IS IT TRUE that the City County Observer received quite a few emails of congratulations on the Weekend version of IS IT TRUE that dealt with Mike Duckworth’s many political patronage jobs over the span of his working career?…Mr. Duckworth may be a well qualified candidate for the public service positions, as a school board member, but not a one of us can recall ever seeing a resume’ or even a bio describing just how he was able to break into the entitlement gang of “patronage job for life†compadres?…having a renaissance man background that makes one qualified to successfully be appointed to serve in a newly funded senior manager position in the water & sewer department, on the governing board of the local public education entity that is a $300 Million a year business is truly amazing? …the CCO would welcome an opportunity to profile Mr. Duckworth and the life experiences and education that propelled him to a life of patronage appointments in Evansville and Vanderburgh County?
IS IT TRUE while on the subject of political patronage jobs, the revelations of the last several years that the City of Evansville has debilitating problems with reconciling the financial records, can’t seem to achieve conformance with US Department of Labor laws on comp time, has repeatedly failed to maintain parks, lets public facilities rot to the ground, acquiesces to a $37.5 Million cash demand from a hotel developer, botches deals to refurbish the McCurdy Hotel and the Greyhound Bus Station, and passes budgets without having clean audits leads us to wonder just what the requirements are when it comes to senior director jobs in the Civic Center?…we wonder if having an accounting degree and a CPA are requirements to be appointed to be the City Controller?…we wonder the same for the Department of Water and Sewers?…we wonder if a degree and license in Civil Engineering is a requirement to lead the Parks Department, the Roads Department, and the Engineering leadership in the Water and Sewer Department?…what about a planning department that is still working from a master plan from 2001 that does not include the Ford Center but does have a Baseball Stadium where the District now stands?…we wonder if anyone in the Civic Center understands the importance of having a current planning document and a 5 year plan that is reviewed quarterly?…the only conclusion that can be made based on the job performance is that there are either unqualified or disinterested people in the Civic Center OR that administration after administration are so mired up in politics and self aggrandizement that these people are prevented from doing their jobs?
IS IT TRUE there is a crisis of competence in local government just like there is in the White House?…in both cases much of this is rooted in the fact that there are no qualifications to land political patronage jobs in senior government positions?…political patronage is mildly annoying when the appointees can actually do the jobs they were appointed to do?…the legacy of failures that are on display in Evansville and the United States of America can be substantially attributed to the leaders appointing people to jobs they are clueless about?…the City of Evansville was bitten on the backside by having political appointees (department heads) in charge of software integration with absolutely no background in even the basics of doing so?…this is not much different the “unforeseen†failure to launch of the heathcare.gov website after 3 years and $640 Million?…politicians continually dole out jobs that need people of substance and accomplishment to sycophants whose lone qualification is a willingness to adore and promote their who appointed them?…as long as this continues the failures will continue to stack up until the bubble bursts in bankruptcy and squalor?…there are plenty of examples in our face both locally and nationally?
IS IT TRUE that it was revealed this weekend that California currently has roughly 5 Million people with no health insurance?…it was also revealed at the same gathering that 60% of these people are not even eligible for coverage under Covered California (the state version of ObamaCare)?…it is projected that if and we do mean if ObamaCare is successfully implemented over the next several years that the number of uninsured people in California will not change materially from the 5 Million that were uninsured before this half-arsed law was passed?…it will be costing about 60% more on average though?…the California Insurance Commission has rejected President Obama’s half-arsed political fix to tar and feather the insurance companies and deflect the rage of the people from himself as a destructive and debilitating recommendation that will not fix anything?…this commission has been quite supportive of ObamaCare thusfar but saw this for the political trick that is was?…President Obama should pay attention because if he has lost the confidence of the liberal State of California his star has fallen over the horizon?
Are the 5 million legal residents? Fox news likes to claim illegals will get Obama care which is a bold faced lie but the kind of idiot that would watch that garbage laps it up.
“Till Death Do Us Part”,,,Right Dole ?
