Henderson City Center Catalyst
Now I know I am angry and I should take some time to reflect before writing but there is no time. This is a letter to the City Council members because they are the only ones who are privy to what is going on if they have read their agenda. The council is having a public hearing on Monday at noon to hear the opinions of the public on catalyst grant money. But the city employees are the only ones who know enough to have an opinion. Well if it looks like a skunk and smells like a skunk then it stinks and this has a stench.
Henderson City Center Catalyst—don’t you just love the sound of that? The proposal that this Partnership for Henderson Creating Districts and Corridors to enhance our city, could work. After all, Moccasin Bottom needs fixing. How about Southerland and South William? Maybe the corridor to the athletic fields at North Henderson could benefit from a little connectivity. But, these areas are ignored.
They have other plans too. Do you know what the “warehouse districts” are in Henderson? Do you know where “Chapel Square” is located? How about the “emerging intermodal transportation district? The names may be changed to make Henderson sound progressive, but Henderson’s blight is extensive.
“The vision of a wealthy and prosperous Henderson will emerge from the exploration of the successful redevelopment efforts of various other communities in the US that have faced the same dismal future and took action to create new, vital, thriving communities that are moving with success into the 21St Century.” Does this ring a bell??? This is the same song and dance set to a different tune that was tooted about how a theater complex would save our city. You don’t need to spend grant money to find out how other cities have worked better than ours. You just need to know our history.
Does ‘Partnership for Henderson” sound familiar? Or does it just sound like the same old dull groups that get together and members vie for attention and posture for power? “This is going to be a community altering proposal” and you should wait in hopeful “anticipation for announcements of further refinements.” Hog wash! It is the same folks, doing the same things, and you are going to have the same results. The top dogs are going to get the bone and the rest of the pack will congratulate themselves on how well the big dogs grabbed it from them.
These are the same old attics to get government money to fulfill the grandiose dreams—not of the citizens and their real needs—but of ideas that–come Hell or High Water, come economic lunacy or unbearable future costs –that- dare I say it?–Henderson is going to have a theater center!!!! If you don’t believe me, read the 2011 Embassy Cultural Center Foundation IRS 990.
So it was put last but not left out—- the community based organization of Embassy Foundation is included in the “Partnership.” Throw in the words “a clear cultural identity.” And Viola!!! The citizens have agreed to a theater because this is what the wanted and asked for in approving the grant. You may think this is a stretch but this is how it works.
This whole grant reeks of ineptness and manipulation. Where are the real, genuine, desperate needs of our blighted neighborhoods addressed? Pushing for a tunnel vision agenda has not worked in the past and will not work now just makes our city appear out of touch. Give it up and get on with doing something that is REALLY going to help our decaying city. And, if you don’t know what that is, then you don’t need to be serving the good people of Henderson.
Henderson does not need a Cultural Center.
Go to the new library at noonish and see all of the people in line for lunch at the ACTS building and those sitting on benches near McGregor Hall . These people do not have jobs. They aren’t contributing to the tax base and so far we only have outside opportunists going for what grants there are.
No, I have no answers–but a clean sweep of the city council would be a start.
Ms. Yount is exactly right. The bottom line is Sam Watkins and a few of his croonies are still pushing this “Opry House”. They will tie it to anything they can to secure public funding at the taxpayers expense. This has been going on for 13 years. Why not put it in the form of a binding referendum and see if it will pass? Why? Because they know it will not pass.
Just because Sam and a few others want this facility, the rest of us are supposed to bow down to the “King”. I ask you, city council members, grow a pair and do the right thing. What a sad, sick joke to impose on us. Remember, when we were told that neither the library nor the “Opry House” would cost a penny of taxpayers’ funds….to build or operate? Yeah, right and pigs fly.
I was told that a very much scaled down version of an outdoor, amphitheatre-like facility was being suggested. Not sure everyone you mentioned r rooter would be in favor of that change. I like that idea.
Mrs. Yount,
The city was in much better hands with Mrs. Harper and yourself trying to do what was fiscally responsible. It’s quite evident that the current council is made up of “puppets” whose strings are pulled by someone/something but they don’t have the City’s best interest at heart when it comes to most things. Like I posted on an earlier thread….you have an active council member who makes her living getting CROOKS out of Jail and then runs ads in the Daily Dispatch when they Jump Bail on her? The fact that she has a vote on any budget that contains to Public Safety is a JOKE!!!! Conflict of interest……NUFF SAID!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why is the special meeting at noon instead of the normal 6pm? Could it be the best time for the power brokers to meet and the worst time for the peasant class to meet?
In my opinion–the answer to that question IS obvious. Kinda like the zoning board’s 3 pm meetings.
WOW–One for the taxpayers. Wish I could have been there today–a previous appt. Thanks to all who did get there. Seems to have made a difference.
