IS IT TRUE November 27, 2013
IS IT TRUE sign wars seem to be breaking out in the City of Evansville and some of it defies logic?…the City County Observer learned yesterday that two Franklin Street establishments that are locally owned and operated have been victimized by the Area Planning Commission for having storyboards in front of their businesses to advertised today’s specials like burgers or plate lunches?…these story boards are not billboard size, offend no one, and are not a trip hazard like the city sidewalks all over Evansville are?…the most recent threat leveled at a local business by the APC is a $500 fine aimed at Smitty’s for a small story board telling of specials of the day?…just east of Smitty’s the Lamasco Bar has had to deal with the same in-your-face stormtrooper tactics more suited to a Gulag than to a locally owned businesses in a medium sized Midwestern town that purports to be business friendly?…similar story boards are placed on the more favored by enforcement Main Street and we have heard no reports of any threats there?…selective enforcement has been standard practice in Evansville for many years in nearly every city department that there is?…some businesses are threatened with fines for the same actions of others that get nothing but smiles and handshakes?…some homeowners get fines and threats of fines from code enforcement while others are allowed to let their property rot to the ground without a single word?…the CCO is absolutely certain that the City of Evansville has bigger problems to deal with than a storyboard on a Franklin Street sidewalk?…we encourage our readers to go to Franklin Street and check out the many businesses offering good food and entertainment without public assistance?…we also encourage you all to call the Office of the Mayor and tell him to put the stormtroopers from the APC into a their place which we hope will be a business friendly place?
IS IT TRUE that the absence of having the audit of the City of Evansville by the Indiana State Board of Accounts in hand by the end of the year is concerning?…in most years back in the day when Evansville could actually balance a checkbook audits were started in March, completed in July, and released in August before the budget hearings?…since the City pulled an HHS (federal dept. of health and human services) with a software package neutering their ability to count audits have been taking longer and the results have been progressively worse?…with the 2012 audit now promised to be released in 2014 it leads one to believe that there are really some issues to be dealt with coming to roost in January or whenever the audit is made public?…some of the statehouse moles are even rumbling about an effort to sanitize the audit so it looks better than it is being driven from powerful people in Evansville?…this would not be the first time in recent history that reports have been scrubbed for public consumption?
IS IT TRUE while the APC refuses to allow small residential windmills on a private commercial site and persecutes Franklin Street eateries there is another sign in Evansville that was exposed by WFIE for hinting a free sexual activity if one buys a lap dance?…to our knowledge the sign at the Busybody Lounge on Fares Avenue that stated “FREE ____ JOB with LAP DANCE†has not been cited or fined?…while the owner(s) of the Busybody can advertise as they wish for the APC to go after someone advertising a hamburger but ignore the sign at the Busybody is a gross example of unequal protection under the law?…if you wonder why Evansville is laughed at and thought to be hayseed look no further than the selective enforcement of laws born of clueless obsession instead of protective reality?
IS IT TRUE that some county officials are harboring thoughts of turning management of Burdette Park over to a company already overseeing county facilities?…that some local non-profit organizations are dancing on and even crossing the line with respect to offering political forums for their preferred candidates for offices?…there are two sure fire ways for a 501(c)3 to put their non-profit status on the chopping block and both have to do with politics?…lobbying is one and openly promoting candidates for public office is another?…we hope this tempting but forbidden practice is nipped in the bud asap or the CCO will start outing the organizations that have been doing so by name?
These storyboards give character and charm to an area. Franklin Street is one of the areas I would be proud to take someone from out of town.
What the (*( is wrong with these idiots on MLK? We have entire sections of this city I cringe at the thought of a visitor seeing, yet, these morons are harrassing Smittys about attractive signage?
I would much rather see these type of signs than the generic, hideous, monsters that CVS, McDonalds, etc have no problem littering our city with.
Well said. Smitty’s owners have at least three successful businesses down there that I know of. They have improved an already unique area.
Hassling people like the owner of the Lamasco should come with a codified penalty for the hassler’s handler’s. Whoever chose the establishments to be fined, if an elected kinglet, would earn a 1000 votedebit after a first offense. Rapid escalation resulting in removal from office to spend more time with the family would face the pharaoh for subsequent violations.
