IS IT TRUE April 16, 2014

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IS IT TRUE that there is allot of activity involving construction that seems to be getting traction to move forward in the City of Evansville?…on the surface each of these projects such as the IU Medical School, the downtown convention hotel, the ball fields, and even the new street lights in the Historic District add some beauty and provide some amount of public benefit?…if every one of these projects were funded with private dollars the controversy surrounding these projects would be replaced by pride and encouragement?…the questions that seem to get swept under the rug are the ones about planning and prioritization of the bottomless pit of projects that people and organizations that benefit from these projects seem to come up with?

IS IT TRUE the most important thing that Evansville is missing and has been missing for a long long time is a comprehensive master plan for the growth of the city with priorities assigned to the planned projects?…as a result of this failure to plan which almost always can be construed as planning to fail, what Evansville ends up doing is pursuing special interest driven projects at random times in random locations?…this planning to fail and buying into the illusions painted by studies paid for by special interests are why Evansville is on the precipice of being out of credit with a long list of needs that should be addressed?…special interests and cronies of elected officials NEVER EVER consider the needs of the populace over their own needs and it shows?…Evansville has a shiny new Ford Center that is 2 blocks east of over 30 downtown storefronts that have been “available” so long one could consider them to be abandoned?…that same Ford Center is 2 or 3 blocks north of an area that is blighted and is subject to very high crime rates?…the same statement about blight and crime apply to the other two points on the campus as well?…Ford Center has inspired three storefronts in downtown Evansville?…two of them are relatively small bars and the other is the offices of the Icemen?…this is what $127.5 Million has gotten us in spin off development?

IS IT TRUE every study in the last 10 years by un-commissioned scholars on the economic benefit of an arena have concluded that they make little difference and are a waste of taxpayer dollars from an economic development perspective?…the Weinzapfel administration got around the respected unbiased studies by paying a consulting firm to write a narrative that supported their own wishes?…the Winnecke administration played exactly the same card to buy a study showing a need for a downtown convention hotel and a delusion of creating 800 direct jobs?…these studies were bought and paid for by the foxes who were guarding the chicken house and bear no resemblance to a true unbiased economic impact study?…the claims of economic impact of the IU Medical School are based on this whole thing being new including all the students?…nothing is further from the truth?…these students are already here and the impact is only incremental by roughly 10%?…there is also the issue of eliminating 6 square blocks and several large businesses from the tax rolls within the downtown TIF district that will blunt the capture of revenue already pledged to hand to IU?

IS IT TRUE we are just riveting to see the economic impact study of how several dozen expensive street lights the taxpayers are subsidizing in the Historic District with create jobs and solve our problems?…using taxpayer dollars to subsidize luxury while sidewalks a few scant blocks away are dangerous and the proletarian street lights don’t always have a working bulb is just wrong?…what these Palace of Versailles street lights represent is a reverse Robin Hood redistribution of existing wealth with no tangible benefit to the greater good?…the same can be said for every project the City of Evansville has chosen to pursue in recent years?…it is a lack of planning and prioritization skills that have led us to a place where “WE ARE BROKE, OUR SEWERS DON’T FUNCTION, OUR SIDEWALKS HAVE DECAYED, OUR STREETS ARE FILLED WITH POTHOLES, AND OUR CREDIT CARDS ARE ALL MAXED OUT”?

IS IT True that our suggestion is to go to a hockey game, have a few beers at one of the two new bars, and enjoy a night of gambling and all of our essential needs will be magically be fixed?…that is the world according to local politics?…the choices that have been made and the dollars that have been spent in this fair city would have never happened with thinking people of noble intention guiding the good ship Evansville through these troubled waters?

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91 COMMENTS

  1. Spot on post CCO Editor. Why should my tax dollars to put special lighting in the Historical District. My street lights have been in my community for 40 plus years. How about the city coming by and repairing the poles damaged by weather and cars.

  2. The CCO editor should had said “PORK BARREL” project instead of bottomless pit of projects.

  3. IS IT True that our suggestion is to go to a hockey game, have a few beers at one of the two new bars, and enjoy a night of gambling and all of our essential needs will be magically be fixed?…

    You have defined the whole mentality of the project whore mongers Evansville has had to suffer for decades. When all else fails, it is heartwarming to see the political landscape and its supporters to offer the only distractions left; sports, booze and gambling. I am surprised a brothel has yet to be planned.

