IS IT TRUE July 16, 2013
IS IT TRUE the newly formed Elevate Ventures fund that is dedicated to funding early stage technology companies in Indiana has chosen an Evansville based company for its first investment?…Curvo, a software based business that leverages “big data†to grow medical device businesses while reducing the operating costs for hospital administrators scored a $50,000 maximum investment from Elevate’s $80 Million fund?…this investment is a big positive step forward for Evansville as it is the first such investment in many years from a fund based investment vehicle?…since $50,000 is the maximum that Elevate can put into a company according to the press release the $80 Million is enough to provide proof of concept funding to 1,600 Hoosier companies which is indeed a statistically significant number of businesses to guarantee some successes?…the next hurdle will be a more traditional angel investment in the amount of about $500,000 when further development is needed and marketing efforts are required?…most tech companies also have a 3rd investment round in that $10 Million range to take them to a significant level in the market with balanced product lines and everything else needed to run an operation?…the final piece of the puzzle is attraction of competent technical professionals?…the Elevate investment is a great first step but for Evansville to see long term prosperity the follow on financing will be necessary and the attraction of software talent will be vital?…at this time these other pieces of the puzzle do not exist but today it is all “thumbs up†for Curvo and Elevate Ventures?
IS IT TRUE that Sherman Greer, the long time and highly respected Director of Emergency Services has been fired from his job by Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke?…this came as a surprise to most everyone who has observed Mr. Greer in action as he has established a long running reputation for selfless but effective execution which is a rare thing in political positions?…the reasons given for Mr. Greer’s dismissal were the facts that he replaced an old truck a year before he was thought to have had the budget to do so, and that some employee was allowed to stack up a bunch of sick time that he hadn’t used and the City would have to incur the costs associated with having a bunch of “paid time off†on the books?…as far as the PTO accumulation that did not happen overnight and to be significant would have had to have been stacked up over many years?…paid time off is part of the compensation plan of the City of Evansville and the cost should have been actuarially incurred on the books on an annual basis?…this reason for dismissal seems to be petty and smacks of another case of the books not being paid attention to on a recurring basis?…we would not be a bit surprised if there are other people on the payroll of the City of Evansville that have many hours of PTO accumulated as well?…as for buying a truck in 2013 instead of 2014 this is also a pretty minor offense for a long term and highly respected employee to get the axe for?…we wish Mr. Greer a happy future and would not be surprised if he fuels his retirement with a significant settlement for wrongful dismissal?
IS IT TRUE that a truck is about a $20,000 or so purchase and this purchase would have been made next year anyway?…if the City of Evansville is to exercise this firing practice on every head of any department whose actions cost $20,000 then a lot more heads should be rolling in the near future?…let us remember the $200,000 that the Earthcare Energy debacle cost the taxpayers when Mayor Winnecke and his minions handed out money like candy for photo ops shortly after taking office?…we wonder who got the axe for throwing that $200,000 in the river?…Roberts Stadium was torn down on Mayor Winnecke’s watch after having been allowed to deteriorate costing the taxpayers at least $1 Million in demolition cost plus what it would have brought at auction?…we wonder whose head rolled over the mismanagement of Roberts Stadium?…the MIPS software chaos still has not worked itself out yet but has cost we taxpayers over a Million Bucks in “IDIOT CHARGES†and LOST RESPECT?…no heads have rolled over that fiasco either?…it seems as though Mr. Greer may have been singled out for selective enforcement much like Marilee Fowler was by the Weinzapfel Administration for upstaging his photo-op?…others have been let go for political purposes as well?…it will be interesting to see if Mr. Greer goes silently into retirement or if he questions the equality of the decision made to fire him?
I call this one bull*@#t! It will be interesting to see who replaces Mr. Greer!
If Jenny Collins can do all that she has done and get a new job and a sizable pay increase? I call this bull*@#t!
The real bull*@#t is the Mayor firing someone for spending! You know the pot calling a very small kettle black!
Spot on Ralph , this is total BS to treat a 20+ year man like this , yet Jenny Collins and Russ Lloyd jr are still employed , mayor you should be fired also for all the damage you have done to our beloved city .. Talk about trust your the guy who called the meeting to do away with our homestead tax credit , this evansville resident has 0.00 % trust in you , you are a embarrassment to our city , your equal to the last mayor we had , we deserve better please step down so we can put a dog named blue in there …. DERP
Keep on overhearing Mayor McClintock telling good old Rumplebeancounter that the State Board better not pick on them again this year. Pick on them? They are simply reporting that folks like Jenny Collins and the buffoons in the Controller’s Office aren’t doing their jobs!
