IS IT TRUE APRIL 24, 2015

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IS IT TRUE hats off to the Honorable Judge Les Shively for receiving  clearance from the Indiana Supreme Court to have Thursday’s Residence Ordinance hearing televised on WNIN-PBS9?  …this special en banc session made it possible for seven judges to sit in the Civic Center Council chambers to hear the administration attorney Bob Burkart and City Council Attorney Scott Danks make impressive legal arguments concerning the city residence ordinance?  …we can’t wait to hear what the Judges ruling in this case will be?  …we feel this issue will be decided on law and not politics?

IS IT TRUE our most recent “Readers Poll” voters believe that Cheryl Musgrave is indeed a true Republican by a vote of 95 to 15 (86% vote margin)?

IS IT TRUE Pollock Avenue Southeast side streets are in much disrepair?  …these side streets should be in good shape since sewer lines have been installed over the last couple of years?  …we don’t understand why the city has failed to re-install the sidewalks and curbing and do some needed street paving in that area in a timely manner?  …it looks like a $160 million dollars doesn’t buy much anymore?

IS IT TRUE if you want see political patronage at its best please venture down to S. E. First Street in the Historic District?  … we wonder why Winnecke campaign signs are so popular in the 500 and 600 blocks of that  area?  …. could it be that the Mayor donated $150,000 from the City Engineers Street Repair Fund to help subsidize the Historical street lighting project in that area?  …we hear that people living in the other 26 blocks of the downtown TIF District are very upset?  …. they feel the city should had subsidized period lighting or use the fund to pave city streets in their area?

IS IT TRUE we hear the Vanderburgh County Party Chairman was selected  the 2015 “Republican Of The Year” award winner? …we would had thought the awards committee would have selected Mayor Lloyd Winnecke as the 2015 “Republican Of The Year” winner?  …we heard that Weaver and Mosby received 4 write-in votes each for this award?

PLEASE TAKE TIME TO READ OUR READERS POLL QUESTION AND CAST YOUR VOTE ACCORDINGLY. ALSO PLEASE TAKE TIME TO READ TODAYS FEATURE ARTICLE POSTED ON THE UPPER LEFT HAND PAGE.

53 COMMENTS

  1. …last “serve” years? CCO needs correct to “several”

    IIT that it is possible with all of the disturbance to underground, that there may be intention to let this area to settle out before restoring those concrete improvements? One would not want any settlement “after” the concrete is poured? With the sandy type soil that is in that area, and limestone rock used for bedding and fill, the
    possibility of the sandy soils/dirt migrating into that porous rock layers is substantial!

    IIT true that there may not be a high enough caliber city personal living in that area to receive immediate remedy?

    IIT that that money to the SE side was redirected for historical downtown lighting for a small exclusive few?

    • back around 1993 the AT&T building and the street and sidewalk just to the North West side of the AT&T (phone company) building had some repairs performed. They back filled the area with sand and every few feet they had to go in an compact the sand down. Thy did this several times before the grade was back up to sidewalk level and concrete was poured to make a new sidewalk and the street was repaved or patched with asphalt.

      So if they want to they can build a new sidewalk on sand if they do it right. There are construction techniques that can do this task. But Arm, you are right in that they have to try to avoid the shifting sands that can undermine the new concrete sidewalk.

      I see many holes in the streets that were recently paved with asphalt only to have the pavement sink down a few inches. Green River Road North’s Extension was a prime example of that happening.

      Most all the city in the downtown area close to the Ohio River has a sandy subsoil structure. That’s because fo the Ohio River meandering all around inside the Ohio River Valley over the past few million years or since the Ohio River was formed. It may not be that old. The waters in the Midwest didn’t always flow though the Ohio River were it’s now located.

  2. Editors

    While I love WNIN and appreciate the effort, the ONLY live feed of hearing last night was WFIE Channel 14″s website. I watched the entire hearing on the WFIE website. They had only online feed

    Maybe show them some online love for the only live web stream

  3. In regards to the residency ordinance:
    These arbitrary and needless forays into local ordinance fairyland
    are embarrassing and identify us as ignorant hillbillies.
    There must be huge lapses of judgement happening across the spectrum
    of people who should know better.

    If the time and money wasted on debating or defending these self induced dilemmas
    were directed toward the truly important pressing issues
    that are – the “500 pound gorilla” in the room
    we might have a chance to reverse the death spiral that this town is in.
    As it is and as it will continue – Evansville is doomed by her leadership
    to not only go down
    but to go down ugly. …

    • Representative government should be just that: representative. Weinzapfel brought this on with his misuse of boards and commissions, especially the ERC. Do you think the citizens of Evansville did not notice what was going on for eight years?

