IS IT TRUE January 15, 2013

IS IT TRUE that President of the Evansville City Council just appointed 6th Ward City Councilman, Al Lindsey as the council’s liaison for the Fire Department?…we congratulate Council President Robinson for making this bold political move that shall force the Fire Chief and Councilman Lindsey to work directly with each other for the betterment of the Fire Department?…it’s also time for other key Fire Department Administrators to begin to treat Mr. Lindsey with respect?…we expect Mr. Lindsey to return the favors?

IS IT TRUE being encouraged by many people in local government, we are happy to report that two capable public servants have reconciled their differences?…that our “Civic Center Moles” have reported that At-Large City Councilman Jonathan Weaver and 6th Ward City Councilman Al Lindsey have quietly exchanged the olive branches of peace with one another last week?…that we hear that the conversations between Mr. Weaver and Mr. Lindsey were open, direct, honest, and candid?…that we believe both Mr. Weaver and Mr. Lindsey possess the ability and skills to join together and improve Evansville’s quality of life?…we are glad Mr. Weaver and Mr. Lindsey buried the political hatchet and have agreed to move forward in a way as to unify the City Council and tackle some of the more pressing issues facing our city?

IS IT TRUE that one of our Civic Center moles informed us that she has been told, by reliable sources, that 5th Ward City Councilman and Finance Chairman John Friend, CPA has been approached to run for Mayor?… that this non-partisan group asked Mr. Friend permission to organize a political exploratory committee for Mayor in his behalf?…that they want to gauge public interest in Councilman John Friend as a candidate for Mayor of Evansville?…Friend asked them to re-approach him in the later part of the year for an answer?

IS IT TRUE that the now mostly quiet president of GAGE Debbie Dewey spoke before the City Council last night to present an annual summary of what is going on with the economic development arm of the City of Evansville?…Ms. Dewey seemed pleased to report that there had been commitments for 425 jobs to be created someday but that “Job growth in Southern Indiana has been slower than national averages for several years”?.. that 425 jobs per year only represents about 0.6% of the total jobs in the City of Evansville and does not account for the losses of a mounting number of small businesses due to the recession and other factors?…it is not clear if the 300 or so jobs that were verbally trumpeted when the Earthcare Energy deal was prematurely announced are included in the 425?…one dirty little secret that is not talked about much is the fact that the Earthcare Energy deal is not fully ended yet?…Ms. Dewey also mentioned the value of the sister city relationship with Osnabruck, Germany in an opportunity she is working and went on to make the comment of the night when she stated that “”We have to kiss a lot of frogs to find the prince,”?…paying homage to the upcoming trip to Amsterdam and Germany by Evansville’s first family may constitute a kiss but that kiss is not applied to any frog?

IS IT TRUE that the unemployment rate in Evansville has officially come down faster than the national average even though it is asserted that job growth here has been slower?…both of those stated facts are absolutely accurate?…there is only one way to see unemployment fall fast when job growth is lags the nation and that is for the number of people in the workforce to drop even faster?…there are two ways that the workforce shrinks?…those are moving away or dropping out by retiring early or going on disability are the ways to have those two statistical facts happen at the same time?…a shrinking population and a stagnant job market have been the hallmark of the local economy for half a century now?…the problems that drive this spiral are too big for kissing frogs to repair?