IS IT TRUE November 6, 2014

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IS IT TRUE the elections for 2014 are now over and before we start paying attention to the 2015 elections when the governance of the City of Evansville is up for election we would like to reflect a bit on what happened on Tuesday?…from a 30,000 foot level the local and state elections provided few surprises and will result in little if any change in the way things are done with one notable exception?…that notable exception was the election of Bruce Ungethiem to the Vanderburgh County Commissioners?…though Ungenthiem ran as a Republican and was strongly opposed in the Republican primary he brings to office an ability to analyze problems, formulate solutions, and implement those solutions at a level that this area hasn’t seen since last year when CORE successfully ran a campaign to repudiate the good old boy land grab of Vanderburgh County by the City of Evansville and its Mayor?…running a project with little money that is long on brains and execution is something that local government needs at every level and the CCO expects Ungenthiem to keep up his excellent ways even if the Mayor starts another land grab program called annexation?

IS IT TRUE the school board race results emphasized the aversion to change that the voters of Vanderburgh County often have and endorsed the status quo?…even though the EVSC did release some good news with respect to some performance improvements the majority of the old board is back and will keep things the same?…we hope that the highly paid brilliant ones at the EVSC can continue to improve the schools in spite of keeping the the majority of the same old board?…the fact that the EVSC has 5 failing schools this year and the locations of these 5 failures is getting very specific with the perennial failures of the Glenwood Leadership Academy, Washington Middle, Caze, and Lodge all located in the parts of town that are dealing with gunfire, neighborhood blight, high unemployment, violence, and drugs?…statistics would support a conclusion that these four schools along with the Academy for Innovative Studies are handed children that come from households that could use major improvements in parenting skills?…fixing such schools is difficult but there are models out there for success and we hope to see something other than the names of the schools changed to raise the failing grades?

IS IT TRUE the City of Evansville did get a piece of good news yesterday in finally announcing that Fisker Dynamics will be establishing an auto parts manufacturing business out behind the old Whirlpool building that will employ 169 people?…the workforce they seek is here and is hopefully willing to work for $19.61 pew hour so this can happen on schedule?…when the tally do government incentives were added up the hand out is only about $15,000 per job which is a good deal in a world where numbers upwards of $200,000 are not uncommon?…congratulations go out to GAGE, Mayor Winnecke, the Coalition and to Fisker Dynamics for choosing Evansville?

IS IT TRUE the national election was anything but an endorsement for the status quo?…the Republican Party that a scant 6 years ago looked like it was dead and buried under the euphoria of hope and change is now in control of both houses of congress?…this was no surprise as the polls had predicted this but the margins of victory indicate that nearly every undecided voter must have broken for the republicans?…it now looks like the US Senate will go from a 55-45 democrat majority to a 54-46 republican majority when all the votes are counted?…this was not because people have changed their ideology, this happened because people are sick and tired of words without the ability to back them up?…exit interviews stated that the do nothing senate is what people voted to change?…some blame this on Nevada Senator Harry Reid for clamping down on votes to keep President Obama from being forced to flame up his base by voting for some popular bills like the Keystone pipeline or tax reform, while others blame Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell who will most likely take Reid’s job as the head of the senate?…the buck will stop where Harry Truman put it in the next congress and that will be with the President of the United States?…it will be interesting to see how the President reacts to having to make tough decisions on issues that have broad support but are not popular with the democrat base?…we can expect bills for corporate tax reform, repatriation of offshore cash, and keystone early next year?…these would have all won at the ballot box yesterday but not in Berkeley and Santa Monica?…President Obama has two years to cement his legacy as either a partisan or as a person who is willing to collaborate to make good things happen?…he said today he would do the later, but this writer will believe it when he sees it?…it is no coincidence that 28 of the 60 democrat senators who voted for Obamacare will be gone from the next senate?

IS IT TRUE  in an election in Coachella, CA the value of a single vote was driven home last night when a sales tax initiative for capital projects and economic development failed by a vote of 979 – 978?…Coachella is economically similar to Evansville but only has 42,000 residents?…complacency won with less than 2,000 votes being cast in a city of that size on a referendum of much interest?…the price will of course be paid in crumbling infrastructure and the loss of several growth initiatives?

