IS IT TRUE JANUARY 7, 2016

34

IS IT TRUE we hope that City Council attorney Josh Clayborne will acknowledged that the CCO was correct in stating that one of the qualifications for being a member of the Evansville Police Merit Commission is that the appointee must be a resident voters of the County?

IS IT TRUE we were also correct when we pointed out that City Council appointee Brandon Scott to the Evansville Police Merit Commission wasn’t a resident voters of the County at the time he was elected to that position?

IS IT TRUE because Brandon Scott wasn’t a resident voters of Vanderburgh County when he was elected to this position we wonder if this disqualifies him from serving on the Evansville Police Merit Commission?

IS IT TRUE we expect that City Council attorney Josh Clayborne will contend that Brandon Scott can register to vote just before he gets sworn in as Police Merit Commissioner and by doing so this will make him a legal member of this board?

IS IT TRUE  if you look at the Police Merit Commission code on the city site, it does not mention “registered voter”?  …It says “resident voter” of the county”? …we guess it hinges on the legal definition of “resident voter” verses “registered voter”?

IS IT TRUE Democratic party Chairman Rob Faulkner recently held a meeting of office holders to discuss future political strategy?  …he’s about a year late holding a political strategy meeting?

IS IT TRUE that long term Pigeon Township Trustee Mary Hart has abruptly resigned her Vice Chairmanship position with the Vanderburgh Democratic party?

IS IT TRUE we are hearing that many citizens of the 4th Ward are extremely upset about the way Missy Mosby,  Jonathan Weavers and Anne Hargis  offended Rev Brooks and his supporters at Mondays City Council meeting?  …we were told that Missy Mosby and Jonathan Weaver better forget selling or listing any houses in the 4th ward?  …we were  told that Anne Hargis should expect very little support with her not-for -profit organization from some of the citizens of the 4th Ward?

IS IT TRUE  that ERC President is tamping down expectations about Evansville’s ability to retain the Evansville Icemen? …that neither the Icemen owner Ron Geary nor the Mayor’s office are expressing optimism on reaching an agreement?  …we predict both sides will give in a little and the Icemen will stay in Evansville?  …we also predict that Ron Geary will teach Mayor Lloyd Winnecke’s  and his Chief of Staff Steve Schaefer a thing or two about the art of negotations?

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34 COMMENTS

    • They laughed at him, and were contemptuous of all who spoke up for him. Jon Weaver cut Rev Brooks off when he tried to explain that their prearranged selection of Mr. Brooks (whom, as it turns out, is ineligible) was not fair and going to destroy the precarious race relations between poor and ethnic people who came to him for assistance with police issues. And he was right, there are people in Evansville treated unfairly by the police, and need representation/mediation that they would not receive from someone Weaver met out drinking last week.
      I particularly disliked the way in which Lucy Lee Williams was treated when she pointed out that proper meeting procedure was not carried out. (There was a rapid vote on Police Merit that was so sloppy that Dr. Adams had to rescind his vote because it was so confused) I noticed that any time a question that might be deemed too copious for Mosby’s comprehension, she directed Ms. Hargis to answer it for her.
      Ms. Mosby, as so called Madam President should not openly advertise for FC Tucker by uniform or drinking utensil, and shows poor etiquette and disrespect for her position. (how she came to be President of the City Council, one can only guess) Her constituents be damned, it appears, as she no longer has any interest whatsoever in their interests, now that her own have been served.

  2. Chairman Faulkner’s Vanderburgh County Democrat party will remain in dysfunctional chaos until they finally remove from the party all the disloyal office holders involved in the treasonous backstabbing of Rick Davis and remove the recent rouge Democrats like Weaver.

    • Faulkner needs to quit. He sold out to Missy and Weaver and the Republicans. Now he’s all butt-hurt that Missy gave the City Council lawyer job to a Republican. He needs to take his raw hiney and move on!

      • If Falkner resigns, Mosby may end up as Chairman to complete Mayor Winnecke’s brilliant dismantling of the opposition party. The Mayor is far more politically cunning and ruthless than his chicken dance act suggests. It is very impressive that Winnecke has taken complete control of a City with a majority of Democrat voters.

        • I guess it is possible that Missy would wind up with the chairmanship, but she’d be hard put to get enough votes in the caucus to win. I don’t think most of the true Democrats who comprise the Central Committee would vote for her. Many of them see her for what she is.

          • LKB, understand but Mosby with Weaver support would likely be the next Demo Chairman absent a viable option. Who else comes to mind as that viable option? Scott Danks? Steve Melcher? Adrian Brooks?

  3. Would you prefer they just let Geary run over the City to get what he wants like he did his Employees at Ellis Park when Busted the Union Employees. Karma is a bitch.

