IS IT TRUE that the City of Evansville Department of Metropolitan Development responded to the City County Observer’s Freedom of Information Act request letter dated 5/19/2011 with a letter in which they stated under the signature of Shannon Begeman, Keeper of Records that DMD would make the requested records available to the CCO on or before 6/16/2011?…that 6/16/2011 has now passed and the CCO has not received any response from DMD?…that 6/16/2011 was the absolute longest time period allowed by Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act I.C.5-14-3 et seq to respond?…that taking every minute allowed by law while legal purposefully withholds information for the longest period allowable which raises suspicion that the contents of the documents will not cast good light on the City of Evansville?…that today the DMD is in violation of the Freedom of Information Act?…that we hope that this was oversight that is corrected today?…that we will make every attempt to reach Ms. Begeman today to retrieve the records requested?…that we invite Ms. Begeman to contact us first to arrange for us to get these records?…that she may do so by the means described in the Contact Us header on this website?

FOIA Response from DMD: Convention Hotel Documents

FOIA Response Letter: VenuWorks Contracts

IS IT TRUE that the information that we requested on a standard letter of request under the Freedom of Information Act was a) all correspondence, contracts, and agreements between Woodruff Hospitality/Kunkel Group and the Evansville Redevelopment Commission/City of Evansville, and b) all correspondence, contracts, and agreements between VenuWorks and the Evansville Redevelopment Commission/City of Evansville?…that we have no nefarious purpose in obtaining these documents but do believe that the citizens of Evansville have a right and even a need to know what the real contractual facts are regarding these important deals that we all will be asked to financially support?…that extension after extension of contracts that are not disclosed as has been done with the McCurdy Hotel does not give a good impression of the ability of the City of Evansville to make business deals that have the desired outcomes?…that we want to do whatever is possible to fully inform the citizens of Evansville about THEIR BUSINESS?

IS IT TRUE that we do not know what the penalty is for a city that refuses to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request?…that unless the City of Evansville DMD is technically already in violation?…that if this violation is not cured in short order that the City of Evansville will be finding out what the penalties and inconveniences are for violating the Freedom of Information Act?

IS IT TRUE that several members of the Evansville City Council are being stonewalled about requests for information that they have made?…that the duration of the stonewalling already exceeds the 21 day limit of a formal FOIA?…that members of the city council should not be forced to make a formal FOIA request to be granted access to the business contracts and agreements that they are the legislative body in charge of?...that the CCO offers to craft any FOIA letter needed for members of the Evansville City Council who are being denied access to pertinent information?…that we will do this FREE?

IS IT TRUE that it has now been 1,511 days since the announcement was made on May 14, 2007 that the McCurdy Hotel was to be refurbished into luxury apartments?…that it has now been 1,364 days since the Evansville Redevelopment Commission at the request of Mayor Weinzapfel approved the spending of $603,000 to purchase the parking lot?…that City Centre Properties and Scott Kosene the developers of the McCurdy project are both listed as contributors to the Weinzapfel for Mayor committee for 2010?

IS IT TRUE that there are now 498 days remaining in the two years that the EPA had given the City of Evansville to present an acceptable solution to the Combined Sewer Overflow problem?…..that this plan is an expensive and complex endeavor that needs immediate attention to avoid the embarrassment and expense of another round of fines?

All Relevant Position Papers for all Candidates will be Published without Edit or Bias

The City County Observer would like to extend the courtesy of publication to all candidates for the 2011 City of Evansville election. The criteria for publication is that the topic should be of relevance and interest to the voters of Evansville. We will not edit the length of any position paper and will not create any headline or subtitle that may bias the content of any candidate.

The kinds of topics that we are interested in are things like jobs, the economy, general improvements, smoking ordinances, the McCurdy, the downtown Hotel, Roberts Stadium, public works projects, tax abatement policies, the greening of Evansville, reversing brain drain, crime prevention, etc. etc. etc.

Please do not send in the same article multiple times and please do not attack your opponent. This is very much about each of you having a forum to make a case why a vote for you is a good decision for the City of Evansville. Make the most of it.

Incumbents, please share what are you proudest accomplishments and biggest disappointments of your service as our leaders.

We do not limit our offer to those topics and encourage creativity among those who seek to serve us by seeking elected office.

The City County Observer thanks each and every candidate in advance for your contributions.

Position Papers may be submitted by email in Word format to:

hadannahbusiness@aol.com

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C., June 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Elected officials and representatives from numerous community and business groups, suppliers and subcontractors joined more than 1,000 Boeing [NYSE: BA] employees at its North Charleston, S.C., facility today for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening of the new 787 Dreamliner Final Assembly building.

