IS IT TRUE? October 24, 2011 (Hiring Good People and Making Rogue Investments)

IS IT TRUE? October 24, 2011

IS IT TRUE that with all of the hoopla and negative campaigning that is going on in the race to become Mayor of Evansville that the City County Observer would like to redirect some energy away from the game of “pin the tail on the donkey” that seems poised to start playing itself out and attempt to start a dialog on governance?…that neither Mr. Davis nor Mr. Winnecke has a bag of magic dust to throw at Evansville’s problems?…that the ingredient other than the obvious ingredient of cash on hand that both will have to address will be the retention and attraction of major league talent to their immediate staff?…that another issue will be how to get people of talent to agree to sit on boards through appointments?…that if the truth is told the Mayor of Evansville or any city is only as good as the people that can be attracted to public service?

IS IT TRUE that both candidates have expressed their intention to replace both the Fire Chief and the Chief of Police?…that there are other department heads that may be set to roll as well?…that both candidates have expressed dissatisfaction with the Front Door Pride program, the state of decay in the Evansville Parks, the potholes in our roads, and of course the Combined Sewer Overflow issue?…that we wonder if that set of problems will result in another four department heads rolling with the new administration?…that for every head that rolls for whatever reason a new head will have to be hired?…that one thing is for certain and that is any department that is currently a mess was presided over by a head that may be rolling?…that discontentment with a program such as Front Door Pride may not be the fault of the lieutenant that carried out the action plan at all?…that if you do not like the fact that Front Door Pride houses are too expensive for the neighborhood and are languishing on the market it is the architect of the program that needs to be blamed and not Mr. Tom Barnett who seems to be a very good executive when it comes to carrying out his orders?…that in some cases the department heads should not roll but in others they should.

IS IT TRUE that it is time for candidates Davis and Winnecke to start discussing who and how they will be considering as candidates to fill key positions?…that Mr. Winnecke has rightfully been adamant that “being nice” matters?…that to achieve “niceness” will take a certain personality type in positions that interact with the public and that personality type is most often referred to as “amiable”?…that if there are positions that should be staffed by “amiable” people that are currently staffed by “controllers” that some lesser heads may need to roll too?…that of the four basic personality types only the “amiable” ones will be able to be counted on to project the new “nice” image that Mr. Winnecke has stated that he desires the face of the City of Evansville to be?…that the deck at the Civic Center certainly needs to be shuffled and in many cases some of the cards need to be discarded for either candidate to achieve their goals?…that we wonder if either of them has really thought this through and would welcome position papers on how to hire the best people and who their most valuable people under consideration are right now?

IS IT TRUE that Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel has been portrayed by multiple insiders as “livid” over the State Democratic Party’s decision to bankroll the Davis for Mayor campaign in the last two weeks of the election?…that what Mayor Weinzapfel may really be torque off about is the fact that according to the 2010 Itemized Expenses of the “Weinzapfel for Mayor” Campaign is listed a total year to date expense of $194,214 to the Indiana State Democratic Party?…that it seems as though they willingly accepted this money from the Mayors re-election campaign and are now investing it in the campaign of the candidate for Mayor of Evansville who won the Democratic primary, Rick Davis?…that the money being invested in advertising on behalf of Mr. Davis is focused completely on the secret meetings held in Mayor Weinzapfel’s office to remove the Homestead Tax Credit from the people of Vanderburgh County?…that in a very real way Mayor Weinzapfel paid this one forward by sending $194,214 to the state party coffers last year?…that we also hear that the state party Chair is not returning phone calls from Mayor Weinzapfel?