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86 COMMENTS

    • I don’t have a problem with Mike, but to answer your question about that race: It was a 3 man race for two positions. Mike Duckworth & Andy Guarino are the only two candidate that had any campaign activity. You would not have known Brian Murphy’s name until you opened the ballot.

    • How about the votes from the union members who get paid to build unneeded new buildings and gyms and renovate or upgrade the rest for the EVSC. You know, the projects that Duck supports, even though the EVSC enrollment continues to decline. The only way to get rid of Duckworth is a heart attack or a speeding semi..

      The list of all opposing candidates were either selected from school administrative retirees by the EVSC administration, incumbents or political amateurs who thought it would be fun to run for a “non-political” office. ‘Scuse me! The future of our children shouldn’t be treated like a hobby.

      Several candidates had over 30 years of employment with the EVSC and didn’t manage to get anything that made a big difference done. How can they become the BOSS of the superintendent, when they have spent 30+ years being a “yes-man” to him?

      Rance Ossenberg was the principal at Washington Elementary, one of the schools graded “F” by the State Board of Education. Andy Guarino was a PE teacher, then headed the ADULT EDUC. programs, including the GED for 3O+ years. Did he try to get anything done to keep kids from needing GED classes?

      Smith has a powerful machine in place when you consider the ETA, unions, EVSC Foundation and businesses that might lose lucrative contracts if they publicly support anyone who might ask questions and refuse to vote for useless projects.

      Question: WHY would anyone spend big bucks for billboards and TV commercials for a job that pays only about $4,000 per year, and then only if you attend every meeting? If you miss a meeting, you forfeit the pay. WHY????

  2. Even though I have benefited from it property tax wise for many years now, the truth is that many residential areas surrounding Evansville should have been annexed into the City many, many years ago. Examples: all along Oak Hill Road north of Lynch Road and including Melody Hills and the fancy fenced in area between Oak Hill Road and Green River Road and south of Heckel. That should increase the city’s tax revenue.

    • I agree,– and reluctantly accept the facts of Life and politics, mean the same misgivings will always be a part of the process. Give the Politicos more money? We know they will spend it, that’s a given, but will they spend it wisely?–Evansville’s Leadership Record says–NO!—
      Therefore, I see the residents of those areas— fighting Winnecke “The Incompentent”,— like the dickens!

      • Owensboro & Henderson as well. Sustainable Utilities balancing. Logistics by highway accesses also. Evansville needs to work the eastern corridor at Gateway improving that’s logistical value and revenue return with actual growth. More sustainable, and would work at holding population migrations from the Vanderburgh county residential property concentrations.
        The annexation might lower the water utility cost for the county customers you’d have to give them the city rate reductions. So its pretty clear what the regions best metro options are for effective CSO Mandate actions. Working the Old downtown first trends to border area migration due cost of living and working logistical availabilities.
        Start by working the eastern commercial logistics corridor maintain the county residential balance. Hold’s the cross line migrations and increases commerce revenue with usable throughput accesses.

        • I saw yesterday where Henderson is working on a new Master Plan and is accepting input from the public. Imagine that, a city that listens and plans instead of grabbing, dictating, covering up, and firing without aiming.

          • Winnie and Steve need to tell them how it’s done. Clearly you can’t let the local yokels have a say in how you spend their money!

          • Yep, Glad that’s finally clear, that’s why the metro mentality should rule …oh my…………….”fool.”

  3. Keystone pipeline….. a few temporary jobs for foreigners to build a line that will ship Canadian oil to China. Yeah, that’s a real panacea. Oh, and surprise surprise. Not even a full day of trading after the election and oil shot up 2%. It’s all a game. It was lowered for a couple months to secure a victory for big oil’s meal ticket, the GOP.

    • Ghost, It is called globalization!

