EPD Activity Report May 5 2011

IS IT TRUE? PART 2 May 6, 2011 “Hidden Costs of the Arena”

IS IT TRUE that it has been 24 hours this morning since the City County Observer offered a $500 bounty on anyone that Jonathan Weaver would come forward to back up his on camera assertions of being ELECTION SIGN THIEVES?…that Mr. Weaver has not yet accepted our challenge nor has he come forward to claim the bounty?…that he has exactly 144 hours to accept our challenge or it will no longer be available?…that we do not understand why Mr. Weaver has not come forward?…that a candidate for office is expected to be both honest and charitable?...that IF Mr. Weaver was honest in his allegations of theft that the City County Observer has given him the perfect opportunity to be charitable as a result of his honesty?…that we are waiting?

IS IT TRUE that there are once again rumblings that the Downtown Convention Hotel financing is in jeopardy?…that this should be no surprise since the valuation to cost ratio is out of sync by at least 50%?…in a tight lending market, in a city that has declining convention revenue and a shrinking population that the pro forma of any business plan will be run through a gauntlet of possible worst case scenarios?…that just because Woodruff Hospitality is being tested that is does not make this a bad idea?…that sometimes values just don’t align and that the CCO applauds Woodruff for their efforts?…that we also hope that Woodruff pulls a rabbit out of a hat and makes this happen?

IS IT TRUE that Woodruff was offered an incentive package by the City of Evansville that has a value of between $10 Million and $15 Million depending on performance over time?…that White Hospitality, the only other bidder with national brand backing for the Convention Hotel received an incentive package of over $20 Million from the City of Fort Wayne and was reportedly asking for a similar package from Evansville?…that going with Woodruff was a roll of the dice but a worthwhile one for the City of Evansville to get local people involved and to save money?…that IF this does not work out that it is time for the City of Evansville to get a company in here that has a long track record of success in the hospitality business?…that a track record, posting a bond, and getting the approval of a vetting committee of people who understand finance and have the courage to speak their piece will be required?…that even if the City of Evansville has to pony up a better incentive package that Woodruff agreed to that a Downtown Convention Hotel is a mandatory piece of the MLK Entertainment Complex?

IS IT TRUE that the hotel incentive package costs are NOT in the Arena Budget?…that lost revenues to the Centre that have resulted from the chaotic management of the Arena/Hotel project are not in the Arena budget?…that not a dime is allocated for either the demolition or modernization of Roberts Stadium in the arena budget?…that Mr. Kish may pull the Arena itself in for $95 Million but that remains to be seen?…that the soft costs plus hard costs of the isolated world of the arena walls may not exceed the $127.5 Million that was budgeted and adopted as a NOT TO EXCEED number by the Evansville City Council?…that remains to be seen?…that it is safe to say at this point in time that THE ARENA COSTED EVANSVILLE MORE THAN THE ARENA COSTED TO BUILD?…that the oversights, unwelcome surprises, and unintended consequences whether they came about as a result of intentional misrepresentation or old fashioned ineptness are well on their way to adding between $25 Million and $50 Million to the cost of the isolated world within the arena walls?…that life and construction projects to not happen in a vacuum?…that a comment on the CCO yesterday by a supporter of the current administration said “thinking good thoughts will not make good things happen”?…that Curt (posters screen name) should have told his idol this before this whole “think good thought” lack of big picture planning process on MLK was ever started?

IS IT TRUE? May 6, 2011

IS IT TRUE that at next Monday’s Evansville City Council meeting that there will be an opportunity for our elected leaders to ask questions of John Kish the Evansville Arena project manager?…that many of those questions will be revolving around inconsistencies between previously reported budget line items and numbers on the most recent budget spreadsheet?…that the packets for next Monday’s meeting will be handed out as usual at 4 o’clock on Friday afternoon (today)?…that there will be some very hard but not impossible questions posed to Mr. Kish about some BIG TICKET discrepancies in his budget?…that two examples follow?

IS IT TRUE that on November 20,2009 that the Evansville Courier and Press reported that the total contract for Hunt Construction, the construction project manager was for $5.8 Million including a $500,000 performance bonus that they have not yet earned?…that the final arena construction costs are now expected to exceed $95 Million so Hunt Construction will most likely not earn the $500,000 bonus?…that given that probability that the budget today SHOULD reflect a TOTAL PAYMENT to Hunt Construction of $5,300,000?…that in the John Kish issued spreadsheet titled “Evansville Arena Summary” and dated January 31, 2011, that the line item labeled Hunt Construction Group shows a total of $7,120,000?…that this is only a $1,880,000 increase over the expected value based on published contractual numbers?

