IS IT TRUE? November 9, 2011

1. Where has it been published that Mayor elect Winnecke will be replacing Evansville Police Chief, Fire Chief, City controller, Director of Parks and Recreation, Department of Metropolitan Development, Director of Transportation and Services?

   According to the Courier and Press, “Winecke demurred when asked whether he will conduct a clean sweep. Winnecke vowed to appoint or retain qualified and diverse people from the community.”

   If the CCO would research this they would find that his department heads serve at the pleasure of the mayor, they do not have to be approved by council.

   • We know who they serve. The point that we are making has to do with attracting the type of talent we need for the dollars that the City of Evansville is authorized to pay. When a line worker at Toyota would laugh at the compensation package of a City of Evansville department head, then we have a problem.

     • From the CCO article: “[Is it true] that hiring and approval will be his first challenge to move past an 8 – 1 Democrat controlled City Council?”

       TheHighRoller: “If the CCO would research this they would find that his department heads serve at the pleasure of the mayor, they do not have to be approved by council.”

       Editor: “We know who they serve. The point that we are making has to do with attracting the type of talent we need for the dollars [blah, blah, blah …]

       Hey, ED, do you drive a Dodge?

       • Actually no. A Toyota that was made in America is my personal choice.

     • Public Service like Military Service shouldn’t be overly comphensated. That is part of the sacrifice from my perspective having lived all over the world. A company like Toyota as resources far more vast than our City does.

       • So, do you think that say a City Controller or Chief Information Officer that can command $150,000+ in the outside world should work for half of that for the privilege of being on a City’s payroll? I would submit to you that these kinds of jobs are important enough that they need to pay a competitive wage to attract good performance. Should we budget for poor performance in public jobs?

         We are not advocating overpaying but we do advocate for competitive wages. Anything less is to institutionalize mediocrity.

   • I have video of Winnecke making this statement. Where are you?..I can bump your phone.

2. Winnecke = Weinzapfel light with a gang of cronies. Same old song and dance!!!!!

   • My friend, I would kindly ask that if this is going to be a repeated statement please put a little more thought into it. This statement is tired and over used. It lacks any real meaning. What EXACTLY do you mean? Why are you making this claim? How can I debate you, agree with you or learn from you when your statement is no more than name calling? Do you just want the world to know that you are not happy with the public’s choice for mayor? Speak plainly and with substance or don’t speak. These comments are ruining what could be a great forum for public debate and learning.

3. The very first thing mayor Winnecke should do to gain instant credibility is to both replace the clueless ERC members that bungled the McCurdy Hotel and the Executive Inn, and then have full audits done for GAGE, DMD and the ERC.

   • Joe B,

     Don’t forget the Arena audit !

     • Let’s have him audit The Fed while he’s at it. 🙂

4. Let’s just wait and see how much Mayor Winnecke cleans house. Let’s just wait and see if he does anything about the “conflict of interest” contracts within Evansville City Employees. All eyes are watching! These should be taken care of by Mayor Winnecke SUPER FAST. We shall see!

   • For some reason I don’t see a mandate to do that.

5. There are a few good things to come out of this election that we all should consider, we got rid of Weinzapfel hopefully for good and we should be optimistic that Winnecke will try and do right by the citizens of Evansville. We are going to get rid of a lot of old baggage associated with the past administration including a lot of board members and department heads, which we can only hope will make for a better city government.

   On the city council side….not so much, same old same old with the two bright spots being Adams and Lindsey, while we know what to expect from Adams and I think Lindsey will be a wild card on the council, he was a Davis supporter and while he is a democrat I don’t expect him to be lock-step with the rest of the puppets…..and of course they are just two votes.

   Best possible situation would be if Winnecke upsets his democratic supporters and they turn on him grid locking his administration but don’t look for that to happen.

   Personally I look for Mr Winnecke to live up to his new moniker of “The Great Collaborator” which may or may not be good for the citizens of Evansville, collaboration does have it’s merits, so we’ll have to wait and see how that develops.

