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IS IT TRUE September 20, 2013

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Mole #3 Nostradamus of Local Politics
Mole #3 Nostradamus of Local Politics

IS IT TRUE September 20, 2013

IS IT TRUE that Vanderburgh County Commissioner Marsha Abell really took many people by surprise yesterday with her “in your face” reality slap regarding the financial woes of the Centre, the Old Courthouse, and the Coliseum?…most people were aware that these three facilities were all losers when it comes to the bottom line but it was the first many seem to have heard about a serious discussion to mothball them?…whether one likes Marsha’s message or not it does have merit?…Marsha even expressed her opinion about the state of things in downtown Evansville that piggybacked on Chamber President Christy Gillenwater’s “ghost town” sentiments when she proclaimed that downtown Evansville is “tired and worn out looking”?…it seems as though when the façade of political correctness is replaced for a moment with a bit of emotion the shoddy look and feel of a deserted downtown is something that everyone seems to agree about?…this is the case despite spending $30 Million on the Victory Theatre, $40 Million on the Centre, $30 Million on the Library, $127 Million on the Ford Center, $4 Million on reversing Main Street, $5 Million on Innovation Pointe, and several more million on the downtown loft programs?…if these $250 Million in public projects did not change things a $40 Million convention hotel with bells and whistles will not either?…where Marsha’s irrational exuberance crossed over into the Mayoral land of lollypops, unicorns, and delusions is in her unfounded logic that a hotel will lead the Centre to the promised land?…as Marsha should know a 600 room hotel did not keep the Centre from losing money and neither will a 253, or 225, or whatever the number is today room hotel?

IS IT TRUE it is puzzling to many people how a storage place for travelling band equipment and tiger beds for the Ford Center ended up getting bundled into what was a perfectly simple hotel wish?…this is a glaring oversight in the design of the Ford Center and there was no need to bundle it into another project?…it may well be needed but it should be paid for from other sources?…the sources to pay for the storage building should be a) any and all recaptured funds from overbilling and accounting mistakes during the Ford Center Construction, b) any “under budget” money left over as we have all heard about in the crowing of construction management success, and most importantly c) the repatriation of every dollar of political contributions made by any construction company, professional services provider, or union that was made during a period of time from a year before the Ford Center construction began until a year after it was completed?…we are quite sure that if those three sources are tapped there will be more than enough cash on hand to build a storage center for Ford?

IS IT TRUE since HCW is in the mood to reduce the scope of the project to cut the value of the bonding required we should all take this opportunity to do exactly that?…HCW quickly yesterday without being asked offered to downsize the project by $7.5 Million which reduced the bonds needed to $30 Million?…the overall project thus went from $75 Million to $67.5 Million?…the thing that most people will miss is that the elimination of items that were not being incentivized only reduces the public portion of the spending and does not reduce the incentive to HCW a bit?…Mr. Hunden is a very clever fellow when it comes to changing a deal to make it look better without putting so much as a fingernail of his own companies interest on the table?…we were quite surprised that HCW came back so fast with a recommendation to change the deal before the vote is even taken?

IS IT TRUE just to change the subject we must question once again the cost per baseball field in Evansville, IN?…the new proposal by the CVB works out to $1.75 Million per little league field and is better than the over $2 Million per field that was proposed with a straight face in 2010?…we still find it disturbing that in a world where top shelf baseball fields are built everywhere for $600,000 that Evansville is all giddy about dropping $1.75 Million for the same thing?…this seems like a teenager going to a car lot and coming home all happy for making the deal of the century for a $50,000 car that has a $20,000 manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP)?…goofiness still prevails in River City?

Rob Hunden: Independent Expert or Crutch for the Administration? by: Brad Linzy

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Rob Hunden: Independent Expert or Crutch for the Administration?
by: Brad Linzy

Posted by CCO without opinion, bias or editing.

According to documents recently obtained from the Mayor’s Office, Rob Hunden of Hunden Strategic Partners (HSP) has billed the Evansville Redevelopment Commission (ERC) over $200,000 in total for this latest hotel deal with developer HCW.

Initially, according to a pro-forma agreement, HSP agreed to provide a draft report, a final report, and a Powerpoint presentation summarizing its findings. This work was to cost not more than $81,000 in total, including $75,000 to be paid in three installments of $25,000 each, and up to $6,000 in expenses related to travel and research. A Purchase Order was issued and approved on March 12, 2012 for the full $81,000 to cover this entire fee.

