IS IT TRUE that some very credible inside sources are telling the CCO that when all of the bells, whistles, oversights, and add-ons are included that the downtown convention hotel project will require more than $40 Million taxpayer dollars to materialize?…the CCO has always asserted that a basic hotel of the size and type that has been proposed would require that our City Council vote to pick our pockets for roughly $20 Million alone?…a parking garage, connectors to other buildings like the Centre or the Ford Center will add another $10 Million to the public tab?…that the gross oversight of not having sufficient storage built into the Ford Center has heads spinning in the Civic Center because a 30,000 square foot storage building as described on page 26 of the Hunden Study will add $6.5 Million plus an undefined amount referred to as “soft costs” to the total?…the totals of all of this are already up to $36.5 Million straight out of taxpayer pockets before adding in the cost of tax abatements?…that a $50 Million project in the words of former Ford Center project manager John Kish should be assessed at cost?…that a commercial building assessed at $50 Million would have a property tax bill of $1.5 Million per year?…over a 10 year linear phase in model the value of abatement of these taxes would amount to $7.5 Million?

IS IT TRUE that when added to the hard and soft costs that are under consideration for the taxpayers to pay for, the grand total of money that any supporters of going ahead with this project would be supporting to be incinerated is about $44 Million?…that it is truly ironic that in 4.5 years the prospects for a downtown convention hotel gleefully announced by then Mayor Weinzapfel has gone from a 4-Star hotel with over $40 Million in private investment to a 3-Star hotel that will cost taxpayers over $40 Million?…the gap is truly stunning?…we reiterate our hope that every member of the Evansville City Council will absorb this study as they start the decision process on providing funding for this project as the gap funding of at least $40 Million will essentially vaporize to nothing when valuation in the market is considered?…that translates into “a vote to fund this is a vote to toss $40+ Million taxpayer dollars into the incinerator”?…we hope our elected officials on the City Council have better sense than to torch over $40 Million of the taxpayer’s dollars?…even in the case where people somehow manage to get themselves elected to the City Council without any analytical capacity at all, folks it is time to learn some arithmetic?…many of the problems and oversights that are now plaguing Evansville are due to a legacy of non-thinking and easily manipulated people being elected to public office?…we hope that ignorance and arrogance do not rule the day when funding for this wish list comes before the City Council?

IS IT TRUE that the City Council voted last night to prevent the rezoning of a private residence to allow for a retiring doctor to practice medicine on a part time basis in the home?…the strongest opponent of this request was Councilman Dan McGinn who stated that part of his job is to keep the government from doing bad things to people?…that Council members Jonathan Weaver, Missy Mosby, and John Friend all lined up to support the doctor’s request but the other six Council members voted them down?…on the surface this request seemed fairly simple and would likely not cause the neighbors and grief or devaluation?…it would open that slippery slope of rezoning that may lead to other businesses such as tattoo parlors, palm readers, dog groomers, insurance agents, construction businesses, etc. that often operate in homes when they are allowed to?…it seems as though allowing artists to use homes in the Front Door Pride district is seen as the ticket to cleanliness and prosperity for the neighborhood yet doing the same in an upscale neighborhood will turn it into Goosetown?…these policies are inconsistent yet in many ways make sense?…these kinds of decisions and others like torching $40 Million are why the people of Evansville need to elect people who have cognitive analytical ability?

IS IT TRUE it is disappointing to see President Obama on the campaign trail railing against the evil rich (those making over $200,000 per year) than continuing to negotiate with the amazing orange man John Boehner?…it appears as though the proclivity of the President to wage divisive campaigns against financially prosperous people is blinding him from formulating a solution to the nation’s debt and deficit problems?…raising the taxes on these people will only raise enough tax money to run the government for ONE WEEK?…that if a comprehensive tax plan with a realistic balanced budget were presented to the American people there would be plenty of support for it at all levels including the evil folks making over $200,000?…if this type of divisiveness continues for the next 4 years the good old USA may actually be over a real fiscal cliff that will take two decades to repair?…the President and Mr. Boehner both need to be working on the problems and not on construction of a smoke and mirrors blindfold or a evangelical crusade against wealth?

