IS IT TRUE October 19, 2012

35

The Mole #??

IS IT TRUE October 19, 2012

IS IT TRUE a well known investor and realtor has privately estimated the value of the Robert’s Stadium property at around 3.5 million dollars?…this realtor said commercially at the low end the land would be worth around $200,000.00 per acre and around $300,000,00 per acre for retail use?…another point on Robert’s is that the sale generated around $184,000.00 to the city after costs but banks typically figure that assets when sold at auction are only 10% of their actual value so the actual replacement value of the items sold would be around 3 million dollars?…that squares pretty well as it was reported that the fairly new $6 Million scoreboard only sold for $6,000?…this investor/realtor said that the auction dramatically devalued the building as it would cost several million dollars to fix and replace what had been sold at the auction?… the asphalt is a valuable and even though Rudolph has provided a quote to remove it for free that is not a deal as it has more value than just the removal fee?…Rudolph will in all likelihood remove it and sell it back to the City of Evansville next year at a premium cost when they repave the streets?…there is a lot of oil in that soil from the asphalt which will entail environmental costs?…it will cost another 500,000.00 or more for soil replacement?…that one does not have to mow asphalt and if you were buying a property to put a business or a retirement center on it would make more sense and cost less to cut out the areas to build and use the existing parking to possibly save millions on repaving?…the intentional destruction of Roberts Stadium by the last two City of Evansville administrations has set the bar pretty high for a colossal combination of malfeasance and in-your-face aggression with the people’s money?

IS IT TRUE that the race for Vanderburgh County Treasurer is heating up at a time and in some ways that we at the CCO hopes do not degrade down the slippery slope of character assassination?…that we and many other fellow citizens have known Susan Kirk and Rick Davis for many years and hold both in high esteem as people and consider them to be competent and professional in their duties?…the taxpayer dollars will be in safe, honest, and cognizant hands no matter which of these fine people is elected?…that we encourage both of the candidates and their supporters to refrain from any personal attacks on anyone, to allow the candidates to make their best positive assertions, and to let the people decide with their votes which one of these good citizens they prefer to serve as County Treasurer?

IS IT TRUE we are pleased to report that the daily reports of the Evansville Police Department continue to stay under 10 pages after rising to over 15 pages during the 2010 – 2011 time period?…this drop in size started in late summer and has continued?…this is giving us hope that perhaps the crime rate that had been rising in Evansville for several years against the national trends is coming back to earth?…it must be acknowledged that a binge of murders earlier in the year is likely to skew the statistics for murder up in 2012 but are crossing our fingers that the new trend of less crime is real and sustainable?…we wish to congratulate the EPD for taking a confessed 20 year serial sexual battery perpetrator off of our streets?…George Schmadel is reported to have told EPD officers that over the past 20 years he has committed sexual battery over 130 times in Garvin Park, Sunset Park, and Wesselman Park?…if finding needles, condoms, and drug paraphernalia was not sufficient to shake the Evansville Parks Department out of the coma of non-performance it has exhibited for many years MAYBE 130 COUNTS OF SEXUAL BATTERY WILL GET THEIR ATTENTION?…the solution for such utter neglect and failure in our parks is not to build more parks?…even Forrest Gump could figure this out?

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35 COMMENTS

  1. Agreed that our man and women in blue are really doing a lot better job of making Evansville safer.

    New Chief of Police is one good readon things are improving.

  2. …and don’t forget, the Council is just going along with it. I find it hard to believe they would continue to be a rubber stamp for an Administration that clearly has an agenda other than what’s best for the people of Evansville.

    They have covered up and shared in the budget fiasco, they brought us Earthcare, Johnson Controls… I mean, we are less than a year in to their Administration and what do we have to show but a string of failures, some so seemingly willful as to suggest not only are they dead set on driving thie City into the ground, but they are in a right hurry about it!

    The Council needs to take responsibility here and stop the destruction of Roberts while the level of losses are still manageable and they at LEAST still have an excuse to cover their asses, i.e. that the demolition estimate was way off and they were misinformed about their options from the outset by this Administration.

    • By the way, just to clarify, the second paragraph of this comment was directed at the current Administration, not the CC. I should have specified.

  3. do you actually pay attention to what is said at the meetings and what is written, because your don’t seem to indicate it.

