March 15, 2015 – Weekend Forum Question

38

WHAT ARE THE MAJOR CHALLENGES FACING THE NEWLY ELECTED MAYOR OF EVANSVILLE?

38 COMMENTS

  1. Whoever is elected will have to make budget cuts. Winnecke seems unwilling to actually address the budgetary problems. He has made the budget problems worse. Therefore, many Conservatives like myself can’t support him.

    • Vandy Rep
      “Whoever is elected will have to make budget cuts”
      ~b~ I really don’t see anyone promising budget cuts. Mostly I’m hearing promises to “get things done”
      which is code for more bonded debt … more revenue down the drain and into the coffers of the connected few who habit the dark dank underworlds of local machine politics.

      I am not enamored with either prospect. I may write-in Stretch Armstrong. Perhaps he could endure the
      machine’s tugs from one side and the taxpayer’s on the other. …

      • Appreciate your thoughtfulness! But I, “Stretch Armstrongres” decline your vote for the “good fortune” of being a non-resident!

  2. Budget cuts which will cut services, or get rid of the homestead exemption or raise the local option income tax. I wouldn’t want the job after 8 years of Wienzapel and 4 years of Winneke spending like drunken sailors.

    • Just exactly what could any mayor do about your health. That’s a personal issue. We live in a toxic world, so what. I take my health personally, it’s my responsibility to do so. If you smoke, use drugs, drink excessively, over eat and don’t exercise there’s a chance you will be unhealthy. The people that I know and associate with are generally healthy and live healthy lifestyles. I think our current mayor lives a healthy lifestyle, he sets a good example. Putting our parks in top notch condition would be the most health conscious thing a mayor could do. Gail was in charge of our parks and little happen. Remember sewers before stadiums and the democrats voted for the stadium. The biggest cause of an unhealthy Evansville is democrats.

      • For a start Evansville needs to clean up the CSO problem, that stuff gives cause to peoples health problems even through endocrine medically related problems , all kinds of issues and ” everybody knows it.” Also that’s an environmental mismanagement problem from what has been observed its existed in most of that town for decades and has no bearing on what political party is in control of any given governance. A load of CSO inside of ones living space is far more dangerous to ones health than someone’s second tobacco smoke.

        One has the choice to leave the smoke to the smokers if needed. Getting away from toxicities brought in by CSO isn’t a choice for some that must live around it or work around it. That’s why it really is a social economic environmental condition. The main thing is Evansville can do better managing it. If they ever do maybe the downtowns real valuation could rebound to what it once was. Furthermore , the downtown is flat out the worse case scenario location for that Medical school extension campuses environmental footprint at this time. I just don’t think anyone could project a worse location.

        Horrible logistical value, and even worse in its environmental profile.

  3. Think I’ll vote for Winnecke. If we vote Gail in she’ll get the support of a democrat CC and get everything that they’ve been withholding from Winnecke. We’ll end up with a bigger debt load than we already have. The democrat party is still in disarray and there’ll be a lot of spite votes for Winnecke. There’s really none of our elected officials indicating we have a severe financial problem, maybe this is just campaign panic peddling.

    • Any comments about the guilty plea’s of Ms. Riecken’s family, will she be able to perform her duties as mayor without sticking her head in the sand ?

      v – so much for testing the water 🙂

      Oh Editor – I walked along the river again today, pleasant thoughts to you !

      A great day to be outside enjoying the weather rather than speculating on the obvious.

      • Got news for you boo, boo , the water is tested, on the hourly from orbit. So enjoy the river walks but I’d suppose you’d be advised to avoid the smell. Get one of those facial mouth and nose masks , you and those river walks could actually find more benefit due your healthy lifestyle.

        • V, Was at the riverfront awhile ago. Someone was having a run. People everywhere enjoying the clean fresh air while riding, walking, or running. It’s a great day there. If you live in the area you should join in.

          • The overhead just shows a flooded muddy toxic waste laden mess along that waterfront right now. No thanks, its really nice where I’m at now as well. And the water is a hell of a lot cleaner. I’ll fly fish some more release the fish, then sit in the evening sun in one of the Adirondack chairs I have positioned for just that, all the while watching my canine buddy chase off all the golf course geese away for the evening. The lake is clean as the driven rain and that’s just the way the damned Ohio river should be. I’ve boated it, in the past even immersed in it as a kid and a family boating guy, its a great asset for Evansville you just don’t have one political idiot that cares about that. I’m not downstream from your town now, thank goodness.
            It is a beautiful day out there, where I’m at and from what the overhead shows me there as well. Hold tight however climate migration will rock you this spring, as well as the rest of the Ohio valley. No way around it, the planet is still building the energy to make mankind adapt, we just wish they’d start doing that.

