IS IT TRUE March 28, 2013

14
The Mole #??
The Mole #??

IS IT TRUE March 28, 2013

IS IT TRUE we all learned yesterday that the Indiana Utilities Regulatory Commission (IURC) has given the City of Evansville approval to go ahead with a bond issue to enable $53 Million PLUS INTEREST to be spent to give former Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel his way once again with the taxpayers of this city’s money?…the real question at hand is now not whether or not the IURC is going to stand in the way of spending $53 Million for water meters that can be read without meter readers, it is whether or not either the Winnecke Administration and the current Evansville City Council will have the guts to defer or eliminate this unnecessary expense until real necessary expenses have been implemented?…what the City County Observer refers to here is the HALF A BILLION DOLLAR EXPENSE that it staring us all right in the face to get our DILAPIDATED SEWER SYSTEM into EPA compliance?…spending that $500 Million is not an option?…this is going to happen and the only variable is the timing?…we must remind our readers that a big capital project like the $500 Million sewer refurbishment delayed is a project that will see massive price increases?…if one magically wants to turn a $500 Million project into a $1 Billion project the way to do it is to kick that can 20 years down the road for the next generation to deal with?…at the end of the day what the Johnson Controls deal jammed through by former Mayor Weinzapfel will accomplish is to hang new water meters that sort of read themselves onto an Evansville Municipal Water and Sewer system that is crumbling like the Roman catacombs?…the marketing folks even have the audacity to call this a “SMART CITY” improvement?…this is about as “Smart” as putting a $3,000 set of chrome plated spinner rims on a $500 piece of crap jalopy?…this is the kind of idiotic logic that would make the rational American philosopher Will Rogers turn over in his grave?…we have chosen a few quotes from Will Rogers that seem particularly appropriate for a government that believes that this “Smart City” deal from Johnson Controls is really smart?

“Advertising is what makes people buy things they don’t need with money they don’t have”

“IF STUPIDITY got us into this mess, then why can’t it get us out?”

“Everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke.”

“It’s easy being a humorist when you’ve got the whole government working for you.”

“There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.”

IS IT TRUE that the use of the term “SMART CITY” to bamboozle local governments into believing that a water meter or any other so called improvement that does not accomplish anything of value for an everyday citizen is simply marketing?…this time it seems as though the marketing worked?…this project purports to replace every water meter in the City of Evansville that is less than 5 years old with a new “smart meter”?…for this to make sense a simple water meter would have to be expected to fail in 5 years or less?…we question the logic of choosing 5 years as a replacement time for an asset that typically works well for 30 years or more?…even if these new meters are SMART, this is a DUMB IDEA and a misappropriation of taxpayer dollars in a City that cannot even be assured that flushing the toilet will not end up in the basement or the front yard?…another old saying that the present and former leaders of Evansville need to be schooled in is “FIRST THINGS FIRST”?…when the City of Evansville follows places like Detroit down the primrose path of bankruptcy we hope the voters of this place will awaken from their coma and do something about it because the people that have been elected lately sure as heck never will?…they are too busy getting bamboozled by advertising and gimmicks?

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14 COMMENTS

  1. I myself have pissed on a electric fence twice , but I was only maybe 10 or 12 y/o Now in the mid 50’s I haven’t done it in 40+ years ….. Only thing dumber then doing it twice is to keep doing it like our local gov.

  2. If I understand this correctly, the meters can be read remotely–so no need for ‘Meter Readers’ (people) any longer. BUT . . . it turns out that the people who read the meters today won’t actually be terminated . . they will merely take other jobs within EWS (or so I’m told). WOW, what, then, is the payback for these $ 53 Million bucks ?

    • A part of this project is a new FOG (fats, oils and grease) program which will collect fats, oils and grease materials, currently put into the landfill, and use them to create 500 kilowatts (KW) of green methane that will be used to power EWSU facilities.

      If anybody believes this a good payback venture, they are sure living in “Fog” world. This part of the project will be an expense disaster.

      • Winnecke lives in a FOG. It does not take anything more than a flim-flam man with a fake energy contraption to pull the wool over his eyes. With Weinzapfel as his puppetmaster, Copperhead Carol as his first lady, and the Democrat Party of Evansville as his political benefactor this city has no chance until his dancing butt is gone.

          • I did not ask you that but it is a fair question. In my case that would have to be something in Warrick County. I left Evansville several years ago because I did not want to get stuck holding the bag for the stupid things Weinzapfel was doing. I also wanted my kids in the Castle system instead of EVSC. I do still want to see Evansville do well though. I think if I were to ever move back I would run for city council. As a republican I would have no chance to win in a town full of yellow dog democrats.

          • My bad I’m being dyslexic and mixed you up with yao. But yea, I definitely believe a lot of people will follow you in pulling a reverse Rector and moving to Warrick Co. Some because they want to live on county tax rates yet enjoy city perks on someone else’s dime. But a lot of people will because of the amount of corruption and inefficiency that exists in every aspect of city government and the private sector as well.

            I will say that Castle is a better system largely because they have a ton of rich people whose kids have no business getting a free education at the expense of the gov’t, but at the same time I can’t think of any other school system in this area that is worse than the EVSC.

            I also cannot think of a school system that has wasted so many assets over the years. That’s mostly due to the fact that we have EVSC people like Sally Becker backing up the mayor’s grandiose dog park plans instead of supporting plans that benefit everyone including high school basketball.

            Not to mention, building new North in the boondocks is a disaster that will wreak havoc on the city for years to come.

          • Jordan, do you get paid for talking out your ass or is it just a pastime?

            “I will say that Castle is a better system largely because they have a ton of rich people whose kids have no business getting a free education at the expense of the gov’t…”

            WTF are you smoking? Got any more?

  3. Man am I glad I packed up my family and left idiot Evansville years ago. Your local politicians make banana republics look intelligent

  4. Crews are down at 9th and Locust installing boxes and electrical today. Looks like it might be part of this project. Someone should check it out. Another move very quickly before anyone has time to stop it project?

  5. Me think that beaver and messy have cast the 2 votes fer the CCO smart city poll

  6. Disney magic in evansville ,,,,,, is this a new training procedure for EPD anyone else catch it on the news ??????

  7. Little Chicago raises its ugly head again. Jonathan Weinzapfel drafted this deal with the help of hired gun Mark S. Moore of Baker & Daniels.

    Weinzapfel then created the position of Water & Sewer Dept. CFO for Jenny Collins, his city controller at the time.

    http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jenny-collins/30/885/869

    The IURC shot the plan down, but these players are not about to walk away from a multi million dollar deal. Too much money on the table if they can salvage it in some other iteration.

    That is the way things work around here, and people, who otherwise believe themselves to be “good” people, never speak up or do the RIGHT thing when these situations occur.

    And THAT is what is killing this city!

    ____

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