IS IT TRUE October 21, 2014

1. Is it not true that “TIF zones” are taking tax money away from the general operating funds of local government? Is it not true that a lot of these TIF fund money is used for “fluff” projects that would otherwise never materialize thru the proper city council procedures? It is true that there are some “good” that does come from these TIF funds!

   Would it not be true to take away 50% of all TIF monies and put it in the general funds, and then let these areas present their need maybe only once a year as a budget?

   Would it not be true to reign in all funds that are going to “non” city council control entities? There seems to be a need to scrape those already bare bones, when there is so much fat outside the grasp of city council, but up to the elbows, by the mayor?

   • Guess you all have been down those roads before, the worn down old misbegotten downtown infrastructure sure looks the part.
     Here’s a kick out from the social economic analytics runs from a while back, some of the optimistic forecast set ups.

     http://www.courierpress.com/opinion/editorials/selling-the-arena-again-the-issue-mayor-goes-on

     http://www.courierpress.com/news/local-news/hotel-hed-herp

     “The beat goes on”

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwB8ph7VAXw

2. Anyone care to follow up on a comment I read on here about Bruce Ungentheim already in bed with the usual local dirtbags? You know Joe won’t do it. Anyone can be corrupted and evidently it happened before this guy was even elected.

   • I am actually in need of one more piece of information to be able to address this. He has indeed gotten a total of $12,000 from Parke and Winnecke. The last thing I am looking for is just how significant that amour is to the big picture. Hope to learn that today.

     • Is Editor preparing to make an argument of support for Ungentheim based on some metric….like, “well, the gifts are not a significant gift compared to the candidate’s total budget”…?

       In other words, when Editor says he is researching “how significant that amour is” (Editor’s words) on the acceptance of the late gift, $12,000, from Wayne Parke and Mayor Winneke to Ungentheim’s….It appears Editor is seeking additional information implying he isn’t willing to still give Ungentheim his unconditional support.

       Cause everybody here can point to late campaign gifts to a potentially vulnerable candidate that qualified as connecting strings to the donor (in this case…Ungentheim to Wayne Parke and Mayor Winneke).

       And at the very least, Editor has to acknowledge Ungetheim, Mayor Winneke and Wayne Parke look opportunistic and shallow in the pursuit of their own self-interest accepting this late in the game gift. Maybe Editor may still agree with their “taking the money” over dignity…but such a position simply means Editor’s authenticity is at stake, and Editor isn’t truly interested in “a new way of doing things.”

       • That is exactly what I am looking for. The real question for me is what does this $12k buy. If the guy has $1 M the answer is not much. If he has $15k, then the $12k has more significance.

         • Editor,

           You have failed to comprehend this matter. The matter is not whether the denominator is large or small; the issue is purely about the principles of the recipient in accepting their larder, given the givers. This is tainted money, and Bruce surely stepped in a horse pile by accepting this steaming pile of money. I am completely done with Bruce U. unless he publishes a story with PDF’s of returned checks.

           • I comprehend it. I just don’t see this as a litmus test for being elected. Several of the other candidates have gotten money from Weinzapfel but I do not think that should disqualify these candidates from holding office. The real question to me remains “does any contribution corrupt a candidate to the point they are compromised?” I see no evidence of any of this with any of this years crop of candidates.

         • …and then there were none.

         • One either has principles or they don’t. Simple as that. You don’t weigh campaign contributions as to whether “this one will corrupt me”; “this one will not corrupt me”. If the giver is a person or entity who values don’t match yours, DON’T TAKE THE MONEY.

           Some would call this “having a moral compass”, and Bruce’s has him heading due south.

       • Has Bruce taken any money from outside the area? I know it was printed that Marsha Abel took outside influence that would had to be repaid in contracts let by the county when she ran this spring! Does anybody know? I be worried about that “more” so” then the “inside house” money that everyone is worried about here!

   • It was reported that winni’s political action group gave $5,000, and Parkes own money at $2,000. Republican party gave $7,000. Maybe we should be asking the “givers(parke& winni)” why “they” gave money to the person that put the “egg” on their faces in past two elections? Lets chase after the “givers” once, instead of the receiver!