On June 6, 2012, the final $25,000 installment was paid upon completion of the Hunden Report and by this time $5881.39 had also been paid for agreed upon expenses, bringing the total for the HSP work to $80,881.39.

After June 6, 2012 several more invoices were issued to the ERC by HSP. Services rendered were billed at a rate of $200/hr. and included everything from consulting with the Mayor, ERC, and the Department of Metropolitan Development (DMD) to consulting and advising City Council members.

HSP’s activities also included sending out requests for quotations (RFQ) to developers. While most have assumed these tasks were performed by someone inside the Administration, according to these invoices it appears they were done by HSP. Furthermore, HSP appears to have handled the request for proposal (RFP) phase of the project as well as negotiating the terms of the deal.

In one invoice dated February 14, 2013 HSP billed the ERC almost $20,000 for phone calls related to consulting on “Hotel Negotiation Process”.

In another invoice dated May 17, 2013 HSP billed $28,651.25 for “hotel advisory” including continued negotiations with developer HCW and a presentation before the City Council. In the addendum pages accompanying this invoice HSP list all correspondence, much of which refers to “strategy” and “press strategy” with “Steve and Phillip”, presumably Steve Schaffer and Phillip Hooper. In three separate correspondences, the issue of 180 rooms vs. 250 room hotels was discussed.
The most recent invoice we’ve obtained is dated July 26, 2013 and includes another $13,500 in billings for phone calls to HCW labeled “negotiations” and correspondences to Administration officials labeled “strategy”.

More recently, we’ve seen Rob Hunden send press releases and give statements to the press. He has also crafted a lengthy memo defending this hotel deal and saying if the City Council doesn’t approve it, the next deal will be 100% public. One can only assume these activities will be invoiced at a future date at the same $200/hr. rate as past activities.

Over the course of this deal, Rob Hunden has personally racked up $2,425.52 in hotel lodgings, most of which was spend at Le Merigot, $10,662.69 in transportation costs, $717.56 in meals on taxpayer dime, $1,256.52 in mileage expenses driving to and from Indianapolis, and $801.92 in miscellaneous “office expenses”. Is this what one might refer to as an “independent” expert?

So who is Rob Hunden? Is he a hotel expert hired to produce a feasibility study? Or is he a deeply vested participant of this project from inception to execution? The invoice trail points to the latter.

EPD Activity REPORT: 9-19-13

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EPD PATCH 2012

EPD Activity REPORT FOR_91913

VANDERBURGH COUNTY FELONY CHARGES

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nick herman

Below is a list of felony cases that were filed by the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday, September 18, 2013.

 

Alonzo Hogan Jr               Resisting Law Enforcement-Class D Felony

Resisting Law Enforcement-Class A Misdemeanor

 

Zachary Rice                       Burglary-Class C Felony

Theft-Class D Felony

 

Nathaniel Ruffert            Strangulation-Class D Felony

Domestic Battery-Class A Misdemeanor

(Enhanced to D Felony Due to Prior Convictions)

Criminal Mischief-Class A Misdemeanor

 

Darius Staten                     Theft-Class D Felony

Resisting Law Enforcement-Class A Misdemeanor

 

Michael Wisdom             Receiving Stolen Property-Class D Felony

 

Robert Case                       Domestic Battery-Class A Misdemeanor

(Enhanced to D Felony Due to Prior Convictions)

Resisting Law Enforcement-Class A Misdemeanor

Disorderly Conduct-Class B Misdemeanor

 

James Claspell                  Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated-Class C Misdemeanor

(Enhanced to D  Felony Due to Prior Convictions)

 

Aisha Cook                         Maintaining a Common Nuisance-Class D Felony

Dealing in Marijuana-Class A Misdemeanor

 

Joshua Coomer                 Domestic Battery-Class D Felony

Strangulation-Class D Felony

Intimidation-Class D Felony

 

Latonya Davis                    Dealing in a Schedule II Controlled Substance-Class B Felony

Maintaining a Common Nuisance-Class D Felony

Possession of Cocaine-Class D Felony

Dealing in Marijuana-Class A Misdemeanor

 

Misty Jackson                    Possession of a Schedule II Controlled Substance-Class D Felony

Possession of a Schedule III Controlled Substance-Class D Felonies

(Two Counts)

 

Thomas Shelton               Burglary-Class C Felony

Theft-Class D Felony

 

Michael Summers           Causing Serious Bodily Injury when Operating a Motor Vehicle with an

ACE of .08 or More-Class D Felony

Causing Serious Bodily Injury when Operating a Motor Vehicle While Intoxicated-Class D Felony

Operating a Vehicle when an ACE of .15 or More-Class A Misdemeanor

 

For further information on the cases listed above, or any pending case, please contact Kyle Phernetton at 812.435.5688 or via e-mail at KPhernetton@vanderburghgov.org

 

Under Indiana law, all criminal defendants are considered to be innocent until proven guilty by a court of law.

