LETTER TO THE EDITOR: MEET THE REAL GAIL RIECKEN

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MEET GAIL RIECKEN BY LAURA BLACKBURN

Gail Riecken has dedicated to her life to serving others. When Gail graduated from Indiana University, she gave up a lucrative career in the private sector to join the Peace Corps. While in the Peace Corp, Gail worked with poor families in the Dominican Republic. Early on in life, Gail knew serving others was her calling. Gail is dedicated to improving Evansville, growing jobs for working families, expanding manufacturing, rebuilding infrastructure, and completing city projects that will move our city forward.

Indiana House Legislative Accomplishments

Gail Riecken was named the 2014 Legislator of the Year by a nonpartisan group. Gail is known for reaching across the aisle to work with both parties and especially independents. Throughout Gail’s career she has united people, not divided them.

  • Financial Institutions Committee: Gail has worked to improve the financial stability of Indiana’s families. She authored a bill (now law) that provides incentives for Indiana’s families to save money.
  • Ethics Committee: Gail’s job was to investigate wrongdoing by fellow colleagues, including members of her own party.
  • Family, Children, and Human Affairs Committee: Gail co-sponsored the Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Bill, co-authored a bill to increase health and safety protections for children in day care, and was the author of a bill to improve school bus safety, and co-sponsored a youth trafficking bill. All are now law.
  • Prescription Drug Abuse Committee: As a member of the committee, Gail was dedicated to reducing prescription drug abuse, which is a major problem in Indiana.
  • State Commission on Improving the Status of Children: Gail worked with legislators across the aisle to form this commission to develop initiatives and improve services to protect Indiana’s children.

A History of Improving the Evansville Community

Gail Riecken has been involved in Evansville community organizations for decades. She takes pride in serving her city and the people that live there. Gail has spent the better part of her life trying to improve the lives of others, her community, and the city of Evansville.

  • Pigeon Creek Greenway Advisory Board Member and Chair of Marketing/Education
  • Ark Crisis Prevention Nursery Co-Founder and Co-Honorary Chair of first Fundraising Campaign and Steering Committee Member
  • Church Membership Directory Committee
  • Local and State Child Abuse Prevention Board Member and Task Force Coordinator
  • Family and Children Services Board Member
  • Conrad Baker Foundation Director
  • Preservation Alliance Board
  • Original Evansville Preservation Commission Member
  • Evansville Dance Theatre Board President and volunteer Manager
  • HOPE of Evansville President
  • Riverside Neighborhood Association Co-coordinator
  • Citizens Against Rape in Evansville President
  • Welfare Board member

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18 COMMENTS

    • How about that sow in Kentucky who when she didn’t get her way just refused to do her job? $10 says you supported that. Riecken was fighting for the middle class, not mythical ideology. Graph decline in the middle class and decline in union membership. They’re almost identical. Reagan’s war on the middle class was just being continued by Pence and Bosma and Reicken did her part to try to stem the tide. Sadly, if we can’t get citizens united repealed, it’s all over anyway.

      • Hmmmm, when the other party tries to prevent a vote on laws they’re called “obstructionist”.

      • It is OK to use our usual derogatory terms for women when we are in the men’s club at Organizing for Idiocy headquarters, but you must realize that some in the general public will criticize us progressives for using terms like “sow” to refer to women.

        I also had no idea that the Kentucky clerk had fled Kentucky and traveled to Illinois, where a labor union paid for her hotel room! The conservative media must be concealing the real truth by pretending that she didn’t go anywhere except the jail that a judge put her into! Thank you for your vigilance and broadcasting this important news!

        J. Coddington “Comrade Hugo” Fetlock IV
        Maximum co-coordinator
        Organizing for Idiocy
        Evansville Cell

      • You would loose that $10.00 The KY clerk was elected to do a job, Just as Gail was. BOTH decided they didn’t want to do that job. They are the same in my book.

    • She went to IL to fight Right to Work and to protect the same groups that are now rewarding her by kissing up to Winnecke. Stick to telling us about the police and sheriff’s departments.

  2. Dear Will, Gail went to Il. To protect all working citizens of In.not just the unions. If your republican friends succeed in breaking the unions all working People will be working for Minimum Wage. Oh that’s right they want to do away with that too.

    • Press,
      No offense but that rating is pretty slanted and not well defined. I know some of these people personally or have at least spoken with them regarding issues in person or on the phone. Have in fact worked with a few on policies and actions concerning betterment of the place we formerly lived taking the matter through the court system and much more. And many of these ratings are too general and vague to be of any value and some of them I have to totally disagree with. Just my opinion but too much time and energy is spent placing people in classifications (conservative, liberal, right, left, libertarian, extreme ad nausium) when more time should be spent learning about the individuals in a more accurate and personal way. No one I have ever met is all one way or the other.

  5. Laura did not say one negative word about Gail’s opponent.

    Instead of knocking Gail, how about touting the current Mayor

    Look at all the great things he’s done for Evansville and the Tri-State it would have to be very easy to list them all out.

    • It is an easy one, BB! He picks up trash once each month and he made a very inspiring video in a delightful chicken suit. Of course he always makes sure there is a camera close by to catch his selfless labors.

      • Yes, I am very disappointed over the Republican Winnecke removing so much trash from the streets. This is a blow to our efforts to create the image of decline so vitally important to drive businesses and Republicans out of the city!

        It is also quite dangerous. Just the other day, I had to collect two of our finest activists from the landfill after they had been swept up in the Republican Winnecke’s trash-cleaning operations.

        J. Coddington “Comrade Hugo” Fetlock IV
        Maximum co-coordinator
        Organizing for Idiocy
        Evansville Cell

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