire and rehab old housing units.
In total, $170 million in new tax credits were announced. These credits often are the final piece of funding needed to get a project going, said Kelley Coures, director of the Evansville Department of Metropolitan Development.
Evansville is hardly alone in its need for more decent, affordable housing.
“The award announcement is an important step toward tackling the growing affordability problem Hoosiers are facing,†Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch of Evansville said in a news release. “Once completed, these developments will provide much needed affordable housing to over 900 individuals and families across the state.â€
More:Â City officials say Deaconess Aquatic Center, Lofts on Main will boost Jacobsville
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EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Two pieces of taxpayer financial assistance were approved Monday for a $28.4 million housing and commercial project in the impoverished Jacobsville neighborhood.
House Investments of Indianapolis is to receive $1.5 million from economic development bonds, as well as a 10-year phase-in on property taxes. Each measure was passed by the Evansville City Council in 7-0 votes.
More:Â Mixed-use development will be new ‘southern anchor’ of North Main Street, officials say
The construction site is at North Main and Illinois streets, which since the 1980s had an IGA grocery store. The store closed in January 2018.
Evansville government officials have since aggressively recruited a new food outlet, as well as new housing opportunities in Jacobsville.
The four-building project planned by House Investments has 15,000 square feet of commercial space and 180 apartments. The studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments are to have rents ranging from $530 to $1,200 per month.
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Officials described the apartments as “workforce” housing. Occupants’ annual incomes are to be from $28,000 to $57,000. One of the buildings will have four stories and an elevator. The other three buildings are three stories with no elevators.
House Investments officials said their goal is to bring a grocery store to the commercial space as soon as possible, once the development is completed. The old store building is to be razed.
Construction is expected to start in spring 2020 and take 12-18 months to complete.
The Vectren Foundation is a $750,000 investor. The development company received tax credits because of the project’s location in a low-income area.
Public bonds approved by City Council Monday are not to exceed $2.25 million, and they are to be retired annually with Jacobsville Tax Increment Financing District revenue.
Of that $2.25 million, only $1.5 million is for the developer, while the rest is for costs related to bond issuance.
The bonds mature in 2040, according to city officials.
The 10-year property tax phase-in, meanwhile, is worth about $330,000 to the developer, said Ellen Horan, director of Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville.
City Councilors showed enthusiasm for the project, although Finance Chair Jonathan Weaver, D-At-Large, said he thought the city administration left councilors “out of the loop” about it.
“It’s taking a dead piece of ground and putting something really good on it,†said Dan Adams, D-At-Large.
“Thank you for this project and for helping to bring more affordable housing to our city,†said President Jim Brinkmeyer, D-6th Ward.
The two absent councilors Monday were Missy Mosby, D-2nd Ward, and Stephen Melcher, R-3rd Ward. Melcher’s ward contains the Jacobsville neighborhood.
More:Â EVPL names new director after searching for several months
More:Â Downtown Evansville River Kitty Cat Cafe continues with new Humane Society ownership
JUST IN: EVANSVILLE-VANDERBURGH CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU APPOINTS JAMES WOOD NEW PRESIDENT AND CEO
The CVB is excited to announce the hiring of James Wood (“Jimâ€) as incoming President and CEO. An extensive nationwide search guided by an executive search firm and local committee was conducted in recruiting Jim.