    • Looks like Geary is the one passing out the Karma. You better believe he has another deal cooking and everybody will loose except him. Remember how Winnecke didn’t mention any problem keeping the Icemen until right before the election. I think he already knew they were leaving.

    • Now we have a useless hockey rink that looks goofy set up for basketball. Who didn’t see this coming a mile away?!?!?

      • Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel?
        Our Democratic city council members who voted for it?
        The union brothers and sisters who demanded the arena?
        Many liberal activists like you and me who screamed our bloody heads off that we needed the arena RIGHT NOW?

        It is true that Evansville’s progressive forces failed to foresee this, but it is only taxpayer money, after all. So who really cares? Think of the jobs and graft we could create if we tore down the Ford Center and built a new basketball-only arena!

        J. Coddington “Comrade Hugo” Fetlock IV
        Maximum co-coordinator
        Organizing for Idiocy
        Evansville Cell

    • Not a hockey fan or a City resident BUT, Winnecke started all of this when he gave $20 mil to the hotel guy, who really knows how much the total will be for the IU project and a bunch to D-Patrick. On top of that, he gets an advance of $25 mil from the Riverboat people. While I think Geary is probably not the greatest guy on the planet, he is just wanting on the gravy train as well and likely is not really asking for “all that much” compared to other handouts.

  4. “…we were told that Missy Mosby and Jonathan Weaver better forget selling or listing any houses in the 4th ward? …”

    I suspect that the absentee landlords who own 90% of the housing stock in the 4th Ward (and whose primary sales market are other absentee landlords) could care less about what happened at that meeting…

    • Deltabravo,
      I think the absentee landlords are somehow much more connected to the council than one might expect. This landlord group seems to be effectively taking advantage and the council and administration supports there practice of promoting blight with no effort to hold the property owners (land lords) accountable.

      • Oh I totally agree, Mr. Lumley. The Editor seemed to be implying that the residents of our center city would somehow bring down their wrath by (in part) not selling or buying houses listed by M. Mosby or J. Weaver. My point was that a boycott of real estate sales by 4th ward residents would be a moot point, because they are not the folks buying or selling homes in that area.

  5. Evansville City Ordinance
    2.175.020 Membership of commission.
    (A) The Police Merit Commission shall consist of three members who shall be resident voters of the County. One member shall be appointed by the Mayor, one member shall be appointed by the Common Council, and one member shall be appointed by the Police Department.

    The FOP gets one pick, not two. The mayor gets one pick, not two. There is no exception noted in the law to get around this by having a compliant majority on the City Council although they can vote in whoever they please, within the law, if they have the votes. It is likely that blatant reshaping of the makeup of commissions for political reasons would come under tough scrutiny by a dispassionate third party.
    
 Indiana is a limited ‘home rule’ state but this would seem ripe to be decided by a judge. A legal principle called ‘Dillon’s Rule’ guides many court decisions as to the limits of a city’s self-governance. Dillon’s Rule gives great weight to the power of the state over municipalities.

    Among other things, the Indiana Code has this to say about the makeup of the commission:

    IC 36-8-3.5-6

    Section 6 (b)
    Each commissioner must have been a legal resident of the unit for three (3) consecutive years immediately preceding the commissioner’s term and must be a person of good moral character.

    • Bandana,
      Maybe when they swear him in they will just have him swear he meets all qualifications and that will be good enough. Who will challenge it? Nothing else gets challenged. It is a new Age we are no longer all adults. You have to treat the public and officials like kids. I was told yesterday that you have to praise in public and then discuss issues in private behind closed doors. Hargus spoke at the council meeting that we have to vote for and not against. I say grow up – if there are two choices – admit you voted against Rev. Brooks. Kids play?

    • Bandana

      Excellent catch on the State law about three years.

      So even if the new City Council attorney argues the “registered voters” part by having him registering to vote BEFORE being sworn in, unless Brandon moved here in January 2013 before 01/11/2013, he cannot pass the State law.

      Do you concur?

      PS: Damn great research

    • Thanks for the information, Bandana! I understand Mr. Scott moved here from Philadelphia fairly recently, and it does seem that when one moves into a community with the intention of doing good things that registering to vote is one of the first things they would do. Surely, they would do it within less than a year of moving. Mr. Scott needs to come forward and explain himself or resign.

  6. The travails of the Icemen are all about money. If the rent, player salaries, operating expenses, and travel are not covered by revenue, then something has got to give. It is entirely possible that the costs to run the team even with free rent will not produce a profit. If that is the case, this is a failed experiment that will eventually shut down.

    The Otters reportedly lose about $100,000 per year. To do that year after year the owners have to be willing to subsidize those losses. It does not sound like Ron Geary is willing to subsidize the Icemen any longer. That is his prerogative as owner.

