IS IT TRUE July 11, 2013

58

Mole #3 Nostradamus of Local Politics
Mole #3 Nostradamus of Local Politics

IS IT TRUE July 11, 2013

IS IT TRUE Mayor Winnecke met yesterday with some of the young professionals who make Evansville their home to learn what it is they want to be more satisfied with the “quality of life” challenges that Evansville faces?…this is not the first such meeting that has been held in the last 10 years regarding the problems of “brain drain” and dead end careers that have plagued Evansville for many decades now?… Mayor Winnecke himself has been to countless seminars, sister city visits, and inter-city visits to discuss the same issues ad nauseum yet things just do not change?…former Mayor Weinzapfel took the same trips and talked to the same groups like Rotoract and YEP (Young Evansville Professionals) and heard all of the same critiques but not a thing has been done to advance the concerns of young professionals to the next level?…there was even a seminar called Smart Cities in 2010 paid for by private money to address these issues and only one elected official saw fit to attend and didn’t stay for the whole discussion?…we at the CCO hope that this old dog Mayor learns this time since he has heard these lessons many times before and done nothing to effect change?

IS IT TRUE the #1 complaint among young single professionals is that the dating pool is littered with half wits, morons, rednecks, and others deemed to be unfit to consider for marriage or decent conversation?…a little known secret is that the same situation contributes to brain drain for the older professionals who are single too but that is a discussion for another day?…the #2 thing on the list for young professionals is to be able to find a career track employment opportunity that is upwardly mobile so they can provide for their families if they are lucky enough to form one?…it is not just about JOBS as it was 30 years ago, it is about GOOD JOBS that challenge ones abilities and utilize ones academic training?…Evansville for a few people does offer good jobs but the density of these jobs is so sparse that job mobility is essentially non-existent for young professionals who find themselves in a challenging career?…the lack of JOB MOBILITY leads to depressed wages and a plateau for what could be good and lucrative careers?

IS IT TRUE that the last thing on a young professionals list of needs is a downtown hotel, an arena, or loft apartments in a dead location?…these are things that are attractive to young professionals that have the dating issues and the career issues in the rear view mirror?…those numbers are small here in River City?…young professionals do not give a rats arse about the Shrine Circus, dog parks, skateboard parks (with the exception of non working slackers), or the zoo?…these are only icing on a cake but do not constitute cake at all?…contrary to what some older Evansvillians claim this place is not closer to a positive tipping point than Detroit or downtown St. Louis are?…it is unfortunate but meeting after meeting that happen year after year with no tangible results just drive off the best of our young professionals to other locations that meet their needs without asking?

IS IT TRUE there is one class of young people in Evansville that we can’t seem to get rid of and that is the group that are uneducated, have no respect for education, and no ambition?…we have thousands of these?…this group is part of the reason that our valuable young professionals continue to high tail it out of town at the first opportunity?…there has not been a Mayor or City Council person in the last half century that is even close to understanding the dilemmas faced by young professionals who want to make Evansville their home?…as long as the person in the Mayor’s office thinks a convention hotel is the answer the brain drain will continue?…young professionals don’t even like conventions?…that is much of the reason why out of touch arcane ideas like convention hotels and ball fields are fodder for ridicule and laughter among the younger generation?

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

58 COMMENTS

  1. IS IT RUE that this is now Day 3 of the Friend Weekend Follies that the CCO editorial staff has ignored.

    IS IT TRUE that the usual outrage over such a stupid judgement call that was made, a call that could have lead to serious injury or death due to boating almost double the legal limit is conspicuously missing?

    IS IT TRUE that the editors at the CCO would have had dozens of articles and tons of hypocritical outrage if certain people (Weinzapfel, Weaver, Mosby, etc) had done the same illegal act< and that the CCO would have been calling out for resignations and investigations?

    IS IT TRUE that their answer to my IS IT TRUE yesterday was a weak attempt at deflection, and that the CCO has never answered why they think just putting up the mug shot and police record was "coverage", when we all know that they spend a lot of time accusing the politicians they disagree with hundreds of lines of crud?

    IS IT TRUE that I am waiting to see if they stay true to their word of not removing Posted Comments, or will the constant reminder that the way they play favorites (especially about their "Chosen One") and they will not leave these comments up. I am guessing IT IS TRUE that by now they dislike the well-stated logic of what I offer as observations of their lack of coverage on an issue that calls into question professionalism.