    • Bread and Circuses dveatch. It is a 2,000 year old formula to placate the masses so the leaders can feast on the fruits of taxation.

      “Bread and circuses” (or bread and games) (from Latin: panem et circenses) is metonymic for a superficial means of appeasement. In the case of politics, the phrase is used to describe the creation of public approval, not through exemplary or excellent public service or public policy, but through diversion; distraction; or the mere satisfaction of the immediate, shallow requirements of a populace, as an offered “palliative.” Juvenal decried it as a simplistic motivation of common people. The phrase also implies the erosion or ignorance of civic duty amongst the concerns of the commoner.

      • Indeed. The Romans were very proficient in that area and your last sentence aptly describes its supporters (the people, or most of them). In past threads about Roberts Stadium, ball parks, etc there are far to many supporters with a rabidness such things must exist and in plenty much like the Roman citizens and their games.

        • Let’s fix Mesker amphitheater and, in addition to outdoor concerts, have gladiator fights.

        • True, but every time Weaver or Mosby talk there is a risk of IQ loss. Front row seats to gladiator fights is much safer.

      • All happening right before our eyes with the ever accompanying Nose thumb from the “Players” to boot.

    • There might not be a brothel downtown, but we are all getting screwed. The price is too high, not even a kiss, and the placement is not to our liking.

    • A literal brothel might actually “revive” downtown. We’ve already got plenty of figurative prostitution going on.

      • The way the last Mayor and current administration handles projects, their grandiose boasting of “new jobs”, expanded tax bases, “revitalization of downtown” and overall enhancement of the city; even a brothel would lose money.

  4. New streetlights for the elite downtown, but have they ever finished the streetlights and services for the annexed east side???

    • That’s how it works here. Our leadership ignores where the real growth and development are happening, while trying to raise their own property values.

  5. I sure am glad Z Tuley isn’t the treasurer any more.

    I got my property tax bill yesterday – nearly a month before the due date – something she NEVER seemed to accomplish. It seemed like every year she was in that office we only had 2 weeks to pay our bills. Ever since she’s left I’ve had plenty of time to pay my tax bills. What are the new folks doing differently? Perhaps she could learn a lesson or two.

    • Z wanted to remodel her old offices to the tune of 10s of thousands of dollars after she was elected to the Recorder’s position. Is she looking out for the taxpayers? Is she a political hack?

      You decide!

    • The truth is that those are not such “expensive homes”. Try to buy that much square-footage in a desirable area outside of downtown, and see what it costs. The maintenance and utilities are expensive, but buyers get a lot of house for their money downtown. That is not true of cities with real, thriving, urban development, but in Evansville it is. The truth is that Evansville is too small and has been too stagnant for too long for the area to make a notable “comeback” any time soon. We have too much crime, too close to the city’s center, and a populace that is too old to make the “in-crowds” pipe-dreams come true.
      A good many of the Mayor’s cronies have “investments” downtown, but wouldn’t consider living there. The downtown residents are just a few of Hizzoner’s hangers-on, but most are not the big investors that are trying to strong-arm rob the rest of us.
      I’m going to say it again! Evansville, STOP imitating, START innovating.

      • You are right about crime. Go here; http://www.evansvillepolice.com/crime-analysis-map and click through until you reach the map with the Search and Identify box, then change the Selected Date Range to cover one year. Look at all the circles pop up everywhere. Then do a little zooming in, the areas of crime in Evansville is not so isolated as some want to believe.

      • EKB, You’ve pretty much nailed it,innovating,and that for a place like Evansville should be pretty darned easy. When one looks in from afar,what you see is desperate need of whole unit infrastructure improvement. Ignoring the global trending on the issue with our changing planet only sets the place back even further.
        The focus on a few historical blocks downtown is somewhat commendable in a preservation evansville aspect. Heck my roots there,built,bought,and prospered there for over a century. That was then,this is now.and they know it.
        You do know the plan for such a viable pathway through innovation is really easy,its looking the leadership right square in the eye,somehow they cannot gain visual focus on that,hell we’ve all but flat out told them. However they’ve paid out some astronomical bucks for a perceived “little fizzle” with that stuff. Why would anyone give’em squat for anything now? “Coloring book sessions” (Rails &Roberts.)
        One must first realize the [consequences,] involved for the majority of the citizens across the region trying some viable ways to knock out an sustainable living there.

        http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consequence

        illustration–>http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jjVxewm3X5M/UUTAhOca_oI/AAAAAAAAglw/3NgsXuAln0s/s1600/funny-animal-pictures-with-captions-009-009.jpg

        When We see Evansville, We see beyond certain boundaries,however I do and my team does observe,the “true foundations” given the place historically, and by geography,as well.
        Its a straight faced and new rapidly changing world,big challenges new century,with fortune in the many solutions,if you hone in on those “foundation aspects”. as community unit.