IS IT TRUE the City County Observer was recently able to get a look at the entire Hunden Study that the Winnecke Administration paid good money to have an outside consulting firm advise them on the feasibility of building a convention hotel in downtown Evansville on the site of the former Executive Inn parking tower?…the 9 chapter report was found to be fair and comprehensive?…that means we think that Hunden Strategic Partners did a good job on the report and as consulting fees go however high they are this group earned their fees?…the rest of today’s IS IT TRUE will deal with what the conclusions and advice of this study were?…we will assume that someone within the Winnecke Administration and the powerbrokers who support putting taxpayer dollars into a convention hotel read it also?

IS IT TRUE Hunden states clearly that “Evansville is not competitive against the larger and more amenity filled cities surrounding Evansville like Louisville, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Nashville, and Bloomington”?…it also stated that putting new supply into place could lead downward rate chasing by both the existing hotels and any new one which would have the unintended consequence of “hurting the entire market and lead to quicker cycling down of hotel properties”?…the Hunden Study also pointed out that Evansville has “struggled” to maintain population growth rates similar to the state and nation as a whole?…the CCO must point out that when it comes to keeping up with population growth that the City of Evansville has not exactly “struggled” over the past 60 years, and that a better description would be abject failure?…even though the county has grown it has not even come close to keeping pace with the nation and state in that department?…the study also states that “The Centre has not necessarily generated increased demand for a new hotel and that most events are attended by locals who go home after the event”?…that the kinds of events that attract out of town visitors has been on a decline since 2007 and that the Centre only generates a need for 3,000 room nights per year which is only about 3% of the room nights that building the proposed hotel would add to the inventory?…with a new privately funded 120 room Marriot Courtyard under construction it is a foregone conclusion that the words of the Hunden Study do not make a compelling case that market forces indicate that there is a need for a new convention hotel with or without taxpayer support?

IS IT TRUE a fairly extensive SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis was included in the study?…the strengths identified were visibility, the Centre, the Ford Center, downtown Evansville entertainment, downtown business, lack of a downtown competitor, and the community?…with all due respect that is a money losing weak set of strengths that could have just as easily found their way into the WOT part of the SWOT analysis?…the weaknesses were identified as location (as in Evansville), being dependent on room block guarantees from the Centre (which loses money), the local hotel market health, completion from other areas, and non-downtown hotel clusters such as the intersection of I-164 and the Lloyd?…the opportunities and threats were pretty much repeats of the strengths and weaknesses?…under recommendations the Hunden Study includes “the private hotel market based on performance suggests that the ONLY truly feasible hotel from a private investment perspective would be a 120 – 150 room limited service hotel similar to the Marriot Courtyard currently under development on the Eastside”?…it also states that “too large of a hotel in downtown Evansville even if it receives upfront taxpayer subsidies will need additional reinvestment”, supposedly to cover operational losses?

IS IT TRUE that based on the Hunden Study the 30,000 foot conclusions are that first the kind of hotel proposed by the RFP issued by the Evansville Redevelopment Commission is not needed, secondly that it will necessarily damage the existing hotel inventory that competes in the same markets, thirdly that it will require over $20 Million of taxpayer dollars to really interest a savvy developer, and that it will require additional public investment to cover operating losses for many years into the future?…we hope and encourage that every member of the Evansville City Council absorb this study as they start the decision process on providing funding for this project as the gap funding of at least $20 Million will essentially vaporize to nothing when valuation in the market is considered?…that translates into “a vote to fund this is a vote to toss $20+ Million taxpayer dollars into the incinerator”?…we hope our elected officials on the City Council have better sense than to torch $20 Million of the taxpayer’s dollars?