Take That: August 3, 2011

IN RESPONSE TO: Arena Premium Seating Analysis

“”EVANSVILLE, WHERE ARE YOU?” Just how close to the ankles, do the britches of the ERC have to drop before the citizenry stands up and proclaims, “NO MORE!” Demand the resignation of the ERC; rescind their decisions/contracts; offer premium/preferred seating to the taxpaying public. …” Bubbageek

“The Weinzapfel Administration continues “have it’s way” with the citizenry with impunity———–apparently. There will be NO CIVILITY shown these thugs and or their concubines in the Premiumn seats, if we meet in public, you can be sure!!” crashlarue

“Given this piece of information on the handling and timing of the sale of the “premium seating” one would expect our elected officials to be at the ERC meeting, armed to the teeth, demanding an explanation, then demanding the dissolution of the ERC, and the resignation of the Mayor.” Wsaa2009

“I questioned Kish about the sky-boxes at the end of the July 19th ERC meeting. He said they first contacted the current holders of sky-boxes at Roberts Stadium. One would assume that those contracts needed to be honored, although you would think a price increase might be in order.
Kish then said that they used a list or lists of former sky-box holders to offer the remaining boxes. At that time, July 19th, he said they still had one box left. I asked for a ball park figure on the boxes and he offered $55.K for the full monty (tickets to all the concerts, etc., and $35K without the concert tickets.
This was a straight 1 on 1 conversation and I have not sought any documentation to affirm his statements, but believe they are probably accurate.” Pressanykey

“The Mayor’s responds on May 25 at 7:49 pm of “Congrats!” in reply to the May 25 at 5:30 pm e-mail from VenueWorks that all suites are sold out at list price and all cash no trade (see last page of FOI production). However, the form Suiteholder Agreement shows on bottom left a “Revised 4/27/11″ date and the Lodge Seat Holder Agreements on bottom left show a “Revised 5/24/11″ date. How can they have forms revised May 24 and have all Lodge Seats sold out for cash the next day?? The City should produce all of the signed contracts for both Suites and Lodge Seats.” Joe Biden

“Anybody find it interesting that the ERC authority was not granted to VenuWorks until AFTER the FOIA was filed?” Bowhunter72

“What agency is responsible for watching over this like this and making the judgement of criminal or not? Whatever it entity that is, it’s not on the job.” Big Pappa

In Repsonse to: Councilman Friend Questions Civic Center IT Practices

“That is exactly what these knuckleheads are doing and they have been doing it for years. They force public construction projects to pay prevailing wages that are typically about double what the real prevailing wage is in Evansville. At the same time they set salaries that won’t even allow them to hire new grads in fields like computer science and information technology.
Brain drain??? It is not a drain, the local officials practically take a stick and drive talented people away with their antiquated way of doing business. And yes, the Evansville leadership and especially democrats promote overpaying for union jobs and then get donations (kickbacks) from both the unions and the construction company owners.

As they say in the CCO, this is Snegal (sneaky but legal). This practice also causes the people of Evansville to overpay for public projects by 50% or more. Witness the $240k Front Door Pride houses that sell for $100,000 or sit empty, the plans to spend $240,000 on apartments that are worth only $20,000, and that darn Arena that could have been built for at least $30 Million less without the restrictions on who could do the work and what they had to pay. And we wonder why smart people leave and fools are left with staggering debts.” TheDonald

“Nobody doubts that there are underpaid, overworked people in this community… the salary analysis proves it. The question is, in the big scheme of things, is our government actively squeezing professional staff/salaries while flushing the unions… actively fighting the tide of the times, all while complaining about brain drain, too? How long will they be allowed to have it both ways?” Eville Taxpayer

IS IT TRUE that there were a couple of revelations that came to a head at the meeting of the Evansville Redevelopment Commission yesterday?…that one of those was with regard to the anticipated forthcoming contract between VenuWorks and the Evansville Icemen?…that the other was with the silent punting of any discussion regarding the breached contract down at the McCurdy Hotel?…that both of these situations just underline the ineptness of the negotiating capacity of John Kish and the Evansville Redevelopment Commission?