IS IT TRUE that the same Courier and Press article stated that Populous (then HOK) would be paid for architectural services an amount NOT TO EXCEED 10% of the Arena Construction Costs?…that number based on a $95 Million construction cost should be budgeted right at $9.5 Million based on current information?…that it has been recently reported that Mr. Kish has stated that Populous will be paid $11,300,000?…that is a number that EXCEEDS their reported $9,500,000 NOT TO EXCEED number by $1.8 Million?

IS IT TRUE that just these two discrepancies amount to $3,680,000 of dollars that the citizens of Evansville have not expected to be spending at all based on previously published numbers attributed to contracts for professional services associated with the Evansville Arena?…that these discrepancies and other smaller ones need to be in the City Council packet and on the docket for Monday night?…that it is remotely possible that the figures reported by the Courier and Press were not correct?…that we would assign a very low probability that the CP reported this wrong because they would have had to pull numbers from the sky to have done so?…that the CP would have had no reason to have done such a thing?

IS IT TRUE that the Evansville Redevelopment Commission would have to approve any change orders that amount to $3.68 Million for these increases to be authorized to go into the budget?…that there is no public record of the ERC approving increases in the amount of $3.68 Million to Hunt and Populous?…that there are not public records available reflecting that the ERC was ever even asked?…then that the question for Mr. Kish is “who granted you the authority to increase these line items by $3.68 Million”?…that another question for Mr. Kish is “WHEN and IF you were granted the authority to increase these line items by $3.68 Million, was this done in an open door meeting or was this another backroom decision”?…that another question for Mr. Kish is “is there any way under Indiana codes that allows an increase of $3.68 Million to be authorized in a non public meeting”?…that we think such things are subject to “Sunshine Laws” but are open to opposing interpretation by learned counsel?

IS IT TRUE that these two bills have not been fully paid yet so correcting them RIGHT NOW can save the people of Evansville $3.68 Million of additional debt that they can ill afford in the first place?

Kunkel Group Reported to be assuming control over Convention Hotel Project

UPDATE: 2:10 PM Friday April 6, 2011

The Kunkel Group and Woodruff Hospitality have now jointly announced that the Kunkel Group will assume the duties of the contract between the Evansville Redevelopment Commission and Woodruff. All incentives will remain intact.

There are no details of the financing of the deal that have been made available.

UPDATE: 4:41 PM

Fox 7 news announces that they have confirmed that the City of Evansville is negotiating with another developer to take the project over.

3:51 PM Thursday May 5, 2011

City County Observer Mole #3 has confirmed with two sources that the financing for Woodruff Hospitality may be in jeopardy and that the Kunkel Group may be taking over the project for the Downtown Convention Hotel. It is not yet known whether the Kunkel Group will be continuing with the plan to develop a Hyatt Place, make yet another run at refurbishing the remainder of the Executive Inn, or seek another national brand.

This is a developing story so check back often.

UPDATE: 4:41 PM

Fox 7 news announces that they have confirmed that the City of Evansville is negotiating with another developer to take the project over.

http://tristatehomepage.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=269397

The Percentage of People Voting Increased Over 2007 by over 64%, voters increased by 84%

From the records of Susan Kirk, Vanderburgh County Clerk the following are undisputed facts:

In the 2007 primary election we had 82,834 registered voters. 5,070 people voted.

In the 2011 primary election we had 92,547 registered voters. 9,310 people voted.

Thus 6.12% of registered voters cast ballots in the 2007 primaries while 10.06% of registered voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s 2011 primaries. That computes to a percentage increase of 64.38%.

The actual number of people who cast ballots increased by a total of 4,240 votes or 83.63%.

These indisputable facts should be absorbed by those supporters of the winners in the 2007 primaries who are stating that Tuesday’s low turnout is the reason for their slate of candidates for the most part being defeated in 2011.

Jonathan Weaver’s On Camera Accusation Inspires Offer

Last night the top vote getter in the Democratic primary for the at-large nomination for Evansville City Council Jonathan Weaver accused the campaign of Rick Davis of criminal activities on camera. In the spirit of lawfulness the City County Observer would like to help Mr. Weaver recover his allegedly stolen property and bring the yet to be named accused thieves to justice.

