“IS IT TRUE” November 4, 2024

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We hope today’s “IS IT TRUE” will provoke honest and open dialogue concerning issues that we, as responsible citizens of this community, need to address rationally and responsibly.

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IS IT TRUE that Attorney General Todd Rokita announced to Vanderburgh County GOP loyalists that he is looking into the role of Evansville businesses, not-for-profits, and local elected and appointed officials causing the influx of illegal aliens in the area? … does the investigation involve several people from different walks of life? …that we expect significant information to be revealed soon?

IS IT TRUE that political patronage and nepotism aren’t the way to run a city but hiring someone based on their qualifications is?

IS IT TRUE that campaign commercials are coming to an end soon? …that we are praying that we can all accept the outcome of the elections?

IS IT TRUE that local polling locations have been kept very busy with early voting? …that we are on track to beat the 2020 numbers, and total voter turnout could set a record in 2024? …that Dottie Thomas and interim County Clerk Marsha Abel Barnhardt have been doing an outstanding job preparing for this election. …that every effort is being made to ensure that Vanderburgh County lives up to the ideal of fair and honest elections? …that there will be an added security measure on election day with a law enforcement officer stationed outside each polling location? …that when poll inspectors return election materials to the elections office Tuesday night they will be escorted from the poll to the Civic Center by an officer? …that officers have paid site visits to some polling locations to get a sense of the layout and emergency plans for the facility?

IS IT TRUE that the City Council approved Evansville Mayor Stephanie Terry’s $494 million budget with only one revision last week? …that 2nd Ward councilwoman Missy Mosby proposed an amendment that would stop the city from hiring an assistant for the city council and reappropriate the salary to cover certain expenses at the Animal Control Center. …that in the middle of the roll call vote, council attorney Joshua Trockman interrupted the voting to inform the council that, by law, the council could not reappropriate the funds without a recommendation from the mayor? …that Mosby’s amendment passed by a 5-4 vote, but the funds will revert to the general fund? …that 20-year council veteran Mosby and others did not know a law existed to prevent the city council from reappropriating the funds?

IS IT TRUE that we wonder, if you were the owner of a $500 million corporation, would you hire any of our current elected city officials to be the CEO of your company? …that we also wonder how can the body with the final say on a $500 million budget vote on it without asking only a couple of questions.

IS IT TRUE that, for over a decade, the city expenditures at the end of the year seldom resemble the budget approved by the city council? …that adjustments are made to the budget through reapportionment requests brought to the council for approval during the year? …that, with the passage of the 2025 city budget, comes a promise from city Controller Robert Gunter to reduce the number of reapportionment requests brought to the council. …that we commend Controller Gunter for this announcement and look forward to the city administration and departments operating within the confines of the budget figures that they proposed.