        Illustration –> http://thechive.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/best-captions.jpg?w=500&h=383

  7. The streetlights are just another symptom of the sense of entitlement that the “Downtown First” crowd has exhibited. They think that John Dunn owes it to them to just hand over the exclusivity of the franchise he paid for, and now they think John and Jane Taxpayer should just hand over the money for more aesthetically-pleasing street lights. Why do they think they’re more deserving than anyone else? Because it’s always been that way, that’s why!
    I will be interested to see the Mayor campaign on the wonders of the lights in downtown Evansville when he goes to the blighted and crime-ridden neighborhoods that are adjacent to the area where the wonderous lights are. Oh, nevermind, he doesn’t try to appeal to the less fortunate of our city. He surrounds himself with the cronies who tell him what he wants to hear, while they stuff their pockets.
    It’s up to us to see to it that he doesn’t hear what he wants to hear on election night in 2015.

    • Who is going to run against the Mayor next and how will they distinguish themselves from him? I don’t see a real alternative for the next election like we had with Rick Davis in the last. Once elected, John Friend and the other’s that have been mentioned would not be any different than JW and LW.

      • I seriously doubt anyone from either party will run against LW. The republicans have no one on the bench and the democrats already have their man. LW is the mayor due to massive support from both parties, he’s truly the bipartisan choice. We are currently experiencing what both parties considered the desired results. This is a boom time for construction and unions and will be for the next several years. Union workers and construction bosses will come into Evansville do marginal work and after work go to their homes in surrounding countries or out of the city. The citizens will get the bill. My property tax this time was the same but that taxes that I supposedly voted for almost doubled.

    • Who is going to run against the Mayor next and how will they distinguish themselves from him? I don’t see a real alternative for the next election like we had with Rick Davis in the last. Once elected, John Friend and the other’s that have been mentioned would not be any different than JW and LW.

      • I nominate Nick Hermann. He could easily take out Winnecke in a primary and beat anything the dems nominate.

        • I doubt that he’d be interested. It appears that being Mayor has a way of killing one’s political future. Has anybody gone on to bigger and better things since Vance Hartke? I can’t think of anyone.

  8. The local government formula has been straight-forward and simple:

    Pick the taxpayers pockets in support of local business, and do it in a way that allows for the least amount of remonstrance by those being fleeced.

    Do not follow any sort of intelligent plan for needed growth or infrastructure improvement, but instead take the city ever deeper into bonded debt over projects of the most questionable benefit.

    This also is a PLAN. A disastrous plan that is about to reach the point of forcing the city into bankruptcy.

    Where is the SBOA audit report? Where is the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the City of Evansville for 2012?

    As long a we have one horse government, Evansville will remain a one horse town. The current level of professionalism in local government is unacceptable by anyone’s standards.

    __

      • The picture shows an interesting feature,that place must have an evenly applied road tax budget infrastructure,no chuck holes.

        But Wait! after they sweep their streets one has a similar amount of horse-crap to fertilize a garden or two….. as well. Needs a turbo road apple scraper! Think of the growth! WHAT A DEAL! Its working environmental carbon management technology!……………

        Environmental Sustainability….. points. Right there in evansville!
        Sell the road apples!
        Support pavement costing for the “BRICK” funding for SE1st

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick_(basketball)#B 😛

        • Valley Watch would be there immediately with placards decrying the evils of horse flatulence.

          __

    • I do not think we will see that audit for quite sometime. I think the audit will be kept under wraps until all the financing is in place for all current projects and then lightening will strike us. There is absolutely no reason for a potential good audit or a slightly bad audit to be hidden. The money is either over or under, if it was over we’d already know about it. When the past and current mayor, plus Abel pulled that homestead exemption thing on us that should have been a clear message. That was political crazy unless the funds were used to make up losses.