 

Dr. Bucshon on House Passed Nutrition Reform

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220px-Larry_Bucshon,_official_portrait,_112th_Congress

(Washington, DC) – On Thursday, the House passed the Nutrition and Work Opportunity Act, H.R. 3102, a bill that reforms and strengthens our nation’s nutrition programs while saving taxpayers $40 billion.

 

Representative Larry Bucshon, M.D. (IN-8) released the following statement regarding the passage of H.R. 3102:

 

“Today the House voted to reform our nation’s vital nutrition programs to protect the Americans who rely on and qualify for assistance,” said Bucshon. “This bill ensures that anyone who meets the qualifications for nutrition assistance receives their benefits, while eliminating costly waste, fraud, and abuse to protect the integrity of the program.  We protect the modest work requirements for able-bodied adults without children and help to equip them with new job skills and experience. These common sense reforms save the American people $40 billion and passage of this bill is the next necessary step to pass a farm bill to provide certainty for our nation’s families.”

 

Highlights of the bill courtesy of the office of Speaker John Boehner (Speaker’s Blog; 9/19/13):

 

  • Preventing states from waiving work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents who receive SNAP benefits, and requires these adults to work at least 20 hours per week to be eligible for benefits (saves $19 billion);

 

  • Eliminating auto-enrollment into SNAP under so-called “categorical eligibility,” ensuring that only those who are eligible for benefits receive them (saves $11.5 billion);

 

  • Encouraging state governments to help recipients find work, which helps them gain new skills and experience – and therefore better wages and less of a need for taxpayer-funded benefits;

 

  • Closing loopholes used to artificially inflate welfare rolls, and eliminating waste and fraud by requiring states to delete old, unused balances on benefit cards and permitting them to investigate retailer fraud (saves more than $8.69 billion);

 

  • Denying benefits to anyone convicted of murder, rape, or child molestation, and permitting states to conduct drug tests on applicants as a condition of eligibility;

 

  • Ensuring the safety net for our nation’s poor has a sustainable path forward, without precluding individuals from applying for other benefits or services that they may need.

 

 

Mary Southerland, Kayaker for Veterans, Arrives in Evansville September 22

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Mary Southerland is kayaking the length of the Ohio River, 981 miles from Pittsburgh, PA, to Cairo, IL, to raise awareness of the mental health needs of veterans and contractors. She will arrive in Evansville Sunday, Sept. 22.

Southerland served as a contactor in Iraq. When she returned from her most recent employment in January, she was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder, caused by her experiences in the war.

“After over seven months of fighting for benefits, I can no longer permit the disorder and the struggle for help to allow me to be ashamed, humiliated and trapped,” Southerland says. “To get well (or a new ‘well’), I am going to stand up for myself and others enduring this process and break the stigma of a psychiatric injury.”

According to a report released by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, an estimated 22 veterans committed suicide each day in 2010. The psychiatric care of contractors, who reportedly comprise up to 50 percent of war personnel, has not been adequately tracked. According to Southerland, we don’t know how many U.S. contractors and other nationalities supporting our soldiers have lost their personal war. Southerland hopes her river journey will draw attention to the needs of homecoming veterans, their families and perhaps even other contractors like herself.

“For now, I will help with our known problem: the system is failing our veterans, and as a co-worker, I will stand and fight for better care,” Southerland says. She is encouraging people to sign on to a petition by Purple Star Veterans and Families, asking the President to support services and treatment for veterans before they are released from active duty service.

Southerland is traveling in a Hobie Island Adventure with her service dog Henry, accompanied by a two-person support team with camping gear. She and her team will be in Evansville September 22 and 23.

She is scheduled to speak at the following venues:

  • Sunday, September 22, 9:00 a.m. St. Lucas United Church of Christ, 33 West Virginia Street.
  • Sunday, September 22, 2:30 p.m. Central Library, Browning Room A.  Special slide presentation and open discussion.

All events are free and open to the public.

Southern will be kayaking from Evansville west to Mt. Vernon, IN on Tuesday, September 24.

