IS IT TRUE August 31, 2012
IS IT TRUE the Evansville Convention and Visitor’s Bureau recruited a new sales manager who accepted the job and moved to town to take on the challenge of selling Evansville as a tourist and convention destination?…this person who was chosen and who chose Evansville only stayed on the job for four months before packing their bags and leaving both the town and the job?
IS IT TRUE that the business recruitment team for Evansville got another win yesterday with the announcement that 41 jobs would be coming to the Vanderburgh Industrial Park?…that California based PGP International will be making breakfast cereal and energy bars in the park and was attracted to Evansville using the customary giveaways of tax abatements, tax credits, and free training grants?…the City County Observer congratulates the team that attracted this company and encourages the Vanderburgh County Commissioners to pioneer and effort to put a simple memorandum of understanding in place outlining just what commitments were made in exchange for the incentive package?…only through contractual documentation can future fiascos like the Whirlpool “take the money and run†incentive grab that made five City Administrations and the City Council look like 5th graders with a lemonade stand as opposed to competent managers of the taxpayer’s money?
IS IT TRUE that County Commissioner Marsha Abell is on record as disturbed at the Human Rights Commission for advocating for language in an amendment to a county resolution that would have expanded the county’s discrimination code to include language on sexual orientation, gender identity and age, and change the word “handicap” to “disability.”?…this amendment was passed by the City of Evansville but has not been brought up for a vote by the County?…that Commissioner Abell has stated that SHE would not be putting this to a vote because the Commissioners are too busy with budget issues?…it is not just HER decision to make and that all three County Commissioners need to get it through their head that all of their constituents deserve an up or down vote on this issue and it should happen before the November election?…that setting aside 15 or 20 minutes in the next meeting to start the process that leads to an up or down vote on this amendment is good public policy?…that the Commissioners now have two opportunities to exercise good public policy?…that forcing a contract to get tax abatements AND letting the sexual orientation amendment go to a vote are both the right thing to do and that the CCO encourages Marsha and the boys to get on with it?
IS IT TRUE that the State of Illinois got its credit rating reduced largely because it runs chronically large deficits and has excessive off balance sheet obligations with respect to public employee pensions?…the generous pensions handed to the public unions by politicians eager to buy union support is getting lots of states into trouble now but that Illinois and California are the two states that are looking more like Detroit when it comes to long term financial viability?…that California Governor Jerry (Moon Beam) Brown finally bit the bullet Monday and proposed a drastic cut back in pensions that is absolutely necessary to avoid bouncing checks and a date with bankruptcy in the future?…some public employees in California retire before the age of 50 at full salary with benefits?…some of these people are being paid over $150,000 per year for doing nothing?…that there is no such thing as any system at any level that can survive financially in a world of life expectancies of 80+ years with 48 year olds retiring to a full salary and benefits for life?…this sort of kickback scheme has failed or will fail everywhere?…it is time for all pension benefits, social security, and other plans to be brought into line with reality?…if adjustments are not made all of us who are more than 10 years from retirement will be flipping burgers into our graves because the gravy train has stopped and the free rides are over?…this guy would rather get less than get nothing which is what will be available in 2025 from the over $400k that has been paid into the SS system to date?
Everyone knows that Marsha Abell run the County Commission with an iron fist. It’s common knowledge that Melcher and Kiefer are very much afraid to buck her.
To bad both gentelemen don’t have anyone running against them in the upcoming election so we could break the “iron rule” of Marsha!
Wonder how Marsha Abell’s step son likes his new job with the county?
Wonder if this position was advertised in local media? Wonder if he had the professional background to so the job? Wonder how much he is being paid?
Are you kidding me that County Commissioner Marsha Abell hired her step son to work for a county funded agency or department?
Does anybody know what county department he works for? Does anybosy know what his job title is?
The city voted out City Councilman,B J Watts and it’s time to to the same with Marsha Abell!
In the first paragraph, what is the person’s name?
Is this the person? http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/big-wigs-new-gigs.asp?PartnerID=1710
She is not listed as a member of the staff of the CVB.
http://www.visitevansville.com/about-us/staff
From the article I posted, looks like she moves around a lot. Possibly always in search of the B.B.D.
Horror stories from California or Illinois don’t necessarily impact the taxpayers of Indiana, so be careful when bashing pensions that you don’t paint with too broad of a brush. There are many public employee pension programs which are well run and funded, including the PERF (public employee retirement fund) for Police officers and Firefighters in Indiana. These funds are conservatively managed, provide modest retirement benefits, require substantial monetary contribution from their members, and have ‘anti-spiking’ provisions in place to make sure a person can’t artificially inflate their pensions.
A current firefighter or police officer from Evansville who retires with 20 years on the job will receive approximately $20,000 in annual pension benefits afer taxes. Our retirees aren’t eating dog food, but they aren’t sailing away on gold plated yachts provided by the taxpayers either!
DB:
You might want to take a look at this webpage:
http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Indiana_public_pensions
It is more important than most people realize that we get some business friendly people in the White House and Congress. I do not think it would hurt to lock up some of the Wall Street bunch that almost took the world economy down either.
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Interesting link, thanks for posting it. It appears that ‘Sunshinereview’ is essentially a Wikipedia of government oversight. Not sure if the information therein should be taken as gospel, but…
Indiana’s pensions are not all encompassing for all public employees. As noted in the link you provided, there are 7 separate funds, each fund covers certain types of employees. The teacher’s retirement fund is a bona fide disaster, primarily due to the poor design of the plan prior to certain reforms. It is my understanding that for many years teachers weren’t even required to contribute to their pension fund, it was simply a ‘gimme’. The other funds are in far better shape.
As of spring 2012, the Police and Fire PERF was 98% actuarily funded, a percent funding virtually unheard of it’s so high. It’s rock solid. If you lump the unfunded liabilities of the teacher’s fund with the other funds, however (something I believe the Kelogg report does), it all looks like a disaster. Sort of like taking a bunch of students who receive a 90% on a test and averaging their score with the one kid who didn’t study and got a 10%. The class average makes it look like all the kids are idiots!
Pension reform is an important topic, and I hope Hoosiers aren’t looking at the issues in California, et al and mistakingly given the impression that every pension fund suffers from the same problems.
The most important factor in the health of those funds is also the most important factor in peoples IRAs and other investment accounts, and that is a market where the numbers are heading northeast. If you can not grow those accounts then the only way to make them last longer is to reduce distributions.
It is time for someone who understands this to be at the helm.
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Concur. Another option would be to increase member contributions. Knowing that your retirement rests in the hands of something as fickle as ‘the market’ is the truly horrifying thing, whether you depend on a private retirement account or a pension.
Everybodys “retirement rests in the hands of something as fickle as ‘the market”. Unless you are that rare individual who has one too two million in the bank. I do not know that many people evan the prudent conservitive one’s who have that kind of cash accumulated over a life time. At the moment senior’s who have any cash are in something as fickle as ‘the market’. You can no longer live on CDs an bonds.
You have got that right, and when the majority of the public’s ability to “spend money” has been reduced significantly, the ability of politicians to spend freely should follow suit.
That has NOT been the case, certainly not here in Evansville, where we have seen huge building expenses (EVSC Strategic Agenda, Weinzapfel Arena project) all done at a time when the wheels were coming off the national economy!
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