      China owns that sand tar pits in Canada.
      China wants to pump that slurry across/down our Plains states.
      China wants us to process that slurry so we dirty our air.
      China wants to then sent it to our gulf ports.
      China “will” ship the final product to their mainland.

      United States gets:
      Dirty air from the nasty process of extracting that oil from the slurry.
      Surface damage from leakage along that route.
      Possible contamination of the major aquifer along that route.

      United State citizens will not get:
      Any of that product.
      Reduction in fuel prices. (the Mideast oil nations are currently in talks about reducing world oil supply to stem the turndown of crude prices)

      What the legislative backers of the Keystone Pipe line will get:
      $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

      • The reason that oil is so far under $100/barrel is that the Saudis have decided to settle for smaller profits on a barrel of oil. It costs them about $30/barrel to produce, so they’re settling for $50/barrel in profits. US produced shale oil costs $100 to produce.
        Keystone will be a white elephant by the time it is built, but one big spill from it could drive the price of safe drinking water to $100/barrel. This is a huge environmental risk that can’t be undone by changing the leadership in Congress.

    • I think history may teach us that the oil price was manipulated down to keep Putin in check. Normally I may have agreed with you but conditions are different this time.

      • Good point Vlad but I also figure since Iran is Saudi Arabia’s mortal enemy, with the nuclear negotiations coming to a head, what better way to put the total amount of pressure on Iran than keeping the price low since Iran must sell oil for more than $100 dollars a barrel to even break even.

        I haven’t read this anywhere but that’s how Reagan broke the Soviet Union back then by getting Saudi Arabia to keep the price at $10 dollars back then.

        Interesting thought regardless……

    • Xenophobia is not a good reason to block the pipeline. China will get the oil with or without it. Further more, the supply will drive prices down. If the democrats are afraid of China, then why not propose legislation that would secure the oil for our use? Of course the left wing nuts would be against that also. It seems to me that the Chinese are thinking more clearly than our leaders. They are reaping the benefits of capitalism for their people and securing what their industry needs to be a global leader.

      • I’ll pull up the exact vote later enoch because I have to leave but it has been voted on to keep the oil here and naturally the Pubs voted unanimously against it. I know quite a bit about the pipeline so I’ll fill you in later:
        “Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) offered an amendment to keep oil from the Keystone pipeline in the U.S. — echoing a failed amendment from a markup last week to keep natural gas tapped in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for domestic use.”

        • Your post fails to include the body of the bill Markey’s amendment was to be attached to, thus making any correllation between the vote and your post questionable at best.
          We look forward to the exact bill to be amended upon your return.

      • Here is one vote enoch followed by another but the third one is what takes the cake to me:

        KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE:
        Voting 173 for and 254 against, the House on February 15, 2012 refused to require that petroleum products made from crude oil shipped in the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL pipeline be sold in the United States. The amendment was offered to HR 3408 (above).

        A yes vote backed the amendment.

        INDIANA
        Voting yes: Visclosky, Donnelly, Carson
        Voting no: Stutzman, Rokita, Burton, Pence, Bucshon, Young

        BAN ON OIL EXPORTS:
        Voting 162 for and 255 against, the House on May 22, 2013 refused to prohibit U.S. oil companies from exporting crude oil they receive through the Keystone XL pipeline or petroleum products made from that oil. The underlying bill HR (3, above) has no requirement that the Keystone oil be used to bolster America’s energy independence.

        A yes vote backed the amendment.

        INDIANA
        Voting no: Visclosky, Walorski, Stutzman, Rokita, Brooks, Messer, Carson, Bucshon, Young

        OIL SPILL LIABILITY PAYMENTS:
        Voting 194 for and 223 against, the House on May 22, 2013 refused to require firms receiving tar-sands crude via the Keystone XL pipeline to pay into the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, just as other oil companies must pay a per-gallon fee into the fund. This Democratic motion to HR 3 (above) sought to amend a 2011 Internal Revenue Service ruling under which tar-sands oil is exempted from having to support the fund.

        A yes vote backed the amendment.