Whats it going to take for you to face reality and accept the truth that’s all around you ? You can’t ride on someone else’s back through life, the fulfillment come’s from sustaining your own self. (within the law)
I’m on no type of assistance and never have been, idiot.
Yes, they are legal. Why would you even ask such a question? There is no accurate count of illegals.
+1 The question was asked because MSNBC has convinced the liberals that Republicans numbers are skeweed because we include illegal aliens. JD broke the liberal rule by calling them illegals. He should have said undocumented workers. I like to call them unregistered Democrats.
They would vote for the Democrats because the democratic candidates are so much better than the GOP candidates. 🙂
You can’t count their votes if they are not legally able to vote. So you can’t count them as not having insurance under Obama Care either.
Fixed News is well know for stretching the truth and telling tails of wonder as the same time.
Which is why most smart people who can actually think for themselves never watch the propaganda channel that calls it self “Fair and Balanced”. Note No one else calls FOX News fair as most calls it unfair for the most part and it’s by no means balanced. Its’ about a balanced a a teeter-totter with a elephant sitting on the right seat and the left side seat empty. Fox News is as Unbalanced as a peg legged man on a Saturday night drunk.
The dead aren’t legally able to vote, but they vote Democrat consistently in Chicago. If the Democrats wanted legal voting, they wouldn’t be against requiring ID to vote. You can bash Fox all you want, I haven’t watched it in years. Fox, CNN & MSNBC are entertainment channels, not news. It’s a shame that our media is so bought that you have to go outside of the country to get the real story.
This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
What Phyllip is saying is true you do have to go outside our country to get truthful unbiased reporting, but it’s not that they are not in the tank with our media also, just that they see things differently and have no fears from our government in the form of retaliation against them….all news agencies have a agenda, it’s just that it’s not a obvious one to the casual observer or watcher.
JMHO
Phillip That’s pure BS. Prove it! Every one knows that dead people can’t vote. ha ha.
That is just GOP gobbly goop used to try to supress the voters who are not likely to vote for a Republican. Every one knows that you can’t really bring Beatle Juice back to live by saying his name three times in a row!!
I think we must all excuse John Doe. It is evident by his posts on the CCO just whom the true idiot is. He loves the low road.
Takes one to know one doesn’t it? You ride the low road every time you get the chance IMHO. The guy you are complaining about has more sense that the people complaining about him!
how far has this country fell in the last 50yrs with low info john doles living off the government……..jfk “we choose to go to the moon in this decade” we did…….mr.reagan “gorbachev tear down that wall”it was……barry obamachev “we will have the obamacare website working by the end of november” a sad disgrace……
Pot, meet kettle.
It took me all of 10 seconds to pull up Duckworth’s resume on LinkedIn. Masters in Public Administration, and multiple director jobs in the private sector.
10 seconds.
SO what your are saying is when the Republicans control City and County Government Mike Duckworth is gainfully employed in a political patronage job. When the Republicans are out he is forced to work in the private sector below his educational level.
Well look at it this way, your areas very own “dynasty duck.” 😉
Touche!
Crash; Did you ever make it to SC?
Wonder cause the weather might get crappy there in a few hours.
The weather system “the mess to the southwest” seems more something to apply real management skills in concern for the Evansville areas operational needs moving forward right now.
The storm out there sat off the southern coast of Baja California for days building energy. Its now moving this way,and has hooked up with weather clear down to the tropical Pacific realm near Acapulco. The thing is going to slam into the next blast from the northwest enough to cause some serious trouble across its pathway and into the next 60 hours
Right now in Evansville its borderline,somehow it does look as if the tropical moisture will punch through past the Ohio valley.
That might be a nasty mix,I wonder if the political bent public service organizations in Evansville even considers taking some planned ahead with conditional staging to accept the need for emergency management forward in time per/hr costing. If this were to happen? Usually such management is what controls some the actual cost issues that really plague that area as I read them on this site. Timing is everything with weather response planning and costing.