    • I got a ticket in Ky. too it didn’t even make the internet, let it lay, this city has bigger problems. If you continue to copy/paste the same drivel readers just scan over it. Friend will or won’t run for office again, the voters will decide. I doubt you voted for him the first time. Since he will be such an easy target you should run against him. I have more problem with the city council’s rampant spending than an impaired boater 100 miles away, grow up.

    • Very well written.
      Was it written by the mayor’s press secretary?
      He’s being defeated by Friend in the latest poll … Your is it true reads like a desperate attempt at keeping a job. If it is the mayor’s press secretary I hope this wasn’t written on city time on a city computer…

      • Yawn

        I do not work at the Civic Center, and have never been an employee at the Civic Center. I am not employed at the local, state, or federal level in government.

        Sorry to burst your bubble, untruthsquad

        • Glad to hear it because I just got a call from the NSA
          to tell me my phone bill is due: I told them: you pay it….your on it more than I am….

          ____

  2. Dimwits with Guns and Authority have to justify their existence, otherwise they will be subject to budget cuts. This whole situation is simply trying to prove they have a purpose and large and in charge.
    I put this all down to those who have a hard time with Mr. Friends questions trying to get him silenced by attacking his credibility.
    At the end of the day you will find out that there was an inclement weather system approaching and the boat was traveling at 7 miles an hour.
    This is not a felony or misdemeanor, it is a citation.
    I do commend Mr. Friends behavior, not running but facing the music for his actions. Other local politicians would run and hide.

  3. The Editor wrote, “IS IT TRUE the #1 complaint among young single professionals is that the dating pool is littered with half wits, morons, rednecks, and others deemed to be unfit to consider for marriage or decent conversation?”

    Sounds like a perfect opportunity for some enterprising young professional to launch HighbrowMingle.com dating service.

    • In regards to the Dating pool mentioned, I suggest they look beyond the inbred Politicos and their offspring, that constitute the half-wits, morons, rednecks, and others deemed to be unfit to consider for marriage or decent conversation. Evansville is in a continuing decline for Reason.

    • With all that intelligence I am sure they recognize that it is not a function of government to provide a pool of compatible individuals for their dating pleasure.

      Perhaps they could combine their intelligences in a nefarious scheme to infiltrate local government through the elective process and eventually shape it to their desired goal.

      Naw, that would require some effort.

      ___

  4. “What do you want to be homesick for?” I will never forget those words, but it’s to bad our city leaders never heard them.

  5. IS IT TRUE there is one class of young people in Evansville that we can’t seem to get rid of and that is the group that are uneducated, have no respect for education, and no ambition?…we have thousands of these?
    …………….
    Yes, they are called Obama supporters looking for free stuff, government housing, food stamps, etc.

  6. The in your face right wing radicals and bible thumpers like Indiana Enoch drive the younger generation away. In about thirty years when some of them are dead there may be some cheap property and a few decent jobs to be had. Give it time.

  7. Complete and utter nonsense debunked a 1000 times. A sweeping quasi-racist unsubstantiated generalization. You’re just a rotten miserable disgruntled troll who evidently has to rationalize/justify why his candidate lost to a man you dislike enormously.

    I encourage the editor to remove this worthless, unproven, off-topic comment. Allowing this drivel repulses other readers and discourages them from coming to this site.

  8. If the leaders want to improve Evansville and increase revenues, bring back high paying manufacturing jobs here, like we had 30+ years ago.

  9. Hello CCO readers. Please look at the CCO Reader Poll now posted.

    Someone still appreciates the hard work on city council that Mr. Friend does for this community.

    • Hello, try and use some math

      Let me break it down into simple terms for you.

      The most recent census (2010) had Vanderburgh County with a population of 179,703. Per the 2012 election results, Vanderburgh County had 142,899 registered voters, with only a measly 73,486 voter turnout.

      Therefore, the 99 “votes” out of the most recent registered voters of Vanderburgh County means that only .06% of the registered voters have “voted” on the CCO poll, and only .13 percent of the actual people that bothered to vote in 2012. So this “poll” never even gets to be a whole number!

      IS IT TRUE, despite the CCO editors trumpeting how many “page views” they get, their polls are a joke based on the FACT that most of their “polls” never generate even a full percentage point of the voting population.

      IS IT TRUE that these “polls” lack total statistical validity?

      • We do not represent our polls as either scientific or broad. People participate to express their opinions, nothing more and nothing less. Sometimes they are correct and sometimes they are not. We have never even claimed that they are statistically capable of predicting anything. Why are you argueing with a random unnamed commenter about the metrics of the CCO? The fictitious Danny P much like you WOW are a faceless nameless fiction of your own imagination. Chasing phantoms in the ether is not good for your mental stability.