        • In that case, I may be wrong about this, the latest meeting minutes aren’t on the Council’s website yet, but don’t they still have to vote on the financing? Or is that the vote they took Monday?

          Either way…the responsibility was/is theirs for how this has gone down.

          • How is this CC’s responsibility? Did CC tell the Building Commission to stop making repairs on Roberts two years ago? Did the CC tell the ERA to sign a finance/TIF agreement that all seats would be removed from Roberts? Did CC decided to auction off millions of dollars worth of fixtures in Roberts for pennies on the dollar? Was CC supposed to vote down last year’s budget in its entirety because $200k was put in for demolition? Is CC supposed to vote down this year’s budget because of the addition of $500k for demolition and deny employees their raise while bringing government to a stand still? The only vote that CC gets to make is whether to transfer $187k from the general fund to demolition. The administration already has $700k towards the total $850k price tag. There is enough money in the Parks Dept’s account to make up the difference even if CC denies the transfer. The responsibility for “how this has gone down” rests almost exclusively with the prior administration. The current administration and the new CC were backed into a corner on this issue by Weinzapfel and the last CC. The time for this fight was when the Ford Center was being financed. There’s almost nothing that the new CC can do. You are painting with a very broad brush when you just blame CC. There are 4 new members of CC that had nothing to do with this piece of crap deal. There are 3 of the 4 that campaigned on keeping it and have voted against transferring the $187k. They will probably vote against it again, but the cards were stacked against them from the beginning. You really should watch. Many things were said during the last meeting about how it’s irresponsible and wrong to tear this building down.

          • Those minutes will never be published on the Council’s website. That was a special meeting of the finance committee and as such the only record is the audio tape in the City Clerk’s office, and the video tape at WNIN.

          • Thanks Coffee Break… Saved me a lot of time trying to look for them later. I’ve already tried seaching WNIN video archive and apparently they don’t even put those meetings on their website for streaming either, so if you weren’t present in the room and didn’t see it on TV, I guess you’re SOL.

          • Brad, I think WNIN replays it a couple of times over the week following the meeting. I think maybe they replay it tomorrow or Sunday some time or another maybe on channel 12 or 2 (WOW). Best thing to do is TVo all meetings because most of the lively and informative discussions take place in committee rather than in full session, and the City Council doesn’t publish minutes of committee meetings.

        • Maybe you should? The CC does seem to act like they care about how the money is spent. Yes, they put out nice “we care” letters on the CCO and to the public. Then the next meeting they roll over and do what the admin wants.

          • Yes, you do, I understand and I thank you editor for that many times over. I think the smell is deeper in the hole for sure. I just look at the CC as a group of people who are supposed to keep the smell from getting out of control and to stop it the first place. turns out they all smell and We The People need to Remove the SMELL in the local government.

        • Just the Facts:

          Here is the bottom line – the CC holds the purse strings, so yes, they are culpable in this. This idea that they fought against the Administration on this is ridiculous. Some may have stalled and protested aloud to cover their butts, but in the end, if they approve the budgets with the funding, the onus is on THEM as much as it is on the Administration!

          All the headlines from the Courier Press and the Associated Press has them “endorsing” the razing.

          http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/oct/15/s/?partner=RSS

          http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/2768df6fd33844e6a135ecca5420057a/IN–Evansville-Arena

          I haven’t seen any statements to the contrary yet from any of the members, which leads me to believe they are culpable.

          That is their job. If there is something in the budget that does not belong, they have the authority to amend it before approval. If they can’t handle that responsibility, maybe they shouldn’t be on the Council.

          This was a calculated attempt on the part of some members to gain favor for appearing to “oppose” the demolition and give the Administration a black eye by painting them as the only culprits in this. They are absolutely culpable. They have to approve the funding. If they do that, they lose the ability to throw stones next election. The stones will be flying at them, I assure you.

          • The CC is supposed to hold the purse strings. There are a mounting number of examples where Mayors have found ways around the CC as with the Earthcare deal, AuditGate fiasco, countless workarounds through the Evansville Redevelopment Commission, and the neglect of Roberts where the CC was grabbed by the short hairs to appropriate funding after the fact. Poor stewardship on the part of the Office of the Mayor has put the CC in several tight spots that they never should have been.

          • Ok, so what was all the hullaballoo about then when the City Council refused to approve Tom Barnett’s salary?