“In this building, our talented Boeing South Carolina teammates are going to assemble the finest, most technologically advanced commercial widebody airplane in history,” said Jack Jones, vice president and general manager of Boeing South Carolina. “Airline customers from around the world will come to the South Carolina Lowcountry to take delivery of their 787s, and we look forward to demonstrating what ‘made with pride in South Carolina’ is all about.”

Boeing’s Site Services Group and BE&K/Turner, the design-build team, were recognized at the ceremony for their work in bringing construction of the building to completion six months ahead of schedule. In addition the BE&K/Turner team has worked 3.7 million labor-hours without a lost time incident. Employees began moving into the new building in May, and final assembly of the first South Carolina-built 787 Dreamliner will begin later this summer.

“Our partnerships with state and local government and industry have made today possible,” said Marco Cavazzoni, vice president and general manager, Final Assembly & Delivery, Boeing South Carolina. “I have a lot of gratitude and respect for every person who has worked hard to help build this new ‘house’ for us. Every person who steps through these doors is making history, and that’s something we should all take pride in.”

In April, Boeing announced that thin-film solar laminate panels would be installed on the roof of the Final Assembly building. This solar installation will provide up to 2.6 megawatts of electrical power for the site and is the largest in the Southeast by production capacity.

The new Final Assembly building features 642,720 square feet (59,711 m2) of covered space, roughly the equivalent of 10.5 football fields. More than 18,000 tons (16,329 mt) of steel and one million cubic feet (28,316.8 m3) of concrete were used in its construction. At full production rate, the South Carolina Final Assembly facility will produce three 787 Dreamliners per month.

Contact:

Candy Eslinger
Boeing South Carolina
+1 843-789-8270
+1 843-819-1488 (mobile)
Candy.l.eslinger@boeing.com
Rob Gross
Boeing South Carolina
+1 843-789-8084
+1 843-276-8643 (mobile)
robert.g.gross2@boeing.com

More information: http://boeing.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=1704

SOURCE Boeing

IS IT TRUE that a silence has come over the downtown Arena with respect to making a deal with the Evansville Icemen to make this their home?…that the Icemen have made very good progress at building a fan base in Evansville and that people really do drive in from 50 miles away to see the games?…that the owner of the Icemen is a very astute businessman and will not have the wool pulled over his eyes by the minions of local government?…that Louisville is a bigger market and does not currently have a professional hockey team of any kind?…that the last professional hockey franchise to make Louisville home was the Louisville Panthers that played in Freedom Hall?…that word on the street in Louisville is that the Evansville Icemen are getting “nickeled and dimed” by the management of the new Arena and are considering a move to Louisville?…that this is not a time for the Arena management to prove their manhood by running a perfectly good and well liked local team out of town to make the top line look better during the early years?…penny wise and pound foolish will not look so smart if the Louisville Icemen are playing in Freedom Hall next year?…that would absolutely prove that an old arena can beat a new one when a win-win solution is undermined by short sightedness?

IS IT TRUE that we have been keeping track of comments coming in from candidates for Evansville City Council with regards to Dan Schall’s letter of exploration of shutting down Roberts Stadium before the new Arena is running smoothly?…that if this action went to a vote of the candidates for Evansville City Council that it WILL NOT PASS?…that more and more people are openly expressing increasing levels of disbelief that such a self defeating action was even sent out as a trial balloon?…that some things can be effectively argued both ways and that the eventual fate of Roberts Stadium is one of those things?…that both sides can be made to make sense?…that stranding a city of over 100,000 people in a region that serves over 500,000 with NO STADIUM AT ALL because a couple of public servants are emotional about swinging the wrecking ball makes no logical sense to any thinking person that has expressed an opinion?…that we once again shake our heads in disbelief that such a recommendation could be made by serious people?…that even Mayor Weinzapfel is quoted as allocating money to deal with Roberts Stadium NEXT YEAR?…that his statement is even open to keeping it open if a good idea with funding comes forward?…that the attention spans and logical thought processes in the Civic Center are getting stranger every day?

IS IT TRUE that the chatter about building a ballfield complex are getting louder?…that there are now insults being hurled at the group including the CCO that were vocal about not spending $18 Million on 8 ballfields?…that Evansville still has over 50 ballfields and that many of them are a disaster?…that one of the reasons for not building 8 more ballfields was the failure of the Parks Department to adequately maintain the 50+ that we already have?…that problem has not been fixed?…that another reason was that the cost was exorbitant at $2 Million per ballfield at a time that other locations were publishing prices of less than one-fourth of that for tournament quality ballfields?…that if ballfields are the salvation of our economy that there is still no reason to overspend by 300% to build any?…that there were many SNEGAL (sneaky but legal) spending measures hidden in the proposal for The Park including a $2.5 Million bailout of the City of Evansville for the demolition of Roberts Stadium?…that The Park was a poorly thought out project and a misappropriation of public money?…that is why the CCO and other opposed The Park then and will oppose it now unless the design makes economic sense and the Parks Department figures out how to maintain what we already have?

