IS IT TRUE? November 11, 2011 Part 2 What Next?
IS IT TRUE that some people who dwell in the unincorporated parts of Vanderburgh County have been expressing a re-consideration of previous positions with respect to consolidation after Tuesday’s Evansville City Council elections?…that it has become painfully clear to some that the City of Evansville is now through brain drain, population shrinkage, and dependence on government subsidies is now either at or near the point of no return for Republicans to ever have a potent voting block on the Evansville City Council?…that some people from the county who have been adamantly opposed to consolidation on the basis that the City of Evansville has too many problems that will cost county people money for little or no benefit are now reconsidering based on what basically is a mercy mission?…that to paraphrase a staunch opponent of consolidation “it is now clear that Evansville will never fix itself, so we will have to consolidate and help Evansville or watch it rot down before our eyesâ€?…that this has been the unspoken reason for many consolidations including ones in Louisville, Lexington, and Nashville?…that this subject will be rather interesting during 2012?
IS IT TRUE that that this deadline has passed for each and every property owner including City Centre Properties LLC of Carmel, IN that owns tract #82-06-30-020-005.002-029, aka the McCurdy Hotel to pay their taxes?…that the tax bill on that property that was due yesterday is $10,268.66 and that the Vanderburgh County Assessors website indicates that the payment is still due?…that means a penalty of 5% is now added to the total?…that at day 31 that penalty is increased to 10%?…that the choice to pay or not to pay this tax bill serves as an early indicator as to whether City Center Properties LLC has the means or intention to move forward with this project?…that many properties appear to have paid so this is probably not the slow moving of the website?…that the Evansville Redevelopment Commission is now pretty much powerless to do anything about this non-payment?
IS IT TRUE that the CCO is eagerly awaiting the agenda for next Tuesday’s meeting of the Evansville Redevelopment Commission to see if there is anything at all about the McCurdy Hotel or the downtown Convention Hotel VETTING process on the agenda?…that this incarnation of the ERC has only three more meetings scheduled before Mayor Elect Lloyd Winnecke takes over?…that there are only three more opportunities for this ERC to hold public discussions regarding the two most prominent yet unresolved construction fiascos of the Weinzapfel Administration?…that it would be best to let the Winnecke Administration handle the downtown Convention Hotel decision after the first of the year?…that first there was no VETTING and now there is a prolonged VETTING process that could have and should have been completed in a month?…that in China hotels are built in less time than it has taken to VET two proposals in Evansville?…that leaves one wondering just how on earth we can compete on a global scale to do anything?
IS IT TRUE that there are three Evansville based high school football teams still in the hunt for an Indiana State Championship?…that the CCO sends good luck and good wishes to the Central Bears, Mater Dei Wildcats, and the Memorial Tigers to go out and win this weekend?
……that some people from the county who have been adamantly opposed to consolidation on the basis that the City of Evansville has too many problems that will cost county people money for little or no benefit are now reconsidering based on what basically is a mercy mission?…that to paraphrase a staunch opponent of consolidation “it is now clear that Evansville will never fix itself, so we will have to consolidate and help Evansville or watch it rot down before our eyes ….
The problem is that the plan defines very little. The only firm results:
*the creation of a single governing body led by the Mayor,
*a large increase in the population taxable by the combined
government
*a large increase in the burdens placed on city service providers
The plan supports the concept of Big Government. Consolidation throws increased money at our local government and then asks the government to manage more of our lives. Since when does that work? It is widely agreed that governments are notoriously poor managers of our money, and the City of Evansville is a prime example.
From the City-County Observer, Oct 28, 2011….. “Councilman John Friend stated that the City of Evansville is pretty much at its credit limit with only a $3 Million margin remaining so General Obligation Bonds are really not an option for any of the many infrastructure projects that Evansville is in need of?…that means that only sustainable and cash generating projects that pay for their own maintenance are possible in the near future?”
It is widely understood that if the Pig-In-A-Poke does not pass, then annexation is sure to follow. We understand that, and we will fight it again, like we did in 2009.
“……that some people from the county who have been adamantly opposed to consolidation on the basis that the City of Evansville has too many problems that will cost county people money for little or no benefit are now reconsidering based on what basically is a mercy mission?…that to paraphrase a staunch opponent of consolidation “it is now clear that Evansville will never fix itself, so we will have to consolidate and help Evansville or watch it rot down before our eyesâ€â€¦â€¦.”
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I like this quote…..could someone please explain to me what possible motivation anyone living in the county could have to carry out a “mercy mission” to save Evansville? Is Evansville too big to fail? Does corrupt politics deserve to be saved? I have yet to hear a county resident say “Man I like the way Evansville is running, I wish we could do that in county government!”
Consolidation will be DOA once it gets to the referendum.
JMHO
One needs to remember that people who live in the City of Evansville are also residents of the County the same as those people who live outside the City limits.
Why would anybody who lives in the City vote against consolidation? I cannot think of one reason.
If one wants consolidation that is one thing. But to vote in an ineffective consolidation document is quite another. I see pluses in having consolidation if it is well done, which the current plan is not.
The two main problems with consolidation is it saves the taxpyer too little money either short or long term if it really saves any at all. It puts too much power in too few hands.
Less government is better government. with fewer political positions , one knows who is truly responsible for bad decisions
I agree with you,(292), and Dave Hennig.
The main thing this area has is damn fine women.
You geniuses figure that all out with you spreadsheets.
“r”
There is only one city-county consolidation that has a chance of reaching fruition: A referendum approved by the voters of Evansville directing the mayor and the city council to rip to pieces the city charter and FedEx it to the Secretary of State in Indianapolis to inform him that the City of Evansville no longer exists. This will consolidate Vanderburgh County government comprised of the county council and commissioners, as well as the mayor and city council of Darmstadt.
When those efforts are accomplished the 92,000-plus registered voters in Evansville (many of whom assumed room temperature many years ago) will become a moot point, not the means by which the Evansville City Council would perpetually remain a Democratic fiefdom.
My plan is a vast improvement over the current proposal, which would result in an opposite outcome, one in which the City of Evansville effectively neuters and ultimately renders Vanderburgh County government extinct.
Furthermore, after the dissolution of Evansville the citizens of Darmstadt will soon realize that they are wasting their money maintaining their city’s government, and thus they will follow Evansville’s lead, and surrender their city charter as well to the Secretary of State.
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