   While I’ll admit I did vote for Davis and that I’m disappointed with the voter turn out, I am glad to shed this democratic coat and move on as a independent, optimism is the word of the day for all of us, and we should give Mr Winnecke a chance to make good on his promises, one thing is for certain I doubt he will totally follow in his predecessors shoes, hopefully he will be his own man, have a little compassion, listen to the people, and not try to carry on King John reign.

   JMHO

   • Blanger, thanks for all of your insight this election cycle. Im typically liberal, but I found myself agreeing with you a lot. I, too, am curious about Winnecke’s Democrat supporters, namely the big hitters such as Chairman Owen and Connie Robinson, who will have to eventually “turn” as they try to get their next golden child elected. It simply seems inevitable to me, and I will be quite giddy when it happens; when all of the turncoat Democrats come home to roost, then tell Davis supporters how unfair we are being by not supporting their puppet. There, that is my prediction for 4 years from now. Finally, good riddance to DMD director Tom Barnett, if that little tidbit is actually true (which, other rumors have Barnett feverishly job searching). He should take his cronies with him, and that would be a great boost in increasing customer service at the Civic Center.

     • Agreed….and thank you, I just try to call a spade a spade.

       JMHO

6. Doesn’t look like things have panned out the way most on here wanted it…………….

   • Jack-

     Maybe, in my case three people I voted for were elected so I don’t feel like my vote was a waste, the voter turnout (apathy) is the big discouragement for me, but it is what it is. I hear people bitch and moan all year long about varying aspects of local government but when given a chance to get out and vote to hopefully change the things they are bitching about they are too busy or forgot, or as one guy told me the line was too long.

     I don’t know what the solution to apathy is but I do know it has let people who should not be representing people either get elected or reelected which is sad in and of itself, the other problem is the really good candidates will eventually not waste their time even running for office.

     My solution would be term limits for every elected official….one term then back to private life…we can dream. 😉

     JMHO

     • Blanger
       Anytime you or anyone else votes it’s not a waste. It’s sad that the voter turnout was so low.
       Jack Waldroup

       • Agreed Jack,

         My problem is figuring out if people just feel they have no chance to change the things that they bitch about so they just don’t vote, or if they just truly like to bitch…I’m starting to side with the latter.

         People (voters) simple don’t realize the power they have, we should have at least 60-80% turnout in a local election, on the nation scene I do understand the feeling of being disconnected (apathy) in those elections but it’s really the same.

         To effect change people have to vote, for our new mayor to win by less then 2k votes is one thing, it sounds like a close election, but when you look at the total picture and total number of people who voted vs the registered voters….it’s hardly a mandate, but rather just another election where the powers that be rallied their toadies, lackeys, and sock-puppets and manipulated yet another election.

         But it is what it is, no one can effect change without the support of the voters unless the machine wants change and that’s certainly not on their agenda.

         As another poster pointed out (beerguy) it is the best for the CCO, this election will help the CCO grow even more in scope and power, and I’m sure it will provide us with another 4 years of endless topics to discuss. 😉

         As always…JMHO

   • jack, surely you jest ? Four more years of juicy reporting for the CCO ! I see the CCO going public, putting out a print edition, licensing this concept to other cities across the U.S. and providing a monthly beer stipend to frequent posters . . . all within the next four years.

     • Boys, I can’t do beer. Has to be something more substantial.

7. Is it true that the JFK Club may have slung it’s last load of mud. What does the septegenarian leadership plan for its monkey army going forward?

   • Now, now Vox Pop, do try to get your facts correct. The person I believe you are referring to is an octogenarian. Sounds like you might want to keep your nightlight on tonight to protect you, what with all those scary old people that bother you.

8. I find the “Is it true” starting every story to be the mos irritating journalistic technique I have ever read.

   • Then don’t read it.

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