There are some cheapo Plan Commission functionaries afoot, marching orders identifying targeted businesses in pocket. If not done under the color of government they would simply be called shakedown artists.
I have seen the same “story boards” on Main Street between the river and the civic center in the past and never heard any hue and cry.
It looks more like some poorly disguised attempt by the promoters of the downtown district to use AP to mess with success on West Franklin Street. Sour grapes perhaps?
__
That’s exactly what this is. Therein lies the problem with investing too much power in the hands of a few. If I lived on the West side, frankly, I’d be wanting to secede from Evansville and reform the City of Lamasco. I’d be asking Evansville “what have you done for me lately”? Mesker is rotting. They get very little bang for their buck over there.
If the laws must rigidly enforced (and I like storyboards at bistros) then those higher ups whom have broken Federal law (and hiding dirty audits can’t be good) those whom have departed from ethics by promising campaign funds to acquire unfairly distributed city contracts? Let ’em hang, $500 fines to already stricken businesses? A 40% increase and greasy behind the scenes tactics to jack Homestead credits, and rip off county residents?
People, I don’t think they’re taking us seriously-grab some chickens, where’s the rail, and heat up the tar-this is long past disgusting.
Looks like we have a hurt small business at all cost attitude in the Mayors office.
I thought our Republican Mayor would be pro-business. Shameful!
This fearless Mayor is pro-subsidies and pro-“fighting like the dickens” for downtown, pro-let Mesker rot so he can overspend on its renovation, pro-tearing down surplus properties in order to build more parks few will use and we cant take care of, and pro-give away money to businesses with pie in the sky business models and officers with criminal records.
He isn’t “pro-business”. He’s pro-spending. Spending is where the power and prestige, not to mention rewards, lie.
I’m sure the story board fines are a true reality. I’ve asked those nice ladies @ 6th Street Deli why they don’t at least hang a sign out over their door for people to see looking down their street (their doorway is recessed) or use story boards. They said they are not allowed by law to use either option. Shame, they’re possibly the best kept secret downtown.
While I think it is ridiculous law it is the law so those businesses need to find more conventional means of advertising their daily specials.
Just like when people complain of the cops arresting people for pot I always say until the laws are changed we cannot allow authorities to pick & choose what will be enforced & what will not. Way too much power!
Make the playing field even for everyone and change the laws so we allow small businesses some elbow room to survive. Lord knows everyone needs all the help they can get by removing useless government over watch.
Your correct on laws should be equal to all
Our idiots in charge sure as heck blew it on allowing the casino to allow smoking
but mom and pop taverns ,restaurants no smoking allowed
yea that sure was fair NOT
How much signage do you see around the Tropicana and the Boat? The ladies at the 6th street deli should stroll down there and take some pictures of that mess and send them to Area Plan, asking them for an explanation on the different way the two businesses are treated by Area Plan.
___
I ate at Smitty’s for the first time when my out of town cousin came to town to help celebrate my mom’s 88th birthday.
I would highly recommend the steak dinner at Smitty’s to anyone. It’s one of the best kept secrets in Evansville IMHO.
I ate at another steak house out on the East Side on North Boeke Road that was poor in comparision to Smitty’s. And Outback’s Ribeye Steak was WAY TOO SALTY and hard to eat. Smitty’s is much better than The Western Ribeye join and Outback. I’ll never go to Outback again as I could not hardly eat their stake. It was like it had been soaking in a concentrated salt brine all year long. I guess they do that to help sell drinks to wash all the salt out of one’s mouth.
I won’t go downtown unless you drag me down there to a Icemen game.
Parking is the main problem with downtown. The city apparently wants people to go downtown so that the city can write you a parking ticket and earn more money for the city or those that control those parking fee funds. How does the city council know how much the city collects in parking fines? Where do all those funds end up?
I would guess that the APC sign issue is really the CCO’s fault… if they had not campaigned so hard for a smoking ban , then our good well established eateries would not have been “forced” to expand their seating into outside space where the APC has the legal responsibility to regulate zoning use that includes outside signage…. now the CCO should push for a reform to the zoning laws in our county to accommodate the unintended consequence of the smoking ban… IMHO
Didn’t realize the CCO had been a strong backer of the Republican anti-property rights smoking ban. Kind of makes me take a more critical look at it’s other stances.