Pet Of The Week

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ChutneyChutney (pictured) is a BEAUTIFUL 4-year-old calico cat. She and her six kittens (the “condiment” litter!) came to the VHS as strays with nowhere to go. But now that her babies are well on their way to finding good homes, she is ready for hers! Chutney’s favorite hobby is playing with toy mousies, drowning them in her water bowl, then dipping her paw in the water to lick it off and drink that way. Come get to know her charismatic personality 12-6, Tuesdays through Saturdays! Her adoption fee is $30, which includes her spay, vaccinations, microchip, a bag of food… and there’s no extra charge for cute antics.

www.vhslifesaver.org

Amanda Bienhaus

Public Relations, Media, and Special Events

Vanderburgh Humane Society

(812) 426-2563 ext. 211

a.bienhaus@vhslifesaver.org

Bucshon to Hold U.S. Service Academy Day

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220px-Larry_Bucshon,_official_portrait,_112th_CongressRepresentative Larry Bucshon (IN-8) will be holding a U.S. Service Academy Day on Saturday, September 21st, 2013.

Who:    Representative Larry Bucshon (IN-08)
What: U.S. Service Academy Day
When:  Saturday, September 21st, 2013 – 9:00am to 11:00am CDT (Registration begins at 8:30am CDT)
Where: VU Gibson County Center for Advanced Manufacturing & Logistics – 8100 South U.S. Highway 41 Fort Branch, Indiana 47648

The Academy Day will offer high school students the opportunity to learn more about the United States Service Academies, the application process, congressional nominations, and the everyday life of a Service Academy Cadet.

Representatives have been invited from:

-          The U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO

-          The U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT

-          The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY

-          The U.S. Military Academy in West Point, NY

-          The U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD

For more information, students can visit - http://bucshon.house.gov/serving-you/military-academy-nominationsor contact Congressman Bucshon’s District Office in Evansville at 812-465-6484.

This will be the Congressman’s second Academy Day this year.

Indiana State Police to Participate in Six State Trooper Project

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ISP

 

The Indiana State Police will be joining forces with five other state police agencies in the Six State Trooper Project. The Six State Trooper Project is a multi-state enforcement campaign designed to coordinate and combine patrol efforts focused on marijuana interdiction, eradication, and criminal patrol. The Six State Trooper Project fosters partnerships between state police agencies while providing the public additional services in a high-visibility, criminal patrol and enforcement effort. The Indiana State Police will be participating in this effort statewide. Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter commented, “The Indiana State Police welcome the opportunity to partner with neighboring state police and highway patrol agencies as part of our continued commitment to highway safety and criminal interdiction efforts.”

The four day, multi-state operation is scheduled for September 26-29 and the focus of the enforcement efforts will be on criminal patrol and highway interdiction targeting the movement of marijuana and other illegal substances throughout Indiana and the five other participating states. Other agencies involved in this partnership include Michigan State Police, Ohio Highway Patrol, Kentucky State Police, Pennsylvania State Police, and West Virginia State Police.

Should The Centre and Land be Included in a Hotel Deal? by: Brad Linzy

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Press Release

Should The Centre and Land be Included in a Hotel Deal?

Evansville, September 19, 2013: Our Group has been watching the latest developments in the downtown hotel saga with riveted interest. We are pleased that as of this writing we have SIX declared “no” votes on the hotel as currently proposed. We wish to thank and congratulate these six council members for their wisdom and good stewardship of taxpayer interests!

However, it has come to our attention that HCW is attempting to change the details of the deal at this, the 11th hour, in an attempt to get a deal of some sort passed. While we admire HCW’s persistence, we feel they are still missing the mark with a 225 room hotel and a $30 million subsidy. We are certain the six declared no’s will agree.

In a related development, County Commissioner Marsha Abell has said in an email to Councilwoman Robinson that the County might mothball the Centre in a reaction to any failure to pass a hotel deal. We feel Commissioner Abell has a point here! The Centre has been absorbing losses as a direct result of the City’s past failure to renovate the Executive Inn as promised. This is why we are increasingly interested in hearing proposals that include giving away both the empty lot and The Centre as an incentive to a qualified prospective developer.

The Centre represents a red albatross on the County rolls. It is time for the City and County to come together on a practical solution that will both mitigate these Centre losses and give the downtown a great chance to attract outside dollars without jeopardizing the City’s ability to leverage other proposed developments like the IU med school. That’s why we support the Council voting down the current deal with HCW and going back to the drawing board with an RFP for a 150 room hotel that includes a gift of the Centre and the adjacent land for a hotel development, but NO SUBSIDY.

https://www.facebook.com/EvansvilleSaysNo

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