We hope that today’s “READERS FORUM” 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 our good friend Joe Wallace just spent a couple of days here in Evansville visiting family and close friends?  …the main topic of conversation was when Joe visited friends was when is he going to release his book?  …the other most asked question was did he name names concerning any past questionable political deals he might have witnessed during his tenure at “GAGE”?  …all we would like to say is that Mr. Wallace’s soon to be released book entitled “LIVING OUTSIDE THE BOX” is an exciting read?

IS IT TRUE that prior to the City of Evansville’s decision to spend $127.5 million taxpayer dollars on the construction of the Ford Center in downtown Evansville a study was paid for by the City by a handpicked consulting group from Ohio known as the Chema Group?…the conclusion of that study was that there would be significant job creation at the arena and that after 3 years the arena would actually generate sufficient revenue to pay for the bonds that were issued to pay for it?…people with any analytical capacity at all saw through the first claim since it is easy to understand that moving from one arena to a smaller arena would not create a single job but that didn’t stop the Weinzapfel Administration who was in power at the time from claiming that moving jobs was the same as creating new jobs?…after seven years of actual operation it is now abundantly clear that the Ford Center not only is failing to pay for itself AS PROMISED but that it is consuming between $8 million and $9 million per year in operating losses and debt service?…this amounts to roughly $60 million in losses in the first seven years and that is money that could have been used elsewhere or not spent at all?

IS IT TRUE that there were plenty of warning signs in scholarly studies about the lack of economic development benefits from sports stadium but former Mayor Weinzapfel found a way to convince city leaders to support a proven loser?…perhaps the most prominent study that dispelled the assertions about the economic benefits of sports arenas came from Dennis Coats of The Mercatus Center at George Washington University that concluded: “the entire sports environment matters for the level of real personal income per capita, in the sense that the array of sports variables are jointly statistically significant. But contrary to the promised increase, the presence of a major sports franchise lowers the income”.

IS IT TRUE that other statistically based publications have reached conclusions that sports arenas do not stimulate local economic development as well?…the Economic Research Publication of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, published an extensive study on the efficacy of subsidizing arenas with taxpayer dollars and concluded that even for a professional sports franchise that the public benefit has never justified the subsidies invested?…the Fed document contains the following words verbatim: “In spite of all of these economic arguments (construction spending, concessions, and spillover development like bars and restaurants), economists generally oppose subsidizing professional sports stadiums. When surveyed, 86 percent of economists agreed that “local and state governments in the U.S. should eliminate subsidies to professional sports franchises.”

IS IT TRUE that all of this information was available prior to the City of Evansville’s deception played out at the expense of the taxpayers? …it was even asserted that if we built the arena that a J W Marriott hotel would be built without any taxpayer handout?…in the end after 3 false starts the Doubletree Hotel required a subsidy of around $29 million in direct handouts and another $10 million in infrastructure improvements paid for to support the hotel?…after 7 years its obvious that promises of putting an upscale bar and restaurant  in this Hotel are not going to happen?…two such facilities that starry-eyed investors started have gone out of business?…perpetrating hoaxes spending public money on questionable construction projects seems to be the way of life in Evansville and the politicians that make such things happens always line their own re-election campaign funds with the taxpayers funded projects through the contractors and consultants?…we know this is not just Evansville, but to foist such lies on a small city with a billion dollars in infrastructure needed has been crippling?

IS IT TRUE that the sources used in this “IS IT TRUE” are as follows:

Wolla, Scott. The Economics of Subsidizing Sports Stadiums. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.  https://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/page1-econ/2017-05-01/the-economics-of-subsidizing-sports-stadiums/

Coats, Dennis. Growth Effects of Sports Franchises, Stadiums, and Arenas, 15 Years Later. The Mercatus Center at George Washington University. https://www.mercatus.org/publication/growth-effects-sports-franchises-stadiums-and-arenas-15-years-later

IS IT TRUE that the EVANSVILLE SPORTS CORPORATION is the best-kept secret in this region?  …that this not-for-profit group seemly have some movers and shakers in support of their mission?  …the list of names of Board Of Directors that they have posted on their web site is extremely interesting?  …we are pleased with the way that this group coordinated the Division II-Elite Eight (8) National Basket tournament at the Ford Center?  …however, we are puzzled why the Executive Director of this organization Eric Marvin doesn’t return phone calls?

IS IT TRUE the latest version of the political deal at the Statehouse has removed that $6 million for City of Evansville that would put a lot of cash into the tax coffers of the City of Evansville? …the casino at French Lick was scheduled to get $2.5 million over several years if this deal passes and that has not changed?

IS IT TRUE the CCO does not understand how something that had been calculated and agreed to by elected public officials can be cast aside so easily?…the CCO feels that some of the local people in a positions of political power like Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke, Ways and Means member-State Representative Hollie Sullivan, Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch from Vanderburgh County and Governor Eric Holcomb should intervene and get that $6 million that was originally supposed to be allocated back to  the City of Evansville? …all we are hearing from the Civic Center about this issue are “Crickets”?

 IS IT TRUE that “it’s a well-known fact that the Governor has final say over the plans to move two Gary casinos to more lucrative locations”?  …if the legislature eliminates the provision of Evansville receiving the $6 million dollars the Governor can veto the actions taken by the State Legislative body?

Todays “Readers Poll” question is: How would your rate Vice President Mike Pence performance so far?