(UPDATE----- Original Post 6-28-2006)-----Reflections of a "Blog Advisor," or: Could one be a "TIF blog advisor," or; How soft are soft expenses?

(Ed. note. I have reprinted the original post of 6-28-2006 on TIf "soft" expenses at the end of the post.)

11-25-2006


Today is Saturday, November 25, 2006. I am off to Starbucks on State Street in Downtown Madison. Yes to get some mocha, but most of all to meet a law student. I do not know which one yet. I just hope to bump into a stray law student who might, after I buy him an extra large, Starbucks mocha, with whipped cream, and sugar, might be conducive to agreeing with me that being a TIF blog advisor is not specifically illegal under the language of the current project language. I hope he does not want to actually see the language. I will just describe it to him generally.

Up till very recently, like the recent publication of the final Evansville 2007 budget levy, I was in despair that I could never be a TIF blog advisor. I just was sure that the distinguished members of the Finance Committee as well as the Common Council just could never pay $60,000 for my advice on each TIF that Evansville brought to creation. Shucks. I could not blame them. After all, they were getting my thoughts for FREE anyway. So, why pay?

In reviewing the final numbers, it appears that although the Finance Committee and the Common Council BOTH had rejected inserting money for a market analysis in the city budget, as long as any lawyer available had given the TIF folks at the Redevelopment Agency an opinion that it was O.K., well--no problem.

So. I am pretty excited and optimistic. I am off to Starbucks to see if I can find a stray law student that might agree with me that indeed, the advice of the Evanville Observer is indeed soft enough to be a soft allowable expense under TIF 6. Stay tuned.

--------------------------------------Original post of 6-28-2006-------

Recently some of my most faithful readers have called me with the news that Hillary Clinton has named a "Blog advisor" to be her intermediary with the blogsphere in her upcoming run for the Presidency. My readers have noted that since the Observer is currently running amost ten polls and could run as many as 50, it would be fruitful to become fully engaged with the community in a most productive way----namely that of a "TIF-Blog Advisor."

While such a soft expenditure is not currently allowable under the current project language, this could easily be modified by common council vote.

Certainly the cost of such services are hard to estimate. The usual and customary practice seems to be to start at $20,000 as a rough "soft" estimate and then just double the number as the date for the council meeting nears.

Because things are changing in a most speedy way, it probably would be most effective that I be named an advisor for each and every TIF that is created. The more I think of it, the better an idea this becomes!

The deeper question is of course is how soft are soft expenses? Not since the question of who crushed the Charmin, has this been addressed. The question is whether "Blog TIF marketing expenses" would be already covered in the new language that the City of Evansville is considering adopting as a modification to current TIF language. So. In fact no more modification may be necessary. After all, nothing is a softer expense than sales and marketing. And The Observer is proud to be among the softest of expenses around.

To Be a TIf Advisor or not, that is the question. I leave it up to you.

You make the call.

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