IS IT TRUE? – 2 June 30, 2011 Overpriced Housing

IS IT TRUE that this fall the Project Hope will be seeking bids to build 40 homes for low income families in the Front Door Pride area?…that the budget for these 40 homes is approximately $9.5 Million?…that this works out to nearly $240,000 each?…that as has been established by the unsold inventory of Front Door Pride homes the market value for homes that cost the government $240,000 to build have a market value of only about $130,000 each?…that this project has a solution to the difficulty in finding low income people who want to buy such houses and can qualify for the loans needed?…that these 40 house will be sold on 15 year lease/purchase agreements?…that the lease amounts are not even half of what the payment would be for $240,000 homes?…that as noble and kind as it is to encourage home ownership among low income people that losing over $100,000 per house will flat out waste at least $4 Million of taxpayer money?…that it does not matter to some people because this program is funded by federal dollars?….THAT WASTING FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MONEY IS WASTING YOUR MONEY?

IS IT TRUE that this program of putting renters into homes that are substantially the same as the existing Front Door Pride homes will DEVALUE these home further?…that Evansville and especially the FDP area has a 50 year history of population losses?…that new houses are not needed in a shrinking population?…that there are plenty of houses for sale in other areas of Evansville at market values of less than $240,000 that are much larger and in safer neighborhoods than these are?…that this area of town is also completely served by combined sewers that are under EPA order to be upgraded?…that many of these homes are destined for vacant lots and abandoned homes?…that vacant lots and abandoned homes to not have a need to go to the bathroom?…that adding structures and people to this area will further stress an already condemned sewer system?…that maybe a better solution would be to just pay market value for homes elsewhere are let the CSO served areas depopulate?

IS IT TRUE that if government housing programs had even a shred of practicality for valuation metrics that things like this would never happen?…that the old safe house that is slated for 32 apartments to be refurbished for you guessed it $240,000 each makes these 40 houses look like a blue light special?…that the kind of apartments that are slated to be refurbished can be bought on the open market for less than $20,000 per apartment?…that anytime you hear the words FREE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MONEY that you can bet that there will be massive waste involved?…that Evansville should actually set an example for the rest of the country and visibly turn wasteful projects away?…that every city anywhere in America that accepts federal money to pay 2x, 5x, or even 10x current market rates is an enabler to the runaway national debt?…that this exercise in nothing down overpriced housing backed by the federal government is quite responsible for the meltdown in the housing markets that we are experiencing in this country?…that the government seems to be the only entity that did not learn its lesson?

IS IT TRUE that housing is not the only area of the federal government that is practicing wasteful spending?…that some estimates opine that government spending could be cut by 50% across the board without most regular citizens missing a thing?…that with $500 hammers, $240,000 apartments in Evansville, and Million dollar missiles that is believable?

A Reminder of a Development Agreement that actually resulted in a Hotel

Link to the Agreement:

Fort Wayne Hotel Agreement

Perhaps Evansville could learn the Vetting and financing processes from Fort Wayne

Excerpts:

“The $110 million redevelopment effort, called Harrison Square, so far includes the ballpark, a brand-new Marriott Courtyard hotel and a 900-space parking garage; and skywalks to connect the Marriott and an existing Hilton hotel to the expanded Grand Wayne Convention Center, which will host the 2012 state Democratic convention.”

“But the Harrison, a 100,000-square-foot structure that will also have space for retail stores and offices, has been stalled by the recession and the inability to get financing. On June 13, a little more than two years after it was supposed to be finished, Mayor Tom C. Henry announced a private-public partnership that will finance the $18 million building.”

“Last Sept. 1, the 250-room Marriott Courtyard hotel and a 900-space parking garage opened, both of them overlooking Parkview Field. The $30 million undertaking by White Lodging, a Merrillville, Ind. real estate firm specializing in hotels, more than doubled the number of hotel rooms within walking distance of the convention center. The mayor and Mr. Richard like to boast that the Indiana State Democratic Convention has scheduled its 2012 convention in Fort Wayne because there are finally enough rooms to accommodate 2,000 convention-goers.”

Link to Full Article

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/29/realestate/commercial/an-indiana-town-lures-renters-with-ballpark-views.html?src=recg

Sheriff’s Message 06292011

Starting tomorrow morning the editor of the City County Observer, Joe Wallace will be joining the guest list of prominent Evansville attorney Les Shively on his weekly radio show “Live with Les Shively”. Each week Shively reports on local news including guest call ins from 8 – 9 am on NewsTalk 1280 WGBF interjecting his own well thought out and always sharp opinions.

The City County Observer has risen in three short years to have the most read exclusively online local news content in the Tri-State and furthermore has recently risen to hold the #2 position locally for global internet pageviews closely following the Evansville Courier and Press. The CCO is a privately held online advocate for good public policy, endorses no candidates, and specializes in pushing the envelope for disclosing stories that others may conveniently ignore.