John Chaszar, the CVB’s Commission President stated, “We were encouraged that through the national search process we were able to find someone with Jim’s experience and tenure in the industry. Our CVB has seen Evansville’s occupancy and room rates grow over the last decade with a keen focus on youth sports, including investments at the Deaconess Sports Park and Goebel Soccer Complex. With the nearing completion of I-69 and recent Old National Events Plaza investments, the meeting and convention business is also poised to grow. We are confident that Jim will bring the energy, skills and knowledge necessary to keep our momentum moving forward for years to come. We look forward to Jim leading our team, with an anticipated start date of January 15, 2020.â€
Wood comes to Evansville with extensive managerial and sales experience in the Louisville, Providence, Atlantic City, and Tampa markets, as well as with the Marriott hotels. Jim is well known in the industry and has been active with many trade organizations. He has exhibited skills of building consensus within a collaborative environment, as well as working from a strategic plan. Jim is a doer and a very productive individual. He takes tasks with enthusiasm and accomplishes a lot. He is a salesperson at heart and by trade. Jim’s willingness to understand what others are trying to achieve is what helps him find creative solutions to any situation set before him.Â
Wood’s knowledge of events extends past hosting events, as he has also overseen the operations of destination businesses nationally, as well as in this Ohio River Valley. He was seeking a midwestern middle-market destination and Evansville was fortunate to be looking to recruit just such an experienced leader.Â
“I want to thank the commission and the many community leaders whom I met during the selection process for putting the destination marketing of Evansville in my hands,†said Wood. “I am thrilled to be named President and CEO of the CVB. Evansville is a dynamic community that I am excited to use my skills and abilities to continue to grow the region on the strong foundation that is in place. I was particularly impressed with the community’s charming destination and finding it that is poised to grow. Evansville’s central location, convention and gaming facilities, its sports market, and position at Indiana’s 3rd largest city make it a strong foundation for growth of the destination market. As well, continuing tourism industry growth boosts the community quality of life not just for visitors the tourism industry employs, but also for the region’s residents.â€
Fight over public notices could grow wider
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — People don’t need to see certain public notices in newspapers, says local legislator Wendy McNamara. It’s an online world now.
The sentiment, simple and declarative as it is, has ignited a debate that touches on generational, economic and educational divides.
McNamara, who represents parts of Posey and Vanderburgh counties, said her aim is no less than to modernize Indiana’s public notice system. But press advocates and other supporters of requiring public notices in newspapers say limiting the notices to digital publication would make it harder for people without internet access and enabling devices to see them. Disadvantaged persons would be denied access unless they could get bus fare to travel to public libraries.
How it impacts buyers, sellers:Â Bill ‘favors the industry’ around foreclosure, press association claims
Borders says newspaper access necessary
Besides, Bruce Borders said, it’s much easier and commonplace to find public notices in newspapers than by navigating government websites, as McNamara prefers.
Borders, a Greene County legislator who attends property sales, opposes McNamara’s current bill to eliminate the requirement for published notice of sheriff’s sales of foreclosed properties in newspapers. The bill has passed in the House and awaits Senate action.
“It really bothers me that we are basically pretending that people are going to navigate to a government website looking for this information, and that’s simply not going to happen, I think in 99 cases out of 100,” Borders said. “The ‘serial purchasers’ from out-of-state who buy up large amounts of property — they are the ones who are savvy enough to have a staff that checks out websites.”
More:Â Newspaper notice of sheriff’s sales not required under McNamara bill
More:Â This bill could revise a controversial Indiana solar power law
McNamara countered that bank lawyers, professional investors, contractors, rental companies, mortgage companies and other financial institutions are the ones who dominate the sheriff’s sale market anyway. “Mom and dad” prospectors — often neighbors of foreclosed properties — usually don’t have the financial wherewithal to compete.
Questions about accuracy of price claims
But this is really about reining in some newspapers that McNamara said grossly overcharge for public notices of sheriff’s sales. Some charge as little as $100 for notices, she said, while others charge as much as $1,700.
The Legislature has to intervene, McNamara said — even though taxpayers aren’t the ones footing the bill. All fees associated with sheriff’s sales — including the cost of newspaper ads — are paid before the sale by title-holding banks through their attorneys.
“I do believe newspapers throughout the state of Indiana are using (Indiana’s public notice requirement for sheriff’s sales) as a subsidy,” McNamara said. “There is no rhyme, no reason, no explanation, and no reason given for why such a disparity exists between charging for these ads. And especially these ads – well, this business, I should say – has become kind of a cottage industry.”
Heather Caine and Katie Werchek have been flipping houses together for about a year. Caine is the investor and broker. She envisions the design. Werchek is the project manager. She handles the construction work. Shelby Reynolds/Naples Daily News
But there are questions about the accuracy of McNamara’s numbers. She said the Evansville Courier & Press charges “about $800 average net” for a public notice of sheriff’s sale. The actual figures range from $325 to $525 for ads that must run weekly for three successive weeks, starting at least 30 days before the date of sale.
