Save Roberts Stadium AND Evansville!

Thank You To Those Boycotting VOICE

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Last Wednesday night, Lloyd Winnecke and Leadership Evansville director Lynn Miller-Pease hosted another one of their "VOICE" sessions at the University of Southern Indiana. Since it's inception, this program has not been widely received by the residents of Evansville. Why is this program unpopular with residents?

For those who were unable to make it to one of the public session events at our Roberts Stadium Task Force, it is important to know that Miller-Pease was chosen to be the leader of the public sessions. Obviously, the first question that needed to be asked to the mayor was- What was the purpose of the task force leaders? Winnecke told us on day 1 we couldn't make a recommendation (and as we all know the mayor then lets page 13 be added to the report and now claims that we came to the conclusion that Roberts Stadium was beyond repair), he then put Lynn Miller-Pease in charge of gathering all of the ideas. Right off the bat, it was  more than obvious that Winnecke was just using the task force members so that he could claim their voice would be heard when in reality it was all being controlled by his administration.

The alignment to these meetings was bad enough, but it got even worse. Miller-Pease then tells us that all 3 sessions are going to have the same questions and are going to be divided into 4 groups that will be completely separate from each other. This setup was completely flawed and  prompted several issues from task force members that were rejected by either Miller-Pease or the task force director such as the following...

- At least two members wanted to keep a tally of the popularity of each idea. This would have shown which ideas were popular with the group and which ideas were popular with just one or two people. This was rejected with the excuse being, "let's just focus on the ideas." Luke Yeagar even went so far as to say that he wasn't a statistician and if he was charged with the task of taking tallies he probably wouldn't have agreed to join the task force. This is further proof that page 13 of the report was a complete lie because there were no "general conclusions" from the committee. In fact, they wouldn't even let us investigate which ideas were stronger than others.

- The three subcommittees that were formed were never given time to work together to try to fuse ideas together. One member requested this but was told that each subcommittee should just focus on their topic. Thankfully, I was able to get around this by having Mr. Jeff Justice compile an estimate to convert the back lot to a parking lot. I was also able to get in the report that BMX tournaments could work with a mid-sized Roberts Stadium by taking the open summer dates. Unfortunately, getting those ideas in the report was as far as the idea of developing one true idea consisting of everyone's ideas got.

- When residents at the public session that was held at Roberts Stadium became angry with the process, Larry Steenberg stood up and said he wouldn't be on the task force if he thought the decision was already decided (and of course we now know that he ran to the C&P to defend page 13 which is blatantly incorrect, blatantly misleading, and was added after our final task force meeting). This prompted one resident to say, "perhaps you shouldn't be on this task force." As soon as this comment was echoed, Miller-Pease jumped to her feet, took the podium, and said, "if you have any problems with this public meeting, blame me not him." So far, neither Miller-Pease nor Steenberg have proven or removed page 13.

By far and away, the worst event of the task force happened at our third and final public session. This session took place the week after our second public session was held at Roberts Stadium itself. To see what the reaction was from those who toured Roberts Stadium, task force member Greg Stilwell began going around the room to see who attended the previous meeting at Roberts Stadium, what those who attended the meeting thought, and if they viewed Roberts Stadium's condition in a positive or negative light.

As soon as she saw Stilwell going around to the four groups, Miller-Pease made a beeline to Greg as quickly as she could in an attempt to stop him from asking his questions. When I looked over and saw her heading for him at the third group, I honestly thought she was going to tackle him. She first tried to stop the questions by saying "let's just focus on the questions in our group." But then, Greg turned around and asked the simple question, "Who attended the Roberts Stadium meeting?"

Miller-Pease then ran to task force director Larry Steenberg who began shaking his head in disgust and moved as fast as he could to Stilwell. Stilwell was asked not to ask any questions until after the groups sessions. Thankfully, Stilwell was smart and began asking all of his questions in all of the groups once Steenberg and Miller-Pease left. His findings are the following...

- 28 people attended the Roberts Stadium session and then came back to the third session at the Centre

-  Of those 28 people, 25 viewed Roberts Stadium in a favorable light

- The 3 who didn't view Roberts Stadium in a favorable light wanted the lot to be converted to a green space

- Of those 3, ONLY ONE of them said they would not be willing to accept a compromise of keeping Roberts Stadium with a green space in the back lot.

As you look at the results, you can see why those who didn't want the arena to be saved would have reason to fight Stilwell's survey and tally taking. Roberts Stadium supporters ALWAYS outnumbered those who didn't support Roberts Stadium. Why was this covered up?