“Ducky weather” on the horizon for some,I suppose.
V R
That weather is great for the Waterfowl Hunters. It helps drive the Ducks South to our area where they can be hunted easier. Fresh meat guys. Quack Quack
I know a few waterfowl hunters that pray for snowy/rainy weather here.
@sentence fragment, I just looked at the same resume. Could you please list the multiple director jobs in the private sector that are on there?
Better Yet ask the school if they have a record of his graduating from there and then get a transcript from the college where he said he attended school.
He’s been working for the city as long as I can remember and that goes way back to when he was a Vanderburgh County Sheriff Deputy and hung out a Funky’s doing crazy things in the lobby.
Lets get it right. Duckworth is really a nice guy but is the official king of Republican patronage employment. Bottom line, it’s not what you know but who you know.
That’s the problem. It should be what you know not just who you know. We need qualified people in government as well as in the privte sector.
The only problem is that Governemnt is not forced to make a profit where the private sector has to make a profit or go down in flames.
Was the job that Mr. Duckworth recently took with the City Water and Sewer department publicly advertised? If so, named the publications that it was printed in? Did the city post this position with Workforce One employment services? How many people was interviewed for this new position? Did the job with the city Water and Sewer department salary scale pay more than the County Road Director job he left Is so, how much more? Did Mr. Duckworth have any past experiences water utilities?
Mike Duckworth as Superintendent, Jenny Collins as Financial officer, and Jonathan Weinzapfel as bond attorney.
My, what a neat little package. I can imagine how such a lineup might find a warm spot in the hearts of the members of the ERBC.
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Get on the IOndiana Attorney General’s site and look up the “White Paper” concerning holding dual lucrative public positions. You will see that the two lucrative public positions held by Duckworth over the years have both have been on the banned list.
The only one who has given him the choice between a city position and the EVSC board is Rusty Lloyd. Ducky chose the city position and resigned from the school board.
Why don’t we have city or county officials with the guts to do the same thing that Rusty did?
You mean like Al Lindsey? How is it any different than Al being on the city payroll as a fireman and getting paid to be on city council?
Are you saying Al should step down from one or the other?
No, the dual office holding guide permits such an arrangement. Do you have a problem with Lindsey? It would appear to be the case. Look up the AG’ s publication.
Actually, it does not support such an arrangement. Lindsey was on Council before the law passed. He will have to resign from EFD to run for the office again.
How do you compare Duckworth to Lindsey, one has had a multitude of politically appointed jobs (Duckworth) and one has had 1 job with the city for over 28 years and ran for office and has had that ELECTED position for less than 2 years (Lindsey) get over it, you just sound like a Lindsey hater to me what’s next are you going to blame Obamacare on Lindsey?
It is a misnomer to term it “political patronage” anymore. The people who really run things, who hire and fire the Mike Duckworths of the world, could not care less about party. Their affiliation is to their bottom line, not to a party or an individual politician. Duckworth thrives because he understands this fact and they know he understands that fact.
Why do you think there is a battle going on in the republican party for the soul of the party. Just imagine the effrontery of having to deal with people who actually believe the Constitution means what it says. People who put some things higher than self.
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BINGO ! Give “Press” a Cigarrrr !
I think you are saying he is part of the machine.
Press you really don’t expect people to believe that BS do you? Naw you are just trying to fool yourself I guess. Political Patronage is alieve and well in Vanderburgh County and the City of Evansville. It’s never died and you and I both know it.
Ask Mike if he bought his Lincoln Day Diner Ticket yet? The Dems require people working for the city to buy a 100 dollar ticket for the same type of event. That’s how the party raised money from their employees. Any one who’s worked for the city knows this. They do politics inside city offices all day long. Most all the secretaries are party workers who got their jobs because of political party work not their typing skills. Well not all of them can’t type. Some actually know how to type while the other’s just answer the phone and tell everyone that thieir boss is busy right now and or direct them to call a difference city/county/state agency for help.
Correction desperately needed here !