            People just can’t understand what isn’t suspended in transitional Ice melts its value to the liquid, when that happens all that evaporates eventually and becomes water vapor energy . That’s simple thermodynamic law. Mankind as a whole knows this, as far as your area you even have Physical doctors in politic that will dispute the science for a simple stupid azz campaign donate or two.
            That’s unacceptable. Can’t believe the aspect of that baby eat’in Larry Bucshon, M.D. Bought paid and endeared slob that’s all, what a danged jerk.

            http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2014/09/watch-jon-stewart-explain-science-climate-deniers-congress

    • And you think your mayor did not get the support from city council? Are you really serious?
      The city council was a “welcome red carpet door mat” to the mayor. Could it be the mayor was
      withholding from the city council? And yes, as long as I pay a 6% property tax to the city
      government I will voice my opinion, while living in Armstrong Township!

    • pov
      With some trepidation … I too will vote for Winnecke … if no knight on a white horse appears…
      BTW: IT IS A BEAUTIFUL DAY! The ribs went on at 9:30am … first beer … soon! …

  4. After reading Martin Marcus’ column in today’s C&P my first inclination was towards a certain smugness, and then towards vindication. You see, no one has carried more water in the past than Marcus when it came to touting the establishment’s version of the value of economic incentives and TIF districts as they were then being applied.

    What has changed? Well, it seems that the cost of running local government has run squarely up against the type of giveaway programs that have drained away the revenues necessary to keep the ship afloat. With caps on property taxes, and caps on COIT, and a public that is finally up t speed on the fact that water dept. revenues are to be used solely within, and for the benefit of, the water department; inefficient management by the executive and legislative branches of local government is on full display.

    It is one thing to be a good-time Charlie, throwing around other peoples money like there was no tomorrow, but we all know what a recipe for courting disaster that is if you do not take into consideration a plan-B for leveling out the ups and downs of the economy.

    None of this is anything that the erudite Mr. Marcus did not know. Others in this community, I am sure, were aware of these truths. However, in the past, on at least three major issues, incentives for American General, the creation of TIF districts for the downtown and Burkhardt Road, and the need for a downtown arena, when this writer appeared at the podium before the members of the Evansville Redevelopment Commission I was the only person to speak from the point of view of the taxpayer, the guy who was going to get the bill. It was amazing to me that everyone there was either involved in the governmental process of shepherding the project through the legal process, usually as quickly as possible, or there to speak on behalf of some person or business entity that had a financial interest in the project on the table.

    With a 9 to 0 absolute majority of democrats on the city council, until Dan McGinn was elected in 2009, Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel (2004-2011) made full use of his majority of appointees to the Evansville Redevelopment Commission to create a steady pipeline of incentivized projects to support local businessmen. At least one of those businessmen is still petitioning local government for further enhancements to incentivized projects granted him under the Weinzapfel Administration.

    Yes, in those meetings, or I should say after those meetings, I was described by those with cheese to protect as the dreaded “naysayer”, the person who was “agin’ everything”, “against progress”, and all the other trite slams they could contrive. It is not a process that the faint of heart, or one who lacks conviction, wants to be in.

    So here I was today, still at it, when I happened on Mr. Marcus’ article. Yes Mr. Marcus, ther is “duplicity, hypocrisy, and foolishness between various deals between governments and business”, and in some areas it is abused more than in others. Exemplary morality and ethics, in government and business, is the answer.

    Have a nice Sunday.

    • Some wags might have added graft and corruption to the list, but not me, not today.

        • Use black cheery on those ribs, or peach, either can set that sublime to the ribs. Yum and with a dry rub da -boot. I’ll have some Pepsi though, beer and me do not get along anymore.

          • Me neither “v” … dry rub … a given … about the beer … but with a lovely young wife to accommodate … a few beers and a day in the sun is a small price … a very small price indeed. …

            BTW “v” I’m spraying blackberry wine on those ribs between turns … to give them sizzle and sass! …

            “v” … sorry about the environmental impact. … really …
            G’ Day … my brother. …