Both Counselor Shively and Mr. Wallace are pleased to make this announcement and are looking forward to engaging the Evansville community with news of local government.

CCO passes WFIE in critical metric of internet traffic

The global internet traffic ranking service Alexa figure have placed the City County Observer into the 2nd local position for the percentage of global pageviews. The local media market rankings as of June 29, 2011 are as follows:

% of Global Pageviews (x100,000)

Courierpress.com: 15

City-CountyObserver.com 6

14Wfie.com: 5

news25.us: 1

tristatehomepage.com: 1 WTVW

IS IT TRUE? June 29, 2011 Tennis Match Round 1 for the CVB Money

IS IT TRUE that the Mesker Park Zoo was the host for a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Evansville Convention and Visitors Bureau this morning?…that among other business the agenda item that attracted an overflow crowd was the presentation by the Evansville Community Tennis Association to soften up the ECVB to consider adding some of the innkeeper’s tax collections to assist with their proposal to build 12 tennis courts on the grounds of Wessleman Park?…that the crowd was overflowing and not only filled the room but filled the outdoor eating area as well?…that it seemed as though every fresh young face in Evansville that plays tennis showed up to support the ECTA’s appeal?…that the presentations both supporting and opposing the ECTA’s solicitation were done very professionally?

IS IT TRUE that the opposition was led by the owner/investor team of Tom Myers and Jack Rodgers from the Tri-State Athletic Club?…that these two gentleman came armed with statistics on the overall number of tennis players in the country and in greater Evansville?…that the statistics that they cited were from the United States Tennis Association, the same source that some of the statistics that the ECTA cited?…that the graphs of numbers of players both nationally and regionally when taken back to pre-recession times show absolutely flat demand for the game of tennis in real numbers?…that the other argument put forth by the Tri-State Athletic Club team against the appeal of the ECTA was that public dollars and public land should not be used to give a competitive advantage to their competitor?…that the Tri-State Athletic Club has the only private indoor tennis club in greater Evansville?…that the demand for indoor tennis according to the data presented is met and stable?

IS IT TRUE that our elected officials and candidates for office have been stating their positions with respect to using public money and public land to compete with private enterprise by funding the request of the ECTA?…that both candidates for Mayor of Evansville have stated that they oppose the request for land and/or money by the ECTA?…that the Republican party is on record as stating that the official position is that this proposal should not be supported?…that Republican City Council candidates Walters, Leibundguth, and Grafton have explicitly stated opposition to this project as have Democratic candidates Adams, Riley, Lindsey. And O’Daniel?…that Vanderburgh County Commissioner Marsha Abell opposes this and any project until the final decision is made with regard to Roberts Stadium and the Executive Inn Dilemma has been resolved?…that absolutely no candidates for office have expressed support for this project?

IS IT TRUE that the exit interviews with the non-competing people in attendance are unanimous that the argument for the ETCA was not compelling but that the Tri-State Athletic Club did indeed make a compelling argument for not proceeding with any public funding or public funding by proxy that competes with private enterprise?

IS IT TRUE that the meeting was respectful and that even the opponents expressed admiration and respect for the way that the ECTA conducts its business?…that no one opposes the right of the ECTA to purchase available land and construct as many tennis courts with private money as they choose?…that it has been reported that the ECTA provides free tennis lessons to the general public and that is to be thanked and admired?…that many people and organizations do good things?…that all of these types of groups deserve praise and admiration but that does not equal being showered with public dollars?…that this was an exercise in good dialog and that a win-win solution can be reached?…that today’s session if it was indeed a tennis match ended with a score of 50 – love in favor of the opposition.

Take That: June 29, 2011 SPECIAL WEDNESDAY EDITION

IN RESPONSE TO: the TENNIS COURTS PROPOSAL

“This tennis courts proposal is a thinly disguised movement to gain momentum for the Wesselman Sports Complex (ball-fields and all).… Yes, “handing off” the Roberts Stadium/Wesselman Park/ball fields, debacle was shrewd, but those who continue to ignore the VCTP’s/VOTERS will likely join Mr Weinzapfel, Mr Tornatta and Mr Watts at the employment office.” Bubbageek

“Its also time to call for a moratorium on new debt creation and wild spending that makes our local officials and their appointees to all these boards and commissions look like heroin addicts. Stop the insanity — no more ball fields, no more tennis courts, we need to do more with less and deal with what we have.” Beppo 69

“Nobody in their right mind thinks we need to build an indoor tennis club for the Evansville elite. We are gonna be so broke after building the John and the attending luxury hotel that we are gonna have a hard time building the sewer projects required by the EPA and what about the McCurdy home for retired pigeons, bats and goats?” Henry

“The courts are occuppied because ECTA chooses to allow private individuals to charge for private lessons on public property. In the evenings, ECTA reserves all the courts for their members and leauges only. Once again, why can they be public courts yet they can be blocked/reserved for months in advance for ECTA PAYING members. Tennis professionals from the defunct club downtown are allowed by their friends on the ECTA board to monopolize prime court time. (3-8pm) If the indoor club is built with the public funds, these same individuals would continue to be able to work at a high rate of pay while monopolizing publicly funded INDOOR facilities.” Does_this_make_sense

