IS IT TRUE Part 3, September 23, 2013

IS IT TRUE that there are many people pushing for a YES vote tonight on the newest deal for a convention hotel that will require the City of Evansville to sell bonds of between $18.5 Million and $20 Million depending on whom one speaks to?…this deal has moved around more since Friday than a snake on a fish hook?…for this reason there are only two logical votes that can possibly be casted tonight by the members of the City Council?…the first vote would be a NO vote to whatever is offered up as there is no way a deal that is still in formation could be written and understood in time for a vote tonight?…the other logical position to support is to postpone any vote for roughly a month which would provide adequate time to write and vet a new offer from the support group?

IS IT TRUE it should be blatantly obvious by now that the supporters for bonding $37.5 Million on this deal have no business making any decision that has to do with money?…these folks are the ones who go to a timeshare presentation and pay $37,500 for a timeshare because they succumb to that emotional tricks that a good timeshare salesman pulls on them?…it is also blatantly obvious that the people and organizations who opposed the $37.5 Million hand-out have saved the people of Evansville at least $17.5 Million (and counting) just by asking tough questions and reserving judgment?…somewhere in Florida there may be a twin towers timeshare project with Mosby Tower on the right and Weaver tower on the left joined in the middle by McGinn’s Irish Pub?…the focused use of brainpower and willpower has this deal to a point that in a couple of weeks if everything vets well there may just be an agreement that is good and acceptable to a large majority of Evansville?

IS IT TRUE that the “RESPONSIBLE SIX” need to stay responsible and solid for another 24 hours and not get sucked into the blue smoke, mirrors, and radio ad public relations lobbying effort being conducted in Evansville?…like it or not Councilman John Friend’s demand for financial information started this path to $17.5 Million in savings and sticking with his plan to vet will surely lead to more savings in the near future?…this deal is very close to being down to the 25% of project number ($17.5 Million) that Friend used as a guideline for public financing of hotel projects and not that far from the $10 Million number that is about what the basic infrastructure will cost?…the “RESPONSILBE SIX” need to be honored and thanked when you see them in public?…if the plan unfolds as we at the CCO believe it can during the next month this may be Evansville’s finest economic development hour in many years?

IS IT TRUE it will be hard to find much fault with any deal that is only an empty lot and infrastructure?…tonight is the first opportunity to lay the groundwork for that?

IS IT TRUE that the Mole Nation is telling us that a last minute twist is in the works that will cause tonight’s vote on the hotel agreement to be delayed for perhaps a month?…what we are hearing is that there are even more concessions being made by the developer, the Mayor’s office, and that even some local business leaders are tossing some of their money into the fire?…starting from the $37.5 Million giveaway and taking that further down to $31.5 Million that Mayor Winnecke was touting as the hot ticket on Friday it seems as though another $13 Million has magically appeared to take the bonded amount down to $18.5 Million by this writer’s math?…that may be enough of a reduction to capture the attention of some of the “RESPONSIBLE SIX” and interest them in listening to the newest iteration of this never ending saga of the downtown convention hotel?

IS IT TRUE that any deal that may make someone salivate really does still need to be VETTED including the return expected from the business leaders who are supposedly putting up $13 Million?…we have no information at this time as to whether this is a gift, shares are being purchased, bonds are being guaranteed, or just what the source of funds will be?…if this is indeed a gift simply because these leaders are generous citizens the question should arise about why they wouldn’t just do the whole deal and own it?…there is still much to learn about this new wrinkle and as positive of a move as this may sound like the bonded amount is now back to where the negotiations SHOULD HAVE STARTED?

IS IT TRUE that the one thing that comes out of this is just how unsophisticated and naiive the babbling hoard of beautiful people, the Mayor, and a couple of City Council members (Mosby, Weaver and McGinn) were when they were leading cheer to give away $37.5 Million?…just simple negotiating techniques backed up by arithmetic has reportedly taken nearly $20 Million of the risk to the taxpayers out of the deal and onto the backs of others?…the cheerleaders would have gladly handed over the $37.5 Million a month ago?…this civil war of the people of Evansville has already paid off to the tune of $20 Million and counting?…the City County Observer is pleased to have provided an open forum for discussion and will continue to do so FREE OF CHARGE?

IS IT TRUE that finally we would like to thank the Courier and Press for yesterday’s internet traffic?…not only were they the largest driver of traffic to the CCO but our Sunday pageviews were more than double any Sunday ever?

