The City County Observer has just learned that State Representative Gail Riecken will be holding a news conference on January 10 at the CK Newsome Center,to officially announce if she will be a Democratic candidate for Mayor of Evansville in 2015. The time of the news conference is 11:15 am.
This announcement could open the door to an historic election in Evansville, as her candidacy will give Evansville the chance to elect its first woman to the Mayor’s office in the 202 Year history of this great city. Mrs. Riecken has served as the District 77 Representative in the Indiana Legislature since 2009, and was also on the Evansville City Council early in her political career
We hear that local rank and file Democrats are looking to State Representative Riecken to help unite their party, which has been splintered since the last City election. At that time, a group of Democrats broke off from their party to support Republican Lloyd Winnecke over the Democrat, the late Rick Davis. The party “rebellion†and low voter participation allowed Winnecke to win the now financially  embattled Mayor’s office.
State Representative Riecken has earned a solid reputation as an effective office-holder who is highly responsive to the needs and wishes of her constituents.
She is a graduate of Bosse High School and Indiana University, and is a licensed Marine Pilot. She has served as a Neighborhood Coordinator for the Community Action Program of Evansville and Executive Director of the Evansville Department of Parks and Recreation, as well as piloting the Winnie Mae on the Ohio River.
Gail has been involved in too many community service projects to list, but she has a special interest in protecting our children and in historic preservation. She is a co-founder of Ark Crisis Nursery and has served on the board of Family and Children’s Service. She has been a coordinator of the Riverside Neighborhood Association and sat on the board of the Evansville Preservation Alliance and Hope of Evansville.
Gail has been married for more than forty years to Ron Riecken, who built Inland Marina with his brother, Carl in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. He served three tours of duty in Viet Nam, as well. She and Ron are the parents of two daughters, Julia Belle Riecken Langerak and Katie Riecken. Parker. They have three (3) grandchildren, Joey, Martha and George
If State Representative Gail Riecken decides to run for Mayor of Evansville we predict this will be the most expensive and spirited Mayoral race in Evansville 202 year history. We are looking forward to see if the voters of this great city will elect its first woman mayor in our 202 year history.
Please take time and vote in todays “Readers Poll”.
Copyright 2014 City County Observer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
To those morons who post here saying Winnecke is some big liberal: what about his support for howlin mad Mike Pence?
The only thing liberal about Winnecke is the same with all liberals. They are liberal with other peoples money for their elitist friends. I seriously doubt Gail will get the same support as Rick. If she gets business and union support that pretty well means she sold out.
When the sharks smell Winnie’s blood in the water, they’ll donate to Gail, too. They always hedge their bets. The bottom line is, if her campaign chair and treasurer are who I’m hearing, she’ll have the money she needs and unions can’t deliver votes. That’s especially true in CITY elections.
My Dear Pov..
Exactly what do you mean about sold out…what this City has on its hands is an individual that has proven himself to be dishonest and incompetent. Just look at the facts, the CVS building at the corner of Columbia and N. Main, building has been on the market for nearly three years and Winnecke is going to purchase for nearly one half MILLION dollars..of course, we have the old Integra branch across from Torroni’s to be purchase by the establishment and now by the City. Oh, we can not leave out the D-Pat deal…who in the hell would pay 8.4 million for that property when the assessor has it listed at 3 million and the gaul to have grant money used to tear down the old homes located at 41 and Walnut and obtaining tax phase-ins. So, let’s keep Mr. Crony Capitalist in office and like his party does, some will be eating caviar and most will be eating cake…
Mrs Riecken has always shown compassion for our folks…one of the most affectionate individuals I have had the pleasure to meet. Viva Gail!!!
Run Gail Run !!!!
Oh, wait, you meant for mayor ??!!
Maybe Winnecke should be running, not for Mayor, but for the bounder…
Very exciting move for Gail and for the city. Our family wishes her the best!
People don’t usually call news conferences to say they aren’t going to run. I hope she does, because she will win.
me too, and I believe she will have the support of the Davis wing, Rick’s family has already publicly endorsed her
What! What in the world will Mosby do now? In the last election, she hid behind the betrayals of the Democrat bosses, thought she would have cover. Now, what we will be witnessing, the coming together of the democrat party. Of course, the burning question she must be contemplating, Winnecke vs. Riecken, we should be understanding in regards to her situation, she, like most of us must make a living and this Winnecke (McClintoch) team has been profitable, and that we should not be critical, but, Weaver, on the other hand, that is a horse of a different color….
I know what Mosby will do & that is get out of Steve Davis’s seat after he beats her in the Primary. After that I would say the Mayors wife will get rid of her and she will need a new job.