        INDIANA
        Voting yes: Visclosky, Carson
        Voting no: Walorski, Stutzman, Rokita, Brooks, Messer, Bucshon, Young

        The bad thing about tar-sands is it sinks to the bottom in a spill where ordinary oil can be skimmed from the top but it’s all Red States aquifer that touches 6 of their States so if they aren’t worried about it, no need for me to.

        • Well being indexing Regulator. The analysis is clear. Good someone else sported that mess, we see it every hour, and every day throughout our data recovery points.

          Those are not location specific, we look for the un-intruded mix with that. Real science, not the pocket scat normally boasted by the industry funded studies.
          With todays working science even that’s tough to bend, most thinking scientists however the particular given grant is funded, will leave plenty of open clues to those whom actually can understand the data as recovered by standards applied.

        • Do you have a source Reg or are you a Keystone pipeline junkie? I would like research it more. Never the less, Xenophobia is not a reason to block it.

          • If I haven’t said this in the past, I’m saying it now; There is no way I’m as intelligent as you so please explain in WestSide lingo just what you just said.

            Please…..

          • Where’d you get the poop on the bills you posted man? Do you just get your kinks out of the pipeline?

            Just because they ain’t no westsiders gettin’ the oil is no good reason to not fix up a pipeline.

      • IE, seems “supply and demand” does not control oil prices in the global economy, but what the “market can bear”. Seems I have seen this in a post of the past here!

        • Arms, oil is a commodity. Supply and demand has an indirect effect on the price.

          • Its a fossil fuel, IE and never forget the implication. Its changing, don’t allow yourself to be left out. That’s a personal choice but still a choice everyone should be offered.

    • Ah, Ghost, I can always count on you to find the black cloud instead of the silver lining. The Keystone pipeline shows promise to increase jobs at the refinery in Wood River/Hartford area in Illinois and the oil storage area at Cushing, Oklahoma; two towns I am very familiar with, as well as several other areas that it will touch, not to mention the long-term energy independence for the USA.

    • Just checked the ticker. Oil is down by about 2% today. It just looks like a trading range to me and unrelated to the election.

  4. It appears from the lead story in today’s Evansville Courier&Press that the Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation has landed on a solution for achieving a better score on the State’s A-F school performance grading system.

    No intelligent person, who follows urban public school education, would ever subscribe to the one year percentage changes represented in the pie charts displayed in the article.

    Increasing A grades, and decreasing F grades will certainly look impressive to State authorities who will never take the initiative or the time to look further into the matter. At least EVSC is hoping they never take the time to look deeper at this miraculous one year turnaround.

    • Could it be true that the EVSC used the same playbook after seeing the success that the city leaders had with the state audits?

  5. Bruce U. accepted money from both Parke and Winnecke for his campaign. He laughed and said Parke is his friend now (after accepting the money), despite Parke’s endorsement of Abell in the primary.

    Machine: welcome your newest member, bought and paid for.

    Editor: please don’t attempt to rationalize the acceptance of the money by saying that it depends on how much total money was raised by the candidate, because a small percentage of money accepted wouldn’t “buy very much influence”. Reminds me of CCO’s rationalization for accepting Vectren ads (” it promotes energy conservation”). Sure it does.

    • Looks like the adage “keep your friends close and your enemies closer” might be in play here.
      Possibility by them both?

    • ‘Machine: welcome your newest member, bought and paid for.’

      Yep, no amount of situational moralizing can explain it away.

      When Indiana’s senators were Birch Bayh and Vance Hartke they were sometimes referred to as Bayh and Bought.

      Speaking of bought, the new jobs coming to Evansville are paid for with our tax money. We will also have the pleasure of making up the tax liability our new corporate neighbors are escaping. Winnecke and GAGE are very generous. Corporate welfare runs rampant in Evansville. I’ll allow that it is the surest way to get a company to site here. Or a hotel maybe built. Or a new restaurant to plop downtown.

      • I just hope they don’t take the money and then move the plant somewhere else like the solar windmill blade company did.