     Mending fences must be the thing of the past! The “cut throat” mentality is what is giving us gridlock and straight party policies that we are getting today.

   • If you are having trouble accepting it, you can blame Ungenthiem’s sudden and substantial support from his own party squarely on the Democrat party’s choice of his opponent. Had the local Democrats caucused in a candidate that independent and Republican voters could support, this never would have happened.

     • Right. That’s it, we’ll blame the Democrats for Ungentheim’s weakness.

       This is an excellent opportunity for the voters to voice their disgust with Winnecke and his mob. Vote for Sherman Greer for Commissioner.

       • That’s a rather silly reply. The truth is that Ungenthiem had very weak support within his own party until the Democrats put up an even weaker candidate who will not be able to muster the vote in the districts with the higher voter turnout. Simple math.

         • You’ll have that. You wrote a rather silly comment. Simple is as simple does.

   • I’m sure joe is in bed with a similar bunch of dirtbags. Probably gets money from the teamsters, maybe even a little from soros and acorn. I would expect the party to come back together after a heated primary. Shame the same can’t be said for the likes of such democrats as, robinson, williams, wedding, bagbey and others who went against their own team and gave us winnecke. Winnecke is still heads and shoulders above weinzapfel. It’s hard to move forward when left with a debt load by the prior administration. I would like to see a request go out for a hotel minus the 20 million, minus the pla, with a realistic hotel for the local demographics. Tom you seem in a better mood today, did your ebt card refilled?

     • Are you talking about me? If you know me you would know that teamsters, Soros, and acorn are three of the last places on earth you would find me consulting for. But if they offered a trip to Hawaii in exchange for nothing I would pick them like a chicken and be on the next flight. I do not accept money with strings attached period, but I am 58 and want for little so I have that luxury.

       • Not you, sorry about that. I meant Sherman Greer.

         • Sherman Greer getting money from Soros? Idiot!

     • Happy hour start early today?

       • Ghost, I’ve always thought it would be great that when people went to vote there was no D or R ‘s, names only. Can you imagine how difficult it would be to train the democrat voters to select the ones chosen by unions, naacp or other organization that refer to each other as konrad, konrad.

         • You’re a narcissistic piece of trash, and your comments just get more and more silly. The poor, diabetic, obese, trailer dwelling south is a nice tribute to the failed policies you subscribe to. Trickle down is solidly proven to do one thing, fatten the pockets of the very few and it does NOT trickle down.

3. RE: Editor’s Highlight of Republican Takeover of Senate

   Seems highly likely….the Ebola panic a tidal wave far too high to overcome so late….the Republican Party will assume majority of the US Senate in 2014 Midterms. However, this Republican majority is significantly different than the Republican Party of the Pat Buchanan days declaring religious war for the soul of America. The extreme Christian right has lost the trust of the majority of the Republican Party and no longer controls the message and purse strings of the GOP…it cannot afford to be aligned with bigots demanding their copy of the Bible gives them the right to Constitutionally discriminate based on race, orientation and faith identification. The declining extreme religious minority (….sorry, Indiana Enoch from the comments section here at the CCO) have become no more than a set of radicals seeking to impose a set of puritanical policies with declining appeal in the Republican Party, and more importantly, the rest of the country. Political conflict in America between Democrats and Republicans will take place in other areas, not the culture wars demanded by the extreme Christian right. It’s a good day.

   • Looks like Reid’s “Nuclear Option” may come back to bite him in the ass at some point, and THAT will be a good day. What goes around, –comes around. Karma anyone?

   • Do you think the extreme Christian left, the African American churches who are a political arm of the democrat party will change? Not as long as the democrat party uses HUD and other government agencies to funnel massive amounts of money that way.