Last year, 2 percent of the newspaper’s total advertising revenue came from sheriff’s sales, according to data provided by Evansville-based Lieberman Technologies, which manages the sales for Vanderburgh County, and the newspaper itself.
Broader agenda?
McNamara’s past remarks suggest she may have a broader ambition to eliminate requirements for newspaper publication of any kind of public notice. That would include notices showing how local governments spend public money on salaries and budgets, which zoning variances are being requested and school performance data. They would be found instead on government websites.
“As a state legislature, we should not be costing citizens dollars to publish any types of public notices in my opinion, but for sheriff’s sales in particular,” she told the House Financial Institutions Committee in January.
McNamara acknowledged she made the remark, but she insisted it was “taken out of context” because she’s focusing only on sheriff’s sales.
Are there, in fact, any other requirements for public notices in newspapers that McNamara would like to eliminate?
The Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation shouldn’t have to pay to meet the newspaper public notice requirement for its school board meetings, said McNamara, director of early college high school for EVSC.
“Schools, I think if you’re going to require schools to do that, I would say schools should be free,” she said. “We look for cost savings for school corporations. Every time they have to put an ad, or if they’re mandated to put an ad in the paper, that’s costing school corporations money that could be going to other things.”
Ad effectiveness motivation for law, Key said
Steve Key, attorney for the Hoosier State Press Association, said the push to abolish required newspaper public notices comes from people and organizations that have something to gain by it.
It’s not just those who benefit by eliminating the cost of the newspaper ad.
It’s often “the people who have to go through the trouble to publish the notices,” Key said — the ones who have to navigate publishing deadlines, collect tearsheets and facilitate payment.
“The other motivation for some is that they (ads) are effective,” Key said. “And as a school superintendent in Lake County once told a publisher, ‘The only thing that happens when we publish public notices is people come to our meetings to give us crap about what we’re doing.’”
Phil Lieberman, founder and partner at Lieberman Technologies, offered a 10-item list of tasks his company no longer would have to perform if McNamara’s bill passes. Lieberman Technologies also manages sheriff’s sales for 18 other counties, and that includes using legal data to create legal ads and facilitating publication and payments.
“I’m not in favor of this bill because I’m going to have to do less work,” Lieberman said. “I’m in favor of this bill because the public will pay zero.”
But Lieberman quickly corrected his mistake, acknowledging taxpayers don’t pay for the public notices. Likewise, his company’s $100-per-property parcel management fee comes out of the fees paid by title-holding banks.
Where do you find the sales?
Lieberman argues that people find it more difficult, not less, to find sheriff’s sale ads in newspapers.
“They’d have to actually find that edition of the newspaper, that particular day, and find (the ad),” he said. “Our (sheriff’s sale) site is up 24/7. Any time of any day, they can go to our site and find whatever it is they (need) — free.”
The site is updated nightly and is typically available to the public before the day’s newspaper shows up on doorsteps, Lieberman said.
But it does require some navigation.
Go to vanderburghsheriff.com. Click on the “areas” tab, then go down to “sheriff sales.” At the bottom of that page, find “February Notices.” The letters are in blue. Hit that, and then you can peruse the pages of notifications.
“All the sales in the paper are right here,” Lieberman said. “The ad in the paper costs $300 (actually anywhere from $325 to $525). This is zero.”
Lieberman acknowledged taxpayers don’t pay for newspaper notices of sheriff’s sales. But he thinks it’s unfair that plaintiffs in sheriff’s sales — banks, usually — have to pay.
“Why have it in the newspaper and make everybody pay that money?” he said. “Why should the plaintiff have to pay money to publish it in the paper if it’s already on the web?”
McNamara’s bill doesn’t prohibit the placement of foreclosure sale notices in newspapers, but no one believes sheriffs would ask companies like Lieberman’s to continue the practice. The Indiana Sheriff’s Association supports McNamara’s bill. So does the Indiana Bankers Association, McNamara said.
“Outside The Box Speaker Series”
Steve Hammer to Serve as Chairman for the CCO
“Outside The Box Speaker Series”
It was announced today by the Managing Editor of the City-County Observer, Timothy Justin Phillips, that he is planning to launch the “Outside the Box Speaker Series” in the near future.
