We hope that today’s “Readers Forumâ€Â will provoke honest and open dialogue concerning issues that we, as responsible citizens of this community, need to address in a rational and responsible way?
IS IT TRUE that the City-County Observer is overjoyed to see someone from the mainstream media cast aside the rose-colored glasses that have defined local reporting for over a decade and call out the problems of the City of Evansville’s infrastructure for what it actually is?
IS IT TRUE that Courier and Press reporter Jon Webb has once again taken the legacy of local government to task over the looming utility bills that are facing the ratepayers of all who are subjects of Vectren and the City of Evansville Water and Sewer Department?…if the Courier and Press along with the local television stations and radio had taken this stance five decades ago and kept away from the Kool-Aid being served by a series of administrations, the current dire situation with respect to affordability may have never happened?
IS IT TRUE we thank Jon Webb and encourage him to keep informing the public about political malfeasance the way that the CCO has been since day one?
IS IT TRUE to paraphrase and project from where Mr. Webb started in his recent article on the looming affordability crisis with respect to electricity, water, and sewer we submit the following?…Mr. Webb accurately pointed out that the water and sewer bill of the average customer will increase 85% during the next three years, what he left out was that this 85% increase is only funding 1.5% of the necessary replacements for water pipes that are close to 100 years old and have been substantially neglected by every Mayor of Evansville since Roberts?
IS IT TRUE to scale the increase that we can expect due to replacing water pipes just multiply that 85% by 66 and what you will have is a monthly water bill that exceeds $2,000 when the pipes have been replaced?…$2,000 per month is sufficient to pay a mortgage on a $400,000 house at today’s interest rates and we all know that Evansville is not sufficiently affluent to deal with an average housing price of $400,000?.
IS IT TRUE to add insult to injury, there is another BILLION DOLLAR SEWER PROBLEM that is also on the mandatory list as the EPA has made very clear?…with that problem solved we may all be facing $3,000 monthly bills for sewer and water by the time our infrastructure has been made whole?…this is a looming problem for anyone who owns a home and for any government depending on taxing houses that may become worthless due to the operating costs?
IS IT TRUE that the other entity that Mr. Webb called out Vectren that already charges the highest electrical rates in Indiana?  …he pointed out that the ratepayers have been forced to pay for Vectren’s adventures in coal-fired generation and now we are going to get the cost of converting to natural gas before the coal investments have been used up?…there is really no end to the rate increases that the always Vectren compliant Indiana Utilities Regulatory Commission grants legislated monopolies like Vectren?
IS IT TRUE that Mr. Webb pointed out that only 20% of registered voters actually voted in the last city elections and that is always a formula for keeping the status quo in power?…that Dr. Einstein’s definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result?…that is what Evansville has been doing for at least 60 years?… Should INSANITY be a call to action?
IS IT TRUE it’s been alleged that immediately following the recent “Blue Ribbon Jail Committee” meeting at the Civic Center a member of that this committee contacted RQAW and asked them for a contract for the proposed jail renovation project?  …we are puzzled why anyone would take it up on their own to contact someone to send them a contract for the jail renovation since the committee hasn’t officially selected anyone to design and build it?
Paying for utilities is a problem? Restaurants are full and everyone has an IPhone or Android, cable tv, etc. If money is an issue then do this. I think people out of the city limits and out of county need to pitch in. They use our water, power and sewer when visiting, so add a tax to entities they use – motels , restaurants and so on. Let that money go into a pool to reduce the burden on residents. The pols can figure out how to do it- but I wouldnt trust Llooyd Jr to handle it. People move oyt of the city but come back to enjoy the infrastructure- pay up. Putting a toll booth at the city limits works for me.
Owensboro will love your suggestion. You have crafted a perfect plan to render Evansville to be evacuated. A toll to come to Evansville indeed. Stupid is as stupid does.
Just the opposite- if residents knew out of towners were paying a dollar surcharge at Ford Center and othewr venues for the sewers, etc, and restaurants paid .25% surcharge into the water/sewer infrastructure fund, I think they would love it. The “toll” idea was tongue in cheek – wow, took that bait. But you get the point and thanks for reading my stuff. When you drive on our roads and use our water, you pay. Owensboro wants to ” be Evansville” so bad. The past mayor about drove them to drink with his ideas $$. Evansville is IT!. Theyre outdoor concerts- its hot Don. Ford Center has A/C and a hockey team, concerts, rodeo, monster truck shows, NCAA basketball. NIT b ball………
The spawn of Bernie has pushed the Democrats to the far far left, which will guarantee more Conservatives are elected to office. Its a great day to be a real American and have a happy and safe 4th:
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“Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) isn’t extreme enough for the far-left, according to a Democratic writer.
