Just How many Conventions and Visitors did this little Bacchanalian Festival Bring to Evansville?
UPDATE 8:52: Upon further contact with Bob Whitehouse he has informed us that this was the first time in his many years with the ECVB that he has been invited to the Board of Directors dinner. He also has declined to make further comment on advice of his recently retained attorney.
Sometimes things go on that simply make one shake their head in disbelief. On December 13, 2010 such thing happened at Biaggi’s Ristorante Italiano on Evansville’s east side. On that night six members of the Board of Directors of the Evansville Convention & Visitors Bureau, 5 spouses of these board members, the acting Executive Director of the ECVB and his wife, and Jon Ruthenberg of Gray Loon Marketing gathered for a holiday dinner. The dinner for fourteen was to celebrate the end of 2010, a year that saw the controversy of a lawsuit filed by a former Executive Director Marilee Fowler, and the public uprising against the Roberts Stadium Ballfields project. The truth of the matter is that the ECVB had a tough year and a decent dinner was well deserved.
The well deserved dinner turned into what the receipt for $3079 would indicate became an Animal House style festival to Bacchus, the Roman God of Wine and Intoxication. Examination of the bill shows that approximately 80% of the tab excluding the $477.24 gratuity was spent on alcohol. The bill included 13 bottles of wine and included 5 bottles of Opus One @ $250.00 per bottle along with some lesser varietals with price tags of between $40 and $85 each. There were also 32 drinks or double ups involving hard liquor like Macallan, Grey Goose, Absolut, Stoli, and Woodford Reserve. All in all nearly 100 portions of alcohol were consumed by the 14 people in attendance.
The meal itself was typical and appropriate for a volunteer board with appetizers, salads, entree’s, desserts and coffee making up the rest of the bill. When contacted for a comment on the excessive alcohol bill Bob Whitehouse, acting Executive Director of the ECVB was quick to point out that “it is part of the job of the Executive Directors to attend this function and to pay for the dinner with the ECVB credit card”. He went on to say that “Mrs. Whitehouse does not consume alcohol so he had a designated driver for the trip home”. None of the other attendees was available for comment.
The members of the Board of Directors of the ECVB with their appointing entity are as follows:
Joseph J. Vezzoso, President, appointed by the Vanderburgh County Commissioners
Kristen Tucker, Vice President, appointed by the Vanderburgh County Council
Claudette Branson, Treasurer, appointed by Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel
Stacey McNeill, Secretary, appointed by Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel
David Dunn, Commissioner, appointed by the Vanderburgh County Council
Greg Gee, Commissioner, appointed by the Vanderburgh County Commissioners
Mike Roeder, Commissioner, appointed by Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel
Mike Roeder did not attend the dinner and Kristen Tucker attended alone without her husband Todd Tucker. The other five members of the board brought their spouses along for the party. The news of the fest became public by accident when incoming Vanderburgh County Commissioner Marsha Abell chose to attend a meeting of the CVB on December 13th to check up on any actions to revive the Roberts Stadium Ballfields project. When the meeting ended Joe Vezzoso thanked her for attending and told her that he was going the the ECVB Board of Directors Christmas party. Recently Commissioner Abell contacted Bob Whitehouse to inquire as to who was paying for the party and he supplied her with the receipts. He also told her that his presence was required to pay for the festival.
The question certainly arises as to just what public entity using taxpayer money authorizes an alcohol bill of approximately $2,000 for a party of 14? It is furthermore worth asking the question of just whether or not it is an authorized use of taxpayer dollars. Finally it must be asked that in a recession what kind of a Board of Directors that is serving as volunteers and as stewards the people of Evansville’s money would have the audacity and arrogance to spend such an excessive amount of money on a Bacchanalian Festival to congratulate and reward themselves for the kind of year that the ECVB had in 2010.
Do they recognize that this single dinner for 14 people is approximately a month’s pay for an average worker in the City of Evansville? Do they realize that they are supposed to set the example for the entire organization? Do they realize that if they happened to be driving home that it is certain that there was enough alcohol served to inebriate everyone in attendance. We surely hope that these people had the good judgement not to drive after consuming so much alcohol.
In the opinion of the City County Observer, this little self congratulatory Roman Festival has crossed the line. For this reason we call upon each and every board member that attended this dinner to resign immediately. If these people will not resign then we call upon the public bodies that appointed them and the Mayor of Evansville to dismiss them for cause as they may do so under Indiana code IC6-9-2.5-2.
Enough is enough! This feast of narcissism is the equivalent of one big middle finger aimed right at the people of Evansville whose tax dollars fund this operation. Such arrogance has no place in public office whether elected or appointed. We furthermore call upon the elected officials of Evansville and Vanderburgh County to exercise better judgement in the future when making appointments.