    • The smartest move this city could make in order to head off bankruptcy would be to abolish the Evansville Redevelopment Commission.

  4. the sewer projects off Pollack and Weinbach have seemed to be stopped since last fall. They dug up the roads, installed the sewers, at least one of which I hear failed testing, and now the roads are gravel goat paths strewed with traffic cones and road hazards. Meanwhile there seems to be no activity towards finishing the paving.

  5. How did Wayne Parks beat out Mosby and Weaver? The fix is on. I hope that Weaver and Mosby file a complaint with the Republican Party’s state chairman they are the 2 most Republican office holders in Vanderburgh County I demand a recount.

    • One can surely understand why Mosby is a DINO. . .Dem in name only. . .appears she has enjoyed success after joining the Mayor’s wife’s real estate organization. . .and that is great. . . but Weaver ? One can only imagine a “wantabe”

    • Hear, Hear!!!! They love them some Winnecke!!!! They love Carol like she’s a rich Granny, too!!!

  6. About street repairs:
    It is apparent that the construction of Municipal White Elephants in the downtown district
    compels city leaders to ignore even the most basic elements of infrastructure.
    “Roadways before Convention Motel.”
    DO THE RIGHT THING!

  7. Hard to receive campaign donations on street repairs. . .isn’t it?. . . Drove in from out of town the other day and I swear the sign said “Welcome to Evansville, we’ll for sale”

    • Don’t drink and drive . . . the sign did NOT say that, those sign makers use the right words: “we’re for sale !”

  8. Sources indicate that while Wayne Park was in the process of opening the envelop containing the winner of the Republication of Year award our humble Mayor rose from his chair obviously assuming he was the “man of the hour” only to slump back into his chair in total disbelief. . . .of course the word went out to put a “lid” on this unbelievable situation. . .Park v. Winnecke?

    BTW. . .the lowest Lincoln Day turn out in YEARS!!!!

    • If that’s true it’s hilarious.

      Maybe Parke anticipated the mayor was going to be ‘it’ and was ready for that eventuality. He simply palmed the paper with his name on it in while the sparse audience turned their eyes to the rising Winnecke. ‘Have a seat Lloyd, I’m the ROY. Maybe next year if you’re still around. By the way, is that your real name?’

  9. Simple correction. . .not Republication…but Republican. . .but maybe republication is in order??

  10. CONCERNING THE CITY RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT FOR BOARDS AND PANELS

    The panel of Superior Court Judges would do well to keep in min some basic facts. Can you vote in a city election if you do not live in the city? The answer is no. So it would seem to follow that the city would have a right to require that city jobs should go to city residents.

    Secondly, and possibly more important to the issue at hand, the CITIZEN sits at the top of the city government organization, and as such, is fully capable of making a determination as to whether they support this residency requirement. Put the question on the next ballot and let the people at the top make the decision.

    • I believe the high court has found residency requirements to be unlawful concerning municipal employment.

      • Does that mean that people living outside the city limits can now vote in city elections?

        • You know the answer to that Press. Why do people ask silly questions that they already know the answers to? Simply to get attention and say Hey I didn’t get my way on this issue so I will say something silly to make my point? I sure hope that’s not the reason.

          Hiring someone to work for the city is a completely separate issue than appointing someone to a board to serve the city. Or maybe it’s a good question?

          If I lived in the city I think I would want the best qualified candidates working for the city. But then again there is political cronyism that’s running amuck in City Government. Perhaps that’s the real reason the city is not being run properly and it spending almost all it’s money before it even gets the money?

    • That’s what one could simply call an anti cronyism ordinance. One would believe these “appointees” are not city ” employees” therefore the residency requirement should stand. And some cronies fueled board or commission member can therefore have direct impact on those whom are city employees with a simple yay or nay. That’s deplorable, and sometimes severely costly to that cities revenue base.

      • In the final analysis, what you had before the current ordinance was people who lived outside the city exerting their influence on the citizens of the city.

    • “So it would seem to follow that the city would have a right to require that city jobs should go to city residents.”

      Are any of the positions on these boards or panels paid positions? I don’t know if they could be formally considered ‘jobs’ unless they were.

      Regardless, I have no problem with requiring a person to live in the city to serve on a city board. It actually seems ridiculous to NOT have that as a requirement.

      • We are talking about “Boards and Commissions”, which by their very nature exert an influence over the citizens of Evansville. Let those citizens decide if they want those people to live in, and be a part of the city they wish to control.

  11. WHAT THE RESIDENCY ORDINANCE SAYS ABOUT US
    We tend to project our inner traits onto others. (it’s a given)

    Do you leave loose change on the counter? If you do – that might indicate that
    you wouldn’t pick up someone else’s loose change
    so you trust that others wouldn’t pick up yours.

