IS IT TRUE June 25, 2012

35
The Mole #??

IS IT TRUE June 25, 2012

IS IT TRUE

that yesterday’s addition problem that makes it clear that the City of Evansville is floating on a need to spend $2.5 Billion to effectively do what is expected to minimally be considered a to be a City is a sobering thought?…that a less expensive way to deal with much of the problem of Tom Barnett’s Billion dollar dilapidated house issue and much of the $500 Million Combined Sewer Overflow mandate was brought up at a meeting in Innovation Pointe back in 2007?…this solution that has the potential to save nearly $1 Billion fell not only on deaf ears but on deaf ears attached to aggressive opposition from the then powers that be?…that tearing down all 8,000 of the dilapidated houses at about $5,000 each according to Mr. Barnett’s cost to demolish estimate would only cost $40 Million and the rat traps would be gone…that there is no demand for the housing anyway so demolition is the right solution until basic services can be secured for the entire City?…that many of those 8,000 (probably up to 10,000 by now) are in the areas that suffer from having Combined Sewers?…that the elimination of those houses and rezoning to non-residential will eliminate the need to replace the combined sewers on a block by block basis?…that if a large area of the City that is both dilapidated and on the CSO system can be relieved of the burden of these old crap houses that some of the sewers can just be sealed and never used again?…that some other cities have done such things and saved improvements that would have never paid off anyway?…the powers that be in Evansville in 2007 looked as if they had seen a ghost when faced with that suggestion?

IS IT TRUE that Mayor Winnecke’s appointed General Manager of the City of Evansville’s Water and Sewer Utility has been in the news lately opining upon the $80 Million Johnson Controls contract that was signed by Mayor Weinzapfel during the final days of his reign?…this contract was supposed to pay for itself through savings and therefore has an easier route to ratification and acceptance?…that since that signing this contract has come under much scrutiny from Evansville City Councilman John Friend, CPA and private vetting efforts?…these private efforts seem to have exposed accounting standards that are let’s just say unique to this contract in their treatment of construction interest?…that much of the savings are undefined and are basically stipulated to as true without testing or even definition?…the pro-forma assumes a 2.8% increase in water and sewer rates per year for the next 20 years to even eke out a minor on-paper savings of less than 1% of the investment?…the once banker and never utility operator Mr. Mounts has been on TV stating that in his opinion this Johnson Controls contract is valid and must be honored?…that we would respectfully like to know if Mr. Mounts acquired his law credential from aisle 420 in WalMart?…the Johnson Controls contract has been challenged by some learned people with more appropriate credentials and that this deal is for attorneys to hash out so that the people of Evansville are well served as opposed to simply being serviced as has been the case in recent history?

IS IT TRUE that paid positions that are appointed are in many cases what are commonly referred to as patronage jobs?…that all cities seem to have a job or 10 reserved for cronies and political supporters that require no credential and have minimal responsibility?…that if there are to be patronage jobs that the City of Evansville and other cities would be well served to make sure that the people appointed to patronage jobs are not even allowed to do anything?…patronage is but one of the problems facing this city and this nation right now?…we cannot afford the luxury of patronage any more than we can afford to buy gold plated toilet paper rolls, $700 hammers, and $2 Million ballfields?…the party is over for the time being and it never should have started in the first place?

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35 COMMENTS

  1. Regarding “patronage jobs”:

    Keep in mind the “City-County Reorganization Plan” not only allows the mayor-elect to appoint a Deputy Mayor to do the real work of the elected mayor, but it gives him the power to APPOINT about 65% of the department heads in the new government. What happened to government of the people, by the people and for the people?

    Maybe Evansville should elect the Deputy Mayor, eliminate the mayor and hire a lobbyist to do his job.

    That “Plan” would also allow the new “city” to increase it’s borrowing by 35%. Of course, that would require the taxes of the people in the county to back those bonds or loans and INCREASE the taxes of the current city residents, as well as those in the county. There is no free lunch in Evansville.

    Vote NO in NOvember!

    • Don’t be stupid. The mayor and county commissioners CURRENTLY appoints department heads. You can take issue with that, but don’t blame it on unification. It’s part of the status quo. You’re criticizing the plan for a problem that applies to your plan (the status quo) just as much.

      You also state that the “Plan” would also allow the new government to increase its borrowing by 35%. Throwing out blatant unfounded, un-sourced facts will win you no friends here.

      Vote YES in November!