Hey disaffected didn’t the Courier and Press take the same stance against smoking in bars and restaurants as the CCO? If so, be fair and add them to your post.
Why would the C&P being against personal property rights be a surprise? My surprise was the CCO’s stance.
To clarify, I Joe Wallace advocated for a smoking ban based on public health having priority over property rights. It was a tough decision as I am mostly of a Libertarian style of philosophy. I also supported easily forming private clubs for places that wanted to offer smoking. My support for a smoking ban does not constitute the CCO supporting that position.
Very wishywashy of you. You are the CCO. There are either personal property rights or there aren’t. People are compelled against their free will to go into a smoking establishment to dine, therefore, government must deny the owner’s rights to satisfy somebody with no will of their own?
Smith was right. The C&P should be included as you are seemingly compatible.
This is not a black and white issue. There are lots of things where the rights of the many take precedent over the rights of the few or the one to paraphrase Mr. Spock. Toxic waste and dangerous animals being kept in proximity to others are two examples. One person’s rights end when they infringe on another’s rights to safety. Toxic substances, copperheads, and tobacco all belong in those categories. After all more people die each year in America from tobacco induced cancer than uranium and copperheads have killed in the history of the world. As long as there are humans near each other and public access to retail is granted there must be some public safety laws in place. I support restricting private activities that negatively effect outsiders significantly. Call it a liberal position if you like but I won’t be changing.
As for me “being the CCO”, while I am flattered I do not believe that. The CCO would be fine if I stepped in front of a bus tomorrow. I live 2,000 miles away and depend on the information flow from Evansville to write the things I do. The CCO is a team of roughly 5 people and I am only one. All of this said I think you and I will agree on many issues.
Supporting a smoking ban is a nanny state position. There is no amount of rationalization that can make it square with a libertarian point of view.
The only regulation I would support is one that would require at the local level that businesses open to the public indicate in writing at each entrance whether they allow smoking. This would remove ANY reasonable argument for public health concerns from non-smokers. Don’t want to sit in a smoky room? Don’t go inside. It is really that simple. Free will…aint it grand! I say this all as a former smoker, current non-smoker.
This would be a good fill-in-the-blank:
“if you wonder why Evansville is laughed at and thought to be hayseed look no further than…”
* _____________________
* _____________________
* _____________________
etc. and ask all your readers what they seriously think the view of Evansville might be.
The sad truth is that if you really ask most people any distance away they either have never heard of it or they confuse it with Evanston, IL
We are here for Thanksgiving with family,we are for San Mateo Ca. One of the topics of conversation today was the ACA and politics in general.
Well the ACA is a bust,and I admit I voted for change and forward. My mistake. Ok sometimes we make all those.~oops~
We stayed up river last night in Owensboro,only because we heard good things about some projects there from emeralds Hardin county Ky. family people. That was real nice even if cold that’s a neat place.
My pop was born in Evansville so we have family in town. I do remember the holiday gatherings here they were great when i was a child. Great Evansville family people,gosh the uncles most of them WWII veterans,and most decorated heros. My aunts were special to,very involved in community things.
What I have seen across the nation when noted about Evansville usually is some kind of distressful thing such as those recycled plastic crosses that smeared the news last summer. What a mess,what were you thinking,gee,wiz.
We know about weather and disaster management to,we are at a major port area and in a major fault zone as well. Heck no rain for nothing this year either.
Clean water management and fire control rationing locally.
My wife knows about that more than I, Red cross medical professional volunteer,brought the adopted daughter back from Haiti with her,what a blessing.
Evansville looks like it has some hitting of the refresh button to do from what we see,in all aspects.
One thing about the old gatherings was during the last few the veterans started to open up about WWII and what that was like for them. You know “political propaganda”,when it includes providers of basic human services begins to loom overhead to myself and family.
Some of the comments today really pushed that agenda,whoa! Think about that.
I also glanced at today a story about the lighting of the national Menorah in Washington, my next destination the older daughter works in Washington. From what I understood from the local cross issue,I also wonder what reaction the local media would have here if that was down by the Riverfront.