IS IT TRUE that the whole Arena was sold (or forced down the throats) of the people of Evansville on the premise that semi-professional ice hockey was the wave of the entertainment future?…that the published pro-forma for the cash flow of the Arena includes just over 30 hockey games per year with an attendance of 3,500 people per game?…that at a conservative average price of $15 per ticket that the revenue from the chosen Evansville Icemen is projected is between $1.5 Million and $2 Million per year?…that the Icemen have been one of the main reasons to have even designed the Arena the way it was designed?…that now project manager John Kish is quoted as saying “LOSING THE ICEMEN WILL NOT HURT THE SOON-TO-OPEN FACILITY”?…that we are once again shocked and amazed at the inconsistency of the statements that come out of Mr. Kish’s mouth?…that it is a good thing that there is an audit trail of public statements to refute this nonsense because no one could ever make this stuff up?

IS IT TRUE that you all heard the term Louisville Icemen right here in the City County Observer first back in the spring?…that this statement was dismissed by Mr. Kish and others who are paid to cheerlead for the Weinzapfel Administration?…that it was even stated by administration surrogates that there could be no VenuWorks contract without the Icemen?…that at this stage of the game that the Arena needs the Icemen more than the Icemen need the Arena?…that even if the Icemen are given free use of the Arena for the first couple of years that the Arena will be better off for it?…that we are all seeing the unraveling of another ill thought out scheme that seems to change every month or so with the temperature and humidity?

IS IT TRUE that the ERC has kicked any action regarding the McCurdy Hotel down the road to September 7th?…that when this whole mess is exposed that this could be a career ending debacle that will make the attempt by the Weinzapfel Administration to sneakily revoke the Homestead Tax Credit look like good judgment?…that the financial mess down at the McCurdy may take years to work out?…that when this truth comes out and you can bet that it will that the Executive Inn Dilemma will seem like a walk in the park?…that the City County Observer is on this story like the Watergate reporting crew was on President Nixon in his last days in the White House?…that we are solidly in the fact checking stages and will release purely factual information within the next week that will make even the most financially challenged among us shake their head in disbelief?

IS IT TRUE that Evansville Icemen owner Ron Geary is quoted as saying that “it is almost like the City of Evansville does not even want us in the new Arena” when he was asked about the state of the negotiations?…that if there is no hockey that we wonder what the purchasers of the premium seats, that bought them from VenuWorks before VenuWorks was authorized to sell them, at prices not yet disclosed to the public will think of their blind call options now?…that thanks for the $55k, the contract is voided, and there is no hockey anyway may just make a few people angry?

In a shocking response to Ron Geary’s public statements that the negotiation with the City of Evansville are not going well, project manager John Kish has countered that the Arena doesn’t really need the Icemen or even hockey to do well and that the Arena will not be hurt if they do not reach an agreement.

A close examination of the pro-forma that is available to the public on the City of Evansville website promoting the new Arena the City County Observer discovered that 38 out of the projected 135 events for the Arena are actually semi-pro hockey games. That calculates to 28% of the total of the projected number of events and nearly $3 Million of the projected revenue. Links to the website and instructions to examine the pro-forma are below. The relevant information is on slide 10 of the presentation.

Click on Powerpoint link at the bottom of the following page

http://www.evansvillearenaproject.com/content/economic-impact

Is our $1,403,000 down the rat hole?

Today marks the first meeting of the Evansville Redevelopment Commission in the post default days for the McCurdy Hotel project. The topic of the McCurdy was not on the agenda for today’s meeting but it will most certainly be brought up very soon as it has to be dealt with.

Link to Local 7 Report by Brian Miller:

http://tristatehomepage.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=289797

Republican candidate for Mayor of Evansville Lloyd Winnecke today released a position paper that outlines his thoughts with respect to providing the citizens of Evansville with a safe place to live. In this paper Mr. Winnecke addresses six specific subjects including one-pot meth labs, dilapidated housing, and assuring patrons of the new downtown Arena that they are secure in parking and walking to events.

Note: The Arena is in the highest crime census tract in the City of Evansville

Corrected Version

Protecting_Our_Community (1)