    If you don’t – that says that you might pick up someone else’s loose change
    and therefore can’t trust others enough to leave change lying around. (follow me?)

    So -If you don’t trust someone who doesn’t live within the City limits to fill a board appointment
    it might be because that you – if given the same opportunity – might abuse it.

    it seems therefore – that this residency ordinance could – in a way
    reveal the inner character of those who promote it.
    (I can’t be trusted – how can I trust others?)

    Myself: I just want the most capable honest and virtuous people we can recruit
    manning the boards. Where they live means absolutely nothing.

    But that’s me – projecting my inner traits onto them. …

    • Many County residents have more of a vested interest in Evansville policies than do residents if they own property or a business. They have skin in the game.

      • Perhaps then they should move back into the city if they have so much skin in the city?

    • Wow! Pretty broad brush you’re painting with, Bubba. If I think that a person making policy for residents of a city should also BE residents of that city it’s because I myself am inherently untrustworthy? That’s a pretty unkind assertion, don’t you think?

      The ‘skin in the game’ argument is shallow. The Walton family has ‘skin in the game’ because there are a number of their stores in Evansville. Should their grandkids be allowed to make policy decisions for Evansville residents? I mean, they have ‘skin in the game’, don’t they? Should everybody who shops in Evansville or drives on Evansville streets be allowed to vote in City elections? Should Joe Wallace be allowed to run for mayor but still reside in California? He founded a website which largely centers around Evansville political happenings, after all. Is that enough ‘skin in the game’?

      It’s a ridiculous argument, and I don’t doubt that the residents of Newburgh (or Henderson, or Elberfeld, or Darmstadt, or…) would be absolutely HOWLING with rage if suddenly their various boards and commissions were populated largely with folks who live in Evansville. It’s part of the not very subtle classicism endemic to this area, don’t you think? The smart, successful, beautiful people live in the smart, successful, beautiful subdivisions and small towns surrounding Evansville, leaving the poor folks who just aren’t able to drag themselves from the slums wallowing around in the city…

      • Walmart?…speaking of painting with a broad brush. If an individual has a vested interest in Evansville, i.e., pays property taxes, and has an Evansville mailing address, they should be eligible to be considered for a board appointment.

        • Fair enough, Dittos. You have a clearly defined litmus test for appointment to a local board – – I can appreciate that. How many of the non-resident appointees in question would have passed that test, and how many degrees of separation are allowed? If you are a citizen of Germany who lives in Hamburg but are part owner of an LLC which is headquarted in and owns property in Evansville, should you be allowed to sit on a local parks board? That person has a ‘vested interest’, correct?

          • Residential mailing address. It really should be this difficult for you to grasp.

        • No need to be snarky, Dittos

          So, to sit on a local board, you need to pay local property taxes and have a local residential mailing address… i.e., be a city resident. Is that right?

          • McCutchanville has an Evansville address but one more caveat – must be a resident of the County. There are places in Posey County with an Evansville mailing address.

            Sorry about being snarky but it’s as if you are deliberately being antagonistic.

          • No worries, I’m really not trying to be a deliberate pain in the butt :-).

            My concern is that by trying to make the residency requirement anything other than an either/or thing (either you reside in the city limits OR you don’t), you would be opening a further can of worms. In your example, a person who lives in McCutchanville could sit on a board, but a person who lives a similar distance away (maybe in Darmstadt?) could not, because they have a Darmstad address, even if they fulfill the other requirements of paying property taxes in Evansville? It gets confusing, at least to me. Seems like the either/or is the better system.

          • Yeah – that grey area will be decided, one way or the other by the judges. Truth be told, I don’t really care one way or the other.

      • You sure like to write “skin in the game.” I didn’t use the term
        nor is it part of my comment. You are arguing with yourself.
        As to human nature: perhaps you should ask yourself why
        you don’t trust folks outside the City limits
        to serve on board appointments.
        Why is that – exactly?

          • Mega Dittos
            My comment was directed to DeltaBravo. As such – it was a mistake on my part since DB was writing to you about “skin in the game.”
            Sorry for the confusion.
            It is my mistake. …

        • No worries about the confusion, bubba.

          Did I ever say I did NOT trust folks outside the city limits? I’m pretty sure I didn’t. You assumed as much, I guess, for whatever reason. Rest assured, it’s not a trust thing. For example, I trust the neighbors who live on each side of me, as well as across the street. Good folks, all of them. However, it doesn’t seem reasonable to allow a group of them to pick the color I paint my living room – – even thought they come over frequently to visit, they don’t live in my house. It seems more reasonable to let the people who live in my house decide such things.