4. It was honorable for Ungentheim to show his true colors before I voted for him again. Where are all his supporters who said that many of those who voted for him in the primary wouldn’t vote for him in the general? Turns out they were right for a change. Right for the wrong reasons. He left them looking foolish while fulfilling their guess/prediction. I’d never vote for him for anything again, even if he ran against The Poop for his party’s, whatever that party is, nomination. Can’t say I’m disillusioned, would have liked to have thought he was better than that but not surprised. Diogenes flew right over Evansville the other day, not wasting any time on this corrupt brokeburg, taking his quest to find an honest politician on down the road.

   In Ungentheim’s defense, a lot of people get dirty when somebody offers money. It takes a strong person to turn it down. Bruce wasn’t up to the challenge, he gave up something he can never get back. Doesn’t matter how much money he took from Parke and Poop, in for a penny in for a pound. Hope he got enough to compensate for being in bed with some truly inept and ridicuolus politicians. He coulda been a contender.

   ☆ Sherman Greer for County Commissioner. ☆

   • I was on board for BU until I heard about his acceptance of tainted money, which has been verified by CCO. He sold out cheap. If he had passed on that money, he could have set himself up to be a real powerbroker on the local level. If he had just stood strong here he would be able to throw his weight behind other candidates who were not “owned” by either party and helped to bring local government out of the hole it has dug for itself. Mr. Greer owes less to the “machine” now than Mr. Ungetheim, and that gets him my support.
     As for the City Council and the budget woes, it is a shame that they can’t get a good figure on projected revenue. Without knowing what the approximate income is going to be, it is best to plan for the worst case and hope for better, but some unnecessary cuts may be made.

     • “Trick or treat” Halloween historical page downtown attraction the social economic environmental pushed a hit on. “Downtown Evansville dead zones”.

       http://www.historicevansville.com/site.php?id=oldgraveyard

     • …it is very difficult to argue against LKB’s points on Ungentheim. Dead-on accurate pointing out a wasted opportunity.

       • Maybe somebody else not too far in the future can learn from his mistake. I guess it won’t be seen as a mistake if he wins the Commissioner’s seat he’s after but he really was positioned to be something better than what we’re used to around here. Ungentheim could have been someone other candidates could coalesce around and maybe effect real change in how things are done around here. At the very least I think he’s lost that.

         • Parmi votre rue principale les ambients il ya une odeur nauséabonde cohérente, et qui peuvent rayonner dans sa gouvernance, quand bien compris.

       • The folks in the county will not vote for Greer. BU is in, he’s a great asset to the local republicans, he’s being very smart putting his hand out to his party. The one we really need to get out of office is Stephanie Terry, now there’s a piece of work. She went all out to save the HRC, a worthless group that sucks off the tax dollars and provides nothing in return. If Winnecke had any business sense he would get rid of dead weight in city government and put it in our Parks Dept. Everyone in city/county government should have to annually write a 5 paragraph statement justifying their position. For some that would be mission impossible.

   • I was afraid this was going to happen and it was one of the reasons I abstained from either voting R or D in the primary. The best thing about Mr. U was that he knocked off Abel so now what do we do?

     Anyway, congrats to Mr. U and the local machine and congrats to the CCO and John Friend!

     I heard make up love was the best! Well that’s what somebody said!

     ♫ Reunited and it feels so good!

     Reunited cuz we understood…. ♪

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1uvmh75xxs

     • You probably did the right thing by passing on the primary, BB. I didn’t, and I still think that taking Marsha out early in the game was a good thing. At least we will get a year of respite from her but I expect she will run for something next year, maybe City Council At Large.

     • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCoP7JkmesQ

5. Editor et al:

   I have heard very positive, no negative, responses to the new mural by McD’s. This was without any leading questions asked. The use of TIF funds is an issue, yet at least this one is visible. Now lets hope the mural is respected for what it is and is not defaced …

   I am headed to the courthouse to vote, no straight ticket, and if I am uncertain on an office, such as the sheriff, I will pass and not vote for either candidate.

   Vote early and vote often…

   • This is where we need that “none of the above” button to use. This would get the parties attention, unlike not casting a vote for a particular race. For the record, I too skip those when neither one is “useful” for that position!

   • In an office or shared environment, one turn the volume down.