  10. I have seen many criticisms of the State Board of Accounts on this blog. I don’t know how these people are but I am sure that he’s not as bad as this Jimmy guy from Jasper. This State Board auditor hasn’t bathed, brushed his teach, or bought clothes since the 1970s.

    • Hopsing? This is true. He hasn’t bathed, brushed his teeth, used deodorant, or bought clothes since the 1970s!

  11. Still no one to vote for , gimme a old dog named blue or none of the above if you want my vote

  12. Another reason for the exodus is the message sent to students from day one… They will never be good enough to do work for the city of e’ville until they live in Indy, St.Louis, or Louisville. I open my reply box to all present and past administrations to explain the engineer jobs and consulting jobs that are never bid and never go to a local company. Five young engineer graduates in the last2 years, all doing their internships locally, but none accepting a job here. One even chose Cleveland over Evansville…. truly sad.

    • If your political ambitions are higher than local politics then you have to send a little juice to the people who write the big checks that can make your dreams come true. It is the old quid pro quo system, which of course does not officially exist (btw, you didn’t hear it from me).

      There is a well connected local design firm that has done very well, (again, you didn’t hear it from me).

      ___

      ___

  13. Hey WOW if you don’t like the CCO why don’t you stop reading or start your own on line newspaper.

    I also never read that the CCO claimed that their readers polls had statistical validity.

    Show me i’m wrong by presenting your claims in writing.

    Either put up or shut up!

    Have a nice day.

    • dummy p

      The CCO constantly (ALL THE TIME) brags about the number of “views” that they get, and how many people are “on” the website. Hell, they once had a poll that did not even add up to a total of 100%, but since they are math geniuses it remained.

      As for showing you that you are wrong, in the immortal words of Jackie Gleason in Smokey & The Bandit, do the letters FO mean anything to you?

      Hope you enjoy your day

      • I would like for the editor to explain this one….On your advertising rate sheet dated January 2012 you made the following statement….The CCO began operation in 2007 and has accelerated readership to the point where it is now ranked by Alexa.com in the top 55,000 websites in America and the top 300,000 in the world. The CCO is the local leader by a wide margin with respect unique pageviews per visitor and time online per visit with respect to internet traffic.

        I just checked alexa.com and the CCO is currently ranked 435,711 in the US and 2,915,333 in the world….Looks like your traffic has gone down big time.

        • Holy Cow! Great research!

          I’ll bet the fictitious $100 the editors are blathering about that the editorial staff either ignores this or puts a spin on it.

          Heck, I’ll bet double that amount that they cannot explain this.

        • Our traffic has continued to grow but at a slower rate. The pageviews continue to exceed 1 million per year. Obviously from the Alexa rankings others have grown faster. By the way there are over 30 Million websites with an Alexa ranking. We are satisfied with our ranking and our traffic. Congrats on finding Alexa. I am truly impressed.

          • Editor…you still didn’t explain your claim of being ranked in the top 55,000 websites in the US when you are actually ranked 435,711. Please explain how you came up with the following statement taken from your advertising rates page…..

            City-CountyObserver.com has more Total Exposure Time than the combined websites of the Courier & Press, WFIE, Local 7, News 25, the Louisville Courier Journal, and the Indianapolis Star Combined.

            • Our numbers and ranking were accurate for Jan 2012 when that Alexa rating was published. That was a three month average that included the 2011 city elections when our traffic was averaging close to 10,000 pageviews per day. Our daily average is now closer to 2,500 per day and thus our ranking has fallen. Our annual pageviews however are still at the same or slightly higher levels. You have to be careful with your interpretation of Alexa as they offer different time period rankings that ate difficult for a novice to understand. The time online was direct from the Alexa rankings during the elections when we had times of roughly 60 minutes per pageview and the CP was about 4 minutes.

          • Gee, per Alexa you have a Global Rank of 2,915,333, which shows a DECLINE of 1,092,119 over the last 90 days.

            Please explain how falling over one MILLION slots is considered a good thing in your universe?

            This should be priceless…….