“The citizens that are protesting have no knowledge of what potential a facility like the one proposed could do for tourism in this city because they have no first hand knowledge of competitive tennis.” Sandra Simpkins

“The largest USTA jr. Event that ECTA holds is the Stevenson Memorial. in 2005 it drew over 90 entrants, this year only 55. From looking at the USTA site, only 5 families from over 60 miles away participated. SO, as I see it, the proposed monies spent by the EVCB will go to fund a club facility for a small group of vocal residents who will contract out to the management of a now defunct local club. Since ECTA took over the site, the actual numbers have at best remained flat with the adults, and have shrunk in terms of professional involvment and jr. tournaments. Seems to me like some tennis professionals are getting a free site to conduct a very lucrative business on the public dime…” doesthismakesense

“This seems pretty tongue in cheek but who knows. Any group that would be stupid enough to support $20 Million for 8 ballfields and would donate tax money to support indoor tennis may fall for such a scheme. Is Evansville really run by such fools?” TheDonald

IS IT TRUE that in 36 hours we will all know whether or not the new Downtown Convention Hotel project will be funded according to the terms of the existing agreement between Woodruff Hospitality LLC and the Evansville Redevelopment Commission or NOT?…that according to the last meeting of the ERC that there will be a new RFP issued in the near future for a downtown Convention Hotel if there is no satisfactory financial resolution presented by the end of June?…that the response date for this RFP is planned to be July 19, 2011?…that for all practical purposes that only provided enough time for parties that are already prepared to make a presentation and have knowledge of the project to put together a proposal?…that this really does exclude any possibility for a WHITE KNIGHT to come to the picnic and save the day?…that issuance of a new RFP under the same terms of the old RFP is a de-facto way to extend the date that already involved parties can search for funding?

IS IT TRUE that this whole issue of the City Council finally standing in solidarity in support of acknowledging that the RFP and VETTING system that has been used by the Evansville Redevelopment Commission is ineffective has been a long time coming?…that it may be true that some of the members of the City Council had reservations all along but sat in tortured silence?…that it may be true that some of these City Council members have enough financial savvy to have predicted VETTING problems as much as a couple of years ago?…that the ILLUSION OF MANDATE kept many an informed tongue silent at a time when the people of Evansville needed at least FIVE INFORMED VOICES with the courage to oppose on the City Council?…that refreshingly after years of silence that some wisdom seems to be stepping forward?

IS IT TRUE that the seeds for the destruction that can only come from a system without adequate CHECKS AND BALANCES were planted back in August of 2009?…that the City County Observer published a scathing editorial warning of the consequences of what can happen when the FISCAL BODY OF THE COMMUNITY delegates is FISCAL POWERS and OBLIGATIONS to an entity of appointed officials and the person who appoints them?…that on August 13, 2009 that the CCO warned against and urged the Evansville City Council to vote against Resolution #C-2009-20 that granted such FISCAL POWER that should forever be vested in the elected CITY COUNCIL to the Mayor, the City Controller, and the Evansville Redevelopment Commission?…that Resolution #C-2009-20 was a 3 page resolution?…that the ERC passed a sister Resolution 09-ERC-40 that is 23 pages long that contained all of the meat and potatoes about just how the FISCAL POWER would be wielded?

IS IT TRUE that if the Evansville City Council would have followed the admonition of the City County Observer in August of 2009 and rejected the ILLUSION OF MANDATE that was pushing for this transfer of FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY that the whole indignant theatre of having information withheld would have and could have been avoided?…that a Resolution passed can be rescinded?…that if the Evansville City Council wishes to eliminate the possibility for a future City Council to be treated as an irrelevant assembly of rubber stamps that the Resolution #C-2009-20 should be rescinded immediately and a new resolution forbidding the abdication of FISCAL RESPONSBILITY to any non-elected entity should be adopted?

IS IT TRUE that in the spirit of the late great Johnny Cochran and our friend the Reverend Adrian Brooks that the mantra of taking back FISCAL RESPOSIBILITY should be and could be:

“Start a Revolution, Rescind the Resolution”

“Dan McGinn and I sponsored a resolution, which passed at City Council some weeks ago. It stated that we felt strongly that no frivolous spending of money should be considered until the downtown Arena was up and fully functional, that the problem of the downtown bridging hotel between the Centre and the Arena was solved and done, and that first Roberts Stadium had to have a new identity. I continue to stand by these ideas. Additionally, I believe that the concept of Public Value must be discussed completely; i.e., how many Evansville people will benefit from the spending of a public dollar and what will be the resultant increase of overall health for the entire City….not a benefit for a selective, tiny minority.”

H. Dan Adams, MD MBA, Evansville City Councilman At-Large