The Obamacare / Affordable(HA) Care Act is not Half Arsed !!!
It is Fully Arsed !
The only thing that was half A&&ED was the insurance policies that about 2% of the people had that were not covering much. Now with the AHCA those policies have to meet min standards and the very tiny percentage of the American Public will have to pay more to get a good insurance policy. That’s a lot better than paying a little for absoluty a worthless policy. The trouble is that most all those 2% ers never would have found out just how bad there cheap health insurance polcies were until the actually got sick and found out that they were not covered for a lot of very important things. Then they would have found out the hard way and ended up in debt.
Sadly, you are wasting your time. They can’t comprehend the facts. They had their minds made up in advance.
Actually comprehension to see through the necessity of POTUS to repeatedly float blatant lies to get this cluster frick passed, is quite clear.
Coytoe: Yup know about that old duck blind tale.about the weather,guess what, its not true. Best hunts are on the blue bird days after the nasty front,when they go to feed after migration rest. Visibility, less wind drives the tale there.
Heard at least one thousand different renditions,you see my Grandfathers, Uncles and Father and his friends started me into the waterfowl hunting tradition at age 6.
Working on 55 years of the lore today.
Actually the climate change and environmental studies I do, and active Ducks Unlimited project work keep me a bit more informed of the true biological science involved in actual global avian migrations today.
The DU project work through DU Delta Waterfowl science is one of the most actively significant applications today in respect too climate change actions applied to the contain the sustainable environment in the Americas.
Its science,outdoor recreation,Americas traditions, and “donated patronage” at its best. Private donations and cooperative land management with DNRs around the whole country.
Good stuff,probably good politics too considering the gross national commerce and income products base it does drive. Big money. Have an Arkansas/Clinton story on that one!
Your area is somewhat lacking in the active local project applications to restore the central delta basin flood plain recovery effort.
With Posey’s local Point township area,and some across the river the apparent impacts can be increased dramatically if some other surrounding counties picked up some actual work in the development of recovery plains along the Ohio basin.
Another thing is with key locations utilized, with planning Vanderburgh and Warrick can easily become defined national standards in those applications,”and get this”, with a design that goes a long way to incrementally defeating the mandated CSO problem you have to deal with anyway. Creates and Sustains good jobs as well.
Having seen these ecosystems work very well when mixed in and blended with 21st century interurban infrastructure funding sources around the country one actually thinks this can actually work for the Evansville metro location.
The advanced ecosystem design patent is a piece of cake so to speak,Heck I’ve done several of them up and down the central Mississippi/Missouri,Chesapeake bay,and eastern shore Delta basins,however your local politics in your area seems to drive a feed line that is apparently not the ethical model one can presume needs to be the case for actual project model conceptualization forward. The always evolving climate science and technology available today makes these type of projects very possible and very location/regional cost effective.
These do drive “very real evolving tourism numbers” those that provide growth forward through built in natural site evolution sustainability, while meeting commerce growth and base infrastructure and logistical needs as well.
BTW, “Duck calls”…Hen’s Quack,Quack the loudest,Drakes whisper sound,sack,sack.
This Mallard species call is the one needed as applied to the politicians,…chuckle,chuckle,chuckle….feeding call.
In your area such ” ducksworthy” moved forward nationally acclaimed environmental project planning usually takes the waterfowl call eER HONK!. a Goose. 🙂
“Happy,happy, happy” (Robertson,duck commander*)
Minimum standards huh? Like me being a 56 year old male and being required to pay for maternity care? Standards like that?
The true story is Duckworth and Rose Young will make up the Re Election committee for Winnike for Mayor committee. Republicans can’t win inside the city with out Democratic support. Rose’s role will start to get the demo leaders in line and organized. Also this way the tax payor gets to pay 1/2 their salarys.We have no Democratic party anymore in Evansville other then the union stooges. Whobry and Mc Neely run things. Just waite and see. Personally, Lloyd is doing a good job and at this point deserves a second term. But we have no checks and balance system with just one party and that’s not good.
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