IS IT TRUE? February 4, 2011

IS IT TRUE that the mission statement on the City of Evansville’s website for the city parks reads “Creating quality of life opportunities by providing safe environments and affordable programs to enhance fun, fitness, and education for residents of all ages in our community?”…that from what we have been enlightened to by Dr. Neil Troost and his daughter’s encounter with a hypodermic needle that Sunset Park is not safe?…that Dr. Troost, Jordan Baer, and others in separate investigations have uncovered absolutely deplorable conditions in nearly every park in Evansville that is under City of Evansville management?…that the City County Observer is being made aware of many private citizens who indicate a willingness to volunteer to get our park system back into acceptable condition?…that assuming that can happen one park at a time there would still need the resources allocated and the funds committed by the City of Evansville to keep the parks safe and manicured or we will have the same dilapidated conditions within 6 months of the cleanup?

IS IT TRUE that On Friday February 4, 2011, at 2 PM at the Vanderburgh County Election Office, Brent Grafton will file to become a candidate for the Republican nomination for the 5th Ward seat of the Evansville City Council?…that it is expected that Mr. Grafton will win that nomination and will face a Democratic challenge in the general election that may or may not come from incumbent City Councilman John Friend who may face a challenger for the Democratic nomination or opt to run for an at-large seat on Council?

IS IT TRUE that Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel has been quoted as saying that the maintenance job of SMG at Roberts Stadium as being “atrocious”?…that Dave Rector, the man that Weinzapfel put in charge of that maintenance in April of 2010 seems to agree with his boss and has exposed pictures that show apparent safety issues in the Roberts infrastructure along with non-working water fountains and taped shut toilets?…that it is alleged that those pictures shown to the news media showing cluttered areas with cans of gasoline, tools, and facilities maintenance equipment scattered about a storage room were taken over six months after the City of Evansville put Mr. Rector in charge of the maintenance of Roberts?…that if the place is a dilapidated mess as indicated by the pictures that Mr. Rector released that some of this alleged ramshackle management has continued on his watch?…that as we pointed out yesterday that it is possible that the City of Evansville by default or by design prevented SMG from doing their job?…that prevention doctrine just may cause some problems for the City of Evansville in the event that this has happened?

IS IT TRUE that we really wonder who controlled the budget for maintenance at Roberts Stadium before April 2010 and how that budget was determined and allocated?…that we are very curious about the itemized list of the $300,000 that Mr. Rector claims to have saved the City of Evansville in his 8 months managing the maintenance of Roberts Stadium?…that if Mr. Rector will provide documentation with an explanation for those savings in an itemized format that the City County Observer will publish his report in full and without edit or bias?…that equally that we make the same offer to SMG to publish any statement they have with regard to the maintenance costs, tasks, funding or lack thereof, for the 8 month period immediately prior to the City of Evansville taking these duties over?

IS IT TRUE that examination of the City of Evansville budgets should indicate how much is being spent on Roberts Stadium?…that Roberts Stadium general maintenance expenses are classified under code 026-012?…that there are 5 maintenance people and a lead listed as paid by the City of Evansville budget?…that in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011, the amounts budgeted by the City of Evansville for maintenance at Roberts were and are $476,115, $515,131, $482,917, and $509,671 respectively?…that the capital improvement budget for Roberts from Riverboat funds for the same years were and are budgeted at $153,000, $40,000, ZERO, and $22,000 respectively?…that it appears that the maintenance budget changes very little from 2008 to 2011?… that the capital improvement budget appears to have been taken to nearly nothing starting in 2009?…that saving $300,000 in 9 months from an annual budget of around $482,917 would essentially take a complete mothballing of the operation to accomplish?…that we are truly curious to see if Mr. Rector will share an itemization of his savings since March of 2010 when Mayor Weinzapfel put him in charge?

IS IT TRUE that if SMG was as negligent in their management duties and in maintaining Roberts Stadium that something should have been done long before?…that only when the overall management of Roberts became a political hot potato did the accusations of “atrocious” performance begin?…that the City County Observer is somewhat skeptical of the timing of the accusations and of the surfacing of pictures of cluttered storage spaces at this time?…that we certainly hope that the truth will prevail from all of the cluttered words that are being thrown about?

IS IT TRUE that many elected officials from both the City of Evansville and Vanderburgh County have expressed opinions on the secretive method that the recommendation for the management of the new Arena was carried out?…that no one has really gone on record as saying that SMG should keep the job or that VenuWorks should not eventually emerge as the preferred management company?…that what all have expressed as being somewhat atrocious is the back room manner in which the decision was made?

IS IT TRUE that several attorneys have now reviewed the Indiana Code regarding “open door” laws and have expressed opinions that the Advisory Committee was and is subject to these laws?…that “open door” laws have been ignored by this committee?…that in order to have a clean process that is not subject to legal actions and allegations of improper conduct that this process unfortunately needs to be repeated?…that much of the distractive media blitz aimed at SMG may just be a ploy to divert the public’s attention from yet another back room deal that ignored Indiana’s open door laws?