Today is a day I thought would never get here. After 8 years of veering off course from Mayor Russ Lloyd Jr's plan to turn Evansville around, we have finally gotten a new mayor who I fully believe will get Evansville going in the right direction- Lloyd Winnecke.
Mayor Winnecke is now Roberts Stadium's 10th mayor. Over the years, Roberts Stadium has watched many mayors come and go. Each one of these mayors has left their own personal mark on her with Hank Roberts sacrificing his mayoral career just to get Roberts Stadium built. Sadly, he was out of office by the time Roberts Stadium debuted.
Today's inauguration was no different than the previous ones as we bid farewell to Jonathan Weinzapfel and not Roberts Stadium. Roberts Stadium has worked hand-in-hand with the following mayors...
Henry O. Roberts
1952 - 1956
Republican
Rupert Vance Hartke
1956 - 1958
Democrat
J. William Davidson
1958 - 1960
Democrat
Frank F. McDonald
1960 - 1972
Democrat
Russell G. Lloyd, Sr.
1972 - 1980
Republican
Michael Vandeveer
1980 - 1987
Democrat
Frank F. McDonald, II
1987 - 2000
Democrat
Russell G. Lloyd, Jr.
2000 - 2004
Republican
Jonathan Weinzapfel
2004 - 2012
Democrat
Lloyd Winnecke
2012-?
Republican
Over Roberts Stadium's 55 year history, we have seen many changes to the facility including...
- A new concourse level
- Air conditioning
- Seating in the entire bowl area
- Marquees at both entrances to the arena
Yet, Roberts Stadium's biggest change will no doubt occur this year. Although the decision of Roberts Stadium's future will be decided in the first three months of the year, the ramifications of this decision will linger over this city long after all of us are gone from this earth. Therefore, it is important that we have a leader capable of seeing the enormous potential in Roberts Stadium while also seeing the scare tactics and short sightedness of those who support demolition.
Without a doubt, Lloyd Winnecke is that leader. Already, Lloyd has lived up to his promise by assembling a 15 person task force. Not only did he assemble this task force, he also picked a diverse group of individuals so that we will have the tools necessary to get this job done. Rest assure, Lloyd Winnecke has given us an ample amount of resources to get this job done.
Besides Roberts Stadium, Lloyd Winnecke has already unveiled his great vision in other areas including...
1. Our Neighborhoods: On my other blog EvansvilleMovingForward.blogspot.com, I have talked about and discussed the various solutions to improving our wide variety of neighborhoods. What I like best about Lloyd's vision is his belief that each area should have a theme. I have been thinking about this for quite some time and I am behind Lloyd 110% on this belief. This belief applies to our situation with Roberts Stadium as well. For example, why not put the ball fields next to historic Bosse Field instead of at Roberts Stadium which is known for its basketball history?
2. Our Downtown: During the campaign, Lloyd talked about the need to make downtown the place to be in Evansville. As someone who is thoroughly committed to Smart Growth principles to prevent urban sprawl from destroying our city, I am thrilled to see that Lloyd wants to be the mayor who finally grabs downtown by the horns and brings it back from the dead. When Lloyd begins to take our downtown back, he won't have to look far for advice as he has appointed former mayor Russ Lloyd Jr. to the Controller's office. It was Mayor Lloyd who gave us the 2001 master plan that I have been taking to all town hall meetings and political gatherings to remind our political leaders what we need to work on.
3. High Speed Rail: By leaps and bounds, high speed rail is the most important issue to me after Roberts Stadium. Although I have just started introducing Evansville to high speed rail, I am very satisfied with the amount of progress I have made so far. Most of this success can be attributed to Lloyd Winnecke becoming the first mayor to make high speed rail a part of his campaign. Check out my third blog EvansvilleRail.blogspot.com for details on Lloyd's commitment to high speed rail...
http://evansvillerail.blogspot.com/2011/11/lets-make-lloyd-winnecke-evansvilles.html
Lloyd's recognition of high speed rail is very important to me because I refuse to let Evansville fall behind the rest of the state, the Midwest, the U.S, and the world in the 21st century transportation category. And if you look at the Midwest High Speed Rail Association's website ( http://www.midwesthsr.org/), you will see that every single region in every single state in the Midwest is planning for high speed rail EXCEPT FOR EVANSVILLE...
If we continue to separate ourselves from our neighbors, you can bet that the pall over our city will certainly continue. However, I'm confident Lloyd Winnecke will not let that happen, and I'm very confident he will work with me to put Evansville on the high speed rail map. Our jobs, our city, and our future depend on it.
At today's inauguration, I was also fortunate enough to meet several city leaders who will help Roberts Stadium's 10th mayor make our city a success. These leaders include...
1. Rick Davis- There is no doubt that I wouldn't be in this position to save Roberts Stadium if it wasn't for Rick taking the bold step of becoming the first political candidate to support saving Roberts Stadium. Make no mistake, Rick will be back!
2. Bob Warren- A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to meet ECVB director Bob Warren at his office to discuss Roberts Stadium and the ball fields. Today, I ran into him again and I am still convinced that we have the best tourism manager in the country.
3. Jonathan Weaver- As one of our nine city council members, Jonathan has the opportunity to take our city to the next level. Although he is new to the council, he will no doubt have a huge impact on the council and our city. Jonathan said he was looking forward to the Penn State game today. Anyone who has the guts to admit that they are a Penn State fan right now has my respect. And anyone who thinks saving Roberts Stadium is a tall task should look at the mess Penn State has to clean up.
4. Steve Schaeffer- I cannot express how impressed and grateful I am to Steve (and Bob Warren) for the job they have done turning around the ECVB so quickly. Steve has already laid the groundwork for an ECVB that will finally do what it needs to do- become a force for Evansville tourism. Now, Steve has moved into the Chief of Staff position. Even though he has had many things at one time to juggle, Steve is handling them with the greatest of ease. Steve will be a tremendous asset for Lloyd Winnecke and our city as the need to take on multiple projects at one time becomes evident.
5. Al Lindsey- By far and away, Al has given us the best gift on New Year's Day- The death of the Mosby Family Empire in the 6th Ward. Truthfully, I don't think there was a single person over these past 8 years who thought they would see the day that the Mosby's monopoly and tyranny in the 6th Ward would come to an end. Thanks to Al Lindsey, who refused to give up, refused to be jaded by the mighty empire the Mosby's built, and refused to accept the current condition of the 6th Ward, we now have a council member from the 6th Ward who is respected and is in it for the city and not their own interests. Thank you Al for fighting back against the Mosby's who never thought you were good enough to defeat them.
With city leaders like these, why is anyone betting against our city to unite to save Roberts Stadium? I honestly have no idea why anyone would, but we do know that they are in the small minority. At this point, there are really only two organizations betting against us..
1. The leaders of the Vanderburgh County Democratic Central Committee
2. The Evansville Courier & Press
While they will certainly be welcomed with open arms if they shall ever decide to join us, I strongly doubt that they will. But that is ok because Roberts Stadium's 10th mayor is a lot like Roberts Stadium's first mayor.
I hope you will join me in welcoming Roberts Stadium's 10th mayor- Mayor Lloyd Winnecke! Thank you Mayor Winnecke for this opportunity!
No comments:
Post a Comment