Street Talk

Submitted by
Name: B.

Comments:
I think our problems with our mayor and certainly state and federal politicians is that at some point, someone endorsed the idea that those persons with business experience would be best to run our government. Somehow , many had confused government with for profit management. Certainly Bob believed and the republicans bought into the idea that with Bobs accounting and banking background he would be an excellent choice to run the city. No one took the time to ask if it mattered that his own family was in disarray and his children unable to manage life without therapy , arrests, drug use etc. No one bothered to question his mountain of speeding tickets, many of which with great time and money had been converted from driving under the influence. No one bothered to examine his personal character and ask about honesty, hard work, kindness and fairness. Yet, people rallied behind a well known liar, cheat, with a very dysfunctional family created in part by his own paternal mismanagement and mental illnesses. What happened to the days when the Reagan Republicans and Moral Majority once cited character as the primary judge of whether a candidate was fit to serve in office? Madison voted for a morally corrupt man who was known to lie and cheat; they voted for a person who could not manage his own personal life and keep himself sober and safe but who just happened to be good with numbers. There is a vast difference between governing and managing a business. When I die my son will not govern this farm, he will manage it. There is a huge difference. Reagan was
wrong about so much from Iran- contra to trickle down but he was also right; character does matter. Unfortunately for Madison, we voted for this guy who used a nice older lady who of all things runs her little flower shop and is loved by so many. He tells her he’s doing her a favor by abusing her and I’ll bet 30 of my acres that he still expects a thank you. Sound familiar?

Added: June 6, 2025 08:57:26 AM

Submitted by
Name: Charles
From: Madison
E-mail: Contact

Comments:
Just read where Hanover Parks had record enrollment in the summer leagues! Congratulations to Hanover. When was the last time the Rucker Sports Complex had anything going on?

Added: June 6, 2025 09:17:59 AM

Submitted by
Name: Anti bob
From: Madison

Comments:
So Bob cleans the boat ramp and maintains the docks for a private citizen, taxpayers also pay to mow and clean up
Land in front of the cotton mill all the way past the bridge . All private property.. we spent millions on crystal beach including the gathering hall up stairs , why do we always have meetings at cotton mill ,that I'm sure isn't free to use instead of the crystal beach building paid for already by taxpayers ..

Added: June 6, 2025 06:30:06 AM

Submitted by
Name: Sicko

Comments:
So Courtney abuses another woman and expects her to be grateful for the “gift” he helped arrange? The man’s disgusting and cruel. Not a chance I’ll vote for him again. And for good measure I’m voting against my councilwoman and the two at large too just because they follow him and obey like little whipped pups.

Added: June 5, 2025 07:55:49 PM

Submitted by
Name: Charlie Cardinal
From: Madison

Comments:
What I don't understand about the Courtney Administration is the following. It is obvious Trinitas and former Madisonian Mike King is the developer. If you were Courtney why wouldn't you say "We as a community just happen to be so lucky to have one of the best builders in country who is from Madison be the developer of this project. I know he is going to build a beautiful piece of architecture. One that we all could be proud of for years to come."
Instead, they just hide and cover all this up. When the best remedy would be to sell Mike King. It is all just so sneaky. It makes zero sense and the pitch from Courtney is just to deflect and confuse. Yet, we should just go along and trust him because he knows better. This thing has more stink on it than Fox Septic does when it picks up the Port of Potties after Regatta.

Added: June 5, 2025 06:56:30 PM

Submitted by
Name: Awesome

Comments:
Big thank you to JB for posting all these great informative pieces. No place else will cover the hard stuff. The paper just prints what local politicians tell them and Facebook does have its share of wackos. So it’s nice to have first hand facts.

Gotta say though Bob Courtney is a mean piece of work for what he’s done to this lady and her business. Wonder why he picked her instead of funneling through his other business pals. Why not the Crafton boys or Cara Fox or even Grote ? Why pick on her ?

Added: June 5, 2025 06:04:15 PM

Submitted by
Name: Local Resident
From: Madison

Comments:
The more I watch this Mayor, the more he and others around him (including you Tony) reminds me of Mario Tarantino in the movie "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight". I feel sure they sat around laughing and patting themselves on the back on the boat sponsorship. What they didn't realize is there are people in this community that are are just a little wiser than they are. That's because they care more about this community than them selves. Sad but true!!