            Obviously, they can approve or disapprove salaries, so how do they get the rest of their funding if it’s not approved by the Council?

    • Highly slanted story…..the money vote still hasn’t happen so they can agree or disagree or whatever the C&P would like to write trying to sway public opinion. Till the official vote anything is possible, not likely but possible. 🙂

      JMHO

  5. Spot on CCO comment on Rick Davis and Susan Kirk. Both are good, quality public servants and both are opposed to consolidation. Mr. Davis much more visibly so with CORE. Some apparent YES supporters have made personal attacks against him. Very sad to see that happen.

    • I agree with you Joe except I don’t think you can say they have been personal attacks. They may not be nice but they haven’t said he beats his wife or dog. Attacking someones record isn’t personal.

  6. The CourierPress is nothing more than a “cheap trollop”, striking a pose, believing in their schzoid mentality that the C&P Company exists as the Voice of the Community, when in Reality they are only a voice IN the community, and a feeble one in this modern age, due to,– being their “Own Worst Enemy”.

  7. In reference to the opinion that the EPD reports are lessening is biased. I think the reports are less because we have the JTF,ATF,FEDS etc arresting criminals and these incidents are not recorded on the EPD reports as such.

  8. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    Date: October 20, 2012
    Contact: E. Wayne Parke
    wparke@wowway.com, 812-455-1685

    COUNTY TREASURER RICK DAVIS’ WORK RECORD IS DEPLORABLE

    (Evansville, IN) Rick Davis has long been known among Civic Center personnel as someone who is rarely at work doing his County Treasurer duties. Now, following a Freedom of Information Act request, 85 pages of electronic records demonstrate just how bad his work habits have been. It is deplorable. “Rick Davis is a full time elected politician, being paid a full time salary but only working part-time as Treasurer,” said Republican Chairman Wayne Parke.

    Over the last 12 months (October 1, 2011 through September 28, 2012), I believe the data contained in the electronic documents indicate the information below is an accurate summary account of Rick Davis’s extremely poor work record:

    1. Only one day in 12 months did Rick Davis show up to work on time (on or before 8 AM).

    2. When Rick Davis did show up for work, he normally showed up late around 10 AM. The records do not show how long he stayed at work once he arrived.

    3. Rick Davis never showed up at all 45 weekdays (Monday through Friday) during this 12-month period. That means he did not show for work at all about 18% of the time. Of the work days missed by Rick Davis most were Fridays and Mondays, creating a long weekend.

    4. When he shows up for work, Rick Davis has a practice of leaving the building and returning to the Civic Center at approximately 3 PM, shortly before quitting time. Normal quitting time for Civic Center employees is 4:30 PM.

    Rick Davis is an Elected, County Government Official who gets paid $63,088.00 a year. In addition to his salary, he receives 14 paid holidays, major medical coverage, dental & vision benefits, prescription coverage, group life insurance and PERF (Public Employee Retirement Fund) paid for by Vanderburgh County taxpayers. “Rick Davis’s salary and benefits are nearly twice the amount of the average Vanderburgh County resident,” said Parke. “Everyone else must get up and go to work rain or shine. Taxpayers deserve a Treasurer that does the same thing.”

    The taxpayers of Vanderburgh County are being cheated. As an elected official currently serving as our County Treasurer, Rick Davis needs to be setting a positive example for other office workers by giving the taxpayers full value for the money and benefits he receives. If Rick Davis worked for a business, he would be fired for his deplorable attendance. It is time to let Rick Davis go.

    • Let me say up front I like Rick Davis. I think he is one of the better office holders we currently have. He seems to have a genuine want for government to be transparent, and more importantly, he seems to be his own man. But the explanation Davis gives of entering the building by other means doesn’t seem to hold up that well, in all honesty. Who arrives at their place of work consistently on time, has other people open the door for them, leaves, and then comes back at 10:00 using a key card?

      10:00 isn’t even lunch time. I’d be interested to know how consistently this occurred. If it’s a trend, there is a possible alternative explanation, but I just don’t see it. The swiping in at 3:00 thing sounds like coming back from a long lunch to me.

      If Mr. Davis is accomplishing his job without issue, I think that lessens the argument of no work ethic; however, it sure lends a great argument for lowering the salary of that position seeing as the work perhaps can be done with minimal effort.

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