EDITORIAL: REBIRTH OF CORE

CORE has just announced that they shall be sponsoring a “Community Roundtable” aimed at gauging public interest in the formation of a group that would study current events, community issues and government activities in Evansville and Vanderburgh County?  CORE has invited the general public to attend this “Community Roundtable” discussion of local issues to be held at 5:45 p.m. on Tuesday, May 24, in the meeting room at the North Park Library, 960 Koehler Drive?

The City-County Observer staff was very happy to receive and immediately share the news with our readers on Saturday.  We think the news is too good not to share immediately. The CORE group that so successfully opposed the bid to consolidate City and County governments is reorganizing itself as a nonpartisan taxpayer watchdog group to serve as a voice for the citizens of both the city and Vanderburgh County, and we believe this is the perfect time for them to do so.

This news is especially welcome as it comes on the heels of the dismal outlook presented at the last City Council meeting by Kelley Coures, who tells us that Evansville has spent the last five years losing population and falling further behind the state’s median income. This happens at a time when we have a City Council that that functions primarily as a rubber stamp for Mayor Winnecke’s agenda, The public has been effectively muzzled by Missy Mosby in her capacity as the President of the 2016 City Council by exercising her discretion as to whether or not speakers can address the Council for a maximum of three minutes. She is quick to remind everyone that Council has no legal obligation to hear them at all. While it is true that Indiana law makes no provision for public input on issues before the Common Council, we believe it is the implicit duty of our lawmakers to hear and consider the thoughts and wishes of the governed.

City Council meetings are the appropriate venue for the taxpayers to address their concerns and for the Councilors to consider the various stances. Too often, we are seeing a carefully planned presentation by civic groups who have been coached by city staffers, usually DMD employees, that support the opinions that have been pre-sold to them. There are a few groups, UNOE, the Chamber of Commerce, Evansville Brownfields Corp., ERC and ECHO are examples, that have seemly been chosen by the Mayor and Ms. Mosby to be the only legitimate spokesmen for the public. In reality, those groups represent a membership that is a small sliver of the populace, but they can be depended upon by the “powers that be” to come to Council and present a performance that is as well-choreographed as a Rockettes’ routine.

The public is unable to depend on the mainstream media to serve its interests, because the professional distance that should be kept between elected officials and a couple members of the media has been breached irreparably. The fraternization between a couple media members and officeholders is clear for all to see on most nights in the Haynie’s Corner and West Franklin Street area bars, where they can be seen drinking and socializing. It’s hard to take a stand against the people in your social circle, so we don’t hear about the negative behavior of our officials.

We believe a local group that has the means to present research and arguments that may run counter to the agenda that is being pushed by the Administration is needed more than ever before. From what we have observed of CORE’s past accomplishments, this is very likely what the “Silenced Majority” needs in order to have a voice in the spending and goals pursued by local government. There are some political partisans who will argue that the voters had their say on election day, but we believe the voters should be heard on all of the important decisions made by both City and County elected officials. This organization will give everyone who has a vested interest in growing and enriching the area a chance to be heard. It is time that the public hears and discusses both sides of the projects that have just been packaged and sold to interest groups in recent years.

The City-County Observer has frequently made reference to the quote by Thomas Jefferson that “When the People fear government, there is tyranny, but when the government fears the people there is liberty.”  We believe the time has come for the people to capture the attention of our elected representatives and band together for good public policy and against political patronage, cronyism, and nepotism. This organization has the potential to do exactly those things.

It looks like we may be experiencing the “REBIRTH OF CORE” in the making!  We urge everyone who can to attend the CORE sponsored discussion concerning “good public policy”  on May 24 at 5:45, at North Park Library.