  6. Now that the election is over, we will be hearing about the new position Marsha Abell will be landing. That is, unless she is launching a campaign for an office in the 2015 election.
    I do hope that the dirty Parke money that BU accepted doesn’t keep him from doing what is right for the people of Vanderburgh County.

  7. May had been a olive branch to Bruce. Why is there always that mentality of once a opponent, always a opponent?

    Had Bruce accepted a boatload of cash from the “relators” groups, I be like you. We had relators in local government for too long, pushing road improvements and other infrastructure on the dime of the taxpayers.
    This setup the “cash cow” for the relators to collect their percentages on the inflated price of land and buildings!

    • Comes down to a matter of character. You can’t be half-pregnant when it comes to accepting someone’s money.

      Also, relators ? That is someone who files a False Claims Act lawsuit to recover government monies. Do you mean realtors ?

    • What’s a “relator”? Is that a relative of a politician?
      Or did you mean “realtor”? (I won’t capitalize it and put the the little “registered” thingy next to like they like because they’re not really professionals, they’e just machine beaters with tan coats.)

    • “Splitting hair” I see, but yes, “realtors”. You people still knew where is was going with the above post!

  8. This line in the piece on Fisker Dynamics caught me:

    “the workforce they seek is here and is hopefully willing to work for $19.61 pew hour”
    From all the “now hiring” and “help wanted” banners and billboards along Hwy 41 I would say to Fisker,,,Good Luck With That.

    Why is it with such a low labor participation rate there are so many “help wanted” signs,,,,I wonder if the POTUS made notice of this on his ride up Hwy 41.

        • Good answer. Heard one of our largest employers just let a group of people go because their pee was bad.

        • I have seen otherwise good people/workers screw up with those drug test. Never have figured out why they choose taking a chance getting popped by a random/incident/yearly drug test. You would think a good job be worth more, and just enjoy a few beers vrs. what makes them fail.

      • Work is a quaint idea to some. That said these new jobs will be picked up by people already In the workforce with good work records and clean urine.

      • They won’t pay 19.61 per hour. Notice the average number. That includes CEO and board members. It probably also includes some bogus inflated value benefits.

        • Absolutely true, might add the available facility listed by article, has no controllable balance in HVAC. Period. Like it was for distribution for Whirlpool its a concrete slab with a roof, today that requires some inputs by the good local fitters and like the __ord center downtown, even that’s debatable, per.
          The throughput logistics need help. The local tax supported feeds to bypass to Berry’s global distribution is good for that. Only if given the actual throughput logistics based on a projection for area accesses to the I-69 future projection national balance.

          Conclusion: Due; Vanderburgh county Metro growth staffing; “projections” that’s revenue end points for the less scientifically informed.

          Planning fail’s due point contact bias, and non preparation of presented or forecasted expected logistical flow rate’s.

          Steve, tell the Kid make the parties run for Mayor in 016. We can support that, and you damn well know why.

        • What will it take to make you happy about these jobs? We will see how it rolls out, but for now, it is 169 workers earning an average of $19.61.

          • True and no beef with that, its the gamesmanship and fluff sported by something that is just so mundane and mediocre by most national metro standards. So what, someone’s actually doing something you all have paid for,and lost money out the butt over. And for the most part, without the improvements, as seen from afar, will most likely repeat the process again.

  9. The media is a powerful tool that is used daily to manipulate people’s thoughts and ideas.

  10. The last time the country experienced positive, sustainable growth that wasn’t based on smoke and mirrors or high monetary inflation was when the Republicans last controlled both Houses of Congress and a Democrat was in the White House. Maybe Obama will take a cue from Clinton and face up to the fact he didn’t have many good answers on the economy so far.

    Repatriation of offshore capital is a big issue that can be addressed easily. Hopefully that gets done first.

    • Reducing tax rates so companies didn’t have to form offshore companies in the first place should be a priority.

      • Corporate welfare, corporate thugs, corporate extortion, makes Al Capone appear to be a two bit bandit!

        • It’s greed pure and simple. It’ll be couched in more benign terms but it’s still greed.