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKIXS9I36pg

6. The only real poll that counts in Nov 4th Election Day and I truly hope that the Senate remains in the Democrats hands. If you want to see the big CEO’s making even more money and the rest of us taking up less money then vote for the GOP. But if you care about yourselves then vote for the Democrats.

   It’s time for people like Mitch McConnell to get out of the Senate. I hope that Grimes defeats that ugly and morally corrupt idiot Mitch. Don’t vote yes for the party of NO. Vote no to the party of No.

   • I am more than a bit curious how you can, in all good conscience, forward the notion that the political makeup of the US Senate would, or even could, affect the balance between the haves and have nots? Your perception of income equality is 180 degrees out of synch with the course your messiah and his merry band of flying monkeys have charted for our country. Without dividing the populus and instilling a sense of jealousy and reinforcing the resultant entitlement driven sect of society, they (you) have no rosy future.

7. I’m glad that the CCO is pushing the School Board race. It is one that I’ve not done my homework on in the past and I doubt that I’m alone in that failure.

8. WHO else could Winneke and Parke given money to? Winneke couldn’t give it to Sherman Greer after the ugly way he forced him out of the EMA. Maybe he figures enough people will be appalled by his donation that they will vote for Greer, someone he knows he can manipulate. Bruce should throw those donations back in the faces of Winneke and Parke and avow to be more aware of hidden motives. I’m still backing Bruce. at least he won’t owe that crooked bunch anything, since their donations can’t buy an election for anyone.

   As for the school board election. The only people I will vote for are Stricklin and Ricketts and only because they haven’t had enough contact with the EVSC administration to be contaminated or corrupted. That can come as soon as Smith & Co. can determine something they desire and makes their wish come true. When the voting machine says you omitted some votes, ignore it and press “ENTER” until it accepts your ballot. An UNDER VOTE sends the message that the candidates were not acceptable.

   The rest of the slate is made up of EVSC principals, administrators or retirees who have been deeply indoctrinated to believe the superintendent has the best interest of the kids at the forefront of his plans, and will mindlessly vote “YES” to anything presented or will lobby the legislature from from home. Even Chinn has been too involved on the administration side to have a clear view of what goes on in school board meetings.

   Duckworth(less) needs to go. He will be working for more construction projects, even though we have empty classrooms galore and a steadily declining enrollment. Someone needs to convince the school board that “UNITY VOTES” indicate to the public that they are not voting as their representative , but for the interests of the superintendent who is supposed to be their EMPLOYEE.

   Go to the school board forums and ask questions before you vote. Vote in November, after all the information possible has been reviewed and you can make an educated selection from all the candidates. Early voters are uninformed or ignorant voters. Don’t vote because it is convenient, but because you have learned all you can about the people you will be paying the next 4 years and who will be making decisions that will affect your financial situation and the future of your kids.

   • NoMoDo has a point. There remains the question of WHEN the donation from Winnecke and Parke was given to Bruce, and also whether Bruce even knew of the donation initially. His campaign treasurer would be the one who handled the influx of the donation, right? Yes, if the campaign contribution was made months ago, then Bruce would have known of it by now.

     I still think Bruce will run a clean office without influence by those who are trying to buy his confidence.

9. I see that the jobs announcement the MINO is making is for “up to 14” jobs being added at Mead Johnson. They will be investing $35 million in the facility, so there will be some temporary construction jobs, too. It is sort of a letdown, considering the ballyhoo leading up to the announcement.
   Does anybody else see the elitists at work in trying to get rid of the two senior citizens towers in the Dead Zone? I suppose the downtowners are now concentrating on weeding out the “undesirables”, but this really reminds me of the forced march out of the McCurdy that took place some years back. We all see how that worked out. There’s no information on how many units will be in the “lofts” on Lincoln, but I’m pretty sure it won’t accommodate those being displaced for dorms that I can’t believe are wanted or needed.

   • Big hoopla for little gains is indicative of a forgotten city.

     • Still, your issue isn’t the new jobs, it’s the size of the hoopla. But new jobs are new jobs. It’s a good day.