Don’t rely on this uneducated bunch to do much this year. Airhead, Sheldon Cooper, Heifer, and their Supervisor have no CPA’s between them and we know how well people without a CPA do in accounting…Jenny Collins and David Garrett
You mean like Mr. Clean and Rumplebeancounter? I am sure they are viewed in the accounting world as accounting Gods
He doesn’t look like Mr. Clean, he looks like Uncle Fester.
Taken down by Editor because remarks are extremely personal and insulting.
The Mayor should ask Rumplebeancounter to tender his resignation.
Russ Lloyd, Jr. was in on the Earth Care debacle ($200,000 wasted).
Rumple covered-up his inability to reconcile the city books for at least 18 months while spending excessive monies on outside auditors to do his job ($500,000 wasted).
One wonders if the books have been reconciled for 2012 and if they are being reconciled in a timely fashion year-to-date (Priceless).
And who can forget over $1,000,000 flushed down the rat hole for the ball diamond built nowhere?
Alas, Rumplebeancounter is a legacy political appointment who the Mayor would never consider giving the boot like Sherman Greer.
Consider the postition Greer was in. Emergency management agency/director of emergency services. Maybe they are planning something horrific and they knew Greer would not go along. What and see who takes his place.
If there is not any more reason, other than stated above, to Mr. Greer’s release….something really is lopsided and wrong! He has been a long term and loyal city employee known for his hard work, especially during bad weather! I think there will be more to this tale coming in the future.
I hope to see folks using real names on here vs the cutesy nicknames…it lends more credibility to the comments. I am not an insider to these little nicks and do not work at the civic center,
so let the rest of us feel included by using real names. Thanks.
Says “Bravada”.
__
I have a couple of questions. How many miles were on the 11 year old truck he was driving? I am sure there are other government vehicles that are that old and older. How much would the repairs cost vs. buying a brand new one? There is no way it would be close. Where is the old truck now?
If he has been managing a budget for that many years, surely he understands how it works. If that big of a purchase is not on your CURRENT budget, how can you be confused on when to purchase it?
I find it interesting that the CCO was critical of the speed hump purchase and the “lock your car” sign purchase, but have dismissed the purchase of a new truck ( that cost more than both of the other two items combined) as a petty issue.
If someone from the city would have responded that an unapproved purchase is ok because “It would have been purchased next year anyway”, the CCO would have lost their minds.
Why the double standard?
Good question. Why the double standard?
By the many negative stories regarding Winnecke that have appeared in the CCO, it appears the Editor/CCO despises Mayor Winnecke. The CCO apparently believe by smearing Winnecke they will feel good and it will attract more readers and more advertizing. Because of their extreme exaggerated stories like this attack on Winnecke in the above Sherman Greer story, in reality, they are going to loose readers, advertisers plus loose their credibility. The Editor is over-the-line and is practicing a double standard.
This is not good for anybody. That is to bad, because good hard factual reporting is good for the taxpayers and makes political officeholders make better decisions. The CCO needs to get back on the track that made them a good newspaper.
As far as Sherman Greer is concerned, unfortunately all the good he did is negated by the few serious things he did that was wrong. Sherman has no one to blame but himself. When a department head intentionally does wrong when he knew it was wrong— you get fired. When you do the crime you do the time.
My comments do not mean all the things the Mayor has done is 100% correct. Also one must remember, it is their newspaper and they can print whatever they want.I would like for them to be successful.
For the record, I do not despise Lloyd Winnecke. There are many things he does that I agree with and support such as litter eradication and support for gay rights. I seldom agree with any reactive things whether it is rushing to do the Earthcare deal or firing someone in haste. I do admit to despising some of the things he is trying to do but not the person he is.
Wow, what an honest statement made by Mr. Wallace. I also don’t despise the Mayor but dislike the political games he plays with people career and lives.
I’m wasn’t a fan of Mr. Wallace but he winning me over by his honesty.
I enjoy the CCO very much. You’all are making a major difference in this community.
You never answered my question. Why the double standard? I gave you two issues you have done IIT features on. Both, I might add, were full of bad info. You were critical of those purchases but gave a pass on this one.
This site and many posters are like 4th graders. No matter what someone did wrong, they always start talking about the same old people and the same old issues. Has Winnecke and members of his team done things worthy of the critical comments? Yes. Does that mean everyone who is not on the CCO poop list should get a free pass? Only if you are still in Miss. McGillicutty’s 4th grade class. Grow up.
This site has really gone downhill.