IS IT TRUE that we are curious about the coming reaction to the POLE BARN INDOOR TENNIS CENTER that was recently proposed for Wesselman Park?…that the source of funding has not been disclosed?…that an environmental impact statement has not been issued?…that the economic benefit of having 12 more tennis courts has not been put forward?…that we will defer our judgment on the POLE BARN INDOOR TENNIS CENTER until real impact statements are released and until the people of the 3rd Ward who will be its neighbors have expressed their opinions?

Let me start by saying that any jobs creation is not going to be a sprint it is going to be a marathon.

The greatest job-creation machine always has been and will continue to be private enterprise. It does not come from the government. The problem is that companies have been beat-up by the economic situation. Most economists think the worst is now behind us, but firms are still plagued by uncertainty about how fast the economy will recover. They cannot plan responsibly without knowing the bottom-line costs of the massive new initiatives out of Washington on health care reform and carbon-emission regulation. Even companies relatively financially fit often do not feel like taking the risk of ramping up operations and hiring more workers. Job creation is also a function of the labor supply. It is not just about firms wanting to hire, but also about having people they can usefully employ. We have to have a talented job pool.

• We are going to need to work with the local universities, Chamber for Commerce, GAGE, business leaders, Vectren, (local electric rates are too high), and local banks to bring jobs to Evansville.

• Real jobs; we have to be producing products. We cannot just be a service industry economy.

• We need to simplify local codes and regulations so that companies find Evansville as a place that is easy to do business. This will also help existing businesses wishing to expand.

• Allow entrepreneurs the ability to create without such a stringent local code. Set-up an internet site, (one stop shop), where they can obtain all the information, forms, and permits they need. Make as many of these forms as possible interactive so that they can be completed online.

• Put together a group comprised of people from local universities, Chamber for Commerce, GAGE, business leaders, representatives of local government, and local banks. This Group should be empowered to offer incentives, training, and financing to bring jobs to Evansville. They need to be people that are able to think outside of the box, be willing to travel around the United States and the world being cheerleaders for Evansville, Indiana. We cannot narrow our vision to within the shores of the United States of America anymore. However, we should not continue to ignore what we have. We need to visit the existing industries/businesses in Evansville to see if we can assistance them with expansion.

• Set up a business incubator to house fledgling firms, plying them with business-plan advice, contact with financiers and lots of coffee over which to share ideas and solve problems. This incubator should be set up for companies that will be producing a product, close or attached to an industrial park where they can manufacture their product.

• Establish an Evansville Growth Capital Corporation (EGCC), which would function as a one-stop resource for debt and equity financing for small businesses.

Companies do not start unless they are resourced. These new companies are key to job growth. People talk about small businesses being such great generators of jobs, but a more precise assessment is that young businesses are. John Haltiwanger, an economist at the University of Maryland, has been studying government data for 25 years and has determined that about a third of all new jobs created come from start-ups. Furthermore, young companies add jobs faster.

IS IT TRUE that the City County Observer and many others are still shaking our heads in disbelief at the recommendation of Dan Schall, Director of the Evansville Parks and Recreation Department to close Roberts Stadium before the new downtown Arena is completed?…that even people who strongly support the demolition of Roberts Stadium are confused by this recommendation?…that this decision will certainly leave the City of Evansville with no stadium at all for about 3 months?…that while we all can see that the new Arena is nearing completion that there is no guarantee that there will not be a period of “getting the bugs out” of the new Arena?…that there is really no logical progression at all that leads to a decision to mothball or demolish Roberts before the new Arena is completed?

IS IT TRUE that all but a few loyal supporters of Mayor Weinzapfel who take every word as gospel without question think this recommendation is illogical?…that the rational people who think that Roberts needs to be demolished at the first non-compromised opportunity see the demolition date as a couple of months after the new Arena is running smoothly?…that we would really like to understand the mind of the people who reached the August 3rd decision date?…that this is really beginning to look more like a rush to demolish Roberts before the November elections when the people in power may just have a mandate to let the next administration make this decision?…that the timing of putting that decision into the hands of a Mayor Winnecke or a Mayor Davis is absolutely the most logical decision no matter which side of the “future of Roberts” fence one is on?