IS IT TRUE September 23, 2013

IS IT TRUE that in their zeal to announce to the world that an additional 86 hotel rooms in downtown Evansville will not be completed at the Old Riverhouse the City of Evansville announced on Sunday that a deal had been struck for the Old Riverhouse had been acquired by a company that was going to turn it into yet another old folks home in downtown Evansville?…the timing was so good that they just couldn’t resist getting that news out there just one day before the Evansville City Council is scheduled to vote up or down on what is now a $31.5 Million handout to HCW of Branson, MO to build a 253 room convention hotel on the site of the old Executive Inn?…the Mayor’s office must have let the cat out of the bag before the cat was ready because the Mayor’s office had to retract the announcement about 8 hours after they made it?…the damage is done and if there was ever any truth to this at all which there probably is the argument that 86 rooms are already on the drawing board for downtown hotel rooms is now squashed?…this was not a bad tactical move for someone who is fighting for YES votes?…the real question is why was the Mayor’s office making an announcement about a transaction between two private parties?

IS IT TRUE while the hotel may be the most glamorous and controversial object on the City Council’s agenda tonight it is not the most financially impactful on the people of Evansville?…the most impactful thing that the City Council will be voting on tonight is the embarkation on a mission to bring Evansville into the modern world by starting the ball rolling toward coming into compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with respect to repairing the dilapidated sewer system that 50 years of dodging and neglect has landed in the lap of the Winnecke Administration and the people who choose to live in Evansville in 2013?…this first of at least five steps will cost roughly $100 Million and will add 68% to the water and sewer bills of every ratepayer in both the City of Evansville and Vanderburgh County?…while this is a legal bill size hit to every ratepayer in the county it is a necessary but not sufficient set of improvements that have to be made with or without an EPA mandate?…this will cost each household in Vanderburgh County about $300 per year forever into the future?…that amounts to about $15 Million per year and about $375 Million over a 25 year period?…there will be at least 4 and possibly 5 such increases forthcoming as the EPA mandate is implemented?…while this is a tough thing for Evansville families to face this is good, this is right, and this is necessary to even remain a viable city to live in?…it is also necessary to attract anything of significance to move into this region to employ real everyday people?

IS IT TRUE when the mob in the street is howling like kindergartners for a hotel, the wise people in Evansville will be focused on that which is necessary and transformational?…working sewers are necessary and will eventually transform Evansville from a city that stinks to city that does not?…having non-working sewers is the kind of thing that makes a place a laughing stock?…in the meantime the bonds issued to finance the Ford Center are consuming over $8 Million per year of tax money and the hotel that the beautiful people are howling for will consume another $2.6 Million per year?…a few years ago an educated young professional named Andrew Smith who grew up in Evansville and ran for the City Council under the mantra of “SEWERS BEFORE STADIUM” was right?…the voting public chose wrong and was blinded by the shiny object that was sold to us as the salvation of the downtown that would bring tourism and big acts to Evansville like they came in the past?…that has not materialized and we are once again faced with a decision of fluff or substance?…we hope the “RESPONSIBLE SIX” hold true to their judgment and vote as they have announced?…there is always another opportunity for attracting a hotel developer?…this may just be Evansville’s last chance to establish a real vetting procedure and move forward to fix the things that really are fodder for comedians?

IS IT TRUE this convention hotel obsession has taken on such a life of its own that the MOLE NATION tells us that certain City Council members will be in need of protective escorts as they show up to vote tonight?…the MOLE NATION is also acutely aware of threats made to the livelihood of certain people and even incentives offered if votes can be delivered?…the threats made to rattle made up skeletons that may or may not be in peoples closets, to attack people’s ways of making a living, or worse are unacceptable and in some cases may be met with formidable responses?…if there is one thing for certain this blasted convention hotel has created a civil war in Evansville that has pitted friend against friend, and family members against each other?…this is just a hotel people, it is not necessary, it is not transformational, it will not attract a medical school, it will not make the Centre profitable, and it is not worth alienating lifetime friends?…all the CCO asks from the City Council and the people in the street tomorrow is that those with a vote will vote from a position of knowledge and the people in the street will respect that judgment?…bricks and mortar are not worth this much angst?…the CCO wishes for peace and good judgment to be with all of the people of Evansville tonight?…Tuesday is a whole new day?