          • DeltaBravo
            We’re good – however at my house there is no confusion about who picks the color I paint my living room.
            She does! LOL
            G’Day to ya! DB. …

          • Off this topic ,but you responders stay prepared tomorrow evening that weather system is beginning to look complex. Hope not, but the mix is present so just set up to go ahead of time. This might shift in the morning hours, I hope so for Evansville, however wherever it tracks someone’s going to get it.

        • Our group, is a gathering of problem solvers, we concentrate on the sciences, your town is somewhat defined by the growth into the county, to a point. One of our consortiums EU members who has never been in the town and most likely will never see a need to travel to Evansville nailed it on the residency requirement ordinance.
          She’s a practical however visionary communications scientist. Lots of background in social economic binary artificial algorithmic, cross culture and regional anthropological systems communication. In our daily discussions I explained the cause for the judicial intervention there in Evansville and the population slices by geophysical locations affect as to the actual “skin in the game” statement.
          Those in the county and those in the city limits proper, and the social economic contact and shared infrastructure in the daily activities. She simply said that seems kind of close nit when looking in from outside, they should modify the ordinance somewhat. When ask for specifics she said a more advanced broader and more realistic boundary layer might be expanded to include blended postal zip codes as is done in the United states for postal efficiency. Basically where those zips blend be that a city address, or an county address the daily issues are probably born of the same contact and timing needs. Wow she doesn’t even reside in the USA and seldom ever visits, only on business and she made a clear point as to what both sides of the argument might contain.
          That’s our consortium though, science first, to find consensus and solutions.

          con·sen·sus
          kənˈsensəs
          noun
          general agreement.
          “a consensus of opinion among judges”
          synonyms: agreement, harmony, concurrence, accord, unity, unanimity, solidarity; formal concord
          “there was consensus among delegates”

      • Maybe your last sentence is true. After all the city of Evansville, IN is the one spending all their money in 2014 before they even get the 2015 money. I don’t hear about Newburgh, IN or Darmstadt, IN or Elberfeld, IN having that problem. But maybe they do and I just didn’t read about it …. yet?

      • “V” lots of people want to be leaders but there are good leader and there are bad leaders. But who’s responsible to figuring out who’s the good ones and who’s the bad one’s? I guess that would be the elected Mayor? After all he is elected to over see the city in total. Perhaps if the Mayor spent more time with his employees training them in what’s good leadership instead of going out on photo ops all the time he might be a better leader. Most departments of the city don’t talk to each other and one department doesn’t know what the other departments are doing or what data they have.

        What’s needed is a central data base that everyone can see and that only each department can add or subtract the data that they are responsible for. That way if the permit is issued to build a house or yard bard inside the city limits the other agencies are given a heads up. They could all see what the others are doing at the same time. Then the Tax guys would know that they have to increase the taxes on the new building and the EPA guys and fire department guys would be notifed that there is a new building to put on their inspection list or permit lists.

  12. Perplexed. . . drove by the Guthries house the other day on S.E. 1st St only to witness a “Winnecke for Mayor” sign and knowing that I have attended at least three democrat fundraisers at that address. . .and amazed to discover that their daughter works for the Mayor’s wife, Christmas Carol. . . .when you have Santa Lloyd and Christmas on your side one needs to consider relinquishing their VFW memberships for the FOW (Friends of Winnecke). . .you will probably go from cake to caviar over night. . . .want a country?

  13. Wow. . .so many DINO,s and so little time. . instead the thirty pieces of sliver we must have thirty street lights. . . the company that they must keep. . .imagine in the same room that of Mosby, Weaver, Windhorst, and Brinkermeyer. . . .the political Kool-Aid must be flowing. . . .

  14. Referencing Street Lights On First Street
    There are 26 blocks in the Historic District. City sidewalks and streets are in desperate need of repair not only in the Historic Area but in the entire city. Mayor Winnecke ignored a real need and decided to fund a want of Pam Guthrie (President) and Elmer Buchta Vice President) of Old Evansville Historic Association a non profit Homeowners Assoc. A few blocks got Historic Lights which included the Guthrie’s and Buchta’s thanks to 150,000.00 provided by the city from the city engineer budget. This is another example of a waste of taxpayer money for special interest!

  15. Why was the Informative editorial and its even further informative comments put up by Ms. Brinkerhoff-Riley and commenters suddenly removed from this site completely? Other editorials are archived, but this just disappeared. Disturbing it and all the comments suddenly went poof a few hours ago.

  16. If you go to the bottom of the paper into Featured and click it, it will take you to all the past featured articles . In which Brinkerhoff-Rileys article is in there.

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