IS IT TRUE? February 15, 2011

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The Mole #??

IS IT TRUE? February 15, 2011

IS IT TRUE that the President of the Evansville City Council B. J. Watts came to the council meeting last night armed with a letter of support to hire SMG as the management company for the new Evansville Arena?…that in his plea for signatures he cited the fact that the next Mayor, Council, and administration will have to live with this agreement so they should be the ones to make that decision?…that President Watts was only able to get four Council members to sign the letter of recommendation?…that these signers are Councilman Curt John, President Watts, Councilwoman Missy Mosby, and Councilman John Friend?…that Councilman Friend was on the appointed Advisory Committee that voted “unanimously” to recommend VenuWorks to manage the Downtown Arena?…that Councilman Friend as Senator John Kerry before him “voted for it before he voted against it”?…that we would be very interested in the rationale behind both his first and second opinions?

IS IT TRUE that Councilman Dan McGinn who spent much of his life practicing law expressed a solid opinion that the role of the Advisory Committee and the Evansville Redevelopment Commission in this decision could very well be subject to Indiana’s “open door” laws?…that Councilman McGinn also stated that if there is an error to be made in the interpretation of said laws that the error should be on the side of openness?…that Councilman McGinn even hinted at a simple way that the Evansville Redevelopment Commission could hold a public discussion and put those who question the legality of the process to rest?…that taking one more week and holding two more meetings to remove the stigma of backroom dealing would be a cheap insurance policy that the ERC could and should take to fully legitimize the process?…if they do not do so, there will always be those who cry “FOUL” and there may be legal costs incurred to defend the alleged “FOUL”?

IS IT TRUE that Vanderburgh County Treasurer and Democratic candidate for the nomination for Mayor of Evansville Rick Davis put a resounding stake in the ground yesterday on the issue of getting free admission to events in Evansville as a result of his political position?…that Mr. Davis publically proclaimed that he has never received or even been offered free admission to entertainment venues?…that for today, his proclamation sets him apart from the other two elected officials who are running for Mayor of Evansville?…that we encourage both candidates Troy Tornatta and Lloyd Winnecke to come forward with statements of their own regarding the rumored practice of elected officials being supplied free admission to events at Roberts Stadium, the Centre, the Victory Theatre, and other local entertainment venues?…that we also encourage the four City Council members who have not spoken out, the County Commissioners, and the County Council to have their say on the issue of “FREE TICKETGATE”?

IS IT TRUE that the United Nations has published a very long document that details exactly what they consider to be the defining metrics of good governance?…that the name of this study is “CORE DIMENSIONS OF GOVERNANCE AND ECONOMIC INDICATORS TO MONITOR THE PUBLIC SECTOR”?…that the three indicators chosen by the United Nations to monitor the governments of the world from the smallest banana republic to the largest and most powerful members of the United Nations Security Council are Efficiency, Transparency, and Participation?…that this would be a good place to start when evaluating exactly what good public policy is on a local government level for American cities?…that the City County Observer will be publishing a condensed and localized version of this study in the very near future?

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7 COMMENTS

  1. Evansville is for all practical purposes a third-world city in terms of the level of corruption, opacity, and alienation.

    I would call it a banana-republic, but at least the banana republics had nice weather and beaches. Also, the fruit companies that ran/owned them were probably more concerned with the welfare of the people than many of the power elite in Evansville are with their fellow citizens.

    Melon republic?

  2. Is it true that a canidate for second ward city council as been going to the firehouses around the city selling illegal pulltabs to finance their campainge.
    Is it true that one of the council canidates in the second ward has $8,690.49 in unitemized contributions.

      • Does running for office automatically give someone the right to hold half pot raffles and run a numbers racket? If so I need to run just to be able to run an otherwise illegal gambling operation. Can a religious leader who runs operate a full blown casino? What a money making machine that could be.

  5. Apparently the idea of how much SMG staff worked at more than one of the venues during events, saving overhead costs when staffing an event, was never considered!!! This is a nice benefit when one facility management company is handling the management of more than one facility in a city. VenuWorks will be staffing the arena and SMG will be staffing The Centre. I doubt that staff will be shared any longer between the 2 venues!!! BJ was correct – the current Mayor and administration will not be the ones to deal with the issues and concerns that arise in future years! I still have not understood how or why the people on the arena development committee were selected. It certainly was not because they had facility management experience!!!!

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