IS IT TRUE OCT 10, 2016

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IS IT TRUE we hope that individuals attending tonights 2017 Budget hearing will publicly ask City Controller RUSS LlOYD JR if the money earmarked for the City retirees Healthcare fund is being deposited into the City’s General fund instead of being deposited into separate fund for City retirees?

IS IT TRUE if Finance Chairman and 1st Ward Councilman Dan McGinn (R) and 2nd Ward Council President Missy Mosby (D) decides not to allow members of the Evansville Police and Fire Departments to speak at tonights City Council meeting we hear that a group of private citizens will file a formal complaint against McGinn and Mosby with the State of Indiana Public Access Counselor for validating the EPD and EFD Constitutional Rights of Free Speech?

IS IT TRUE we hope that tonight members of the Evansville Fire and Police Departments will stand up and take on a couple of know the all’  Councilman head on and finally put them in their places?

IS IT TRUE we read with interest an article in the Courier and Press entitled “Zoo Could Lose Nearly Half Its Animals”?  …out of the blue Zoo Director Amos Morris claims that deferred maintenance issues may result in the loss of Accreditation and loss of Zoo animals is an obvious budgetary scare tactic?…we wonder why Zoo Director Amos Morris didn’t address the current status of his funding requests for the new Penguin exhibit, Mesker Park Amphitheater renovations and the new Carousel project at the Zoo during his newspaper interview? …we find it interesting that Mr. Morris granted this budgetary “Doom and Gloom” interview with the Courier one day before Council is considering adopting the 2017 City budget?  …we wonder if an under the table political deal was made with Morris that addressed his alleged deferred maintenance issues?  …you now know why many members of the Fire and Police Departments are saying that the Mayor and Council members are selecting “Zoo over City Employees”?

IS IT TRUE we wonder why Zoo Director Amos Morris didn’t provide the Courier and Press with detailed information concerning how much the Zoo lost in 2016?  …we also would like to know how many paid patrons visited the Zoo in 2016?

IS IT TRUE its time that Zoo Director Amos Morris finally realize that overwhelming majority of Evansville  taxpayers prefer giving more  money to our Fire and Police employees instead of giving it to the Zoo?

IS IT TRUE  last week we posted that “we wonder why EVSC School Board member and EPD officer Jeff Worthington is no longer the police liaison officer at Mater Dei High School”?  …since that post we received many phone calls concerning this post?  …all we know that EPD Officer Jeff Worthington has been the Mater Dei High School liaison officer for about 15 years and seemly was doing a creditable job in that position?  …Officer Worthington is running for re-election to the EVSC Board and some of our readers want to know  why he is no longer the police liaison officer at  Mater Dei High School and has been reassigned to a 3rd shift position with the EPD?

IS IT TRUE that the politicians in Washington has mandated a new law that will terminates all Employees Healthcare Plans in existences before March 10, 2010? …when this happens it will drive future Healthcare cost through the roof? … the Mayor should start putting money aside to off sit the large budget deficit facing the 2018 City Employee Healthcare program?  …we hope that this evening members of the Police and Fire Department will demand that City Controller Russ Lloyd Jr explain how the Mayor is going plan to address the major deficits issues in the 2018 City budget?

IS IT TRUE when the Evansville City Council approved the 2015 City budget? …Mayor Winnecke and the leadership of Council met a numbers of times to craft it?   …during the 2015 calendar year the Mayors directed his City Controller to write checks to pay for all operational expenses 2015? …during the 9th month of the  2015 budget year the Mayor informed the leadership of Council they have a $8 million dollar budget shortfall and need to borrow $8 million dollars from the Riverboat and Rainey Day funds in order to pay employee wages, Healthcare costs and other bills? …that Council quietly loaned the $8 million the Mayor requested?  …we wonder if the Mayor every re-paid the $8 million dollar loan back to the City?  …this sounds like this is the same thing that happening to the  2016 City budget?

IS IT TRUE that the “JUST IN: FIRST RESPONDERS TURN THIER BACKS ON MAYOR AT PARADE”  article posted in the CCO got an amazing 11,028 reads?  …that 4,142 read article in Facebook and 6,886 read it in the CCO?  …when certain members of the Evansville City Council and the Mayors office says “nobody reads the City Council Observer” all you have to say is you don’t say?