Isn’t she (Gail) living in Illinois ? If not, she should be !!
Heard that Winnecke went to AZ…advanced his search for living space?
Maybe he’ll come back with some more great ideas. Get ready for a push to put a large canyon in Evansville. Not one like cars fall into when the pipes collapse, a much grander one.
Will a hotel deal and an idea that will be bigger than Google be included in the canyon of dreams? I’ll fight like the dickens for it.
You’re ridiculous. He was seeing his family in AZ..
Who cares? Being the holidays looks like it falls to the third string to make feeble defenses for him. Weak team, weak bench.
Gail has my vote
Congrats to CCO! You scooped the Courier by almost two hours, and you’re on a holiday hiatus. That says a lot about our local print news.
The Courier article is actually written without bias. It takes a little longer to present a fair and factual article.
Ok, Tim.
Cute…but every article in the CCO about Gail looks like it was written by her campaign staff. They are free to endorse and publish anyway they see fit, but to consider it as even remotely comparable to any of our traditional media is foolish.
I now read the CCO like I would the National Enquier. It’s fun to come and see what kind of outlandish BS they have come up with, but I certainly don’t consider it a place for fair and accurate news.
It’s a shame, because there was a time I thought it was on a mission to be an independent voice for our community.
Really Buzzard ? Courier article written without bias ? Which articles has Pate sent down to you this month which he deemed fair and factual ? Oh, the one about the movie ‘The Interview’ (written by AP) ? Check, now I get it !
Now, now…how long does it take to write a story about Ms Riecken. It is obvious that Ms Riecken will be announcing. The CP has over 250 people working for them…not exactly sure how many the CCO has, probably 3 to 4…and, you say, the CP is not bias, my friend, this rag of a paper is a satellite media office for Winnecke. When they do run a story on the negative side of Winnecke, they will always have an element of positive spin in the end. Remember, these media folks always stick together, Winnecke, news director for Ch 25 and Davis, a news reporter for the CP…just the way it is…
You guys defend the CCO and Gail just like an Obama supporter defends him buy saying well Bush did this..who cares?
I am not a defender of Winnecke or the C&P.With that said, I would challenge any of you to find a single story from the C&P or any other local source that is as one sided, and gushing over anyone as the recent CCO articles have been for Gail. That is the issue and it’s very disturbing.
If you guys are happy with the CCO doing nothing but creating false and grand illusions of Gail Reicken, then fine, but don’t call it credible journalism.
There is no middle ground with the giddy for Gail club. They and the CCO have lost their watch dog edge over Gail and are so in for her that it will be hard for them to admit that she is more of the same.
We have lost the chance for true change. Meet the new boss.
Is a state legislator in Illinios and she gets rent for the city LST dock while in Kentucky.
What a winning combo.
Add to that all the races she has lost and that she has never run anything… yea… that’s a formula for fail.
She would be terrible! She was an awful legislator. She did NOTHING. She fought for the scooter things and thought she was the best legislator in the country for it. She left her constituents in a difficult time period and now she wants them to vote for her for mayor. NO! I voted for her every time prior to the walkout, and I’m a Democrat. It shows where her priority stands, with party politics. I will be voting for Winnecke over her.
No Gail, No!
No! I will not be voting for her. She was an bad legislator and now she wants our votes for mayor. No! She left her constituent during a tough time with the walkout. If mayor, will she walkout when City Council doesn’t work with her? She did nothing as a state rep. She fought for the scooter thing and then she thought she was the best rep in Indiana. We do not need her. I am a Dem and have voted for her in the past, prior to the walkout. But she does not deserve this.
No Gail, No!
Is that you, Lloyd?
My Dear elkaybee…
It is Sinister Scheafer, the charter member of “Focus on the Chicks” fan club…
He and Weaver are likely hitting Franklin st pretty hard together focusing on the idiot 19 yr old USI girlies. Good Ole gop family values.
News flash Ghost, Weaver is a proud Democrat who seems to have joined Shaefer in his newly established “Focus on the Punani” chapter.
Tom doesn’t like girls? Explains much.
But, how do Mrs. Weaver and Steve’s new love feel about their “hunks” going on the chase? Weaver may have wife #2 “whipped into line”, but Schaefer’s paramour won’t like it at all.
Most of us would not cherish going to Urbana, especially in the dead of winter, but, regardless how you feel, she fought for our working families and she was there for us…and now, our BIG LABOR BOSSES are going to turn their backs on her. Well, we are the rank and file of the unions and will remember what they have done and will vote their asses back to the trade.
She fought for Union bosses. Working families, including Union ones, wanted RTW.