      • If we don’t see the audit until all the financing is in place, we likely will not be seeing the audit.

  9. Wonder what the life expectancy of those streetlights will be? Not just the ‘high-pressure sodium bulbs that give off a yellow glow’, but the whole assembly (including the pole if it is of such material as to have scrap value).

    While the neighbors claim to have raised $97,000 (assuring city matching funds) of the total current estimate of the $240,000 needed, have they hatched a plan to repair the inevitable vandalism these fine lights will have to endure? I suspect that will be the responsibility of the taxpayers at large.

    Superfluous aggrandizements of personal property, even if technically on public property (the line gets blurrier the higher in the food chain you rise), should be the responsibility of the homeowner.

    Spreading the cost of something like this citywide should be shocking but it’s not. In fact, it seems almost minor compared to what has gone before. The spaghetti fund-raising dinner ($10/plate) to help fund phase II of this grand illumination smacks of window dressing to divert public attention from where the real money is coming from.

    Ye Olde Lamplighter spins like a lathe in his grave.

  10. Editor,

    Don’t forget the CSO and the Johnson Controls projects as you recount the myriad construction projects which will be going on concurrently.

    Think of the campaign contributions !

  11. What timing!! During the last City Council meeting, the Winnecke Adm brought before them cuts in police and fight operating budget because of loss of revenue and over pending of pork barrel projects. What do these S E First Elitist bunch have to say to the public safety employees and their family with they are NOT allowed to cash in their overtime converts to comp time at Christmas time because of this Winnecke administration zeal to flash our tax dollars down crazy pork barrel projects!!!

  12. Downtown, Downtown, Downtown.
    How many millions of dollars have we wasted try to revive a dead horse?
    What would our city look like if that money was spent on places people actually go, like Green River Road, Burkhardt Road, First Avenue, Franklin Street, North Main Street?
    We would be a thriving community. We need a mayor for ALL of Evansville – not just a DOWNTOWN MAYOR.

    • I like to shop and eat at establishments that have ample parking right outside, not block(s) away, not in a parking garage, and not somewhere where I have to feed a parking meter or risk getting a ticket.

      • My grandparents were exactly like that too. And all of their friends thought that way too.

        • Why don’t you move from the west side to downtown, and let us know how great it is after you’ve actually experienced downtown living for a year or so?

  13. Wonder how many of family members of the downtown S E First Street elites have family members that have jobs that are directly controlled by the Mayor. All you had to do was attend the Mayors announcement of the Med School and you would have gotten your answer.

  14. You may find another answer to your question by driving down the 500 or 600 block of S E Riverside and see where the 1st Historical light pole was installed. They wonder why our Association won’t have anything to do with these self serving snobs.

  15. EDITOR:

    Downtown! Downtown! Downtown!

    Yo. Is there any thing else at the CCO besides downtown soap opera drama?

    The number of comments at the CCO is dwindling. Page views? I’m sure the number is a much higher than when founded, i.e., year on year or some comparable metric. We heard that a lot a month ago or so.

    The CCO started as an interesting online local news commentary source.

    I guess it’s gonna stop at City of Evansville/County Administrative Soap Opera Drama though.

    Granted. There are some Statewide perspectives thrown in somewhat periodically. ACA too, but not sure how/why…it doesn’t fit the apparent CCO brand…alas it appears the ACA stuff is a whim of the Editor more than anything.

    But is there another evolution for the CCO business/news/commentary model beyond the 2nd gear?

    Exactly what is the CCO brand?

    a. We’re not the C&P?
    (There’s little news here at the CCO. In fact, it appears that w/out there being a C&P adjunct to the CCO, there wouldn’t be a CCO. Readers have to read the C&P first…then come to the CCO.)
    b. We are the City County Observer? (only mentioned because there is no “Evanvsville/S.Indiana/Indiana or Vanderburgh County” in that brand name…
    c. So does that mean that the CCO could just as well be about Carmi IL and White County, IL?
    d. All of our Leads have statements that end in a question mark?

    How about: Is it true that for the CCO….that’s all there is?

    (Yes. This is frankly harsh. I expect a bunch of commenters will think this is an attack and leap to defend the CCO. It’s not you know…

    …But I’m just wondering where this is going, if it is going…. I bet YOU are too.)