And who says the City Council doesn’t listen?
Do not delude yourself prudence and mingo. The council’s action is only one hit wonder not a tectonic shift in thinking. The real power dealer will not sit back allowing some elected puppets to reject his master plan of a taxpayers financed edifice or pavilion built to honor him.
I have an idea of how to honor the “Gasmeister” without costing us a dime. Name the landfill after him. I will pay for the sign.
I heard one of Vance County’s infamous County Commissioners on WIZS 1450 today praising Obama but he couldn’t get 2-3 words out of his mouth before saying ah..ah..ah..ah!! What he should say is this: If you are a lazy American who survives/thrives off of Govt. Assistance then Obama is the President you need to vote for. If you are tired of working your a## off and paying TOO MANY TAXES to support the lazy a## folks who are capable but unwilling to work then you should vote for Romney.
P.S. If you are an elected official…do yourself a favor and don’t call into a public talk show when you have no speaking ability whatsoever. And this guy is a pastor/reverend/deacon? I wonder how he preaches when he can’t speak w/o stumbling over his words. Also, a caller pointed out that if you are a Christian…how do you vote for Obama who supports so many things that GO DIRECTLY against the teaching of the BIBLE? Remember the saying that “it’s better to be thought an idiot……then to open your mouth and remove all doubt”!!!!! NUFF SAID!!!
How appropriate there royal rooster. It is an artificial mountain. For decades into the future the artificial mountain will vent methane and other noxious gasses and caustic carcinogenic chemicals will seep into the ground water.
Deception stop with your postings. You are annoying and more illiterate than those you seek to degrade.
It’s not degrading #13….simply stating FACTS!!! Something that the wannabe politicians in the Vance County area seemingly know very little about!! Call your boy and give him a lesson on public speaking before he calls into a Talk Show again.
When the 2 prior ladies(Yount and Harper) were on the City Council the city was about to go Bankrupt due to fiscal ignorance by the previous members. They made a Good Faith Effort to get the $$$ back into the “rainy day fund” that BY LAW was supposed to be a certain % for your city. Now we have a group of council members who seemingly are having their strings pulled by outside forces/agencies/people.
As I heard the comments from the residents of the Flint Hill area it brought back a memory of current city council member Peace-Jenkins getting a few houses “donated” to the Church in the Flint Hill area that she pastors. Where has the $$$ from the donated houses gone? Did it go to the Church? Did it go to her? Was any of the $$$ used to help the blight that has overcome the Flint Hill area? These are very serious ?’s that I would love for the city council woman to answer.
The Local Government Commission recommends that unappropriated fund balance be 8% of prior year’s expenditure. It is not a law but a guideline. This amount is supposed handle about 1.5 months of operations. I don’t know anything about pupetmasters or marionettes-that sounds like opinion.
Publius: as you say you don’t know anything about ‘strings being pulled”,etc. Take a little time and research what the unappropriated fund balance was before the council that consisted of yount,harper,gupton,etc was. It was so BAD that the city was about to be taken over by the LGC b/c it was evident that Henderson was borderline bankrupt. Stop with the play on words,etc. and take it for what it is……Your governing bodies in Vance County are for lack of a better word; “FOOLISH”. They are foolish to think that Millions and Millions of $$$$ were going to be poured into a REEF Project and had to give back $300K b/c they didn’t do what they should have done in a timely manner.
If you think that a select few members of your area who hang over in the Henderson Country Club area don’t have ‘pull’ on the governing bodies…..my advice to you would be to get your head out of the sand. It’s so easy to see that a Blind Man can see it!!!! Keep em in office and when your taxes,water,sewar,etc. continue to go up every year or two you can blame the person who looks back at you when you look in the mirror!!
Calm down Deceptor, I was trying to explain that the rainy day fund percentage is not a law, but a recommendation or guideline. I am by nature a snarky, sarcastic fellow, and my way of communicating probably does offend sometimes. I don’t care. Get over it.
Deception, and whoever else, I’m genuinely curious as to your ideas on how to proceed with the REEF project. It’s my understanding the main issue is not securing a tenant / tenants to pay for the building long term in time for the first grant. The school would have been a great choice and was counted to be a part of the deal, but the school also has other options as well, and with them not deciding before the deadline to be a part of the project, the ddc had to open the offer to other possibilities. It would be awesome if the school decided to join still, they still have that option. But to be able to pursue other grants or extension of the remaining grants the ddc had to show it was moving on with other options in a timely manner. With no anchor tenant the golden leaf grant is in jeopardy for the project. Worst case scenario, the money won’t be lost, it would go elsewhere in the county. So, the project is all dependent on tenants to sign up to go in. What’s some options? I’ll suggest that some marketing be done, but I can also present your suggestions as well.
Reefer project! Farout man!