Last week the City County Observer discovered and published the fact that the Winnecke Administration held a committee meeting that resulted in a very select group of 10 City of Evansville employees being recommended for salary increases of up to 33%. The select group of ten was heavily weighted by the staff of the Office of Mayor Winnecke. Someone in the CCO knows nearly all of the 10 people singled out for these hefty salary increases and the forthcoming opinion on the process and judgment exhibited in these recommendations in no way reflects our admiration and support for competitive wages being paid to any on these people as individuals.
The salary schedules used by the City of Evansville are deficient, obsolete, and out of date. Exceptions and side deals have to be arranged to attract outside candidates to City positions. An exclamation point was put onto the paltriness of the City of Evansville’s salary offerings when the attraction of Tom Barnett by the Weinzapfel Administration in 2008 required a secret side deal with GAGE of over 50% of Barnett’s base salary to even be competitive with the towns of under 20,000 in locations with a lower cost of living. The salary schedules for Evansville needed to be adjusted upwards by more than 50% then and they still do.
The 10 who were singled out for large salary increases were already on the payroll with only 6 months tenure in their present positions. Attraction of talent was in no way involved in the committee recommendations. These are 10 people who knew what they were going to be paid when they accepted these jobs in January. To single out 10 people who for the most part came into the Winnecke Administration in January for increases while ignoring the skinflint salary schedules imposed on the other 800 or so City employees does not address the root problem and sets the administration up to look like the practice of cronyism is alive and well in Evansville. The City salary schedules were not upgraded by the Weinzapfel Administration and have thus far not been addressed by the Winnecke Administration.
The failure to address the non-competitive salaries offered by the City of Evansville in a transparent manner has been and will continue to be the reason that Evansville can’t even compete with smaller and less well off places like Gary, Indiana for talent. To refuse to deal with this situation is to tie a permanent albatross around the ability of the City of Evansville to compete on the world stage when it comes to attracting and retaining talent.
The United States and especially the rust belt of which Evansville is a part continues to be mired in a recession/depression that has wreaked havoc on municipal budgets across the country. The truth of the matter is that Evansville cannot at this time afford to bring all of the wages for City jobs up to national average standards. Evansville as a city is also faced with well over a billion dollars in required spending on infrastructure improvements like replacing aged water pipes and solving the combined sewer overflow issue. The money to make these improvements will have to come from tax and rate increases.
The Winnecke Administration is establishing a reputation for acting before thinking. First it was making deals with Earthcare Energy before seeking City Council approval and now RaiseGate. Earthcare was not vetted and neither was this. Is it too much to ask of elected officials to think things through before taking even the right actions in the wrong way?
2012 began in Evansville with much hope for new leadership that promised transparency, ambassador level marketing, and financial competence. What we have seen so far is simply more of the same old boy cronyism that Evansville has suffered through for over half a century. There is an old saying about being in the right place at the right time. These increases however merited they may be are done at the wrong time in the wrong way. Evansville with its debt levels at record highs and looming infrastructure costs of well over $1 Billion is surely not the right place.
These increases in the aggregate are small potatoes in view of the overall budget. The balls that we all need to keep an eye on are things like the $80 Million Johnson Controls deal, the $10 Million in new parks, and of course the Billion dollar legacy costs associated with failure to do maintenance. Those are projects where real talent that we can’t seem to find or afford can make a profound positive difference on the future of Evansville.
The most terrifying thing about the future of Evansville is that the elected leadership is not even getting the $50,000 decisions right yet they are in charge of the forthcoming billion dollar decisions.
There needs to be some kind of hierarchy of spending here. The skill of prioritizing seems to be lost on most government officials.
If times were good and those people were doing an exceptional job and the sewer was taken care of and Roberts had been sold like it should have been, etc… I can see maybe giving raises to keep up with inflation. As it stands now, no way should raises be given right now. If they can’t do their jobs at current wage levels then they should quit and find something else. I doubt they will, but if they do, I know for a fact the unemployment line is filled with people who would love to work for what they’re getting.
Wow-welcome back CCO!
This is the kind of “in your face” and “tell it like it is” editiorial from the CCO I love and respect.
I’m ashamed of the Evansville Courier for not taking a strong stand againt this kind of back room political “wheeling and dealing”.
Here we go again!!. These Employees knew what their Salary will be in the Winnecke Administration. They chose to accept these positions with the Salary. To now request Raises “to be competitive” is an absolute Travesty. What accomplishments have these Employees attained to deserve a pay raise. To merely say they should be given raises to meet Salary Levels at other Communities our size or less is simply unacceptable.
Mr. Winnecke, you should know better; You should do better; You should lead better.
I think you need to recheck your facts. At least 4 of these people have worked there for several years. If you are going to make statements such as these – you should at least be truthful and honest .