IS IT TRUE that another landmark building in downtown Evansville is up for sale?…that the Masonic Temple at 301 Chestnut has been listed with Cory Mills of Woodward Realty for the princely sum of $149,900?…that the Masonic Temple is only a couple of block walk to the Arena?…that the nearly 40,000 square foot solid building is priced at only about $4 per square foot?…that looking at things on the desk that are priced at approximately $4 per square foot one can identify greeting cards, a newspaper, a sock cap, a T-shirt, and a couple of used books from the sale at the Willard Library?…that the new Arena was supposed to raise the real estate values in downtown Evansville?…that maybe it has?…that the Welborn property sold for $10 that worked out to $0.00004 per square foot or inversely 25,000 square feet per dollar?… based on those two buildings that the arena has raised property values in downtown Evansville from on par with shredded paper to being par with placemats and sock caps?…that we do wish the Masons good fortune in unloading this property at full asking price?…that this building will be another real barometer on the true market value of property in downtown Evansville?…that this price is consistent with the bid that the Riverhouse received at auction?…that if these are the only comps to use that the downtown Convention Hotel that will cost about $32 Million to build will appraise for less than $1 Million?…that even the CCO thinks the new hotel will appraise at between $15M and $20M?…that the Masonic Temple may just make a good hotel?

IS IT TRUE that the tale of the crumbling infrastructure continues?…that there were two sewer collapses in Evansville yesterday?…that one closed Ray Becker Parkway and that another closed a street in Jacobsville?…that the City of Evansville is about to take delivery on a new customized Rolls Royce (Arena) but that the toilet in the trailer (sewers) still does not work properly?…that we were reminded by a reader last week about the fable of the Emperor’s New Clothes?

IS IT TRUE that you can see the Emperor’s New Clothes on the following link?

http://city-countyobserver.com/2011/06/18/the-emperors-new-clothes-video/

New firms add an average of 3 million jobs in their first year, while older companies lose 1 million jobs annually

When it comes to U.S. job growth, startup companies aren’t everything. They’re the only thing. It’s well understood that existing companies of all sizes constantly create – and destroy – jobs. Conventional wisdom, then, might suppose that annual net job gain is positive at these companies. A study released today by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, however, shows that this rarely is the case. In fact, net job growth occurs in the U.S. economy only through startup firms.

The new study, The Importance of Startups in Job Creation and Job Destruction, bases its findings on the Business Dynamics Statistics, a U.S. government dataset compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau. The BDS series tracks the annual number of new businesses (startups and new locations) from 1977 to 2005, and defines startups as firms younger than one year old.

The study reveals that, both on average and for all but seven years between 1977 and 2005, existing firms are net job destroyers, losing 1 million jobs net combined per year. By contrast, in their first year, new firms add an average of 3 million jobs.

Further, the study shows, job growth patterns at both startups and existing firms are pro-cyclical, although existing firms have much more cyclical variance. Most notably, during recessionary years, job creation at startups remains stable, while net job losses at existing firms are highly sensitive to the business cycle.

“These findings imply that America should be thinking differently about the standard employment policy paradigm,” said Robert E. Litan, vice president of Research and Policy at the Kauffman Foundation. “Policymakers tend to focus on changes in the national or state unemployment rate, or on layoffs by existing companies. But the data from this report suggest that growth would be best boosted by supporting startup firms.”

Because startups that develop organically are almost solely the drivers of job growth, job-creation policies aimed at luring larger, established employers will inevitably fail, said the study’s author, Tim Kane, Kauffman Foundation senior fellow in Research and Policy. Such city and state policies are doomed not only because they are zero-sum, but because they are based in unrealistic employment growth models.

And it’s not just net job creation that startups dominate. While older firms lose more jobs than they create, those gross flows decline as firms age. On average, one-year-old firms create nearly one million jobs, while ten-year-old firms generate 300,000. The notion that firms bulk up as they age is, in the aggregate, not supported by data.