      • The “Plan”, which is no plan at all except to allow an expansion of appointed rather than elected government into the entire county, should be voted down by anyone who believes in representative government.

        Hell, they could not even get the EPD and the VCSD to agree on a plan. They threw up their hands and punted. So what would you be voting for?

        __

    • Regarding patronage positions, Department Heads should be qualified by experience and education.

      The General Manager of Evansville’s Sewer and Water Utility never ran a utility and he was never a banker. He was in HR at the bank (sound familiar).

      The Parks & Recreation Director never ran any parks or recreation (unless you count a cameo in Go Chicken Fat, Go).

      The Metropolitan Transportation System Manager never ran a transportation or bus service.

      Unfortunately, political fundraising ability takes precedence over merit, experience and education.

  3. The City of Evansville is a luxury that the residents of Vanderburgh County can no longer afford. The only logical way to consolidate government in Vanderburgh County is to hold a referendum calling for canceling the charter of the City of Evansville. If the referendum is successful the Mayor and the members of the City Council would shred the city charter and Fed Ex it to the Secretary of State in Indy. They would then have to find real jobs in the private sector. All of the city bureaucrats excepting vital service employees such as water and sewer, street maintainance, the Police and Fire Departments would have to find real jobs. Eliminating city jobs that duplicate the functions of county government would decrease the the required square feet of office space in the City-County Building. The county could then rent that space to for-profit businesses, generating revenue to reduce the tax purdens on the citizens of the county.

    As-is the city-county “consolidation” proposal will increase the payroll and cost the taxpayers more money, not less. This community is losing its young adults to better places to live and the very old to geriatric attrition. We must shrink the cost of government or we will eventually bankrupt the dwindling number of taxpayers in Vanderburgh County.

    • You should mean the City of Evansville can no longer afford the freeloading citizens of Vanderburgh County. They drive on our roads to our parks, shopping plazas and everything else under the sun. Vanderburgh County does WHAT for the citizens of Evansville? Maintains the bridges, cleans the ditches and owns a white elephant of a convention centRE that should have never been constructed in the first place. I don’t agree with consolidation but lets get facts straight. Remove Evansville and Vanderburgh Co becomes Owen County. A empty field devoid of any life, community or activity.

      • Bull! Vanderburgh County is now home to half as many people as the City of Evansville and has more that double the average income and higher educational levels. If not for unincorporated Vanderburgh County, the City of Evansville would be like a slice from that pie called Detroit.

        The opposition to consolidation in the county is simply because we do not want Evansville to ruin a good thing the way it has ruined itself with neglect and cronyism.

        How bout that $2.5 Billion hole the city is in from failure to maintain parks, sewers, roads, and sidewalks? Why the hell should we county folk pay for that?

        • Hmmm maybe because “you county folk” are on those roads constantly. Try staying OUT of City limits for one week and see where that gets you?

          • Wouldn’t your same twisted logic apply to people from Newburgh and Henderson?

          • We stay out for a week and you poor suckers will be begging for us to come back like we were tourists or something. We stay out for a year and Evansville will be on its knees and living on federal handouts.

          • It was country boys who built this community. All you city slickers did was annexed it bit by bit. Then you let it fall into disrepair. Now you want country tax dollars to put your crap-caked pig back into a glitzy poke. Forget the federal dollars because this burgh ain’t big enough not to fail. All you got to bail you out is us country bumpkins.

      • you dont even know what you are talking about, the entire county pays for the parks, levees, heath services and library.
        which benfits the city of evansville. you can take the Lloyd exp (a State Rd) and do all the shopping without getting on a city street.

        • Levee is Army Corps of Engineers and the county has 2 maybe 3 parks and the City and County both kick in on health and libraries

          • The Knight Township Levee protects both city snd unicorporated areas of Knight Township. Moot point.

            County government supports one park, Burdette, in total; and the city parks tax is collected on a countywide basis (countywide parks district). So we all pay for city parks.

            Libraries, ditto.

            Roads and street construction and maintenance is paid by gasoline tax, collected countywide by the state, sent back to the county to be apportioned out to both city and county governments by a fair formula. So all of us living in the unincorporated county are paying for the roads we drive on out here in the rural areas and down there on city streets.

            Bridges, including large culverts, are paid for by a countywide bridge tax, administered by the county commissioners, whether the bridge or large culvert is in the city or out in the unincorporated county. You city folks are driving over bridges built and maintained by county government.

