[Jerry Shaw]

All I know is that the developers (Thompson-Thrift and Greg Gibson) made quite an effort, yesterday, carrying out this media blitz. And that's just exactly what it was. IMO, if they thought the Fair Board was even close to being sold on this proposal, they wouldn't have done this. And from what I can tell, there will be more backlash from this deal, than a ground swell of support. The 4H (the Fairgrounds' main inhabitant) is already not happy bunch of campers. In fact, we just went through a mayoral ******** that saw a Democratic incumbent lose his job to a Republican challenger, becoming the first Republican elected mayor in Terre Haute, since 1968. And one of the major campaign points was that even though Mayor Burke had gotten a lot done, many of the projects ended up fattening the bank account of Gibson. With that said, considering the public backlash on the previous Mayor, I don't think Duke Bennett, the current Mayor, is in any hurry, to be accused of also being Greg Gibson's lap dog. And Bennett doesn't have to sign off on this, just that supporting it and/or helping push it through could have a high political price.

Not to bore everybody with local ********, just thought I would add a little background for perspective purposes. I don't know how this is going to end up, but the WVFA is a 501c3 Not-For-Profit, so personal profit for board members is not going to be a determining factor here. People go to prison for that kind of thing. The last time they voted on this (last year), it was a unanimous NO. And that was an offer that was almost as big as this one. Plus, anybody that's ever tried to get money out of a farmer knows that Thompson-Thrift and Gibson are unlikely to get this farmer-led Fair Board to sign what is a sweetheart deal, as far as the developers are concerned.

Just My Opinion,

Jerry