By Paige Richardson

Tourism boosters in Baltimore had a can’t-miss idea. If taxpayers only poured huge subsidies — including hundreds of millions in bonds backed by hotel revenues — into building a convention center hotel, Baltimore would experience a boom in convention business that would generate jobs, revenue and economic prosperity for city residents.

But as the Baltimore Business Journal recently pointed out, “Baltimore built it, but they didn’t come.” Now their hotel is having trouble paying off its bonds and has lost $65.1 million since it opened in the summer of 2008.

In St. Louis, boosters had the same idea, spending millions in public money on the construction of a convention center hotel, which opened to much fanfare in 2003. Despite rosy projections by experts, it is now in foreclosure because hotel revenues were insufficient to pay its debt service. Again, it’s local taxpayers who are the big losers.

In Charlotte, N.C., taxpayers ponied up millions for the construction of a convention hotel there, but convention bookings quickly “receded to levels before the hotel opened,” according to an article in the Charlotte Observer. The list of midsize cities with failed and struggling convention center hotels — paid for with massive infusions of taxpayer dollars — goes on and on.

Now, starry-eyed tourism boosters in Portland want to repeat the same mistakes made by these other cities. And they want to spend your money to do it.

Metro is in the process of cutting a sweetheart deal to offer millions in public subsidies to get an international hotel chain to build a hotel next to our convention center.

Despite the fact that Metro is only now beginning, after months of stonewalling, to release any details about the terms of the agreement, our Legislature has gone ahead and diverted $10 million in lottery proceeds to back this cozy arrangement for a profitable out-of-state hotel chain and private developers.

Metro plans to issue $60 million or more in public bonds to pay for hotel construction, which with interest will add up to more than $100 million by the time they’re repaid. That’s outrageous enough, but the subsidies don’t stop there. Another $4 million in taxpayer funds is being given to the developers by Metro, as well as a $4 million loan from the city.

Don’t worry, says Metro. The bonds will be paid off with increased tax revenue from the new hotel. But newly released details about the deal between Metro and Hyatt still don’t provide clarity about who pays if the hotel comes up short — a very real possibility given the spotty track record of these sorts of ventures here and in comparable cities. So far, it seems public dollars will be on the hook. At a time when we are struggling to pay for basic public services, that’s a risk we can’t afford.

If the hotel makes money, the owners get to reap the profit; if it loses money, taxpayers foot the bill. Heads they win, tails we lose. Does that sound like a good deal to you?

Local officials currently considering this flawed hotel proposal need to think twice about whose interests they were elected to serve. Our legislators should have known better than to ignore basic principles of transparency and good governance by appropriating millions in public money before Metro made any effort to gather public input about the deal it has cooked up behind closed doors.

Now it’s the turn of local officials. They should put this bad idea to rest before local taxpayers are left holding the bag for the latest “trust us, this can’t miss” boondoggle.

Source: Coalition for Fair Budget Priorities

IS IT TRUE August 20, 2013

IS IT TRUE the Winnecke Administration has submitted a budget for 2014 for the City of Evansville to the Evansville City Council in the amount of $307 Million of spending?…it was just a few short years ago that the City budget was crossing the $200 Million figure for the first time?…if memory serves this writer correctly the last Weinzapfel budget was in the range of $220 Million making this 3rd budget submitted by Mayor Winnecke roughly 40% higher than the budget he inherited?…these budgets of course do not include giant capital projects like the Ford Center or the hotel that the Winnecke Administration wants so badly to grant $37.5 Million to HCW of Branson, MO to build?…The Fire Chief has requested a 19% raise for his executive secretary, which would make her 1 of 3 people that has parity on the Fire Department?…The other 2 are the Fire Chief & Asst Fire Chief?…the firefighters union just voted down the contract offered by the City by a margin of 166 to 46?…if not for the appearance of excess in spending for frivolous games projects and the 16 person expansion of the Water and Sewer Department staff maybe these firefighters would have been more open to the City’s offer?

IS IT TRUE that the Facebook page called “Citizens of Evansville against a Taxpayer funded Hotel” is tonight reporting that the artwork they created for the page has been stolen by those who oppose what the page has to say?…the post announcing the theft of the artwork reads as follows?

“The opposition for my fanpage against the subsidized hotel has stolen our artwork, the cover page and profile picture, and is using it for their own fanpage!!! They deliberately stole it, with the exception of a few words to show that they support the hotel. This really upsets me! Go ahead and provide your own information and take a stand, that’s fine. but to take someone’s artwork behind our back is unethical and copyright infringement. First they steal our public funds for a private business and now they steal our artwork! I hope this shows how unethical they really are! I’m fuming right now! I have done fan pages and tons of artwork before and created this fanpage with help from others, 4 admins currently, and never had this happen before. ahhhh!!!! I feel like punching a wall.” Phillip Schutz

IS IT TRUE the Facebook site goes on to show an exact copy of the artwork used by “Citizens of Evansville against a Taxpayer funded Hotel” that has been repackaged into another Facebook page that is certainly confusingly similar that is called “Citizens of Evansville for a new downtown convention hotel”?…I have seen both of these sites with my own eyes and if this were a trademark infringement case the people who did this would be on the losing end of an expensive lawsuit and may be subject to criminal prosecution?…seeing this happening in real time is like being a customer in an establishment that is being robbed?…this ranks up there ahead of digging through opponents garbage to count beer cans or destroying campaign signs both of which have been alleged in recent elections?

IS IT TRUE if the supporters of the hotel would do what any person or entity that is applying for a grant would have to do they would not have to resort to ripping the opposition’s artwork off?…if they could explain how the Mayor can claim the hotel will create 250 jobs when the report he paid $105,000 for says the number will be 41 they may not be needing to steal someone else’s intellectual property?…thus far this whole hotel attraction process has been marred with the same brainless unvetted antics that the Earthcare Energy fiasco and the McCurdy Hotel tragedy were?…the new motto of the City of Evansville should be changed to “if you can’t VET, lie, cheat, and steal”?…whichever side you may be on in this discussion this is a new low in Evansville politics?…this one is even worse that the Opus One Christmas party at the CVB or the after council meeting boozefest in downtown Evansville paid for by an Indianapolis lobbyist?…this time some heads should hang in shame, but it is doubtful they will have the presence of mind to even know they have destroyed a young person’s belief that being active in civic matters can make a difference?…a pox on all who participated.