Ironically enough, after the final group questions were asked, all of the members began heading back to the regular part of the room and mixing in with all of the other members of the other 3 groups. Once this happened, Miller-Pease came back to where Greg Stilwell was standing and said, "now you can ask your questions."

It's bad enough that Roberts Stadium was treated the way it was treated. But now, Lloyd Winnecke appears to be doing the same thing with our 2001 master plan and city future as a whole. After the Roberts Stadium debacle, Winnecke decided that he wanted to build up community trust (gee I wonder why). To do this, he created the program VOICE...

http://www.evansvillevoice.com/

"This initiative is about building trust amongst the members of our community and learning that if we all join together and have civil dialogue about our future desires and current issues, we can create a strong society that will thrive and grow." -Lloyd Winnecke

It would seem to me that if Winnecke were genuinely concerned about this issue, he would either prove or remove the page 13 that misled the entire media as well as the Parks Board from what those who came to our task force meetings felt about Roberts Stadium. Let's be honest, there is no trust in this city anymore, and it's because of things like the Roberts Stadium Task Force Report.

Can you guess who is running VOICE? You got it, Lynn Miller-Pease...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p2tFhpXSLo&playnext=1&list=PL5E7266D4B8DFF52D&feature=results_video

In a press conference with the Courier & Press, Winnecke told them that he told Miller-Pease he would be the leader in these efforts...

(first minute of the video)

http://www.courierpress.com/videos/detail/mayor-winnecke-13/

As I dove through Winnecke's campaign report, I noticed there is a Lynn Miller on pages 4 and 62...

http://city-countyobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Winnecke-Campaign-Pre-Election-Report-Oct-14-2011.pdf

Is Lynn Miller in the report the Lynn Miller-Pease running voice? If so, did this affect Winnecke's decision to place her in charge of running these programs?

The main problem with the VOICE project is that we already have a downtown master plan. It was constructed in 2001 and most of its parts are still in play. In fact, it was a campaign promise of Winnecke's to update this master plan and move forward with it. To replace this master plan with VOICE is not in the best interests of our city. Thankfully, the residents of Evansville aren't falling for VOICE...

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/aug/25/voice-hed-here-and-here-and-herp/

From the screen name MR_OPINION

"I would go to the meetings if I knew it wouldn't be a complete waste of time, or if it had an open bar. The only people that will attend these meeting will be the political butt kissers. There is a reason that this story has been up now for almost 24 hours and there has been only two post. The average citizen knows its just another dog and pony show so that the mayor can apply his own plan with his own agenda all under the veil of community involvement."

We have already seen this before, it's getting old."

It appears that most of the residents of Evansville feel this way. How many attended the session at Harrison High School?

"Stick people figured prominently in nearly all the idealized images of the future sketched out by some 17 people who joined Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke and more than a dozen Leadership Evansville staff and volunteers at Harrison High School for a couple hours Saturday morning, to share their ideas about Evansville's past, present and potential future."

That's right, Roberts Stadium supporters outnumbered all of VOICE's participants. And how serious did Winnecke take this session?

"The mayor embodied the informal nature of the meeting, dressed in a blue polo shirt, baggy khaki cargo shorts and sneakers with bright orange panels and neon yellow laces. He joined the group for all the brainstorming, including his own drawing, executed as he sucked on a red Tootsie Pop."

Is it just me or did the Courier & Press just describe clown shoes? Did Lynn Miller-Pease talk marketing demographics, geographics, urban planning constraints, financial constraints, or anything else that is imperative when laying out capital improvement projects? Well, she did start off with The Flower Man Book..

http://instagram.com/p/SBqz8MnieB/

In 2001, Gateway Consultants drew up a 100 + page report that analyzed all of the market demographics and urban planning challenges before drawing up a plan that consisted of a ballpark, a canal, a marina, an arena, a new civic center, a government services park, and a revitalized Main Street. What did VOICE draw up?

Photo Credit: Linda Negro of the Evansville Courier & Press

That's right, Crayola Crowns rule the day at VOICE sessions.