Small signs in politically contested business districts causing undo attentions and cost.
People seemingly singled out for political opinions? Emergency management under the apron of politically appointed enforcement leadership.
Commissioners,infrastructure services department heads,preferred bid contractors,area planners,and closed door appointments. Non elected control mechanisms.
On the plane to Chicago read a article by Paul Salopek: Out of Eden,Walking the world,Interesting observation he made while out in Ethiopia,the power plant operator has one diesel generator,6 hrs a day,largest customer body,Afar pastoralist’s martial nomads. You see besides the usual arms Kalasnikovs,daggars and such,they all carry cell phones. He said “instant communication with a vengeance” The Ethiopian guy said “it has given them power” they can call DIFFERENT goat traders,they can chose THEIR selling price.” he also said “the the world shrinks when you are thirsty”. To me that’s free speech,free press or whatever. What the CCO is offering here.
I wonder how cell phones would have been treated in Nazi occupied Europe,going back to the Menorah lighting,and Evansville,s direction forward as perceived by others?
Emeraldapples: also commented after reading the CCO comments she though the screen name “Adaptive Reuse” sounded like what her Grandpa from Hardin county Ky. said happened when the outhouse phone book was getting a bit thin.
Good night,off to Owensboro, and the parkway east tomorrow,happy holidays all.
Have a great trip. Maybe by the time you get back home Jerry Brown will have all this worked out:
*************
Government-wide Highlights (from 2013 CAFR)
During the 2011-12 fiscal year, California continued to
show signs of slow but steady fiscal recovery. The
State’s general revenues remained almost static, decreasi
ng by only $297 million, (0.3%) from the prior year.
Expenses for the State’s governmental activities also d
ecreased, but still exceeded revenues received resulting in
a $8.0 billion decrease in governmental activities’ net asset
s. Total revenues and transfers for the State’s
business-type activities surpassed expenses by $1.1 billi
on in fiscal year 2011-12. Expenses that exceeded
revenues and increased long-term obl
igations resulted in an 81.4% d
ecrease in the total net assets for
governmental and business-type activities from the 2010-11 fiscal year.
Net Assets –
The primary government’s net assets as of June
30, 2012 were a negative $15.5 billion. After the
total net assets are reduced by $82.3
billion for investment in capital asset
s (net of related debt) and by
$29.4 billion for restricted net assets, the resulting unrest
ricted net assets totaled a negative $127.2 billion.
Restricted net assets are dedi
cated for specified uses and are not availabl
e to fund current activities. Almost half
of the negative $127.2 billion consists
of $57.5 billion in outstanding bonded debt issued to build capital assets
for school districts and other local governmental entities.
The bonded debt reduces the unrestricted net assets;
however, local governments, not the State, record th
e capital assets that would offset this reduction.
__
We do have some things to be thankful for here in “common sense” land.
__
Now, if we could just get rid of our redevelopment commissions like California did we would be in an even better place.
__
I’m sorry, Mr. Wallace, but your analogy doesn’t pass the smell test. No person is forced by law or threat of violence to enter or work in an establishment that allows smoking. Rather, you and other Big Government types wish to inflict your desires on others by law and threat of force.
It really isn’t about anyone’s safety or personal health unless you take the aspect of free will out of the equation. What you are saying about public access is basically, if a business owner allows public access, he must serve only the needs of one group above all others, that group being the non-smokers that wish to control the behavior of others to satisfy their own wishes.
There is no other intellectually honest way to look at it.
And I don’t smoke and I didn’t spend much of my money in places that allowed it.
There will be a pro gay marriage rally on December 3, 2013 at the Holiday Inn Airport. Area gays are encouraged to attend, while wearing their most flamboyant attire and socializing with brawny, muscular Pit weighlifters. Great food and conversation, social time begins at 6pm, dinner at 7pm. Show your support for gay marriage along side the The Pit Barbell Club’s Hall of Flame Ceremony, and kiss the ring of the Reverend Jim Jones of Evansville weightlifting.!!! The Password for the event is: “I love to watch men squat”.
haha loved the busy bodys sign, classic! free publicity, strippers have to eat too!
Comments are closed.