IS IT TRUE May 17, 2013

IS IT TRUE May 17, 2013

IS IT TRUE there have been some interesting results of some recent City County Observer reader’s polls that a couple of years ago would have been unthinkable?…the voters in our poll on whether to do a mediocre job of repairing the sewers vs. a fully compliant job of eliminating the raw sewage discharges resulted in a 5 to 1 margin of victory for spending the extra $245 Million and doing the job right the first time instead of doing a chicken$#!^ job that only corrects 76% of the problem?…for a populace that routinely is reluctant to support projects proposed by the Office of any Mayor of Evansville this is a surprise and a major step forward?…it is also a strong reflection on the types of projects our elected leadership over the past 60 years has been proposing?…perhaps it is really true that the people of Evansville (at least the CCO readership) understands that critical infrastructure is worth the investment and frivolous spending on fun and games is not?

IS IT TRUE our readers also have voted by a 7 to 1 margin that blight elimination in Evansville is best described as random acts of blindness with no planning as opposed to good planning with effective results?…the third option “Denial, Evansville has no blight” got one vote more than “good planning” got?…that our readers voted by a 30 to 1 margin in favor of full disclosure and transparency by releasing the gunshot map that sent the Reverend Adrian Brooks into a frenzy?…our readers support the release of the upcoming Ford Center audit that the Mole Nation tells us has some former elected officials in a state of panic by a margin of 17 to 1?…our readership favors a referendum on all of the $100 Million or so of public spending on non essential items like the hotel, the water meters, and Roberts Park by a 5 to 1 margin?…if it goes to referendum and if our readership is representative of the block of voters that will turn out the “fun and games” referendum will fail by a margin of 7 to 1 or roughly the same margin that former Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel defeated his strawman Republican opponent David Nixon in 2007?…what these results seem to show is that the CCO readership is fiscally conservative yet practical enough to support spending on critical infrastructure that will make Evansville a more viable place to live and do business?

IS IT TRUE another issue of alleged stealing from a public entity has been disclosed and this time Castle High School is the victim?…it has been alleged that an employee of the school misappropriated about $140,000 for personal use?…the embezzlement list just seems to keep growing in the Tri-State and such things do not reflect well on the region?…as with other such instances we support a fair trial and a just punishment should the allegations turn out to be true?…we do wonder when SNEGAL (sneaky but legal) misappropriations of public dollars will be reclassified to rise to the level of illegality that would result in prosecution?…it is legal (but it shouldn’t be) for an elected official like a Mayor to get large campaign donations from companies doing work for the City that the Mayor was elected to lead?…the spending reports for projects like the Ford Center and the campaign finance reports from elected officials at the time expose significant campaign contributions from both construction and professional service firms that were chosen to supply goods and services for the project?…every dollar that was laundered through the project into the campaign coffers of any elected official is a dollar that could have been used to fix potholes or make a down payment on our $815 Million sewer repair?

IS IT TRUE that the sewer project that Evansville is about to embark on is a treasure chest opportunity for any politician that wants to exploit the SNEGAL laundering of money through the project and into their campaign coffers?…the City County Observer would like to encourage the Evansville City Council to adopt a resolution ASAP that would make it a prosecutable fine for any business bidding on and publicly financed work in Evansville from making any contribution at all to any sitting politician that is or has been in the food chain of funding for the past 20 years?…it may be legal for politicians to benefit from this money laundering scheme but it is an abuse of the public trust for them to do so?…Evansville can set a standard of excellence and an example for the nation by taking this action?