          • Yay, Bubba that sounds good, one of my Uncles from there actually applied homemade Edlerberry wine like that on the ribs, man that was really good being in his company was even better. The Guy was a really humble hero. He crewed B-17e’s and g’s in WWII and actually
            was in one crash landing and then knocked out of the sky hard in late 44, he was working on his second tour,so 37 missions. They dropped him going to the secondary target that time he made it somehow although with a severely set in spinal injury. The German home guard found him hanging from a damned pine tree outside of Frankfort main which was the secondary due the target that was planned as Bremen was covered. So the remaining time in Europe for him was in a Nazi pow camp. He was first a bombardier then a pilot second time around from 43. The man was also one of the most gentle human beings on the face of the planet. He was really special for us as nephews and nieces, only I think because those war injuries didn’t allow him to have children. When my call came the,USAF was the only place I’d a went. I think of the man on spring days like this because back in the day for myself I had returned stateside from some pretty rough duty. My father and three of my uncles came to visit immediately on my return state side.
            That’s just what is all about, some will never understand it they are not combat Veterans. I still hold a Life membership in Evansville’s Post 1114, why? Because of the respect for those guys that’s all.
            Almost on a daily basis we read and see questionable stuff given the direction of Foreign Policy, well I just chose most of the time not to go there. If one has ever flown,floated , or stood the line its really never a place for some of those local idiots you have there to comment on.

          • Small minds talk about people, average minds talk about events, and great minds talk about smoked ribs.

    • @ PAK; “At least one of those businessmen is still petitioning local government for further enhancements to incentivized projects granted him under the Weinzapfel Administration”

      You must mean those meridian owners. Has anyone else in that tri-state noticed how the former Whirlpool plant on your cities northern gateway is becoming another Evansville Vanderburgh fracked up eyesore? The drainage and sewers leading to the little creek that flows into Pigeon up stream from the Stringtown bridge is a toxic waste CSO hot zone, and some of that is traceable straight back to the nasty old Whirlpool property as well.

      That place looks terrible last time we past by there was a mud hill next to a broken down parking lot light and to that’s south an ugly area set up for storing roofing or something. The muddy ole parking lot also seems to contribute its track able mess onto both lanes of the old shot in the butt chuck holed highway. That’s a huge mess, but then everything those people have touched seems to have the appearance of a strained management issues. The buildings downtown are atrocious environments for anyone’s actual living space. Some of that is due the combined sewer nonsense that meets the substructures. Yuck it.

      • “v”
        Gotta love ya”. I am a veteran … but not a combat veteran. My time was spent in Germany knocking heads with other dog-faces. (have a few/gave a few more) It was great . I married a WS girl from E-town while there … we had a blast. I wish I had a more thrilling story to tell … but honesty keeps me in check. Today was stellar … but what else would one expect. Here’s to the day and to the days to come.
        ~b~

        • I’ve contemplated writing some kind of article about all that, sometimes those guys never thought they were that special. My father always just said everybody had to go, we really didn’t have much choice. The Nazi’s and the Japanese were outright attacking the free world.
          He told the story on some days like the last months snow and the cold dirge, and it was confirmed by a local fellow in the media there. That Guy was in the same fox holes Dad was in. That was the Battle of the Bulge He’d take me waterfowling as a son when the weather turned bad and the snow set in with the shotgun smoke set in those guys would open up some about the G/D battle of the bulge they got tossed into. Bad combat, really bad equipment wise. The one thing I’ll always remember is Dad and Joe, (come see you save commercial guy) telling me when the weather did break one morning they heard a rumble coming from the west.

          Well man that was the mighty Armey 8Th Air Corps going in to break the Nazi supply lines, What was incredible was my Uncle was on the formations leading edge, in one of those Boeing B-17 flights that morning. It was the last one he would fly, the weather had not cleared Bremen yet and their secondary was Frankfort Main. Seven more 88mm flak fields instead of two, and more enemy fighters, they knocked him down that day. He always said it was a flak hit right after the drop. Blew number three to pieces and folded the right wing. Uncontrollable and the amidships crew were almost killed instantly. My Uncle and the Navigator and Bombardier managed to bail, later they found out the tail gunner made it out as well. The copilot bailed but was lost to combat injuries.
          So many real men, and today the debate is just politically absurd when it comes to keeping The United States as free as it is.
          Guess what, that’s why I back our President as well.
          Dad told Joe and the other the soldiers in that frozen hole that day , I bet Bobs in that formation, but I’d sure like to get a letter from his little sister. I feel dear John’ed
          He wasn’t, once Patton’s tanks made it in there so did the mail, several weeks worth.
          That’s real history from there, but seems its never mentioned.

  5. The CCO preaches transparency, but yet they will not reveal their editorial staff.

  6. The CCO preaches transparency, but yet they will not reveal their editorial staff. Word has it that SBR is now in charge of IIT.

  7. Think the new Mayor can do anything about getting “The Marty” replaced at UE and the “Tom Arnold look-alike” replaced at IU? It would be nice to have a team that makes it to the Big Dance.

    • IU is in the dance. Coach Crean is doing great given the injuries. Go Hoosiers!

  8. I think the first order of business will be to get our finances back to solid ground. Next the mayor will have to deal with the EPA issues. At the same time the mayor will need to promote a reasonable vision and feasible plan. No crayons please.

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