Phillips says this series will feature unique and insightful stories of success and perseverance from prominent business leaders that tend to fly under the public radar.
Plans are to hold this speaking series on a monthly basis. We will be holding this event at an area location convenient to the business community and the attendees.
We understand that there are a lot of successful entrepreneurs who, because of economic, technological, or political challenges, have experienced a negative impact on their businesses.
We are going to actively search for business people who went through economic adversity due to bureaucratic restrictions, governmental intervention, or increased competition, but had the good business sense to “Think Outside The Box” to allow their products or services to continue to thrive. We also hope that this will turn out to be a great resource for developing businesses.
We are pleased to announce that well-known businessman and community leader Steve Hammer has agreed to serve as chairman of this important event. Mr. Hammer will announce his committee members sometime next week.
“IS IT TRUE” DECEMBER 30, 2019
We hope that today’s “IS IT TRUEâ€Â will provoke honest and open dialogue concerning issues that we, as responsible citizens of this community, need to address in a rational and responsible way
IS IT TRUE we are getting a big kick out of watching a couple of newly elected Evansville City Councilmembers jockeying for a leadership position on 2020 City Council? Â …that sometimes names change but the games remain the same?
IS IT TRUEÂ we are told that members of the newly elected Evansville City Council should consider doing a salary review of upper management positions because a couple is underfunded?
IS IT TRUE the most effective members of the Evansville City Council Finance Committee were John Friend, CPA, and Curt John?
IS IT TRUE last week we posted by mistake a draft copy of what we plan to correct and post in today’s “IS IT TRUE” section concerning today’s meeting of the Evansville Convention and Vistors Board?  …we apologize for our mistake?
IS IT TRUEÂ that today at !0:30 A.M the Evansville Convention and Vistors Board will hold a closed-door Executive Session regarding Personnel and Strategic Economic Development pursuant to I. C.- 514-1-.5-6.1 at the Evansville Convention and Vistors headquarters?
IS IT TRUE that a couple of people said that we let the “Cat Out Of The Bag” by predicting that Jim Wood will be selected as the next CEO/President of the Evansville Convention and Vistors Bureau? Â …the real truth is that several people candidly talked about this issue during the last several weeks and it quickly became the best-known secret in Vanderburgh County?
IS IT TRUE we been told by reliable sources that Lousiville, Kentucky business tycoon Ron Geary will be in town in a couple of weeks to meet with a group of local well-heeled business people to discuss a possible venture capital opportunity in Evansville proper? Â …we are told that Mr. Geary also has several very-heeled movers and shakers in Louisville seriously looking at this possible business venture? …we are extremely pleased to hear if Mr. Geary decides to move forward with this mega capital venture he will not be asking for any governmental handouts? …that “Government Shouldn’t Do For Business People What They Can Do For Themselves?
IS IT TRUE it’s not an uncommon practice for a CEO working in the private sector to receive a $10,000 salary increase at years end?…it’s extremely uncommon for any CEO of a Not-For-Profit entity to receive a $10,000 salary increase in one year?
IS IT TRUE one should never forget when one invests in a multi-million capital project they should also make financial provisions to do long term preventive maintenance on the project?
IS IT TRUE when a Chairman of a political party sweeps an election he takes total credit for this accomplishment? Â …when a Chairman of political party loses he blames everyone else for the loss?
IS IT TRUE that Evansville and Vanderburgh County, Indiana has always been accepting of a practice known as “political patronage†when it comes to jobs that are financed fully or partially by public dollars?…that ‘political patronage” is so entrenched in local politics that a former Evansville Mayor whom we shall not name has been quoted as saying “I get all of the credit and they take all of the blame†to justify appointing his political cronies to jobs under his control?
IS IT TRUE when the people fear the Government we have Tyranny! Â When the Government fears the people we have Liberty
IS IT TRUE the results of our most recent “READERS POLL” were extremely interesting? …the question was “Who’s the most effective State Senator in our area”? 307 people voted in this non-science but trendy poll?  State Senator Vaneta Becker received 199 votes and State Senator Jim Tomes received 71 votes and 37 people said that they had no idea.
Today’s “Readers Poll†question is: Who would you vote for in the Indiana Attorney General election?
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