    • Ah, aren’t you cute. The venom of your just pissed-off-ness with people not sucking up to your projected utopia of downtown is the political mantra chanted for decades.

      • It’s not about Downtown. I have an opinion about downtown. Big deal. We all do. I’m no more right about downtown than anyone else here.

        …..

        ….My point is….”tuning in to the CCO” for the past week has been the same show every day. Really. There’s no appreciable difference in the CCO daily it seems. The CCO from two days ago is pretty much exactly what it is today.

        Better to give feedback than for viewers to walk away w/ no awareness on the part of the CCO as to why.

        • You are free to walk away as you call it. Traffic continues to grow. As you may or may not know our purpose for being is to further good public policy. The most effective way to do that is to point out examples of bad public policy with the names of the people that are doing it. Recent events of such a nature just happen to be downtown. If examples of poor public policy start to bubble up in the burbs, you can bet we will point to that as well.

          • I’m not walking away…never said that. Otherwise, my comments are sincere.

            • No problem. Our style as dveatch pointed out is not to report and run on to the next shiny object. We intentionally keep the light shining on the unfinished business that results from poor public policy. The McCurdy and the new hotel are perfect examples of the poor political decisions of 2008 haunting Evansville for 6 years. There are of course others but people forget if they are not reminded. The most important part of accountability is to record and remind the public of the things that need to be changed. The only people in the food chain on those two projects to have come out ahead thus far are the politicians who collected contributions. Heck, those guys from Indy that had the McCurdy were contributing to Weinzapfel when they were failing to pay the taxes on the building. What is a mystery to me is that the CP and the TV stations ignore things like that.

          • Editor, “What is a mystery to me is that the CP and the TV stations ignore things like that.”

            They have lost the journalism to social engineering.

        • Understood. Then next week or the week after there will be another issue lasting for a week. I don’t have a problem with that and think it is a good thing the CCO keeps issues alive.

          Better than “the other media outlets” in the area that maybe, might, if they ever get around to it to report on. That in my view is a real problem with our media outlets in this modern world.

          They are way to quick to (if they do) report on something and move on, they (local media) in my opinion do not want any meaningful discussion about issues unless it benefits their political masters. The willingness for the CCO to keep the light on the roaches is a good thing.

    • I don’t care about those other places. I care about Evansville, this is where I live. Streets and sidewalks are deteriorating beyond repair. Major historical industry is slipping away, the tax base is eroding, population is declining and the year is lasting longer than our finances. I do not think there is going to be a big turn around for Evansville, we need to make Evansville a nice crime free well kept city. I’ll be happy when that happens. I see nothing happening that’s going to make Evansville a major destination city. We do have some major draws in this town and they’re all on the far eastside. Downtown Evansville is dead, bury it before it buries this city in debt.

      • Pretend you are living more than 1,000 miles from Evansville and have no family that lives here. What are three things that such a person would be willing to drive or fly to Evansville to do. I hate to be a Debbie Downer but I can’t think of one thing. Don’t say the Fall Festival because lots of places have such things. The WC Handy blues thing in Henderson may get some interest. Evansville however is pretty sparse on having anything unique. Please help me understand this whole tourist destination thing. I think it is a big hoax.

        • Dr., I understand it from a simple level. I have a lot of friends in Ky. and Ill. and they envy us. I understand some of it but not all. I have friends that drive all the way from Madisonville to visit our Target store, I don’t understand that. I have friends who drive great distances to visit Gander Mountain and Dicks, I understand that. When we get our Academy Sports store that’s going to be a great draw. That’s really the best I can do, I’ve never heard anyone say they want to visit downtown Evansville.

          • Gotta contribute the tidbit we learned that the Huffman guy from HCW didn’t know where Evansville was until the Hunden Group solicited a hotel bid from them. For a guy who grew up in Wichita and lives near Springfield, MO both of which have basketball teams that play in the same conference with the Aces to not even be able to locate Evansville on a map says it all. I grew up in Sturgis, KY and we always wanted to come to Evansville to go to concerts, movies, the Triplets games etc. I fully understand people from 50 miles or so getting excited about going to Evansville. I do agree with Dr. Chaos about drawing from afar though. I personally visit 4 times a year but that is because I have lots of family and some business interests in Evansville. Were it not for family and business interests, I would never visit for any reason at all. I suspect that is true of most who are more than an hour away.