          They’ve picked the low hanging fruit, blown the tops off mountains and dug the easy coal. Pumped the easy oil and now it gets trickier. Drilling in deep water, making it up as they go along. Dangerous fracking for shale gas with no regard for tainting the groundwater, spending whatever is necessary to con the locals into signing on. Drilling deep under ice with no idea what to do when the inevitable disasters occur. They have no plan when things go wrong as we’ve seen many times before. They say they do, in fact are often required to submit a disaster plan before starting, but cleanup is the very farthest thing from their minds. What they show the permitting regulators bears no resemblance to anything that would work. It doesn’t matter, everybody’s on board, it’s just paperwork. Stamp it.

          Indigenous people in Canada and the US have met with some success in slowing down the complete implementation of Keystone by invoking long ago signed treaties. Courts have found their positions legitimate but they are generally unable to enforce their rights in the face of bought legislators and corrupt local governments. The big extractors wear them down. The earth’s capacity to absorb the filthy byproducts of greedy capitalism is finite. The people who worship at that altar simply do not care. Allowing things like Keystone to go forward push the more extensive use of renewables back by years. The price for using renewable energy is now in a lot of people’s range but the extractive industries aren’t quite done yet. Their persistent desire to continue to rake in big money off of dirty energy sources keeps clean ones from meeting their potential. By the time they have mulcted their last dollar and dug their last black rock it might well be too late for earth. Keep sending people like Mitch ‘I’ll stop the war on coal’ back to congress, you’ll start looking like him before long.

          No tax policy forces companies to stash their money offshore. Unending corporate welfare doesn’t sate them. Greed drives their moves, not any allegiance to their shareholders. In fact, in a candid moment many of these outfits, ‘these people’, would probably agree that they abhor having to give their shareholders a cent.

          • Two UTC’s balanced and offered for fair barter, for fare trade. Entropic content as cosmic law demonstrates. every millisecond.
            Of course @Bandana understands the aspect ranges, and the event horizons.

            Time is only relative to ones defined borders. @Bandana the global “analytical” consortium would only ask, not to demand the conceptualization of the answer. We know it, they however, don’t, so that’s relative to how much one would give advantage to what could and is consistently referred to as an assholes understanding.
            Assholes, “anal outlets”, are incapable of understanding, the people whom you have spoken of and too know that.

            We want your answer, but as you know, don’t give’em the specific answer. Hold that to the teachings, and the dance.
            Hey, let’em ponder that, inside the limits of those owned imaginations for now.
            Its a multitude of more fun to watch’um flounder and kick. We understand the bent. You’ll let’em go after the cause is learned. Easy, no pain, just direction.

            That works for us, and your burgeoning balance of UTC’s, as we write.
            Good you are taking that in as a “progressive relative.” Don’t think those who oppose your understandings quite get that yet, as well. 🙂

      • They don’t “have ” to, they choose to. It’s just like nobody has to rob a bank. It’s just an indication of lacking morality.

    • I agree completely on the repatriation of capital. Any policy that forces a company to offshore its cash out of fiducial responsibility to its shareholders is just insane. That is what we have right now.

    • Brad linzy is back! How are your crazy ramblings being received in that conservative bastion england?

  11. Is it true that the “Blue Angles” will be back next year as being reported? Could it also be true that new signage will be going up soon at 6th and Main for the Vectren Theatre Plaza?

  12. How much do the Blue Angels earn for the community while they are here above and beyond what would be earned by the event without them? It better be over the $170,000 that they charge. I just can’t see it. Not my cup of tea I guess. Sure it takes talent and practice on their part but I don’t get the attraction of craning your neck watching planes fly over. Oh yeh. That’s right. I did not grow up in Evansville during the time when if you didn’t go to the Shrine circus or to see the Blue Angels you were not “Evansville.” I think I am glad I missed that.

  13. Oops!!! My bad.
    Blue Angels are the NAVY. The THUNDERBIRDS are the Air Force show team.

    Why not try to alternate them for a variety of thrills?

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