Source: Kauffman Foundation

Kauffman Foundation Study on Start-up Job Creation

IS IT TRUE? Part 2 June 17, 2011 Roberts Stadium Shutdown News

IS IT TRUE that SMG is holding a letter from Dan Schall, Director of the City of Evansville Parks and Recreation Department advising them that on August 3, 2011 that Roberts Stadium shall be closed?…that if this order is deemed to be for real that the Bob Dylan concert on August 2, 2011 will be the last event ever for Roberts Stadium?…that this action will leave the City of Evansville without any large concert or indoor sports venue for approximately 3 months?…that this really sounds like a bad case of READY, FIRE, AIM playing itself out again?…that we have it on good authority that there are currently 4 events that have been planned and secured for Roberts Stadium that will have to be cancelled if this order is upheld?…that this action will have negative political ramifications for anyone who is even perceived as being one of the straggling members of Team Weinzapfel?…that these ramifications will fall the hardest in the 3rd Ward where Roberts Stadium is and where the strongest opposition to the ballfield fiasco resides?…that the soon to be Republican candidate for Evansville City Council will start out with a powerful political weapon to be used against the Democratic candidate who is known to be a fan of the Mayor?…that this Ready, Fire, Aim habit may just be the icing on the cake that assures that the “Keeping the Majority” initiative is futile?

IS IT TRUE that there is no record of any discussion about issuing an order to SMG to vacate and shut down Roberts Stadium in the recent meetings of the Board of Directors of the Evansville Parks Department?…that we then wonder exactly on what authority this letter was written?…that giving an order with no public meeting, no approval, and no authority to do so takes a serious amount of hubris on the part of the person who wrote the letter and or from the person who pulls his strings?…that if SMG wants to challenge this order that legal minds tell us that they will prevail unless the proper protocol has been followed to grant authority to take this action?

IS IT TRUE that yesterday was the day that the City of Evansville Department of Metropolitan Development committed to respond to the Freedom of Information Act request filed by the City County Observer regarding the contracts with Woodward Hospitality and VenuWorks?…that the City of Evansville is now in violation of the Freedom of Information Act as the CCO has received no communication as committed?…that defying federal and state law is not something to take lightly and that the CCO will proceed to investigate the process to file complaints against the City of Evansville on Monday June 20, 2011 unless all documents are made available to us by noon of that day?…that to ignore federal and state laws with regard to FOIA is the height of arrogance and spits in the face of the people of Evansville?

IS IT TRUE that we have been informed that the Parks Department has already verbally started to back off of the August 3rd shut down date for Roberts Stadium?…that shows how poor the thought process behind the letter was?…that anything that comes from the City of Evansville regarding this issue needs to be signed, dated, witnessed, and notarized to have any credibility?

Take That: June 17, 2011

IN RESPONSE TO: The Tennis Complex

“so we can’t cut the grass, pick up the used hypodermics,repair Lloyd pool, and make most of our parks a place where you would want to take your kids but we can build indoor tennis courts?” Henry

“I wonder how much the CVB wants to give to this project which would compete with the Tri-State Athletic Club? I predict the fiscal watchdog County Council will not approve the funding for this request as the outdoor tennis courts are not fully utilized.” Ten Bears

“It’d be a great idea if it weren’t going on the Wesselman Park grounds.” Railoverauto

“Check my math: CVB + Taxzapfel = Entertainment fascism? Eville Taxpayer

“ Evansville flits from idea to idea with no connection that I can see. Is there a master parks plan? If so, where is it? I will work to get the citizens of Evansville in a position to understand the facts and to have a voice. I have done that before. But it is getting old, very old. Let’s please elect people who work for the common good, not their own personal gain at the expense of us all.” 292

““Various” is a broad term. I missed the meeting and was curious if this term was defined before it was approved to seek quotes??” whatdoiknow

IN RESPONSE TO: Fresh Market Opens to a Crowd

“Nice to see that some people are interested in something more than Slim Jims, Slurpees, and all you can eat buffets.” Steve Smith

“Sounds like a great place. I wish it was a shorter drive. Like you, Steve, it is refreshing to know that the old “Stuff your gut for a buck” Thortons mentality is dying, albeit a slow death.” 292

IN RESPONSE TO: Indiana Ranks 3rd on States Freedom Index

“This ranking is SOMETHING of which to be proud and thankful. Freedom is a marketable commodity. Indiana: “THE LAND OF THE FREE” Bubbageek

“Indiana: “Land of the free”, Evansville: Land of government entertainment run amok, GAGE, FDP, Bank on Evansville, etc.?” Eville taxpayer

“I completely disagree with this study, seeing as how recently the governor and his statehouse evangelists are trying to end a woman’s right to choose, have taken away nearly all collective bargaining rights fought for by teachers, and have legislated the personal right of one person to marry whomever they wish. These individual freedoms are a better measuring stick for freedom then taxes on cigarettes, private employment versus public, and debt and spending as a percentage of income. If my government spends a little more then should and issues more bonds than they should, I don’t really care as long as I can live my life by my choices, not choices made by some politician for me. Freedom is the ability the live one’s life (within the laws designed for our safety) without interference from the government. Lately, all we have had is interference.” I_GOT_ID