          • I can’t stand the rich and their elitist toys but come on the street lights are a good idea. Here’s my problem and someone please help me out here….

            The difference in building the ball fields at Kleymeyer vs Goebel is like the difference in building the med school on the old central lot vs the dpatrick lot. MILLIONS!

            Yet not a word about either of those scenarios. So why is everybody and their brother in law throwing a fit about street lamps? Both the lamps, and the terrible earthcare deal for that matter, are a fraction of those project differences. So why throw a fit on one and not the other?

          • Evansville’s main reason for existing in the past was because if people from Carmi, Norris City Mount Carmel, Princeton, Boonville,etc. and yes even Newburgh and Henderson wanted something more than a gallon of milk, or nails from the hardware store they came to E-ville.

            Now with the internet, Netflix, and Wally World they don’t even have to do that.

            They come here to see the doctor, and then meet some friends that live here in E-ville at places like Cracker Barrell, Red Lobster, Bob Evans, Carousel, or Crossed Eyed Cricket etc. Then they might go by JC Penney or Best Buy to pick something up and they’re on the road home.

            When they think of E-ville they think of Green River Rd and Burkhardt, not downtown. Oh sure maybe some of the party types “go to the boat” but most think of downtown as some place you could get hit in the back of the head and mugged. Their kids mostly have gone off to the bright lights of Indy, Chi-town, DC. Atlanta, etc.

            Right or wrong, that’s what people in the tri-state think and do.

          • Well my challenge was to pretend you live more than 1,000 miles from Evansville and don’t have any relatives here. Madisonville hardly qualifies. I ask again to any who would like to respond. What 3 things does Evansville have that would get someone from 1,000 miles away to want to come here as a tourist? A bunch of stores that every major city in the country has is not a good answer but I do understand what pov was talking about with the country folk in the Evansville metro. I can’t think of even one thing to draw a tourist.

        • In 1980, Clarksville TN had about 50,000 residents. Today they are the fifth fastest growing city in the nation and have an estimated 142,000 residents. somehow they have not only grown, but they have managed that growth. And they don’t have the Ford arena.

    • Couldn’t disagree more. Of course who would dare disagree with the Weinz?

      I have been on the CCO for a few years. The CP was a fun place to play, but the CCO is where I go for information.

      The only thing that has change is that the CCO has more contributions from other sources and the arrival of some posters from the CP exodus has lowered the IQ and spoiled the experience a little. Even at that, I still find the comments of some of the new arrivals informative even if I don’t appreciate their attitudes.

      I think your CCO experience would improve if you stopped beating up on others and contributed more ideas and thoughts.

      • I-E,

        There are two thoughts you may have the same interest in (as a business person)…and both are somewhat related….that I have tried to gain traction on – to get the CCO to take some leadership.

        Alas…no traction with the CCO.

        I-E, I think perhaps you might agree. Want to help? Here’s the issues:

        Well-funded, deeply entrenched lobbying interests INSERT a middle-man into two business models that do NOT need them. Both are protected by antiquated, unnecessary Indiana State laws. They may have been a need in the past…but NOT in today’s world. And while it is pure common sense to change it, both have LOBBYISTS that will make politicians PAY THE ULTIMATE PRICE who dare to correct this thieving inefficiency….in fact, they make the gun lobby look like puppies.

        Those markets? Auto sales and beverage/beer/liquor sales.

        1. Auto manufacturers cannot sell directly to consumers. By State Law they must use a DEALER. That to me is a hill worth trying to take. It goes against every conservative, free market discipline I know to force this arrangement…and needlessly increases the price of an automobile. New auto-maker Tesla is trying to fight it. They make a car. You want to buy it from them? You can’t. You have to go to a DEALER.

        2. Beverage manufacturers. I’ll stick w/ beer to keep it simple. Now (unless you are a very small brewer) you cannot buy beer directly from the beer maker. Of course it is natural for the beer maker to sell to a grocery store….BUT THAT IS ILLEGAL. The beer maker must first sell to a BEER DISTRIBUTOR….who gets a “guaranteed markup” for the privilege. The Beer Distributor then sells to the grocery store. Why? No good reason. Mind you, THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH EXCISE TAXES. Taxes are separate.

