The Evansville Courier & Press
To those good citizens who insist that the city should hold a referendum on whether or not to build an 11,000-seat Downtown arena to replace Roberts Stadium, we would suggest that the vote already took place.
That was in 2007, when city voters re-elected Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel and a slate of City Council candidates who strongly favored replacing Roberts with a new arena.
It was no secret that many of the candidates who won in that election had stated publicly their support for the new arena.
There were choices on the ballot for those voters opposed to a stadium. Republican City Council candidate Andrew Smith had countered candidates supporting a new arena with his "Sewers Before Stadium" campaign. Looking at those candidates who won and lost, it was clear that the anti-stadium effort lost miserably at the polls.
Granted, Weinzapfel did not have strong opposition - and it would have been difficult to support his opponent - but the council members did have legitimate opposition.
Of course, that is why we elect public officials. As City Councilman Keith Jarboe said, "Ultimately, we get paid to make the tough decisions."
What the City Council did on Monday was vote to accept a non-binding resolution supporting the recommendations of the Roberts Stadium Advisory Board to use up to $127 million in taxpayer money to build an arena Downtown.
The one council member who voted against the resolution was the only Republican on the nine-member board, Jeff Kniese, who said he is not opposed to building an arena, but thought that the public should have input via an referendum. It is noteworthy that some other Republican officials support a new arena. They are County Commissioner Bill Nix, County Council Finance Chairman James Raben, County Councilman-elect Joe Kiefer and County Commissioner-elect Lloyd Winnecke.
To have a referendum as Kniese proposed would require action by the Indiana Legislature and would mean it could not be put to a public vote until 2010, a delay that could increase the cost of a new arena.
Recall that in 1991, the city did an $18 million renovation on Roberts Stadium, now more than 50 years old. This newspaper and others argued at the time that the city should investigate the feasibility of building a stadium on the Evansville riverfront rather than remodeling the existing facility. However, the city elected to go ahead with the remodeling, and while we held to our position, we agreed that when the work was completed, the facility had been greatly improved. But now, only 18 years later, it is worn out, and the city is considering spending much more for a modern arena. Had we looked at building a new facility then, and done it, it would have cost must less than the $127 million estimate for an arena today. And, we would not be having this discussion today.
Even so, we respect Kniese for speaking up in the role of the loyal opposition by raising questions regarding the arena. He could have raised questions about long-range funding, as well, although even he says that the funding sources outlined by the city's financial consultant are viable options. But he believes that because of the magnitude of the project, the voters should have a say.
Regardless which issue is being decided, a city or county council with so lopsided a political majority needs to hear the views of a political minority, even if it consists of only one individual.
That said, this issue was already decided in 2007.