LETTER TO THE EDITOR: SO VERY DISAPPOINTED

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SO VERY DISAPPOINTED

by Susan Kirk

Vanderburgh County Treasurer

Last week I attended July 16, 2020, Evansville Board of Public Works meeting as an interested party for a dear friend of mine – Lynne Finney – who submitted a bid (for the second time) for the METS Transit Advertising Contract. This contract is a partnership with the named contractor and METS to sell the advertising space on the city bus benches, shelters, and bus wraps and share with the city the revenue that is generated from such sales.

I have attended both of the bid awarding meetings and have spoken on behalf of Lynne and her company The Evansville Bus & Bench LLC. (The EBB LLC)

If you’ve ever attended a Board of Public Works meeting – in most cases it is very short. Once the agenda item is announced, the representing committee member gives a very brief description, and then it goes to vote like this: Do we have a motion, then a second?  then they say so moved. Next item up? There is little if no discussion whatsoever. All the while they allocate thousands and thousands of dollars. Yet with this contract – the contractor will make the city an honorable profit and the BPW won’t accept the vetting team’s recommendation – this comes off as bad public policy and should be appalling to the taxpayer.

But not the case with the METS Transit Advertising Bid Request – and
THE EBB LLC being awarded the Evaluation Panel recommendation for the new METS Contract. This is the point where I became very disappointed.

The EBB has been vetted 3 different times – Dec 12, Jan 3, and July 16 by the City of Evansville Purchasing Department, and all 3 times her bid was reversed by the BPW and awarded back to the only other bidder – Best View Transit Media LLC. All 3 times there were nefarious reasons for not awarding the contract to her.

While attending the July 16, 2020, BPW meeting, I thought to myself – enough is enough! So, I walked up to the podium to address the BPW and told them “I know all of you and like you, but with this decision, I am SO VERY DISAPPOINTED in you.” Being in many positions with the City and County government over the past 30 years I have never witnessed any behavior like this whatsoever. I reminded them that Best View has not been in compliance with City and State rules through both of these bids. Best View is currently in non-compliance with the City of Evansville zoning code and the Area Plan Commission.

On the other hand – Lynne Finney has a spacious storefront office on N Green River Road that is commercially zoned. I think so highly of Lynne as do so many people in the area do as well. She has been and continues to be a success at whatever she sets her mind to. She has experienced several tough situations yet she has come out of them stronger than ever. She does not give up; in fact, I believe she will be filing a protest over this injustice.

I told the BPW Board that “honestly there appear to be some backroom shenanigans going on”! I hope that you do the right thing and reconsider the vote. l I ended by saying “you do the right thing you will be happy…you do the wrong thing…well you won’t.”

FOOTNOTE: This letter was posted by the CCO without bias or editing.

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12 COMMENTS

  1. Interesting. I’ve known Susie for over 50 years and she doesn’t deal in false anything. She’s probably the most trustworthy political person in Vanderburgh county, so her thinking that there are “backroom shenanigans” carries weight.

  3. Shenanigans! Who appoints this board? I hope Suzy is right and a protest is filed.

  5. WOW! I would not want to be in there shoes with Susie looking over their shoulders. If there is wrong she will find it.

  6. Susie is right how can they go against their own reccomendations group, and to make it worse Best View is illegal?

  8. I wish we had more representation from our elected officials like Ms Kirk. I know she always trys to do the right thing no matter what.

  9. Ms. Kirk,

    YOU have hit a nerve. DON’T stop now! That area Plan Commission cost me thousands to comply with their nit-picky rules and regulations, and they have let this company (Best View) get by for almost nothing, and now give them a city contract. This smells like the typical backroom civic center play.

    In fact, I have found the same law firm represents both the Board of Public Works and the Planning Commission and the President of the Board of Public Works sets on the Planning Commission. How can that be? Looks like political patronage at it’s worse.

    Thank you for exposing this mess. You make me proud of being a Republican.

  10. I don’t respond or post to these things very often HOWEVER it seams we owe Ms Kirk a huge debt that she calls things as she see’s them. I only hope those that are participating or looking the other way pay attention to her comments.
    She appears to be a very honorable person who looks out for what is right.

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