Sanders, it seems, was used as a transition to get left-leaning Americans to embrace socialism, and now his usefulness is declining among the far-left.
“While Sanders still draws a crowd, his endorsements don’t carry as much weight as left-leaning voters may hope,†wrote the New Republic’s Sarah Jones. “…Sanders and his supporters have helped push the Democrats to the left, but the party has yet to truly embrace its left flank.â€
The self-described “democratic socialist†doesn’t fully embrace his ideology because he stops short of demanding the “nationalization of private industries,†Jones writes.
Other leftists share Jones’ sentiment, blasting Sanders over the past week for not demanding the end of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “….
This emerging far-left wing of the Democratic Party, highlighted in part by the election of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is too much for even CNN apparently, which criticized the ‘Abolish ICE’ movement.
“With Democrats attacking ICE, the administration has been given an opening to paint its opponents as extreme, radical and a threat to national security,†CNN’s Julian Zelizer said. “Even though we are long overdue for a rigorous debate over our immigration system, a call to abolish anything makes it sound as if the proponents want the entire system to go away.â€
https://www.infowars.com/socialist-dems-say-bernie-too-right-wing/
A border fence? What a great idea. Maybe some politician will fight a fence or wall for our porous Southern Border:
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“Iraq has begun constructing a fence on its border with Syria to keep Islamic State jihadis from entering its territory, the country’s border guards spokesman revealed Sunday.
“Ten days ago we started to set up a barbed wire security fence with surveillance towers along the border with Syria,†said border guard spokesman Anwar Hamid Nayef in Iraq’s Anbar province, adding that experts from Baghdad’s defense ministry and the U.S. would soon visit “to evaluate the effectiveness of the fence.â€
The new 20-kilometer barrier will include a six-meter-wide trench, surveillance towers, and the use of thermal imaging technology to detect potential Islamists attempting to cross the border. It will run over the border town of Al-Qaim, where Iraqi forces defeated ISIS last November.”
https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2018/07/03/iraq-begins-constructing-border-fence-to-keep-jihadis-out/
Mr. Webb forgot gas pricing in this area. Saw Evansville at $2.99 a few minutes ago. A quick check on Gas Buddy, Haubstadt $2.75, Henderson $2.52. Clarksville,TN $2.33, Nashville TN $2.45, Chattanooga, TN $2.41 and so on. Just returned from the Lake Buena Vista FL (Disney World area) and Evansville was the highest price.
Otto- just checked Gas Buddy as well. Evv is $.13/ gal cheaper than Henderson at noon Tuesday.mmm. You seem to be mistaken
Marathon First Ave / Allen’s lane, Marathon by Hornets nNest and several stations on St Joe are $2.99. Haven’t been to the East side today.
EVV gas is $2.73 – Cheaper than Henderson
Gasoline prices “in” Henderson are cheaper than the prices on the strip. The Thorton’s “in” Henderson will be cheaper than the Thorton’s on “the strip”.
How so Joe? Do you see the heavier populated areas voting no for fear of losing a source if revenue? Do you see the industrial and farming areas voting no because of a fear of losing political clout on a national basis?
Sam’s Club Evansville east side, $2.70/gal
Cenex, “in” Henderson, $2.58/gal
And don’t forget this is a holiday which gives the gasoline station operators an incentive to gouge everyone.
I live in Southern CA. Enjoy your cheap gas. Our regular unleaded is $3.59. Glad I don’t drive much.
But you’ve got those funky pumps with the weird nozzles that catch the vapors to reduce the smog and the taxes to pay for your over-crowded roads.
While I can understand people being “upset” at the costs of fixing the sewers, I have to ask: What is your alternative? Blaming past administrations for “kicking the can down the road” do nothing to advance the solution. And, if the sewer system is under a court decree (Is it?) to get fixed, what choices do you have or suggest? I don’t object to additional user taxes on items we all use-food, hotels, etc, but that seems to me to only get you “so far”. And, since the city dwellers use the sewers more than anyone, the cost of repair falls onto them.
Other increases discussed by Mr. Webb and others certainly need to be addressed, but once again, you have created the system that allows the utilities to have a greater say and sway when it comes to costs being passed along and unless you change the system(s), seems like you will be stuck up against that rock.
Joe CA splitting into 3 states………….what’s your take……..
It will make for an interesting group of discussions but this will not pass. I predict it will get 25% – 30% of the vote.
How so Joe? Do you see the heavier populated areas voting no for fear of losing a source if revenue? Do you see the industrial and farming areas voting no because of a fear of losing political clout on a national basis?
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