IS IT TRUE May 1, 2013

IS IT TRUE May 1, 2013

IS IT TRUE in ancient times legend has it that a city and its leaders with great ambitions and the labors of their subjects at their beckon call embarked upon a construction project that was to cement (or tar as some versions say) their glory forever as lords of the earth?…most cultures have such legends and some even have ruins to point to as lessons to their children not to spend their time and money of foolish pursuits of arrogance?…the legend is known to most of us who grew up with Judeo-Christian influences as the story of the Tower of Babel?…it seems as though many cities in modern America have at one time or another borrowed money and forced their taxpaying constituents to build their own versions of Towers of Babel?…Evansville has been guilty of erecting Towers of Babel in the past and all indications are that another such group of projects are about to be undertaken?…Towers of Babel seldom work out well for their builders?

IS IT TRUE the latest assertions coming from Mayor Winnecke’s office are that it is time to make haste and to not wait another hour before voting his administration the authority to borrow money to go forward with spending $37.5 Million taxpayer dollars (before interest and overruns) on getting a convention hotel in downtown Evansville?…the City County Observer agrees with some of the claims of supporters of this project with respect to making Evansville a slightly easier sale to conventions looking for a place to convene?…the 256 rooms proposed will indeed make a good resting place for 256 people who attend each convention we would not have otherwise gotten?…that is a drop in the bucket of attendees at major conventions?…while 256 Doubletree (3 Star hotel) may take Evansville a bit closer to becoming “Lord of the Flies” on the irrelevant convention circuit, it will not make us a major player?…for this reason and for the reason that public dollars should not be used to subsidize private business in a capitalistic society even though we recognize some value from this hotel, the CCO believes this to be a fool’s errand, a cover-up for a flawed Ford Center design, and the next monopoly piece in 21st Century Evansville’s TOWER OF BABEL?

IS IT TRUE that government has seen this rush to act many times and the most recent large and visible case being the rapid passing of ObamaCare jammed through the United States Congress without sufficient time to think or even read what it said?…then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi even had the arrogance and gall to state on camera “we have to pass it to see what it is”?…these words have become an albatross around her neck and a rallying cry to opponents to ObamaCare in its present form as the architects of the plan distance themselves and refer to its implementation as A TRAIN WRECK?…the willful failure to think things through completely and the rush to pass this subsidy before knowing the fate of the watered down proposal that Evansville government has made to the EPA mandate to fix our sewers is short sighted and deserving of a PRINCE OF BABEL award?…it is even more disturbing that the opponents to this rush to subsidy stayed on the couch or the porch Monday night when the parade of beneficiaries of such projects all showed up to sing praises to this Tower of Babel project at Monday night’s meeting of the City Council?

IS IT TRUE packing the podium with friendly beneficiaries is a trick mastered by the Weinzapfel Administration to make it look like the arena project enjoyed broad support and the Winnecke Administration is now playing the exact same cards?…the complacency of the public enabled the Weinzapfel Administration to have its way and if the public stays on the couch in silence soon Evansville will be borrowing over $100 Million to subsidize a hotel, read water meters from space, build another park or two, and who knows what else?…this will all be rushed through BEFORE WE KNOW THE RESULTS OF THE AUDITS OF THE FORD CENTER, ITS IT PROJECT, AND WHETHER OUR IMMEDIATE SEWER REPAIR BILL WILL BE $250 MILLION OR $600 MILLION?…this rush makes as much sense as a two year old urging its mother to spend the family food budget on candy and ice cream as opposed to good food?…these Towers of Babel are all going to happen unless the people of this fair city take the initiative to make their thoughts knows?…the adjectives to describe those who fall for the same tricks over and over are not flattering?…we shall know by the end of the summer whose Evansville this really is and if we are all to be treated to two years in Babylon playing out in downtown Evansville once again?