If Jonathan Weaver produces evidence that leads to the prosecution and conviction of any member of the Rick Davis campaign for stealing signs we will make a $500 donation to the charity of Mr. Weaver’s choice.

It is our belief that these on camera accusations are without merit but we are willing to give Mr. Weaver the benefit of the doubt and even offer a reward if he can back this accusation up with evidence that leads to a conviction.

Mr. Weaver has one week to accept this challenge. This offer becomes null and void on Thursday May, 12, 2011 at 8:45 am. We will update our readers daily on the status of his acceptance in IS IT TRUE.

Priceless Quips from our Readers

1. Eating a Pigeon Creek Piranha

2. Lost at the Peephole

3. I am not Curt John

4. My cereal expiration date has passed

5. Gas Cost $4, People can’t afford to drive to vote

6. The polls are non-smoking

7. No one offered me Opus One for my vote

8. I lost my New Kids on the Block drawers

9. I woke up in a daze and had an Urbana, IL flashback

10. ex wife’s detective is watching me

11. I am from Knight annex and do not know how to do a paper ballot

12. The stoplights deprived people of their right to vote

13. The locks and dams on the Lloyd Expressway were only allowing Republicans to pass

14. Weaver might fire me everyone who votes against him

15. Boxing channel was showing reruns of Saturday morning at the Labor Temple

And of course these things still had nothing to do with it.

1. Proposed Firehouse Closings

2. McCurdy Pigeon Mansion

3. Puppetmaster Politics

4. Jobs Plan that isn’t

5. Sewers

6. Litter

7. Parks in Shambles

8. No Substance in Campaign.

9. Promising to be the 2nd coming of Mayor Weinzapfel

10. Booth gate

11. Homestead Tax Credit

And the list goes on! Feel free to contribute as you all see fit.

IS IT TRUE that the CCO would like each and every one of our readers to review the interview that Jonathan Weaver gave to Fox 7 where he accused Rick Davis supporters of being sign thieves, doing dirty deeds, and running covert behind the scenes tricks that are sometimes called black ops?…that on closer examination that Weaver actually had the audacity to demand that Davis has to change to be on HIS TEAM?…that “EARTH TO WEAVER, YOU DON”T HAVE A TEAM” needs to be on a prominent billboard in Evansville?

IS IT TRUE that Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel has now gone on record as making a choice to support neither Lloyd Winnecke or Rick Davis?…that our Mayor is so disgusted that he will have to make his way in the real world that he flatly does not care who leads Evansville?…that now that is hand picked protege’ Troy Tornatta is out of the race that Mayor Weinzapfel no longer gives a _________ about who leads Evansville?

IS IT TRUE that City of Evansville Attorney David Jones a self described lifetime Democrat is quoted in the Courier and Press as saying that “I think (Davis) has been nothing but negative, has coalesced most of the backbiters and naysayers and has not put forth anything that’s positive.”?…that he went on to blast Davis over deciding not to accept Troy’s debate challenge with the following statement “For somebody that’s supposed to be transparent, as he purports to be, to shirk and hide and not be willing to stand up in front of the public is, that’s absurd. I’m shocked at that.”?…that this does not sound like a man who is hoping to bid to keep the City of Evansville legal contract should 2012 bring with it a Davis Administration?

IS IT TRUE that Evansville has nothing to be proud of to see our senior elected officials on camera and in print doing a mass Charlie Sheen imitation?…that Manny, Moe, and Jack or even Curly, Larry, and Moe are more worthy of imitating than Charlie Sheen?…that you don’t have to be a Sheenius to be elected?

IS IT TRUE that the halls of government and wannabe elected officials in Evansville sound like a high school prom after the valedictorian beat the jock for prom king?…that if this is the exclamation point to the dismantling of the so called machine then the dismantling needs to continue until the last member of Team Weinzapfel is in the private sector EARNING A LIVING?…that perhaps General Sherman was right in his decision to scorch the red earth of Georgia on his march to the sea?…that perhaps a scorched earth moment is needed to completely dismantle the mythical machine that thought it ran Evansville until Tuesday?

