IS IT TRUE? March 9, 2011

IS IT TRUE that mainstream media dropped the ball again and presented a completely incorrect report on the cost of a local government sponsored low income housing project?…that one of our supposed award winning television news organizations broadcasted a story at 5 PM last night regarding the renovation of the abandoned safe house that is now called the Vision 1505 project?…that it was reported in that segment by a recognized on air reporter that the cost of the refurbishment of the 32 apartment style units will be $832,140 ($26,250 per unit)?…that when one actually reads the fifth bullet point of the Mayor’s official press release that one would learn that the $832,140 is really just the tax credit associated with the project?…that the real cost of the refurbishment of the 32 apartment units is $7,677,308 or $239,915 per apartment unit?…that an overjoyed Mayor Weinzapfel was interviewed by this reporter and stated just how pleased he was that this project could go forward?

IS IT TRUE that apartments are available for sale all over the City of Evansville for prices that range from $15,000 to $30,000 per unit?…that for the $239,915 that is budgeted per apartment for the Vision 1505 building one could purchase as many four bedroom homes on Evansville’s east side as one could ever want?…that as long as mainstream reporters make such monumental errors in reporting and Mayors get excited about overspending by a factor of 800% for homeless shelters that the City of Evansville does not have a chance to exhibit fiscal reality?…that the population will remain oblivious to insane spending as long as mainstream media fails to report accurate costs in an understandable way?…that an informed public is needed to keep government accountable?…that a misinformed public whether that misinformation is intentional or not is what causes things like $239,000 apartments to be built, $2 Million ball fields to be considered, sewers to fail for 50 years before being exposed, and a mountain of public debt to be accumulated without any significant assets to show for it?

IS IT TRUE that there is a 5 Bedroom home with nearly 4,000 square feet, an 800 square foot basement, an in-ground swimming pool, a pool house, a three car garage, and a formal library listed for only $235,000?…that the address this home is just east of Burkhardt on Lincoln Avenue?…that you can find as many deals like this as you can stand in the City of Evansville that are near the price to refurbish an apartment with government money?…that the developer of record that intends to spend more on each apartment than this house can be purchased for is the Evansville Housing Authority?…that yes, it is all taxpayer dollars being spent on this obvious boondoggle?

IS IT TRUE that three schools in Vanderburgh County were just honored with the coveted 4-Star distinction that signify that their performance is in the top 10% of the schools in Indiana by the Indiana Department of Education?…that the three schools to be named are Signature School, Evansville’s only charter high school, the Evansville Day School, a private K-12 school, and the Precious Blood School operated by the Evansville Catholic Diocese?…that no EVSC schools were awarded this distinction?…that select public schools from Posey, Gibson, Warrick, Pike, Spencer, and Dubois County were all honored with this 4-Star distinction?…that as long as the maybe this failure to be honored is part of the reason that the population of the City of Evansville keeps dropping and the economy continues its 50 year trickle down from the high that Evansville attained in the 1950’s?…that this is a part of the State of the City that never seems to find its way into anyone’s State of the City addresses?