What’s he supposed to do? Not report this firing? I call it newsworthy. Quick lesson for anybody who cares. You LOSE a ball game. A noose can become LOOSE. Sorry, just a pet peeve.
Johnboy, why don’t you get off CCO back. Do you think the Courier and Press are doing a great job in bringing back room political to public light?
Thanks CCO for forcing good public policy in local government.
I will when the CCO reports are based on accurate base facts and serve some useful purpose for the citizens/taxpayers of Evansville/Vanderburgh County and/or is good public policy.
Beating up Winnecke on Sherman Greer’s screw-up—-is what not to do. Also I will bet anything that decision was not made in haste/heat of the moment.
Yesterday—-Saying the State Legislature decreased City revenue $ 600K in gaming tax revenue because of recent legislative action and how the City was going to be in big trouble because of this action was not accurate. The State did not do this. Unfortunately the source gave CCO a lot of bad info.
I want to the CCO to be successful and they can be.
Joe & The CCO,
You guys you are spot on today. At the 5:30 mark of the following video Winnecke said he thought the BA did an excellent job handling the “vandalism” at Roberts…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV-gGNjNxz0
Of course, it was well publicized in the media but it wasn’t fixed until I went to the mayor’s traveling hall caravan and talked to Mr. Steve Schaefer who literally got the BA to wipe off the graffiti within 24 hours. This was literally within a handful of days before the task force’s public session was held at Roberts. Mr Greg Stilwell asked the person who cleaned it off if it took them 20 minutes to remove it and he laughing said “oh about 30 minutes.”
Mr. Stilwell also asked one of the workers how much it would cost to repair the infamous leak that let in water between gates 1 and 2 for which the C&P took plenty of photos of…
http://media.courierpress.com/media/img/photos/2011/12/30/420111229231225001_t607.JPG
The official replied that it usually only costs $1,000 but they were told not to make the repairs. When we discussed it with our subcommittee leader who is an architect if the roof was beyond repair, he shook his head and talked about it being miniscule in the grand scheme of what to do with the lot, saying at most $50,000-$100,000 (and as we all know the renovation estimate was half of the dog park estimate while having revenues which the current plan does not).
For a mayor that prides himself in being “we are evansville” he sure doesn’t mind Dave Rector mocking Roberts, must noticeably its luxury boxes…
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/jul/30/cost-of-roberts/
In that article he claimed the $300,000 mothballing estimate was “conservative” yet the CCO has found out it was liberal beyond liberal..
https://city-countyobserver.com/2012/10/21/roberts-stadium-electric-bills-obtained-through-freedom-of-information-act-request/
Why wasn’t Rector held accountable for his handling of Roberts which dwarfs beyond dwarfs what Sherman Greer is being held accountable for?
And speaking of Mr. Greer, I along with 4 other people who worked on saving Roberts met with Winnecke the November before he took office. At that meeting, he admitted to already talking with Wesselman and the Parks Dept about building a park there (of course none of them bothered telling him you couldn’t plant a new growth forest there w/o hurting Wesselman). But he also admitted that the idea of making a disaster relief area had reached Mr. Greer who was overly enthusiastic about the idea.
And indeed he should have been as Mrs. Kathleen Bracher who worked for over 20 years for FEMA & The Red Cross in Washington D.C was interested in getting the funding to make Roberts a designated disaster relief area. But in the end, it fell on complete deaf ears and now we are left exposed.
And the only one being held accountable is Mr. Greer? That’s pathetic!
Sherman Greer’s dismissal has nothing—nothing—- to do with Roberts Stadium being tore down. Unfortunately he screw-up.
Look— you tried your best to keep Roberts Stadium standing.You need to move on and concentrate on things that have not yet been decided that is good public policy.
Ok, are we for following budgets and spending money correctly or are we not for it. It’s hard to tell on this site.
Winnecke, by his own hand, starting with the under the table Homestead Tax grab, the Barnett pay scheme, etc, continues to present himself as a caricature of a competent leader at every turn.
One Term–and over,under, and done. No doubt his best work is done behind closed doors, but I would not hire him to oil my bicycle chain
No mention of a Evansville based hospital making US News and World Reports list as number 4 in Indiana?
This ranking follows 3 hospitals in Indianapolis area — up from their number 13 ranking last year.
Thanks for the heads up on this. Just got the news release from St. Mary’s and shall post this morning.
I think Mr. Greer deserved being asked to resign. Problem is there is a clear double standard. Others have done way worse and nothing has happened. Some as we well know have even been given new and higher paying jobs.
He was ask to resign and did resign. The 1st news release was only about his resignation (no explanation) but was revised after some people were not letting things be at that status and then a 2nd release was issued.
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