Sunday, October 25, 2015

Mr. Kelly Coures
Evansville Department of Metropolitan Development

Dear Mr. Courses,
I would like to bring to your attention the front page article in todays C & P titled “overwhelmed & Grieving”.
Because you and your Boss the mayor may not have served in the military and think this article about our recent war Heroes and their return to civilian life does not affect you in your daily work I feel it necessary to voice my opinion. I will try to provide a little fact along with that opinion. I am sure you will counter using your pulpit of power to preach, (as quoted from Morton Marcus’s column in the same paper today) “the words of a loudmouth regurgitating well –rehearsed lines of propaganda”.

The front page article addresses the high rate of suicide in veterans of our recent wars. I enlisted when I was still in high school and was lucky that it was post-Vietnam. I often joke that the only fighting we did was among ourselves. Serving right after Vietnam I had the opportunity to work under many who had been there in the battles. It was a time when the veterans of that era were not popular with the public. Part of the official training was on how to deal with the public’s hostile attitude toward Soldiers.  In no way do I identify myself with those who served at a time of war but I have a great appreciation for those who did.

I also have a passion for removing the garbage structures that can never be repaired and are creating a very depressing environment in some of the neighborhoods. In some places the burnt out shells like the one on Egmont that stood for years makes some neighborhoods look like a war zone.

Now let me bring to your attention a third article in today’s C & P titled “Hard-hit unit looks for some answers”. This article is a follow up on the first article about suicide among the recent war vets. This article brings it home to Evansville and discusses the 4 suicides out of our very own guard unit after it was activated for an Iraq deployment. Casualties of the war even after returning to Evansville.

Now let me bring this home to you, Mr. Coures! The “hard-hit unit” article brings to mind my other passion and the recent $2.5 million Blight Elimination Program funded by the Federal “Hardest Hit Fund”.
As you know with the announcement of this demolition program that was to focus on vacant and abandoned houses, and the cities statement to the public that they were looking for projects, I volunteered and went to the worst neighborhood and found ten houses that fit the program criteria and resolved all the roadblocks you were establishing to prevent their consideration.

A veteran of the recent wars owned one of the structures that needed to come down and also was willing to take a vacated lot. That is, own the lot pay taxes on the lot and maintain the lot, which is something the city has been broadcasting loudly that residents are not willing to do. This potential owner was not just a veteran, but a Purple Heart veteran. And not just a Purple Heart veteran of recent wars but an individual in the neighborhood who had been working on eliminating the blight on his own initiative, without public funding, by fixing up the houses and reselling them. I remind you, he had reworked a couple of houses in that block and had started on this one. He installed a new roof and then gutted the inside. He was doing this as a second job when he sustained an injury and could not work. He explained that he then got behind on his bills and had to abandon the project. This is much the same as some of the houses you accepted into the program from individuals who bought them, attempted to repair them, but determined they lacked the resources or it was not economically feasible.

Now this house required purchase money as many in your program have. This purchase money is not a concept that I support but as I explained to you and Mr. Beane, if anyone was deserving of benefit is should be this Veteran.

Now it was agreed to in more than one meeting with DMD and the Building Commission, along with emails, that the Brownfields (the cities land bank) could be the program partner for this property. Then at the eleventh hour, your city owned Brownfields by your representation, refused to be the Partner. I volunteered to personally be the partner and even front the thousands in cost. You responded by attacking me and even went to the point to attack me personally in an email to the city council. You inferred that I was racist and might physically attack council members. You indicated that the “end users” of the properties (people in the neighborhood) that I had proposed as final owners of the properties such as this Purple Heart Iraq Veteran were not suitable to be owners of a vacant lot.

Now I can see your enthusiasm for big projects like the med school and kicking people out of their homes at the new car lot location to use the money to clear those houses in the name of the Med School. And I can see you wanting to ignore anything I might suggest because I am just a nobody in your political wrangling; but, for you, the mayor, and the Brownfields to turn your back on a an Iraq Purple Heart veteran while using funding to purchase random properties because it benefits your cronies is unforgivable. Yes it does not take much digging to find one of the accepted random looking structures that the Brownfield will buy and land bank appears to be selected because it is owned by a politically connected person that I see served on the local boards but probably not his country at a time of War.

From the paper today, It seems, a lot of people are asking what they can do to help the veterans but I don’t see the people capable of the doing, following thru – At least in this town. The Veterans sponsored a candidate night and the mayor did not even see fit to show up.

Mr. Coures, your Brownfields organization is meeting this week. Please make special note to see that all are in agreement, that not only yourself, but all members of the organization do not support the projects involving this special individual who may not run in your political circles but served his country in a time of war and has been awarded the Purple Heart.

My opinion is that we need everyone, especially leaders, city department heads, and employees, to put a little effort in actions supporting the veterans. Give a veteran a little priority over their political cronies. They deserve more than “words of a loudmouth regurgitating well-rehearsed lines of propaganda”. Morton Marcus was probably not thinking of you, Mr. Coures when he wrote that line in his column today but it seems fitting to you and a couple of other bureaucrats that I have encountered here in Evansville.

Veterans of our wars are deserving of all the special treatment, all the praise, all the medical care available, all the priorities – and in my opinion – that is still not enough.

George Lumley
Volunteer
Letsfixthat.us

FOOTNOTE: This article was posted without opinion, bias or editing.