IS IT TRUE August 8, 2013
IS IT TRUE that today is the day that the Evansville Redevelopment Commission is expected to vote on the yet to be seen agreement between the City of Evansville and the out of town developer chosen to build a new downtown convention hotel with all of the bells and whistles imaginable?…the ERC has been put into a position of being a rubber stamp to a proposal before by Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel on three occasions with respect to this same hotel project?…that all three times the ERC did what their master told them and voted in the affirmative without doing sufficient vetting and three times they wore goat horns with egg on their face for choosing loyalty over cognizant thought?…the ERC also chose loyalty over exercising their mind when rubber stamping Mayor Weinzapfel’s scheme to buy a parking lot down at the McCurdy Hotel for $603,000 and to approve a completely unqualified developer who failed to pay his taxes but still made a healthy contribution to the Weinzapfel for Mayor campaign as the contractor for the project?…we shall see tomorrow morning at the Civic Center at 8 am on the third floor if the Evansville Redevelopment Commission has learned the lesson that VETTING MATTERS?…it is a sad thing to say but the CCO expects the rubber stamp of blind loyalty to be used again?
IS IT TRUE that meetings of the Evansville Redevelopment Commission are public meetings and people are allowed to stand up and have their say?…it will be interesting to see just how many members of the Evansville City Council who are being teed up as the next rubber stamp commission by the Winnecke Administration will actually show up and speak?…this is a good opportunity for Councilman John Friend, CPA who chairs the Budget Committee to ask some of the financially critical questions that he has been pontificating about for months?…tomorrow is the chance for every fiscally conscious member of the City Council to admonish the ERC to read the agreement and think before casting a vote?…we are living in a city where public pools are closed to save $72,000, a 75.8% sewer rate increase is being planned for a September vote, a potentially Billion dollar EPA mandate is coming, yet our appointed and elected officials are being asked by the Mayor to rubber stamp a $37.5 million (or more) gift to an out of town developer to build a hotel downtown?…if we are not living in the TWILIGHT ZONE then there is no TWILIGHT ZONE?
IS IT TRUE this also is happening when the free dental clinic is closed for lack of being able to raise donations of $150,000?…this is only 61 days of interest on the debt that will be incurred to give away $37.5 Million for a hotel?…if this is not a gross case of misplaced priorities then there has never ever been a set of misplaced priorities in the history of Evansville?…this is the sort of thing that drives good people away and makes the rest of the country think that we are not just fat but we are incredibly stupid to put up with a local government whose choices indicate delusion and narcissism?…if the people of Evansville take this laying down or sitting on the couch they are getting what they disserve?
IS IT TRUE that Mike Duckworth, Director of the Vanderburgh County roads may be accepting a new position with the City of Evansville? … that the new position could be in the City of Evansville Water Department?…we also hear that this water department job shall pay about $20,000 more per year than the County position? …we wonder if this position with the city water department was advertised in the local media?…if it wasn’t, could we be correct in saying here is another example of back room political patronage appointment deal between President of County Commission Marsha Abell and the Mayor of Evansville?…we also hear we will be extremely surprised to hear who Marsha Abell selected to replace Mr. Duckworth?…we wonder if Ms. Abell advertised this vacant county position in the local media before making an appointment?
IS IT TRUE that City of Evansville Controller Russ Lloyd, Jr. in the attempt to level out cash deficiencies, asked the county auditor to advance the City of Evansville 50% of the spring installment due in June?…that the auditor granted his request?… that due to these advances, the City’s funds balance, especially in the hospitalization, Parks and Recreation, and General funds will be adversely effected?…that Controller Lloyd’s action has distorted the true cash balances on hand?…that we cannot wait until the budget hearings to see how this one gets explained?
Apparently the City’s Cash Flow is running on Fumes, as the “Payday Advance” obtained by the City Controller, indicates that Evansville’s Rulers are–Honest to God!–“Fiddling while Rome burns”!
If I were not living/watching this FARCE of Good Government bring down Evansville, (while smiling the whole time)I would not believe it’s happening,—or that the Citizens continue to “Let” these “Creeps” define Evansville’s Goals and Community Debt, without an “in the streets protest”, about their delusion, lack of honesty, and convoluted priorities.
I must confess, I’m beginning to lose Hope that anything will ever change in My Hometown, and It saddens me.
Looks like Russ Lloyd, Jr. is doing the same thing he did when he was Mayor. He borrowed and spend without accountability. He is another one who doesn’t know the value of a dollar.
Did you know that a member of his and Marsha Abell family work together in a county appointed position? Russ,his wife and Abells step son are all on the public role. Don’t you just like political patronage. Now the king of political patronage Mike Duckworth gets another high paying political job with the Winnenke administration.
Don’t expect the State Board to do anything this year! No CPA’s are on the job. Saw a new State Board person and he looks like he’s spent his life training to be a surfer rather than an auditor. I will be referring to him as Auditor Cowabunga in the future!
The City employees are really getting tired of big tickets capital projects. Even city employees know we can’t spend above our income level.
This is the reason why the Mayor will be a one termer because he just spends our hard earned tax dollars on projects we can do without.
Russ Lloyd, Jr. is another one that needs to be sent back to the private sector because he also one who doesn’t get it.
I have been watching the twitter feed from the ERC meeting. It looks like you guys at the CCO are right and that the ERC will once again act as a spineless rubber stamp for a brainless mayor.
Why hasn’t the Courier and Press picked up on the upcoming 38% rate increase for city sewers beginning next years as reported in yesterday CCO? Oh I got it, this is why many people are calling the Courier and Press the Mayors political lap dog.
Mike Duckworth is a good decent man, who has done a lot for the city. But what does he know about running a utility. Some positions do require expertise. When you bring in a person for a position who knows nothing about that position nothing good can happen.
Will Duckworth have to give up his school trustee position, or will he continue to hold dual lucrative offices?
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It was none other than Russ Lloyd Jr. who gave Duckworth the choice between a city (lucrative public position) and his EVSC Board position. Ducks chose the city job. I suggest that Rusty tell Winnecke to give Ducks the same choice. Fat chance of that.
The Evansville Redevelopment Commission should be abolished. It it nothing more than an unelected arm of the local chamber of commerce. Its sole purpose is to use taxpayer funds to support projects that benefit the chamber members.
Governor Jerry Brown abolished them in California because they were a major cause of the State’s bleeding budget.
Let private enterprise pay for their own damn hotel and quit living off the backs of the little people like the bunch of cronies they are.
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They say follow the money, and it looks as if some moves are pointing towards the Evansville Water Department.
A lot of people were scratching their heads when Jonathan Weinzapfel appointed Jenny Collins as the first ever “Financial Officer” for the Water Department just prior to his leaving the mayor’s job. Now we have Mike Duckworth joining the Water Dept. team.
These people were around for the eight years of the Weinzapfel administration. They are still around and setting up shop in the water dept. which tells me that Svengali is getting ready to work his magic once again.
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Why do I only get this news from the CCO? I never hear about these stories from television, radio or the CP.
The answer is simple. CCO Moles and writers have life experiences, connections and intelligences. It’s obvious that the other media types lack in the above human skills.
Q
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