IS IT TRUE we hear that the 2017 Homestead Tax Credit grab issue will haunt Mayor Winnecke’s and some City Council members in future re-election efforts? … past supporters of the “StopThe Consolidatio movement have begun to remind the voters of the County about the major role that Mayor Winnecke played in trying to merge City and County Governments and his behind close door deal to grab the Homestead Tax Credit when he was on the County Commission?  …we are being told that candidates for State and County offices that have been endorsed by Mayor Winnecke better beware of the political raft of past supporters of the “Stop The Consolidation” movement and members of the Evansville Police and Fire Departments?

IS IT TRUE we are also being told that candidates for County and State offices endorsed by Missy Mosby,  Jonathan Weaver and Dan McGinn are also going to experience the political raft from members of our Fire and Police Department  at ballot box?

IS IT TRUE we wonder if the County is still paying for the empty space that once housed the County jail? …if this information is correct the Vanderburgh County taxpayers have paid the Vanderburgh County Building Authority millions of dollars for this space since it was vacated by the Sheriff’s Department?

IS IT TRUE we urge you to vote in todays “CCO READERS POLL” because you will find the question very interesting?

FOOT NOTES: Todays READERS POLL question is: WHO DO YOU FEEL IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE MEMBER OF EVANSVILLE CITY COUNCIL?

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37 COMMENTS

  1. There is that deferred maintenance confession again. Negligence is more like it. Parks, sidewalks, roads, water mains, sewers, just to name a few are deteriorated. I guess a penguin exhibit will fix it all just like some ball fields and a hockey rink did. This is like a dysfunctional family where the kids can’t get lunch money because dad bought a new bass boat and mom spent the rest on shoes. The call for a penguin house at the same time that half the animals may be taken away is absurd.

    • Can not disagree with you more!!! Winnecke must spend money foolishly ..why ..because he collected $2.8 million on donations and that my friend requires payback. So, the kids will go without lunch and next year count on breakfast and dinner.

    • They could book the Ford center for their song and dance. It will have an opening.

    • Joe, Spot on. Mesker Amphitheater forever closed due to chronic lack of repair. Zoo now swirling down the bowl. But, on the happy rainbow and unicorn side, the City is pouring $16+ million for silly bikes lanes for North Main St.

  3. As much as I feel that a zoo COULD be a shining jewel for a or any city if it is done right. I have resigned myself to the fact that a city subsidized zoo in Evansville will not work.

    Basic services cannot be sacrificed for a ‘nice to have’.

    With the mess that Evansville’s in due to the past 50+ years of local government at its finest, we don’t deserve one – plain and simple.

  4. I agree. Zoos are rapidly becoming a thing of the past for humane and financial reasons and Evansville
    as usual, behind times.

    • Yet they never pass up an opportunity to add to their ‘collection’. Seems last night at the presidential debate somebody sent Famous Amos in with his butterfly net to get an Alpha Penguin to start seeding the exhibit. There is some anectdotal evidence that B. McGinn was on the other end of that net but he could not be coaxed out of the margins and into the photo .

      https://s26.postimg.org/b1mjt6kjd/Zoopie.jpg

  5. I say, “SELL THE DAMN ZOO”. The fact that they would NOT be able to find a buser should tell you that the zoo is finished. I don’t remember the exact figures but I read that the city gave the zoo $112,000.00 for some emergency maintenance repairs and have appropriated another $900,000.00 to bring it up to pat so the zoo will be able to pass the accreditation inspection. This is on TOP of the $4,200,000.00 that the city budgets for operations. All for what? Took my grandkids to the zoo this summer and had lunch at the zoo. I ordered a soft drink and received a 12oz. Fountain drink for $3.00. When going back for a refill on the small drink, they said there are NO refills. A total ripoff. Like I said at the beginning, SELL THE DAMN ZOO!

  7. Did anyone watch the disaster some called a debate last night? Oh my god what a free for all. First time in the History of the USA that one candidate threatened to put the other in jail if they won the election. I think that there are laws against doing that. I think that Obama should have his FBI and other Judicial Officials give Trump a taste of his own medicine. Say they order the IRS to really investigate Trump. Was it not the IRS that finally put the Chicago Mobster in jail some years ago. It’s time that someone sat Donald John Trump down for a time out. The man is deplorable and despicable.

    • Trump vowed to prosecute and imprison her. The entertainment value of a Clinton show trial is enough to carry the election.

  8. I say shut the Zoo down. They don’t have the money to run it properly so sell it to someone who can or shut it down and ship the animals back off to the other zoos which lent them to our zoo. We don’t need no stinking Penguin exhibit here in Southern IN. Keep the Penguins up at the North and South Poles as they have no business in Southern IN. The voters need to throw out the city council people that think that adding a Penguin exhibit to the zoo is more important that funding the Police and Firemen.