    Sometimes dreams and fantasies just don’t work out. In many cases the people who had the dreams and formulated the fantasies never admit it. Geary gave it a 5 year try. If he can’t sell enough tickets at prices that cover his costs, I don’t blame him for cutting his losses and leaving. That is how markets work.

    This is no different than having 300 people show up to the Kansas concert a few years back. Just because some politicians want a market to work does not guarantee that it will. Welcome to reality.

  7. Geary,— now wants the taxpayers to subsidize his “Icemen” business,–that is to say,– PAY– him to keep a failing business afloat with the hard earned money that the citizenry of Evansville–WORKS FOR– everyday , to pay their bills, food, clothing, shelter, schooling for their children, gas for their car, medical bills, and yes, Taxes. Evansville’s leadership are fools if they give in, and pay him Tribute to grace the community with his “Divine Presence” . Damn, —they need to Show some balls,—– and tell him to hit the road!

  8. Bandana, does Mr. Scott qualify under the 3 year residency requirement? Courier & Press reported he is a Philadelphia native who relocated to Evansville from the Atlanta area to work at Ten Adams in 2013.

    • Joe & Classy,
      My reading of it is that sometimes city ordinances that don’t track with the state law on matters like these are OK, sometimes not. I guess a judge would consider it, giving weight to that Dillion Rule that seems to favor state law.

    • Joe

      See the minor detective work I did a few minutes ago.

      Per the 10 Adams website, he came to 10 Adams October 13, 2013.

      http://www.tenadams.com/ten-adams-thrilled-announce-newest-addition-team/

      My supposition is that if the State law Bandana provided is accurate, then he cannot comply with the three year part of it IMHO

      The glitch that many point out is that darn “Home Rule” crap that runs everyone ragged all the time. Sometimes you can, sometimes you cannot, it is maddening.

      If you are bored or a law nut like me, look at pages 7 and 8 on the attached PDF

      https://www.ipfw.edu/dotAsset/c78253c7-7f49-4d54-b3aa-6c44ccd4d8db.pdf

      • Weaver recruits a non-qualified resident and non-qualified non-voter (you know what I mean) to the Police Merit Commissioner to replace a Reverend that served for 19 years and wanted to continue to to serve the community. What’s up with that Weaver cat? Crazy wild stuff.

      • The same section of the state law that calls for the 3 years of consecutive residence also calls for a 5 member commission for police or fire dept. merit boards. So…if the local ordinance making them 3 member commissions has stood, the residency requirement might have already been adjudicated in favor of the local ordinance. But maybe not.

        Section 1 of IC 38-8-3.5 also says that ‘A municipality may exercise the power of establishing a merit system for its police or fire department under this chapter or by ordinance adopted under IC 36-1-4-14 (which deals with establishing [by ordinance] the merit systems and presumably their administration boards). To wit: ‘A unit may hire and discharge employees and establish a system of employment for any class of employees based on merit and qualification’. (The possibility of establishment by local ordinance is provided for in the state law).

        So, it seems this ‘unit’ that we live in has some discretion in the establishment of its police and fire merit systems and their administration. We shall see.

        Adrian Brooks has been a community asset and deserved better treatment. I’d like to see a judge rule on Brandon Scott’s eligibilty, if it hasn’t already been decided.
        ~~~
        Thanks for the PDF.

  9. What happens when the icemen leave town and the Ford Center sits idle during those 36 times when it before at least there was an opportunity for it to make money? I recall seeing data that the place was a big loser (along with Victory and Centre) already. If the hockey team takes their rent away and they lose the concession monies from those 36 events, I think things are really going to be grim.

    I haven’s seen the detail about rent on the place for hockey compared to U of E, circus, etc. so its very difficult to know if the hockey team is being treated unfairly or not. I do know that the amount of rent in Evansville is the highest in the ECHL (according to RG which I tend to believe). I also wonder why the prices went up a few weeks back in the Ford Center as I was under the impression it had to do with the re-negotiated contract with the hockey team but obviously that was incorrect.

    • You are right in your observation of the never changing situation,– the Ford Center continues to be a rat hole for public moneys,– no matter how you cut the cheese,– but taxpayers be damned,– Geary will get HIS cheese from the Deal and that’s the important thing. —–Isn’t it?

  10. I think people are upset over nothing. Rev Brooks will go being Rev Brooks. If anything Rev Brooks will become more outspoken than before. Rev Brooks church holdings in the different not for profits will expand under this city council. This city council will restore the cuts in the non-profits programs from the last council. Mr Scott has met with Rev Brooks and will seek his counsel.
    The off duty fireman incident with the two police officers has finally come to an end in Federal court. Does anyone know what role if any Rev Brooks played in this incident?
    Everyone take a deep breath. Everything will be alright.

    • It still goes to show incompetence of the new council. It also adds to the narrative of the dirt bag shady backhanded dealings of Weaver, Messy, etc.

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