IS IT TRUE that the interview is on the following link?

http://tristatehomepage.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=269087

IS IT TRUE? May 5, 2011

IS IT TRUE that Democratic Central Committee Chairman Mark Owen may have been talking about reconciliation of the Vanderburgh Party Democratic Party but that the leading vote getter among the Democratic at-large candidates was having none of it?…that now candidate Jonathan Weaver was swinging for the fences as though he was at the top of the ticket and Rick Davis was running for City Council?…that an emboldened Mr. Weaver gave a TV interview where he accused the Davis campaign of stealing his signs, engaging in “dirty” tactics, and doing behind the scene things?…that listening to the Fox 7 interview where Weaver also stated that he wanted nothing to do with being on Team Davis left many people speechless?…that Mr. Weaver even made references to “his” team?…that candidates for at-large seats on the City Council do not have teams they are members of teams?…that this is no way to start a campaign?…that getting the most votes for an at-large seat in a primary is a far cry from forming a team and leading a ticket?…that we have seen such misinterpretation of election results before when current Mayor Weinzapfel puffed himself up into feeling undefeatable by beating an unfunded, overmatched, David Nixon in 2007?…that getting the big head after winning a primary where only 7.83% of the people of Evansville actually voted is immature and smacks of arrogance?…that the CCO has always thought that Mr. Weaver was a talented individual?…that this sometimes talented guy needs a dose of humility if he wishes to get the cooperation of others?…that without the cooperation of others one cannot govern and one cannot lead?

IS IT TRUE that we wonder exactly what other candidates would want to cast their lots with Team Weaver?…that we would appreciate a show of hands?…that if either of the democratic nominees from the 2nd Ward or 3rd Ward would like to put their hands up as members of Team Weaver that we would surely like to make sure that everyone knows?…that it is already clear that incumbent City Council members Connie Robinson and John Friend will be on Team Davis and that there is no question with respect to the loyalties of the champion of the 6th Ward primary Al Lindsey?…that it seems that another bright individual with the initials JW has started following the leader and isolating himself from being a part of an effective governance team?…that this is a precious waste of talent and potential?

IS IT TRUE that the excuse for not voting of blaming the Pigeon Creek Piranha spurred lots of ideas from our readership?…that one reader discussion actually lead to a suggestion to breed piranha for Pigeon Creek that dine on doo-doo instead of flesh?…that a school of doo-doo eating piranha would be able to hang out at the CSO discharge points like catfish below Kentucky Dam just waiting for a hard rain for a meal?…that doo-doo eating Pigeon Creek Piranha (patent pending) could not only eliminate the need to fix the sewers of Evansville but could be sold to the hundreds of other places that have pending EPA orders too?

IS IT TRUE that the small town of Sturgis, Kentucky has a floodwall similar to the one in Evansville?…that Sturgis has seven sets of gates that have seldom been used?…that Sturgis has scheduled a series of times this summer to train and test these seven gates so the next time the creeks and rivers rise they are certain that the expertise to do the installations is on hand and trained?…that the people who live in areas of Vanderburgh County that are flooded by runoff and Pigeon Creek are quite assertive that the water has never been this high before?…that even though the Ohio River crested at about a half foot lower than it did in the 1997 flood that it is Pigeon Creek that has these homeowners in a panic?…that they are blaming it on development?…that the City of Evansville engineer says that is not the case?…that it does deserve to be investigated further?…that it is probably just the rain and the headwaters as the Pigeon Creek is not yet draining into the Ohio River?

Some of the Stuff Out there today is Priceless

1. It Rained

2. It Flooded

3. School Started Late

4. The Wind Was Blowing

5. We postponed our Celebration Dinner

6. Kangaroo Express ran out of Marlboro Reds

7. Good Old Boys ran out of PBR

8. Chocolate Cover Fleas did it

9. People do not want to be identified with any political party

10. President Obama shot Bin Ladin

11. Tim Geithner collected enough taxes that we don’t have to shut the government down.

12. John Kish did it for the Haitians

13. The partridge in a pear tree did it.

14. The Pigeon Creek Piranha (our favorite)

And of course these things had nothing to do with it.

1. Proposed Firehouse Closings

2. McCurdy Pigeon Mansion

3. Puppetmaster Politics

4. Jobs Plan that isn’t

5. Sewers

6. Litter

7. Parks in Shambles

8. No Substance in Campaign.

9. Promising to be the 2nd coming of Mayor Weinzapfel

10. Booth gate

11. Homestead Tax Credit

And the list goes on! Feel free to contribute as you all see fit.