    The Fraud Center and other stupid projects are starting to take it’s toll. Just imagine how this city would be doing if not for the money that Gambling brings to the City. If not for the extra millions of dollars the city would be bankrupt now.

    • The situation with police and fire fighters is bad, but it looks like the public employees’ retirement money is downright blood-curdling.

  9. There could one last BBQ and Beer event. Better to eat the animals than lose them over neglect. Menu could include the following:

    Bongo Burgers
    Antelope Steak
    Monkey Brains
    Snake Soup
    Lion Eyes
    Tiger Treats
    Ostrich Wings

    And many more delicacies.

    • Shame on you, Joe! We should find them new homes, not eat them, but they should go and go soon.

      Saturday, while doing my grocery shopping, I overheard two elderly ladies talking about getting rides to church the next day. The one lady was telling the other that she and her daughter would pick her up. They went on to talk about how happy they’d been when they heard that we were going to have Sunday bus service and how they wondered if it would still happen.

      • the above continued…
        We should be thinking about funding things like that, instead of penguins, dog parks, and bike lanes. Maybe Missy Mosby needs to start advocating for walkable neighborhoods and public transit in the Second Ward, since she claims to be so “constituent” conscious. The priorities of this Mayor and City Council are indefensible.

      • Surely you know I was joking.

        One of my companies is working on an Uber solution for wheelchair transport. His first customer is AAA. Do you know what happens when a wheel chair friendly van craps out on the freeway? They tow the people inside the vans. It is illegal as heck but the police have to look the other way since the only other option is to leave them on the side of the road.

        Maybe your elderly friends would use such a service.

        • Of course I know you were joking!

          The ladies I was talking about didn’t appear to have the money for a taxi, nor did it appear they would need any special type of accommodations. For many people who need wheelchair transportation, Medicaid picks up the tab, but only for trips involving medical treatment. These women were concerned about maintaining a maximum degree of independence on a fixed income. They want to go shopping or to church independently and Evansville is not helping them the way many big cities do. In fact, Mets has raised the price of a bus trip by “cutting” the price of a ticket to 75 cents, but doing away with free transfers. For most riders, that translates to a round trip costing $3, instead of $2.

  10. Dear Editors

    You should go to the State of Indiana Public Access Counselor’s website and review the Indiana Open Door Law, specifically Page 11 where it states:

    Do I have the right to speak at an open meeting?

    The ODL does not guarantee the right to speak at public meetings. Although an individual has the right to attend and observe all public proceedings, no specific statutory authority allows an individual to appear before and address a governing body. A governing body may choose to provide an opportunity for comments or discussion at any time or may allow a limited number of comments or limited amount of time for comments on matters under consideration. During certain meetings, a provision for public comment may be required by statute.

    I think you should help inform citizens about their true rights. The Public Access Counselor has addressed this numerous times, and the public is NOT guaranteed the right to speak.

    If you wish it to be otherwise, then State law needs to be changed.

    https://www.in.gov/pac/files/pac_handbook.pdf

  11. I am not an expert on zoo funding but the gloom and doom that has recently been presented by the zoo administration should take the penguins off the list of expansion until the zoo becomes stable. Penguins are not a revenue generating stream nor a quality of life issue.

    • Looks that way. Judging from the debate, it looks like all Pence could teach Trump was how to scowl while he prowled behind Hillary. It appears that Trump has emboldened Pence’s propensity for lying.

      I notice PAK is absent. He must have had an emergency session with his therapist this morning.

  13. They’re heading for the door.

    Poor Eddie Munster Ryan still wants it both ways. He’s bi-Trumpual. Wishy-washy. A phony. A vampire like the Transylvanians Baron and Eric Trump. Preacher Pence has nowhere to go. Indiana isn’t exactly sending out a search party to bring him back.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/11/us/politics/donald-trump-gop-hillary-clinton.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=span-abc-region&region=span-abc-region&WT.nav=span-abc-region&_r=0

  14. It looks like Ryan is going to keep supporting Trump, at least until he needs glasses. He is going to have to take his guilty pleasures behind closed doors or be embarrassed by them.

  17. Hey, anybody else notice a distinct lack of PussyPress today?

    Today is an official government holiday. Could it be that PussyPress works in the Civic Center, maybe on the 3rd floor?

    • And if anyone agrees with that thought, I say we start hounding ol’ PussyPress to give us which room he works at in the Civic Center…

      elkaybee, what do you think?

      • My theory is that he’s having to see someone because he can’t deal with reality of Trump”s implosion.

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