IS IT TRUE January 8, 2013

IS IT TRUE that Indiana’s most tradition filled college football team, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish earned a spot in last night’s BCS National Championship by winning every game on their schedule when no other team in college football did so?…this 12 game schedule included some patsies but also included victories over some highly ranked teams like Stanford (likely #4 or #5 in final poll), Oklahoma, and pre-season #1 the University of Southern California Trojans?…many of the games were close but in the end the Irish prevailed and finished the season 12 – 0?…the same Looney Toon character sports commentators who openly said the Louisville Cardinals did not deserve to be on the same field as the Florida Gators were predicting a sound beating for Notre Dame before last night’s game?…the Looney Toon crew was right last night giving them a 50% accuracy rating in bowls where they did not approve of the matchups?…it is unlikely after the sound thrashing that Notre Dame got from the Alabama Crimson Tide last night that the final poll will place the Irish at #2?…a final rating for the 2012 season will most likely be no higher than #4 and no lower than #10 for Notre Dame?…watching last night’s game it was clear that there are probably at least 10 teams in Division 1 football that would have beaten them in that game?…that none the less when teams like Notre Dame, Louisville, Northern Illinois, and Wisconsin play by the rules and win the games they have to win to make it to the BCS they deserve the privilege of playing in the bowl game they earned a spot in?…we can all be proud of the accomplishments of Notre Dame this year?

IS IT TRUE the hubbub over the planned trip by Mayor Winnecke, the First Lady, and others to Amsterdam and Osnabruck has prompted a full disclosure that the Winnecke-McClintocks will be paying their own way and have always planned to do so?…at this time no members of the City Council have signed onto the trip even though there is apparently $10,500 in the official 2013 budget of the City of Evansville to assist with expenses?…we will assume that all of the private sector people who sign on to this trip will be paying their own way?…there is nothing to prevent some of the $16,000 total for Sister City activities being used to pay for anyone’s travel but after the dust up we expect any plans to do that will be scrapped?…the nagging unanswered question remaining about the $16,000 that was placed in the city budget under the heading “sister city” is WHO PUT IT THERE AND WHAT WAS THE INTENTION FOR THIS MONEY?…the official itinerary had nothing at all that even had the appearance of economic development on it?…if a legitimate economic development opportunity that fits with the talent base of Evansville is on any table anywhere, then it is appropriate for the City of Evansville to pay for the trip which should be made by the most qualified person available to do the city’s business?…any employer that refused to pay for a legitimate scheduled business trip is not worthy of working for?…any employer that pays for vacations is cavalier with the shareholder’s funds?

IS IT TRUE we reiterate our offer to any and all former Mayors of Evansville who have gone on such trips to publish their success stories where real jobs happened here, real commerce benefitted local business, or even what they think might happen as a result of Evansville’s Sister City programs?…we expect that the silence will continue as tangible results are hard enough to get from target businesses much less from Mayors?…we encourage our readers to think about the following question, “what would you think if the Mayor of Evansville arranged for job creation in Germany”?…we ask you if that would be appropriate?

IS IT TRUE that Councilwoman Connie Robinson was nominated and elected to serve another year as President of the Evansville City Council?…her most favored sidekick Councilman Dr. Dan Adams was nominated and elected to be Vice President?…that Councilman John Friend, CPA who was spotted wearing some “BAMA” gear last night was appointed by Robinson to another year as chairman of the finance committee?…the CCO is hoping that better oversight and real transparency will become closer to reality during the 2013 session of the Evansville City Council?…that 2012 was the year that all the wheels fell off the bus called Evansville when it came to oversight and transparency?…as much as 2011 was a year about discovering neglect and realizing that much has been done behind the veil of secrecy in the past 2012 was the year that the depth of the problems of incompetence of planning, oversight, and execution in an atmosphere of secrecy was completely exposed?…2013 can be a year of starting to correct the legacy of moronic governance if only the Office of the Mayor, the City Council, and a herd of nearly 300 appointees will resolve to do so?…the CCO and our herd of Moles will be watching?…the days of that old excuse of “I didn’t know” are over?