    • WTH, here is two. Waste of 5 minutes to find, but goofs like you are easy targets

      City-County & Community Observer shared a link.
      July 23, 2012

      If only we could get as many Vanderburgh County voters as we have CCO page visitors…

      CCO Trailing Year Internet Traffic Well Over a Million Pageviews
      City-County Observer
      city-countyobserver.com
      From Google Analytics for Period from July 19, 2011 to July 19, 2012 Visits: 363,739 Unique Visitors: 92,393 Pageviews: 1,159,507

      City-County & Community Observer shared a link.
      October 12, 2011
      Well, Floatgate sure brought in a lot of traffic to our site yesterday! Maybe while you were visiting, you picked up more about Vectren and some of the sleezy moves they make. Maybe you recognized a few political names that are not only headliners today, but also made news years ago. Maybe you became a little more interested in this Saturday’s Occupy Evansville.
      IS IT TRUE? October 11, 2011 Special Evening Edition | City-County Observer
      http://www.city-countyobserver.com
      IS IT TRUE? October 11, 2011 Special Evening Edition IS IT TRUE that the City County Observer will most certainly be setting records today for pageviews, …

      Do you want mustard or kethcup with the words you get to eat

      • Editor–You put out a lot of criticism on what is wrong with Evansville. You also need to state in detail what is needed to be done to fix these problem/s.

        • +1

          Well said. Do not hold your breath waiting on this request. The editorial staff has a jolly good time taking shots at everyone EXCEPT The Chosen One aka Uncle Fester aka Mister .13 BAC

        • A good start would be to publish the names of the individuals who just purchased part of the civic center complex.

          __

        • Do you really want to put your faith and trust in the hands of blog publishers. We report failures in public policy in hopes that elected officials and party leaders will actually do something about what we point out.

        • If you insist here is some low hanging fruit. MAINTENANCE of what already exists, CLEANLINESS, and BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE before silliness and games. Add to that TRANSPARENCY and HONESTY. Surely there is someone in government or party leadership who can craft a substantive plan of action around those fundamentals of running a city. Using a few hand picked Generation Xers to claim a hotel is what young professionals want is poppycock and flies in the face of all of the fundamentals of positive governance.

          The stewardship of Evansville for the last 10 years ranks right up there with ObamaCare for good planning and implementation. Hopefully you understand exactly how much of a fiasco that is.

      • Those Google numbers are indeed the exact numbers as can be verified for any time period you choose since we started counting in October of 2010. Thank you for reminding our readers of the broad reach we have.

        Poll numbers are compiled by WordPress and round of errors do occur from time to time. As for the one time arguement about a percentage calculation we were proven right even after Brad Linzy challenged us on them.

        How about a calculus contest for $100? I’m game, are you?

        • Wait… I never challenged CCO on the accuracy of that poll. That was someone else. I actually came to the defense of the CCO and showed why the calculations were correct.

  14. First of all, I really don’t think the mayor speaking with a chamber group and city gov’t yes person(s) should constitute speaking for all young professionals. Both have conflicts of interest with the mayor and powers that be that should result in their data being thrown out in any survey taken with regards to YP market demand.

    “that the last thing on a young professionals list of needs is a downtown hotel, an arena, or loft apartments in a dead location?…these are things that are attractive to young professionals that have the dating issues and the career issues in the rear view mirror?”

    Well, I have been broken up with my ex gf for quite some time now and work in a place that appears to be the laughing stock of the local Dem Party so I definitely do not have both of those things in the rear but I certainly look for arenas and lofts in downtowns. They are a sign of urban redevelopment and a commitment to smart growth principles.

    Now on the otherhand, Winnecke claiming his hotel is going to be some big young profs magnet is just absurd. I doubt any will ever stay in it. But of course all those there support the chamber who supports the project so that’s the answer you get- which is why I don’t believe this should count as “talking to young professionals.” It’s just talking to Yes Professionals who will tell you consolidation, dog parks, a hotel on sights that already had a hotel, and a boondoggle interstate are all great things.

  15. Can someone remind the Administration that the historic McCurdy Hotel still sits abandoned and rotting on Riverside Drive.

  16. This is like deja vu all over again for some of us on here. Remember the old saying “trust but verify”? Well if you are going to “verify” you are will have to start looking over some peoples shoulders.

    People react to scrutiny in different ways. You would think that public servants would be the least likely to take offense at someone verifying their work, as open government is generally the order of the day and the desired goal there.

    Who is going to do the job of verification? It is precisely because of the appalling lack of interest in this field by the Evansville Courier&Press that a website like The City-County Observer has a “market” at all.

    So WOW can come on here and rant all he wants, but the Evansville Courier&Press is losing print subscribers at record rates and the City-County Observer has done very well since its inception and continues to grow.

    Issues drive the readership and it is no accident that when the CCO breaks a story that calls some individuals to task, or steps on a few toes, we start seeing a group of new hostile posters show up here. You can usually spot them by their efforts to disrupt the conversation by leading it away from its original intent, or by their ad hominem attacks.