EVERYONE is replacable. No wonder most municipalities are going bankrupt. The idea that you need higher salaries to draw “talent” to goverment positions seems laughable. Government produces nothing!
Bottom line–Political wheeling behind close doors. Oh, the CCO had the guts to expose this unannounced back room political salary scam.
Wonder why the Evansville Courier isn’t taking an editioral stance on this issue? Maybe it’s because of advertising dollars!
Great Editorial. Hope the Winnecke boys catch on soon.
Goldentoe
Don’t stay up tonight and wait for this to happen.
Connie Robinson is in control of this city and not the Mayor.
What is so funny is that I hear from realible sources that Robinson openly tell people in her inner circle that she is in control of direction of this city.
4th Ward rules.
Let there be no doubt then that we are doomed.
Not a surprise when you look at the last election and do a little investigating and number crunching, in my opinion the 4th ward elected our current mayor going against a solid democrat voting history this in it self speaks volumes as to the power Ms Robinson wields in her ward….as they say, power corrupts!
Without Ms Robinson’s influence the 4th ward probably would have seated Mr Davis as our mayor…but that is JMHO.
The reason why Winnecke won the seat over Davis had nothing to do with influence over Ward 4. Do you think CR knocked on all the doors of the 4th Ward pleading them to consider a Republican for mayor when the majority of them were strong democrats? What you say is proposterous, silly even! I’ll give you that Politics in Etown is bloddy but there was a sequence of events that culmonated in a Reg winning that sear over a Dem………..JMHO! You said you did some number crunching. Can you tell me how many votes Weinsapfel got in 2008 against his Rep running mate? Then the votes Winnecke got in the bid for the mayoral seat against Davis………..just the 4th ward’s turn out? You have me courious now! Thanks!
LOL….right!, no need for (as you say) CR to go door to door when the folks will be coming to her to vote, a few will meaning sermons, a few scraps of paper with numbers on them handed out, a kind word or two, a few scare tactics, and a lot of hand shaking/pats on the back…
It has been stated several times that Mr Winnecke beat Mr Davis by a 700-800 vote margin after the dust settled and ward voting history was dissected, easily done in just one ward.
Fact is it’s a mute point now, we have Mr Winnecke elected as mayor, he was put in office by the democratic party and to believe anything else is just fantasy. What is preposterous is to not understand or try to deflect the truth that a republican was elected mayor through the hard work of the democratic party who would have elected anyone to keep Davis out of office.
Can you tell me how many people in the 4th ward voted a split ticket? and the voting history of that happening in the 4th?….
Just me being silly…but it is JMHO
Great job CCO on this outstanding Editorial.
Waiting for the Evansville Courier to follow suit.
I can’t believe that I voted for a weak person to lead this city. Sorry Rick Davis you weren’t elected Mayor of this fair city.
You are waiting for theC/p to make a reply? Don’t hold your breath, they don’t have any one smart enough to check out and write a report on that story. With no leadership at C/P what do you expect? Courier has been going down hill for the past year.
Way more than a year. They sat by during the entire Weinzapfel administration and didn’t peep a single critical word. We all know there was much to be critical about.
You would expect the Mayor would have learned his political lessons from Homestead Tax Credit deal that he, Marsha Abell and past Mayor cut behind close doors and Earthcare scam that he, Debbie Dewey and Connie Robinson cut behind closed doors.
Eric William for Mayor!
Looks like the Democrats sit up Winnenke to serve one term.
No big deal he shall have about $750,000 in his political war chest to use anyway he wants when he’s sent packing.
What a real idiot!
He could had done she much to turn Evansville around in a new and postive direction.
Eric Williams for MAYOR. Oh, the deal between Williams and the unions has been cut!
Wasn’t Steve Schaefer a big supporter wasting $5M on Earthcare? How does that merit a big fat raise? I guess next we will hear about Dewey getting a raise for failing to vet too.
I recently became aware of the benefits that people who work for the City of Evansville receive. The amount of vacation time they get is unreal. The pay is above all standard pay in their field of service. AND they can’t be fired or let go without the union filing wrongful termination lawsuits. WOW! Where does the employment line with the City begin? I want one of these jobs too!
DDD
LOL….and to think we were led to believe they were over worked and under paid, how about that medical program, with cheep meds for the whole family and a convenient office right in the civic center.
We all know salary is just one component of a benefit package that all city employees enjoy, now lets talk about the double dippers! 🙂
JMHO
I hear from a creditable source at the Civic Center that one of the “FAB 10” who didn’t get her $10,000 to $12,000 politically generated raise from the SAC Committee has threaten to resign for her position?
Many of the hard working under paid public employees at the Civic Center are saying under there breath is “don’t let door hit you in the A–“.
yes, get out here with the rest of us coolies-it’s not as easy as you think to stomp your foot and take your marbles home. And the grass is NOT greener elsewhere-but go out there and look, Little Sheba.
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