Moving forward, I find it to be extremely important that Evansville residents maintain their boycott of VOICE. Capital improvement projects and community planning are vital to a city. We cannot afford to treat this process like a joke. That is what happened to Roberts Stadium, and that is what is happening at VOICE. In Oklahoma City, residents got serious about their city and it worked...

http://blog.newsok.com/okccentral/2011/04/01/as-promised-cnn-visits-oklahoma-city/

It may be too late to save Roberts Stadium, BUT, it is not to late to make sure what happened to Roberts Stadium doesn't happen to the rest of our city. Thank you Evansville residents for boycotting VOICE!

http://ethicalfashionblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/boycott.jpg

Roberta Heiman, The Chamber, & Winnecke All Got Owned

activerain.com

I'll be honest, I'm usually a glass half-empty type of person. And when it comes to last Tuesday's election, the glass wasn't left half-empty, it was left 99.9% empty. Like last year, Evansville failed to take advantage of  the many great candidates who came into the election looking to do what is right for their city instead of their career.

Before I get into the .01% good news we received Tuesday, I want to first discuss and thank those who ran for Evansville and Roberts Stadium but came up short in the election. We owe it to these people to make sure they get the thanks and praise they worked so hard for.

The first candidate who I feel got shafted was Lon Walters. Those of you who read this blog frequently know that I am an enormous supporter of Lon. I don't think there's any question that he lost last year's City Council race to Mosby simply because of the R he had behind his name in an overwhelmingly Democrat area. I have yet to hear anyone from any organization come up to me and tell me they were damn glad they voted for Mosby (are they embarrassed?). But on the flip side, I had to quit counting the amount of people who have told me they wish they lived in the 2nd Ward when Lon was up for election. That speaks for itself.

12 months later, Lon was in the middle of yet another fight that couldn't have gone any lower. His opponent decided to withdraw from the election, was told she couldn't, then decides she's going to campaign again. For Lon to have to battle these type of elections is embarrassing to the city of Evansville. It reminds me a lot of what J.D Strouth has had to battle. Next election cycle, let's get these guys in office.

Also, I want to thank Will Singleton for the battle he ran for the EVSC School Board. What I liked about his campaign the most was that it was grass roots, it was blue collar and hard working, and it was honest. It was nice to see a candidate out there battling on the issues instead of taking marching orders from Mark Owen or  Wayne Parke. This was Will's first election, and I'm confident he will be back. So for those who thought they would bury grass roots candidates like Will Singleton, think again!

Lastly, the loss that has given me the most hard burn this week was the Evansville Treasurer's race where Rick Davis came up just a little short of re-election. Many of those who are a part of the local shadow government are hoping that this is Rick's last election. But they aren't considering the following...

1. Rick only lost by roughly 1,000 votes in an election that had 70,000 votes
2. The amount of votes Rick got was more than what he and Lloyd Winnecke got COMBINED last year.
3. Most of those who are fighting Rick behind the scenes will be out of office and/or will have left Evansville by 2015 when the next mayoral election rolls around. Look back to 2007, how many of those candidates are still running for office or are even still in town? Even politicians like leaving Evansville.

If we are going to be successful in dismantling the machine that runs Evansville, we need to get Rick Davis back in government! There are enough supporters of Roberts Stadium alone to make this happen so let's get it done.

Now, with all of that being said, there is ONE single race (the .01%) that we can celebrate, and I plan on doing just that. Early on, I supported the Yes! campaign with the main reason being that I was overwhelmingly satisfied with consolidation when I lived in Lexington, Kentucky. The best thing consolidation did for Lexington was help the city establish an urban growth boundary which has helped keep Lexington's infrastructure expenses in check and their environmental impact to a minimum.

But as I dug deeper into the Yes! campaign., I was convinced more than ever that the powers that be in Evansville weren't interested in true consolidation. Rather, these "advocates" mostly consisted of bad people wanting to do bad things to Evansville such as gain an enormous amount of power for them and their cronies, approve of a plan they didn't believe in but were told to do so, and/or develop a plan that didn't even consist of zoning changes much less an urban growth boundary.

Given that belief, I went to Wesselman Park yesterday and chucked my Yes! sign in the recycling bin. Maybe the people who run Wesselman Woods & Park, who were so hellbent that they needed Roberts Stadium demolished, can find a use for this sign...

Not only was I glad to see the plan that was deemed "consolidation" fail to pass, I was also glad to see the Yes! campaign specifically fail miserably by a 66-34 margin. The main reason I was glad to see this was the fact that here we had a conglomerate of city officials and leaders who basically screwed Roberts Stadium over royally only to get soundly defeated with their own project by city and county residents directly.

What were some of the highlights of the Yes! campaign defeat?