            Most of the large shopping centers that dominate the retail market, along with all the newer regional and national franchise restuarants, were developed while the property the set on was in the unincorporated county. The City Council subsequently annexed the newly developed commercial areas after county government administered the development.

            Now, why don’t y’all get over yourselves and make your decisions regarding how to vote on consolidation based on facts and not random ramblings and disinformation. Look at the plan and determine for yourselves, your families, and your neighborhoods whether this is the best plan of government for you and yours, or if it’s just an accomodation of various special interests.

          • Thanks to Soon2B for a most informative post. How about the county start charging a toll to the city money grubbers every time they want to get out of the City. After a couple of month jailed within the city limits of Evansville their self righteous attitude may just change a little.

          • T-Wreck, while that idea may sound appealing on the face of it, we cannot do that and maintain the traditional attitude of tolerance we cordial county folks have shown all these long years for the wart on our collective butts!

  4. If anyone was paying attention, we should have tried to convince the superfund EPA to purchase the near downtown properties, tear them down, remediate the soil and then gift the lots to the adjacent land owners…. sure would have helped move our community forward rather than pay out of town contractors $25,000.00 for each postage stamp size yard to remove the soil and replace it with “clean dirt.”. I believe this would have been cheaper……

    • KFC Fire Hydrants?? The poor dog won’t know whether to piss or eat. Evansville city busses have had ads on them for years.

      • Buses run all the time…fire trucks only run when there is a fire. I can’t imagine a company would pay much money to put an ad on something that spends the bulk of its time in a garage. I’m sure it’s worth something, but probably not as much as a bus ad.

        The hydrants thing is actually a decent idea. Why not? If it’s functional and saves money, I say go for it.

        The biggest problem for most municipalities, States, and of course the Federal Government is the untold waste, cronyism, nepotism, and unionism that is rampant. The real challenge is in learning the adage “a penny saved is a penny earned”.

  6. The people of vanderburgh county and the residents of Evansville can no longer and will no longer put up with any political person or party wasting taxpayer money !!!!!! County = City City taxes = County taxes republican = democrat ,,, wasting taxpayer money is a waste of our money and is just dam wrong and the way past and possibly previous administration are doing many of us consider it a crime punishable by imprisonment

  8. Mr. Mounts needs to be shown the door. He should have never been re-appointed as General Manager of the City of Evansville’s Water and Sewer Utility. He was in the position when this mess was created. If anyone thinks the current Johnson Controls contract is good for the City is “dumber” than a box of rocks. Stay on top of this John Friend with both feet!!

  9. When are you country boys going to start paying your fair share of the things you use and or enjoy in the City. Why don’t you say you are from Vanderburgh County instead of Evansville. You are getting heavy–slacker. Vote yes for consolidation

    • Other than Hugh McGary’s initial landing, a diminuative squalor in a swamp, we country boys built this community, and the city simply annexed it, thereafter letting it fall into disrepair. Now you city slickers want our tax dollars to put the pig back in its glitzy poke.

  13. Taxpayer thanks to Dan McGinn, John Friend and Al Lindsey for voting against this Earthcare project. Robinson, Weaver and Mosby are forever clueless.

  14. The taxpayers can no longer afford the disaster that is Evansville. Tear up the city charter, Fed Ex it to the Secretary of State in Indy, and be done with it for good.

    We will be better off if we follow the long term strategic plan of Rio Grande City, Texas and ditch the incorporation of Evansville.

    Literally!

  15. When is the CCO going to step up and report the Petition for a Protective Order filed by City Councilman Weaver’s ex-wife? Why is it being held in Judge Kiely’s office instead of out in public? Man up CCO and report this, the public deserves to know what a piece of work that Weaver is.

    • I agree that Weaver is a clueless A#*hat that needs to removed from office immediately. With that said, I’m not sure we need messy divorce drama being brought out into the media.

      Often times, PO’s are filed recklessly as a punishment to the other party. I have a friend whose ex not only made one up, but went as far as going to court and testifying on a certain date, she followed him and his new girlfriend and threatened to kill them. She proved she was in St. Louis all that particular week and doesn’t have a temper or violent bone in her body. Unfortunately this crap goes on all the time.

      Like I said, Weaver is certainly a slime, but he doesn’t hide it well. Any person who would join him in matrimony is probably just as bad and would not be beyond publicly humiliating him. Leave the Jerry Springer material in family court.

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