Real union brothers and sisters didn’t want RTW. Freeloaders and losers who want union benefits and don’t want to pay union dues wanted it. There’s a very big difference in the two.
Real working people wanted out from under the union boss’s thumb. Not the working man’s fault that the union has made itself irrelevant to their needs.
Winnecke is a total Failure,– and a “King Weinzapfel” wine and cheese buddy is going to save the Day?
Old Boss=New Boss syndrome continues to be the “Norm” for Evansville.
Elitist power marches on. Don’t hold your breath if your expecting anything to really change.
Outside looking in we’d say that’s about right, that place needs to sport a real primary for once, The mayors office needs to be completely unshackled from that downtown crowd and all the shady real estate crap. Once while in town a while back I actually met Gail Riecken girl’in up a mall kiosk, you might guess what that thing was sporting, yup, over assessed valuation on some crappy commercial infrastructure and local properties.
At that time that weaver guy was the assessor according to our contacts there. “Say, or see no more! ”
You don’t need those unbroken strings inside driving anymore of your local governance. That really looks like a private club from outside.
The place needs fresh faces with clear minds, and some real innovation to help them clean that metros old politics up for the rest of the century. Next week is 2015, so you’d best getting on the ball.
Funny thing about kiosks most serve the same purpose with touch screen automation, kind of like real estate searches, as well as, politicians select one from the screen………….
Tell you what speaking innovatively , having someone at an kiosk actually is like the roofs or ceiling structures on some of those things, fluff what the hell do you need a roof on a free standing structure inside a mall for? Or a paid for already mouthpiece, for that matter to cast vote on a simple solution for government funding or such? Pondering solutions ?
😉 City councilperson kiosk in each ward. For the citizens to express their votes on certain spending issues on………..Cheap, and on the job 24/7.
ki·osk noun \ˈkē-ˌäsk\
r/ a small store in a building or on the street where things (such as newspapers or candy) are sold
r/ : a small structure that provides information and services on a computer screen
r/.1 : an open summerhouse or pavilion
r/.2 : a small structure with one or more open sides that is used to vend merchandise (as newspapers) or services (as film developing)
r./3 : a small stand-alone device providing information and services on a computer screen
It looks like Lloyd, Carol, Steve, and Russ are going to be very busy posting the same silly “criticisms” of Gail on CCO and in that unbiased rag, the Courier, over and over again. If Urbana is the worst they can say about her, it shows how desperate they are. What has Winnecke done, besides spend $650,000 per month more than the City earns and get scammed by every con artist who comes along? Oh, I forgot. He makes “Chickenfat” videos and picks up trash.
elkaybee:
I am angry that you did not list the many accomplishments of The Mayor during his three years in office. The following is, I believe, the complete list:
Wait, he is one hell of a trash man and, of course, he has selected a great team headed by Scheafer, former chairman of Dodson’s “Focus on the Family” and brain child of Winnecke’s photo opts, having four ground breaking events for the failed hotel.
I have a serious question for you. What has Gail Riecken ever done outside of patronage jobs, crony deals, and elected offices? Did she graduate from college? If so what is her expertise? Does she know anything about vetting projects and people? I have only been in town 20 years and have never seen her name associated with real work. Wasn’t she running the parks department for Weinzapfel when the parks all turned into drug and prostitute hangouts? What qualifies her for this job any more than Winnecke was? From what I have seen there is no difference in their qualifications? Neither are qualified to manage anything.
It looks like she went to IU and claims to have sold houses and worked in PR before running for office. Sounds familiar doesn’t it. Maybe with Gail we will get Winnece and his wife in the same body. No beef on this lady’s resume.
Here is a list of her donors. Not many private businesses here. Lots of unions plus Weinzapfel show up as,high rollers though.
http://www.followthemoney.org/entity-details?eid=6488705
You should probably read the article. You’d find answers to most of your questions. I believe her degree is in Sociology and Social Work. I think she did quite a lot in the family business, as well.
Damn, I was hoping for a candidate that knows math and valuation. I will say if she can make deals for the city as good as the one she made for herself on that dock rental deal then things may work better. She skinned old Weinzapfel good. I gotta wonder what Weinzapfel got in return. Evansville does not really need a touchy feely social worker mayor. We have one of those now. What we really need is a person with a sophisticated business background and the courage to tell the machine to go to hell. I don’t see that in Gail’s resume.
Dear Outsider….
Let’s see…our dishonest and incompetent Mayor Winnecke has had three year in office and has not shown any accomplishments, only bar and restaurant tabs and the occasional bag of trash and his capital cronies cashing in their chips at the
Winnecke Window.