As for Mr. Whitehouse whose attendance was mandatory so he could pay the bill and Mr. Roeder who had the good fortune to be unable to attend, we encourage diligent thought on behalf of the decision process on whether or not these gentlemen will be retained. Instances like this in recent years have always seemed to search for a scapegoat. We encourage the new members of the County Council, the County Commissioners, and the Mayor to end the practice of seeking a single scapegoat when the wheels fall off the bus. There have been too many boards in Evansville that have shifted responsibility to the shoulders of employees of non-profits with limited authority and the practice is really destructive.
These gentleman may just become the foundation on which to rebuild the Evansville Convention and Visitors Bureau that has just celebrated what others may call a year from Hades.
To add insult to injury the CCO has also been made aware that the bill from the 2009 party was closer to $4,000 and that this practice has been going on for nearly 25 years.
Here is a link to the itemized bill:
Very well said. I might add that just because Mr. Whitehouse was required to attend to, “pay the bill”, it doesn’t give him the authority to have a “no holes barred” festival!!!
Whitehouse is an employee of the Board. The last Executive Director that questioned the board was fired.
Yes precisely. This answer is to both you and to Aaron Powell. Mr. Whitehouse is acting as Executive Director, the board has been unnecessarily negative about his prospects to become the next ED. He has limited authority. If he did not do what they said he may have been fired. He had no choice but to go and to use his card to pay for the meal. This is one of the biggest problems in Evansville non-profits. They do not allow their hired leaders to lead.
Of course he had a choice. If that choice was pay or be fired, he still had a choice. Sadly, integrity often has a higher price than people are willing to pay, even if it seems alcohol does not.
Forrest D. Poston
“Well first of all, tell me, is there some society you know of that doesn’t run on greed? You think Russia doesn’t run on greed? You think China doesn’t run on greed? What is greed?”
They all need to be replaced — every single one!
Did we find out exactly why Mr. Dunn has a hard time relating to the residents of this city? “I don’t really find it excessive.†(per the courier) Did he SERIOUSLY, PUBLICLY, SAY THAT?
Did we find out exactly where these bureaucrats concoct their schemes to ram crazy projects down our throats? (Boozed out gatherings)
From one side of their mouth they spew that they are “volunteers”, from the other they work tireless, unpaid hours and deserve an award. See that shining example for the culture to learn from, exactly what “volunteering” is really about? What “leadership”.
Please tell me the usual suspects (Julie Dolan, Lauren Matter,
Shalah Sasse, Jackie Monroe, Ann Komis, Becky Graham) find time in their truly enlightening presentations to mention this…
CCO,
We need polling on this little item!
My suggestion:
If Mr. David Nixon could assure you that his administration would not tolerate such “largesse”, on the taxpayer dime, would you vote for him? (again?)
😉
Is there any doubt that Evansville’s Elites consider us commoners as just rubes to be exploited?
I think back a couple of years ago when the ECVB went to Indianapolis and requested and received an increase in the innkeeper’s tax to 8%. Apparently the more money in their coffers, the more they feel they are entitled to use for themselves. I sat in on a city council meeting recently in which a young lady had to be corrected for repeatedly referring to the innkeeper’s tax as “our money”. She represented a major hotel/motel in the area. Sure, everyone’s business has been hurt in the last 2 years, but Please! There should be no special factions here. We should be in this together, not as the CVB seems to be doing, taking the cream off the top. I know many people who volunteer to make the city a better place. This group of people at the CVB only wants to make “their place” better.
Disgusting and shameful.
Is it possible that all of them need to start attending AA meetings?
Frat!
Speaking of drinking… I’m enjoying a lovely glass of Merlot right now. Alas, it comes from a box at the Walmart. But it’s damn good. I could afford more costly wine, but why? The 80’s are over. Gluttony is so passe. These attendees MUST pay back our county. I want my money back!
Excellent comments!
I have heard that Whitehouse is an exception to this group (although I’m still not sure I believe that) so I would like to hear more from him about his role in this. However, if he is the executive director, albeit interim, shouldn’t he be the one saying this party is absurd and must be cancelled?
He’s claiming that he had no choice that he was forced to go there. I’ll give him that the CVB fully expected him to be there but shouldn’t he be the one telling them what to do?
Their Roberts Stadium demolition idea has been terrible from day 1. I have emailed and emailed this group with both a better site for the ball fields and 9 reuse plans for Roberts. They NEVER contacted me back and when I applied last year for the director position they NEVER interviewed me even though I gave them 50 + ideas and I have a degree and was willing to accept $30,000 less to pay to study saving Roberts Stadium.
I am embarrassed by this group, I think everything they have done has been a complete and utter joke, and I FULLY believe it is time every single one of them was fired. I also believe its time to cut bait with GAGE and the Chamber who are eerily identical to this clown show.
To the Political Hypocrites, “Public Servants”: These localized “Public Servants” are a prime example of why politicians spend millions of dollars for a $150,000 a year job. The back end is fulfilled at the taxpayers expense.
The people, whose success requires the private spending from the community, owe the tri-state taxpayers their sincerest remorse for their lack of fiscal responsibility.
A person spends their entire life building a reputation. It only takes a couple of bottles of Opus One to blemish it forever. Evansville is a small community with big memories.
Comments are closed.