Riecken Charges $8 Million Transfer Request Is Evidence Of Administration’s Financial Mismanagement‏

Mayoral Candidate Riecken Charges $8 Million Transfer Request is Evidence of Administration’s financial mismanagement.  Reacting to a Winnecke administration request for transfer of funds to cover the city’s $8 million cash flow problem, Democrat candidate for mayor Gail Riecken labeled the move “a glaring example of financial mismanagement and irresponsible leadership.”

The resolution filed September 9 and set to be considered by City Council Monday night contends the city needs to transfer $2.6 million from the Rainy Day Fund and $5.4 million from riverboat revenues in order to “enhance the General Fund for cash flow purposes.” The move is blamed on an earlier ordinance passed by council that prevents moving money between city funds without council approval.

“There is no better evidence that this administration is incapable of operating within a budget and known revenue.” Riecken said. “To make matters worse, they put the blame on the ordinance passed by council that ended their shell game of moving money around to make all fund balances look better than they really are.”

She noted that last week, following an appearance before the Chamber of Commerce, the mayor had labeled as “over blown” her statements of alarm over city finances. The transfer request had already been drafted and filed with the city clerk at that time, and the mayor never made mention of the city’s looming financial crisis in his appearance before business leaders.

In a memo that accompanied the transfer resolution, Controller Russ Lloyd Jr. contends that failure by the council to approve the transfers or relax the earlier ordinance “will cause disruption of city expenditures to vendors and possibly payroll to employees later this month.”

Riecken said it is “extremely unfortunate” that the administration “put companies that do business with the city and city workers in the middle of the mess he made by his own inability to handle the city’s finances.”

Calling attention to published pre-emptive statements from Mayor Winnecke defending the proposed $8 million transfer, the Democrat candidate said the excuses for financial mismanagement have become the administration’s “fallback position.”

“It is getting tiresome to hear the mayor offer up dropping tax revenue and property tax caps as excuses. Property tax caps were enacted to protect taxpayers from the very kind of reckless spending and budgetary confusion we are seeing in this city. When all else fails, he blames the council,” she charged. “He refuses to accept responsibility for the problem.”

Gail Riecken is running for Mayor of Evansville and is a former Evansville City Councilwoman, Evansville Parks Director, and a current member of the Indiana State House of Representatives. She is a lifelong Evansville resident, has been married for 47 years, and has 2 children and 3 grandchildren.