       • Exactly. I was expecting at least 50 new jobs, based on the hoopla. Any good-paying jobs are good news, though!

   • Hope, they get the bedbugs out of the wood work in those dumps, there is a plethora of stories on that out. How much renovation will that actually take, add the shot sewer and water utilities it doesn’t look like a cost effective solution. Another reason to go to the I-69 gateway with the Medical school site. That’s a mess down there plenty of toxicity seen in the articles of the past, needless to say at present.

     Lots of investment for little percentage in metro growth. Still, as clear as that is when viewed by our analytics form afar, it doesn’t look very feasible to place the Medical campus in downtown Evansville without considerable more funding and designed metro balance affects due your standing CSO mandate and modern logistical commerce infrastructures.
     That’s feasible with the right planning, however we haven’t observed much progress due the issue.

     http://www.courierpress.com/news/no-headline-meth-4

     http://www.14news.com/story/19466427/plan-forms-to-get-rid-of-bed-bugs-at-two-evansville-apartment-buildings

   • If Winnie is boasting of up to 14 full time jobs, that means that “corporate welfare” was given to Mead Johnson by the city of Evansville, who by the way does not have enough funds for the 2015 budget yet!

   • LKB

     Givemeabreak – A 35 million dollar investment in Evansville is a letdown ? Okay Debbie Downer, cheer up and have a glass of wine and stop the whining… Do you ever look out and enjoy a day for what it is ?

     • givemeabreak
       Oct 21, 2014 at 4:19 pm

       LKB

       Givemeabreak – A 35 million dollar [[[[investment]]]]] in Evansville is a [[[letdown]]] ? Okay [Debbie]] Downer, cheer up and have a glass of [wine] and stop the whining… Do you ever [look] out and enjoy a day [for what it is] ?

       Speaking of Debbie’s , investments, and [[[letdown]]] generation , downers, jobs and such. enjoy that and do have some more wine, enjoy that for what it……”was”. 😉

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0nzojz0bSc

       • Cheers !

10. That’s funny the ECHO mural has struck out with residents by such a large margin. It’s also funny that SBR says she supports ECHO due to all their “progress” in Jacobsville yet not a word has been mentioned this week. In an email sent out on May 25th she even said she thought Stephanie Tenbarge would sign off on a letter of support for her.

    We need new leadership in Jacobsville and that also includes a new 3rd Ward Council representative.

    • I don’t know many people who don’t support Echo and the work they do, Jordan. That doesn’t mean we have to be cheerleaders for the mural, though.
      If you feel so strongly about the need for new leadership in Jacobsville, maybe you should look no further than your own mirror to find someone you want to support. I suspect you may have already done that, though.

      • Excuse me but I have walked the walk in jacobsville. I was the committee chair for the parks and infrastructure subcommittee for echos jacobsville join in. There’s even a twelve minute video they made of me in kleymeyer. The fact that SBR couldn’t defend her new position on fb before running off when I asked her if she supports the way they treat their volunteers speaks for itself.

        You did nothing in jacobsville therefore you have no business being in the middle of this. Quit complaining about things you know nothing about.

        • What do you imagine I was complaining about? I clearly have no ties to Jacobsville and didn’t imply I do. I believe it was YOU who was complaining and I urged you to be proactive and run for office. I’m sure its occurred to you.

11. agree rails……..SBR has without a doubt a mental disorder…………..blurp……..belch…….

12. I find it mildly entertaining that there is this common voiced perception from the left and right and from the editor of what political/bureaucratic corruption is.

    It is as if a politician is corrupt in degrees of intensity by the amount of their price tag to be owned and be in servitude to their benefactor.

    I would forward the notion that the impetus to be in politics is grounded in the notion that lies, deceit and corruption are ingrained in most any politician no matter what their stripes. It is a precursor for a politician, not a result of being or becoming one.

    If one strives for a station in life that presents the possibilities of ill gotten gain, then these undesirable personality traits and desires existed long before this station in life is attained..

Comments are closed.