Added: June 5, 2025 05:51:23 PM

Submitted by
Name: Typo

Comments:
Sorry for typo guys it’s Trinitas Ventures. Lafayette Indiana. Don’t know Mr. King - or his sons - but company normally has sound reputation. Tjh

Added: June 5, 2025 05:43:12 PM

Submitted by
Name: WOW

Comments:
Thanks for the reporting TJH. I am sure the mayor appreciates your transparency in reporting...
I hate that Jennifer has been drawn into the mayor's web. I have always found her to be talented, kind and generous. Something definitely stinks here...
How much of a donation are we talking? Hundreds? Thousands?

I wonder what else we don't know...

Added: June 5, 2025 04:08:33 PM

Submitted by
Name: this is bad
From: tjh

Comments:
Here’s the info I promised regarding Miss Madison sponsorships. Despite the mayor saying he had adequate funding-he did not. He spent great effort reaching out to potential “donors”. You will note several are city contractors; they of course would want to retain their contracts and income from the city. Clearly for some unknown reason, several felt compelled to give to a community owned boat that wasn’t from their own community. A few donors were local businesses and citizens who have issues before the city and therefore may not have wanted to deal with any hostility if s/he told the mayor no. All that muddiness or “bribery” as some call it aside, everyone wants to know, “What’s the deal with Colonial Flowers?”

I feel comfortable standing behind Jennifer and saying those who accuse her of insurance fraud or starting a fire for money are wrong. But as most know, and Jennifer readily admits, she is not really a Regatta or Miss Madison devotee. Her heart & donations have ran to children and animals. So, a donation from Colonial Flowers to Miss Madison doesn’t make any sense. But still, she’s a nice lady and has ran a good business, which her family purchased sometime way back in the 60’s from the King family. In fact, she & Mike King, the son of the original Colonial Flower owners, became good friends over the years. An important piece of information is Mike owns Tinitas Ventures, a large development company located in Lafayette Indiana with offices in Chicago & Indy. Mike used to employ Bobs daughter Lindsey for a short time. Maybe the entire gang, Mike, Bob & Jennifer knew each other growing up – I don’t know- that’s not the point. The fact is the money came from Tinitas and for some reason, the mayor didn’t want Tinatas name made public as a Miss Madison sponsor. So whatever scam, scheme or lie to present the sponsorship as a gift from Mike/Tinitas Ventures to Jennifer/Colonial Flowers occurred without her being consulted. That said, Jennifer, of course, doesn’t want to hurt her long-time family friend Mike so, she has not, to my knowledge, explained the covert nature of the gift places her in a very difficult situation. She has tried to call but she believes he may be out of the country. He has not responded to calls from other citizens either. Still, the entire town is neither deaf, dumb or blind and most can calculate 2+2=4. (excluding perhaps a few on city council)….. Bottom line, people know when something “stinks” and believe Jennifer is being used to hide something.

The point is the mayor showed up one day and told Jennifer that Mike had a gift for her and was using her business name as a sponsor for Miss Madison even though he was paying for it. In my discussions with Jennifer its clear she was shocked, confused and totally unaware of the “gift.” Nor did she understand why anyone would purchase a sponsorship in her business name without first consulting her. She furthermore didn’t understand why someone would pick a hydroplane boat that might race a couple of times this year with only one race being local. Obviously, as we all know and agree, advertising a Madison flower shop in front of thousands who visit Madison for the Regatta is only slightly less ridiculous than advertising all the way down in Guntersville Alabama and Jennifer isn’t ridiculous. She may run a small business, but she runs a strong, successful, small business and has for years. I’ve no idea if the “donation” will include a receipt for tax purposes or if the mayor has truly placed Jennifer in a vulnerable IRS conflict. Questions about legitimate and legal expenses as well as unrecorded income will send off alarm bells with any accountant. I don’t know if the mayor offered a receipt for the “donation” to her nor how she will itemize the income. It’s a very tough spot in which to place Jennifer – all for the sake of hiding the name of the true donor.

When one examines how Jennifer and her business were used by the mayor to cover up a sponsorship he solicited from an out-of-town developer who specializes in student and condo type housing- citizens will likely become more furious over the continued lies, lack of transparency and efforts to conceal the developers name at all costs. Did Bob abuse Jennifer and her business to hide that Tinatas may be building riverfront condos? All I know is neither man did this to benefit a local flower shop and neither cared how it might feel to Jennifer to be used in such a manner. thanks for reading-tjh

Added: June 5, 2025 02:12:53 PM