        Now, let’s be clear. If this were changed…the Auto makers and the Beverage makers might still hire a Dealer and a Distributor. BUT…there is no reason to have a State Law to require it. In fact, this wouldn’t eliminate the jobs that perform both services…those jobs STILL have to be done. They will merely transfer to the manufacturer or the retail location…except it will not be mandated by a State Law they must work for THE MIDDLEMAN.

        The inefficiency of the market in these two areas…..is ENORMOUSLY costly.

        I think BOTH of these “government-mandated” middle-man models should be done away with. And…I think the CCO finds unnecessary government interference in the marketplace……….A core belief of the CCO’s character.

        I-E…..this is a conservative travesty. So…what do you think?

        • LOL, I have been making numerous trips to West Terra Haute, and on the last one I was talking to my wife about a similar issue, Sunday blue laws banning alcohol and automobile sales. This Christian right tea bagger does not support these blue laws.

          I did not realize how deep the control was, so don’t bogart that petition my friend, pass it over to me. May we also add day light savings time and all of Indiana being on the same time to it?

          Seriously good information Weinz that I had no knowledge of.

          Perhaps taking on Indiana is a little larger than the CCO taking on Evansville. Have you composed a letter to the CCO and submitted it? I could even see Krull and the his StatehouseFile picking up the issue.

          I think you might have a vested interest in at least one of these issues, which is good thing, and that fighting this issue would be a lot better use of our time and talents than beating each other up.

          • Even if Weinzwestside does have a vested interest I would still agree with him. Those two laws, especially the one putting the stymie on Tesla need shuffling to the round file.

          • dveatch, I see his vested interest as a strength.

            I will even go as far as to say this issue is one that would be a better use of our legislator’s time than a marriage amendment. While I support the constitutional process, it was not well thought out in the amendment. Indiana should either get out of the marriage business or keep traditional marriage, add domestic unions, and insure that businesses and organizations can not be sued over a right to a wedding.

            Weinz’s issue affects far more people in greater ways and is a more worthwhile issue.

          • …

            It’s funny, but not really. (And I agree, this has nothing to do w/ marriage laws.)

            >> When Tesla set up a showroom to sell their cars to people walking by – CONSUMERS…the State government showed up and said:

            “Hello! How’s your day? Let me introduce you to your DEALER. He’s gonna sell your cars for you now. And he’ll send you your cut. This is how things work in this neighborhood. See that door right there? Use it.”

            It is EXACTLY THE SAME with a beer-maker, or a brewer (when he starts to grow beyond a very small threshold).

            If both smack of a Soprano’s episode…that is accurate….

            …EXCEPT THE GOVERNMENT/State Lawmaker is the guy doing the introducing.

            These two industries permeate nearly every house-hold in America. Few people at all know about this. They pay Legislators BIG $ every year to make sure it never comes up. Guaranteed…Pence would prefer not to discuss it.

        • I am right on track with you on both of these issues. The “must go to a dealer” garbage is a crony deal from way back and needs to be changed. For Tesla or any other car company to be barred from selling direct is anti-American. I will actually be touring Tesla and meeting with Elon in mid May so this is timely for me. The beer situation in Indiana is simply dark ages protectionism for yet another parasite to nibble a couple of percent from the eventual sale price.

          Thank you very much. You will begin seeing some references to these archaic laws soon on the CCO.

          • ….

            JOE,

            You stated here…”The beer situation in Indiana is simply dark ages protectionism for yet another parasite to nibble A COUPLE OF PERCENT from the eventual sale price.”

            It is not “a couple of percent” the BEER DISTRIBUTOR gets.

            Beer Distributors…It is TWENTY-FIVE to TWENTY-EIGHT (25%-28%) immediately marked up before the retailer ever touches it.

            C’mon. That is thuggery. And it IS anti-American.

            • I agree and thank you for the material numbers. So it seems as though this outdated business model translates into roughly a buck a six pack when it comes to beer. I don’t think it is thuggery. It is just perpetuation of bad public policy that was made years ago. It is indeed anti-free markets which in my book is against the principles of the American republic.

          • ….

            Joe,

            It’s not the trees. It’s the forest.

            The $1 a six pack is not what is important.

            It is that the State of Indiana – the government – has a law that the Beer Distributor must be paid a 25% fee.

            What industry, what free market…says it is illegal to fail to pay the middle-man in an everyday business 25% first?

            It’s the 25%, not the one dollar!

            Most businesses would kill for that kind of mark-up, much less one the government protected, legally-protected class that gets 25%.

