IS IT TRUE that Paducah, Kentucky Mayor Bill Paxton says the city is close to sealing a deal to replace the demolished Executive Inn with a new hotel?…that the mayor wouldn’t go into details about the developer the city is speaking with?…that Mayor Paxton but said they are “80 percent close” to securing an agreement with the unidentified developer?…that one of our Paducah based moles is curious to know if there will be public money subsidizing the hinted at hotel?…that the Evansville Mole Nation says “if the Mayor is doing the talking there will be a public subsidy”?…that for the sake of the people of Paducah and the political future of Bill Paxton he had better take a class in “how to totally screw up a hotel deal” using the previous administrations comedic performance as a case study in what not to do?…that Mayor Paxton gets an F on his first test for making an announcement about an unidentified developer and assigning an “80 percent close” comment on the deal he is hoping to make?

IS IT TRUE that we hear from a reliable source that the City of Evansville’s 3^rd Ward has only a couple road-paving projects scheduled for 2012?…that the City Engineer, Pat Keepes, told attendees of the recent road meeting that road projects are complaint-based?…that complaint-based means that solutions to road problems are only addressed when someone brings it to the attention of the city?…that if paving and patching of city roads are determined by complaints only that this practice should cease immediately?…that all roads in the city should be part of a planned and scheduled maintenance program?…that one has to ask how many unnecessary projects have been completed because the right person complained?…that if the City Engineer’s statement is correct than why is he suddenly holding public meetings to receive citizen input?…that if his complaint-based system has worked so well in the past then why did 2012 bring new public input?…that we are left with a conclusion that the new city administration is actively reaching out to voters for concerns regarding road repair projects?…that we are beginning to understand why the 4^th Ward City Council Representative pushed so hard for the re-appointment of Mr. Keepes?…that the 4^th Ward has been the recipient of many road repair projects over the last few years?…that these decisions should be left to the elected officials, because they are held accountable by their voters, and not an appointed department head?

IS IT TRUE that we are anxiously waiting to see if the new DMD Director of Evansville is going to allow the local media to attend the Evansville Brownfields Corp. meetings?…that we are also waiting to see if the new DMD Director will hold public meetings in order for him to recommend to City Council which homes should receive Front Door Pride funding for 2012?…that the practice of giving the vast majority of the Front Door Pride dollars to build Front Door Pride homes in the 4^th Ward should cease immediately?…that there are plenty of people in the other 5 wards in this city that are equally as deserving of affordable housing opportunities?…that we would like to publically invite the new DMD Director to provide our readers with his tentative list of recommendations for 2012 Front Door Pride homes and their locations to be built?

IS IT TRUE that with the recently trumpeted successes of the Ford Center and how it has transformed downtown Evansville we are interested in some real financial statistics?…that 5 years ago there were about 30 empty storefronts on Main Street and that the names on some may have changed the number of space available is virtually the same?…that when a gelato stand shuts down and a tapas bar takes its place the net change in number of businesses is zero?…that the same goes for wine bars, etc.?…that there is one for sale sign on a loft apartment that has been there for nearly 5 years?…that the few recent sales of lofts have been at prices at or lower than they were sold for new long ago?…that the Front Door Pride houses are still just sitting there and that some of them have been through three different realtors?…that yes we agree that the Ford Center is a Class A facility to be entertained in and that a few already existing bars are drawing crowds on event nights but this does not constitute either financial success or failure?…that in five years we will really know?

IS IT TRUE that we would very much like to see the financial results for the first 4 months of the Ford Center operation as compared to the same period at Roberts Stadium for any year other than the last couple of years when Roberts was intentionally neglected?…that would tell us if the regional economy has truly seen growth or if the entertainment venue just moved a couple of miles into a newer place?…that we must remind people again that moving 100 jobs from Boeke to Walnut does not constitute creating any new job at all as opposed to what the propaganda parrots were saying back in 2008?

IS IT TRUE that in the time it takes to say “Pigeon Roost” that the entire prospects for the future of the McCurdy Hotel and the other yet to be named downtown hotel have changed dramatically?…that the McCurdy Hotel has attracted the interest of the Kunkel Group along with their new partner in the project Bloomington’s Randall Lloyd to the table to turn the McCurdy into 96 apartments?…that Kunkel has announced a deal with 5th 3rd Bank, the former employer of Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke for a $2 Million loan to move forward with the project and will not be asking the City of Evansville for any additional money?…that the project is estimated by Kunkel to cost $13 Million ($135,000 per apartment) so the real determining factor to get some work started will be whether or not another $11 Million can be secured?…that we do wish Kunkel well with this project but do caution city dwellers that getting loans of that size for projects of that size is still not something that banks are known for?…that we do applaud the fact that this project is proposed to go forward with all private money at this point?…that the strings and restrictions that always come with government money and government loans will hopefully not find a way to bind the hands of Kunkel on this project?…that maybe the EB-5 financing program would be a good one to tap for Kunkel to get the funding and avoid the spider web of restrictions that will come with any public money at all?

IS IT TRUE that we would have preferred to see a fully restored vintage McCurdy Hotel?…that is really the best use for the property from the communities perspective?…that in the absence of a private self funded developer coming forward to do this that we are encouraged to see the Kunkel Group take on this project with ALL PRIVATE MONEY?

IS IT TRUE that Kunkel is also on record as stating that if the City of Evansville spends $40,000 on a new Hunden study that results in another RFP that they are not interested?…that this is understandable as both Kunkel and Prime Lodging seem to have spent substantial sums of money chasing a deal that the previous administration did not think through?…that in a way was an unintentional misleading of two local companies that squandered precious resources on a “GOOSE CHASE”?…that we hope that both of these companies move on and prosper?

IS IT TRUE that we wonder if the City of Evansville will ever see even one red cent of the $800,000 that they doled out to City Centre Properties as an incentive to do at the McCurdy what Kunkel is now announcing plans for?…that we guess that next year the City of Evansville will be sending an IRS Form 1099 to City Centre Properties LLC to report $800,000 of income based on loan forgiveness?

IS IT TRUE that there has been much uproar this week over the departure of an employee of the EVSC shortly after completing a master’s degree that EVSC paid $42,000 for?…that little has been said about the fact that the other nine are still on the job at EVSC?…that a 90% retention rate on anything is pretty good?…that if the goal was to spend $420,000 to get 10 MS degrees on staff that the plan just changed slightly to $46,666 for each of the 9 MS degrees that will still be on staff?…that this is one case where the glass is 90% full?…that we hope that the politics of envy and the commotion from this does not run the other 9 off making the program a bust?…that indentured servitude did not work well in the 1600’s and will not work now?…that if the gentleman who is leaving is being served better by leaving than by staying we should wish him well as opposed to demonizing him as many Evansville based places do to their former employees?…that that way to make amends is to replace this gentleman is by hiring someone with similar qualifications away from the Louisville School Corporation?