-Roberta Heiman and the League of Women Voters spent over 2 years working on the plan only to lose by a 2-1 voter margin. Not only is Heiman a member of the League of Women Voters, she also leads the Evansville Trails Coalition, an organization that I fully support even though I don't support Heiman leading this organization.

Last year, I went to an ETC meeting to specifically let them know that I wanted to craft a plan that benefited EVERYONE, not just those who supported Roberts Stadium. I talked about the fact that we could build a park in the back lot that would be roughly the size of the green space going up on the old airport lot. I talked about the fact that we could use Roberts Stadium as an indoor greenway trail hub on non-event days just like  I have discussed on this blog many times over.

What struck me as odd was the fact that almost all of the members were excited about the prospect of these ideas... EXCEPT Heiman who said "Given we already have the mall we may not need an indoor facility." So if we have sidewalks and park trails do we still need a greenway? And why would anyone want to go walking in a mall where traffic patterns are going in multiple directions when they could go to Roberts which would be for walkers only just like Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is in Gainesville, Florida on non-event days?

As the meeting finished up, Heiman looked at me and said, "One man CAN make a difference." Little did I know, Winnecke would appoint her to the Parks Board where she would approve demolition of Roberts Stadium while saying " I am so excited about this lot." So much for one person making a difference. The actions of Roberta Heiman are solid proof that one man cannot make a difference. Although, one city and/or one county can make a difference which they did by rejecting Heiman's consolidation plan which she worked over 2 + years on.

My favorite moment came at the debate that took place at the C.K Newsome Center where Heiman tried to take over while Rick Davis was speaking for CORE. Instantly, Davis reminded her who was right and who had the floor. THANK YOU RICK!

- The Southwestern Indiana Chamber of Commerce (makes the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim look like a short name) was dealt a major defeat. While other chambers have designed and crafted good public policies such as Louisville's "Earn & Learn" and Oklahoma City's "MAPS" programs, our local chamber has been wasting their time on projects that benefit politicians and not city residents.

It was bad enough that the chamber would support David Dunn and the ECVB's ball field's plan, but it's even worse for them to support an interstate that is 84 miles LONGER than existing interstates (and is getting close to $5 billion when the Ohio River bridge is factored in)...

i69tour.org

To make matters worse, the chamber was the main organization spearheading the consolidation referendum, and you can take it to the bank that that is why many of our city politicians gave an effort on this referendum to begin with.

To get their plan passed, the chamber did everything. They threw thousands of dollars, many politicians  and all of their political capital at this plan. But at the end of the day, THEY DIDN'T EVEN COME CLOSE! I sure hope this referendum was a wake-up call to the chamber to start changing their policy views but let's be honest, they won't be changing any time soon.

- Lloyd Winnecke and Carol McClintock were the main political leaders for consolidation. In fact, "Friends of Lloyd Winnecke" gave $10,000 to the cause. When I went down to the Fall Festival this year, I witnessed McClintock herself going up to as many people as she could find to pass out YES! literature to. Winnecke and McClintock did everything they could to get this passed. Thankfully, it was city and county voters who were in charge this time and they sent them a solid NO! message.

My opinion as to why Winnecke lost this battle boils down to the following reasons...

- There was no report for a page 13 to come into play
- There was no Parks Board to make the final approval
- There was no task force that was loaded down with Winnecke supporters who knew nothing about arenas (or consolidation for that matter)
- There was no way around the will of the voters and the people of the city and county like there was with Roberts Stadium.
- There was no judge whose wife was a Winnecke campaign supporter

When you take away the above 5 advantages Winnecke had in the Roberts Stadium battle, he basically has no hope of getting any of his plans or ideas passed. Lloyd Winnecke's plan to demolish Roberts Stadium was never popular at any of the task force sessions or with hardly any of the neighbors around Roberts Stadium or in the Evansville area for that matter. I would give anything for Indiana to be a referendum state so that what happened to Roberts Stadium could not happen again.

So, while last Tuesday's results may have not been everything we had hoped for, there was indeed one ray of sunshine for Roberts Stadium. The defeat of the YES! campaign was a small amount of justice for Roberts Stadium, although it certainly wasn't enough to save the facility.

Moving forward, it's going to be very hard knowing that we will not be able to save Roberts Stadium. So in the meantime, let's take our minds off of demolition for just a brief moment to celebrate the Yes! Campaign getting owned by Evansville and Vanderburgh County residents!

This Is Why Evansville Can't Have Nice Things!

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