    I am pleased that the City-County Observer exists not only as one of those “oversight” organizations, but also as a forum for people who are concerned about the community and the country to air their views. The less dependent this community is on a single news source such as the Evansville Courier&Press, the better off we will be.

    ___

    • “So WOW can come on here and rant all he wants, but the Evansville Courier&Press is losing print subscribers at record rates and the City-County Observer has done very well since its inception and continues to grow” pressanykey

      Really? You must be sniffing the printer ink again. Per the CCO they went from stating that they were ranked by Alexa.com “in the top 55,000 websites in America and the top 300,000 in the world” on November 14, 2011 to being ranked 435,711 in America and 2,915,333 in the world today.

      How in the hell do you fall THAT far in 18 months and still be considered “growing”?

      IS IT TRUE just the opposite is the case. The CCO is just another time-wasting blog with a loyal herd of ditto-heads who like being able to vent because nobody in reality takes them seriously.

      And That;s The Facts, Jack!

      • You really do not understand how ranking and traffic are inter related. Let’s take an elementary example that I Hope you can comprehend. Alice, Jerry, and WOW are 3rd graders and score a 85%, 80%, and 70% on a test. They are then ranked #1, #2, and #3 in their special ed class for that test. Another test is given and little WOW improves dramatically to 77% while Alice falls to 78% but Jerry being the consistent kid only falls by 1 point to 79%. Their ranking is now Jerry at #1, Alice at #2, and WOW who improved by a whopping 10% ro 77% is still 3rd. In this case WOW scored more points (as in pageviews) but did not improve in ranking, Jerry scored worse but took the lead, and Alice scored lower and fell to 2nd place. The bottom line here is that pageviews and ranking are correlated but not linearly so. If one increases traffic by 100,000 pageviews but others increase by higher counts traffic growth and ranking move in opposite directions. It happens all of the time and it only takes the cognitive skills of an 12 year old to understand it.

    • Spot on Press.

      This is EXACTLY why I want the CCO to focus on local issues instead of national politically tilted issues. The whole city gov’t machine hates them because they have done what the C&P has not- turned the lights on.

      I talked to a C&P subscriber a few weeks ago, he said they are having to raise their rates. That should come as no surprise. Who wants to read something that is nothing but public relations for the city’s officials? Public relations is not journalism.

      I too am very thankful for the CCO. Thanks to the CCO the 6th Ward now has a great & respectable representative on the City Council, we have sent one “opportunist” mayor packing and are getting ready to send another mayor who has treated the office like a personal fraternity party heading for the exits, and we are now seeing the lights turned on on the conditions of the city cemeteries as well as the enormous blight in the neighborhoods.

      So really, why pay for the C&P?

  17. On what facts and sources do you base your response that “Evansville Courier&Press is losing print subscribers at record rates”? Please tell us where this info comes from?

    PS: And for the record, the CCO staff censor posters on a regular basis thru their blog software, which tells me that my “rants” get under their skin to the point they can no longer handle the truth! As long as you agree with them and abide by their political leaning views, you can post and blather all day long. But the minute you provide competition for their lack of intellectual integrity, they can you by user name.

    A perfect case of “dishing it out but not being able to take it”

    You may call what I write a “rant”, but I get plenty of feedback that this website is just another blog, and most certainly not a news outlet.

  18. ” As long as you agree with them and abide by their political leaning views, you can post and blather all day long.” (WOW)

    * * * * * * * *

    Of course you are talking about the Evansville Courier&Press here, right?

    __

    • Nope! I have been posting on the Courier & Press for many years (August, 2007), versus your start in October 2006. Unlike the CCO blog, they have a grasp of journalism in them. The CCO editors tend to erase the people who disagree with them and have the ability to go toe-to-toe in local matters.

      The CCO is a blog, not a reputable news organization.

      TTFN

      • Oh yes, I love the way the C&P handles its editorials. When they are in their propagandizing mode they will not post the print editorial online for a couple of days after it appears in the newspaper. It is sort of like the voice of GOD has spoken and the rabble will not be allowed to comment.

        The C&P also has taken “editorial license” with submitted letters, to the point of altering the intended meaning by changing a few words here and there.

        There have been cases where they will allow responders to take exception to your letters, but will not allow you a follow up letter.

        In short, there are all sort of games they can and do play if you do not share their world view. I am sure many posters on here, including people who ran for political office, can tell you about their experiences in dealing with the C&P editorial staff.

        You do not have to look any farther than Eric Bradner and the latitude they allow him to know what the corporate culture is like at the Evansville Courier&Press.

        ___

Comments are closed.