I think you’ve pretty well covered it.
You might have missed these:
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Oh, and this one:
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LKB, you seem to smart to really believe that anyone who is against Gail is somehow related to the Winnecke camp. I have nothing to do with any of them, was truly hoping to get a candidate that could really do something and this what we end up with?
Urbana is probably the worst that can be said, and IMO, it’s plenty. It was a complete sell out for a buffoon like Patrick Bauer, and completely despicable. Bauer has been in his position for 45 freaking years. That is all of his adult life…and in those 45 years, South Bend has gone from a halfway productive city to a rotting cesspool. Is it all his fault, no, but he is part of a political machine that has been in charge up there for all of this time, with zero results. That is who Gail takes her barking orders from. Yes, that is very disturbing. The man is not capable of functioning in the real world.
Since that is the supposed worst, what can possibly be listed as an accomplishment of hers? I know of nothing, other than being a long time political hack.
You all gripe about political games in this town, and the shenanigans that go on, as do I. Let’s try to get some real change in this city, not go from bad to worse. Don’t settle for a well she’s not as bad as Winnecke..let’s really try to do better, we deserve it.
+1
The “Urbana Argument” is very, very weak. Gail has a backbone and the trip to Urbana proved that she is willing to go way out on a limb for her constituents. She knew that RTW was going to happen in IN, but she did what she had to do to slow it down. She was powerless to do more.
In that corner office on the third floor of the Civic Center, Gail won’t be powerless. She will be able to put a stop to the crazy $650,000/month deficit spending spree. She is sane and pragmatic. Winnie the Poop is neither of those things, and he has no aversion to lying through his teeth.
She has done more to make Evansville a better place to live as a devoted volunteer than Winnie has done in his glorious years in elected office. You need to read the article.
Here’s the way I see this thing shaping up: Wayne Parke, et al thought their owned mayor was free to do as he wished for 8 years, because they believed they had broken the back of the local Democratic party, Gail has stepped forward to re-energize and unify that party, and the Parke contingency is upset because some funds still haven’t been passed out to the cronies. The union bosses will endorse Winnie and give money to Gail and him. The can’t produce votes in a city election, so cash is all they can offer.
Gail Riecken has all of the skills necessary to “right the good ship Evansville” and has shown that she has the courage to stand up for what is best for the City. My support for the first woman mayor of Evansville is NOT based on “she’s not as bad as Winnecke”. It is based on her demonstrated dedication to bettering this city, her courage to do what is needed, and her practical experience in government and the private sector.
Gail deserted our constitution for what she knew was a losing battle. You are pretty well making your astute observations of our current issues irrelevant. That Gail might not be as bad as Winnecke is not the vision we need for a better future. I’m sorry LKB, but you have pretty well exchanged your objectivity for the narrow scope political allegiance. We lose. And that some recognize that sooner than you makes them more realistic than the giddy for Gail crowd.
I will be interested to hear what she would cut from the budget to save $8 M per year. Winnecke and the council tried and couldn’t get there. That would be a good opening paragraph of her announcement.
Those are the things of substance we need to hear, and to be fair, Gail has time and might address those questions. But I have seen no reason to be giddy for her as of yet.
Mike Pence has been one of the greatest Governors for this state ever!
That is sarcasm, right?
and its only a cold sore…….
How can anyone say that Riecken would be the first female mayor of Evansville, we have one serving now, except she is using her husband’s name.
Whenever there a decision to be made, he(she) gathers an advisory group to make a recommendation, then asks Carol what she thinks.
On another matter, how will D-Pat acquire their new site and at what cost? There are already demolition contracts underway using taxpayer money for demolition. Is Carol getting a real estate commission for either of the transactions?
” how will D-Pat acquire their new site and at what cost?”
From the looks of your local news and our overhead analysis , someone, ought to at least mine the place for spent rounds.
http://www.scrapmetaljunkie.com/68/how-to-sell-scrap-lead
My Question to you: Does a wild Bear crap in the woods?”
Well, sometimes I wait up and wonder if I live on the south side of Chicago…if we put up this crap for another five more years, sale your home while you still have some sort of value left…because Mrs. Mayor would have cashed in and heading for the sunshine state of AZ.
You are ridiculous. He was seeing family for Christmas in AZ…
Benjamin Bosse was a historic mayor, a true visionary. Roberts was a historic mayor. He saw something that had never existed before in Indiana sitting on an empty lot. Race, sexual orientation, or gender is as historically significant as a key to the city, nice but useless.
I always think of her as in being in a hotel somewhere, maybe across the border hiding under the bed.
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