            (And you should know, Indiana sold 50,700,000 cases of beer in 2012. That $1 you dismissed? That is $4 for every one of those 50 million cases of beer…that IN State law says the middle-man must get.)

            …..

            Last, I think the State Law requirement that automakers must use a DEALER is equally disgusting….no automaker, such as Tesla, is allowed to sell to a consumer – that is Indiana State Law….Not Ford, GM, Toyota, Dodge/Fiat, Hyundai…take your pick.

            Cars are marked up by the DEALER. It makes NO sense.

            Both are the height of government interference in normal, everyday free markets.

            The CCO can help pull this veneer of exploitation away….

            • Gotta go and get to my day job, but yes, I get it and will start picking at this. Thanks and keep the facts coming.

        • Add another one to your list; tax law simplification. Companies like Intuit have lobbied in the past against simplified tax laws for the sole purpose of sustaining their own interests.

  16. The Tug of War that is happening, in what needs to be an evolution, is between the Status Quo–and the “Rest of us”. Our champion is the CCO, and yes battles last days, some wage on for months, even years , (as pointed out by the editor), The CCO is in the Kitchen and it’s HOT, if its too hot for the politicos,—you know “Light” found here.- is the Flame!

  17. I noticed today that a new deli is opening on Green River Rd., between Cheddar’s and Menard’s. I don’t recall seeing any articles in the Courier about the new jobs it is bringing to town, but if it had been downtown, there would be articles for days.
    The Meijer’s that is to open in that same area of Green River Rd. isn’t rating a “Golden Shovel Sand Breaking” with Hizzoner in attendance, either, that I’m aware of.
    The real kicker is that neither of these new businesses required public funding, but they don’t rate any ballyhoo, either.

    • EKB: Those Green river eastside stores are the businesses that do move the bucks,that’s real commerce, and,supply side logistical throughput drives they’re locations and profit margins,and, that’s why they locate where you can actually easily access them,both directions with hours of operation that does meet expectations of the average customer seeking any product during a normal life plan,any persons or person might perceive.
      Where the “bang for the buck resides”

      Your downtown will continue its useless inward spiral,they have no viable logistical infrastructure anymore.
      The only thing that gravitates upward steadily is the stinking nasty sewers CSO to the lower surfaces downtown when it rains hard enough.
      The environmental utility infrastructure as is,ranks in as “Zombie infrastructure” as compared to other town sections life qualities provisional’s. Its expired,and it takes away from living infrastructures funding bases to sustain its smallish standing presentation as is.
      Which basically looks real tired already. The pure cost of sustainable balance there will never be met with the spot on,spot off puzzle matrix planning as seen so far. The Med school thing is just wrong in downtown,fails at the starting line,to darn bad,the metro could’a had’a viable improvement project to knock out several actual points of improvement for the surrounding communities if that was done right. BTW the site our bright site team located to meet every need forward for the whole Tri-State wasn’t available as observed until… “after”.. the downtown announcement…one look at the signage on that site explained that timing.
      You all have just been regionally violated, the way we perceive it, from afar,the whole areas commerce is taking that square on the nose,and some up it,as well.

      Those people need a real plan,they don;t have one for the community,its about how they bail and clear the ole pile before it mires’em down for good.

      That’s all it ever was since they killed the old town type throughput. The very thing other successful regions are indeed working forward with again now. Those are villages,and as they say that’s,what that takes.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfOqXFcycB8

      • About a year ago, I decided it might be nice to move back downtown. I didn’t have to ponder the move long to realize that here, on the northeast side of Evansville I have much greater convenience than I would have downtown. I can actually walk to a grocery from here, but I couldn’t downtown. I can park in my driveway and enter my home at any hour of the day or night without having to make sure there are no potential muggers lurking. I can make a tank of gas last much longer than if I lived downtown, because I can buy virtually anything I might want or need, catch a movie, or dine on almost any cuisine within a two-mile radius of my home.
        The “urban lifestyle” isn’t living downtown anymore, and neither am I.

  18. I hear that Vectren may be donating about $50,000 towards the downtown Historical District lighting project, If true, I wonder if this Vectren will give this project cash or in-kind services?

  20. This paragraph taken down.

    Drove down to the Historical District today and notice they had Marsha Abell sign in their yards. Enough said about the judgement of these folks.

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