IS IT TRUE OctOBER 28, 2014 Part Two

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IS IT TRUE Mayor Winnecke has announced to the world that he is planning to call a special City Council meeting to once again address the disconnect between his proposed budget that the City Council rejected last night on the basis that the revenue plan is essentially smoke and mirrors?…after several smoke and mirrors budgets in a row the reserves have been substantially depleted and something must be done to avoid hitting rock bottom in the rainy day funds?…we wish the Mayor and the council good judgement and honest deliberation as this is really something that should not involve politics?…a real revenue projection that can be counted on should drive this discussion even if the 2% increases that have been approved have to be rescinded?…revenue – spending must be greater than zero and it is about time the Mayor realized this?

IS IT TRUE in the meantime the City of Louisville is hosting Paul McCartney tonight at the YUM Center and the whole town is alive with offsite events?…McCartney is one of those big acts with heavy speakers that we were told would be coming to Evansville when the Ford Center was built?…we ask then, why is Sir Paul not booked into the Ford Center?…the difference in Evansville and Louisville is that Louisville has performed and Evansville built an arena based on unrealistic promises?

IS IT TRUE later this week on Thursday night on ESPN the Louisville Cardinals will host #2 ranked Florida State in a sold out nationally televised game from the 56,000 seat Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium?…what a difference the ability to execute on a vision makes?…vision without execution is simply dreaming and dreaming is for children?…it is dreaming without execution and dancing to the sugar plum fairy that has Evansville in the mess it is in?…the time is now to grow up and become a functional city?…we hope the Mayor and the Council respond as adults?…70 years ago the Evansville Aces defeated the Louisville Cardinals in a football game and the two cities were similar?…that should give some people a reason to think about how Evansville has been managed?

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26 COMMENTS

  1. Someone please tell me how in the world the City Council’s attorney, Scott Danks, can say with a straight face that he cannot give an opinion on what the next step is when the council fails to pass a budget ordinance? Russ Lloyd, Jr. gave the answer immediately after Danks acted dumbfounded.

    The reason I cannot fathom this lack of a legal opinion is that the council Democrats held a caucus in Dank’s office a few weeks ago presumably to formulate a plan to pass an ordinance. Couldn’t Danks tell from the discussion at and surrounding that caucus that the failure to pass a budget might be something to which he should prepare to react?

    This is not the first time Danks has been unable to answer a question from his council client as to how to proceed. Is this his disingenuous guise or something he just doesn’t prepare for?

    • By the same token, if the council members foresee the possibility that they may not pass a budget, even if that possibility arises at the last minute (like during the recess they took Monday evening just before the vote), shouldn’t they alert their legal advisors to start preparing to answer their question as to what comes next?

      • It is not the end of the world if a budget is not passed. It really isn’t even a bump in the road. The city simply keeps forging ahead with the 2014 budget as if nothing happened. Households have been dealing with stagnant incomes for years. It is okay for the City to do the same. The budget cuts that Winnecke is crying about are really a lower increase to the budget. I don’t understand why everyone has the underwear in a bundle.

        • Not so much. I believe you will find the law in Indiana is far different from the way it works on the Federal level. For one thing, there would be no increase in the income, either. If you recall, we had quite a deficit last year, and we can’t afford to duplicate it again this year.

          • Good point, LBK. The only silver lining to that aspect is the city also cannot raise property taxes until a new budget is approved.

    • Priority, don’t you get it ? If he says he doesn’t know, then he gets to go research it and bill more !

      • Well, then thankfully Russ Lloyd saved us that excess billing by answering the question immediately and correctly.

  2. About 30 minutes ago, Mayor Lloyd Winnecke posted the following message on Facebook:
    “Pursuant to the provisions of IC 36-4-6-7(b) and the EMC 2.10.010 (C), I have called a Special Meeting of the Evansville Common Council on Thursday, October 30, 2014 in Room 301 of the Civic Center Complex, 1 NW Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Evansville, Indiana at 5:00 PM to discuss and vote on the adoption of a Budget for the City of Evansville for 2015 and to take any further action that may be appropriate or required by law in connection therewith. Earlier today I held a meeting with city department heads and senior staff members to explain what impact City Council’s failure to adopt a 2015 budget could have on local government service. Below is a link to Part I of our discussion. Watch for Part II and Part III tomorrow. http://youtu.be/jTpxrKDXgYE”

    Wonder how many council members will show up? Think they’ll comprise a quorum?

    • Actually the failure to come up with a Budget is the Mayor’s Fault now the City Councils. The Mayor needs to cut his proposed budget to meet the expected revenue. He is a failure if he does not do what’s right. He can’t spend more money in his budget that the city brings into the city in taxes.

  3. Is it true, CCO’s IIT appears to be embracing fun and games today, while bashing them when “failed infrastructure” is the focal point? The U of L football game will be telecast, or for a two hour drive, one would hit the Louisville metro city limits and one could had purchase tickets to attend these events without causing debt to local government coffers. I have attended several of U of L football games in the past at no cost to city government. This would be a good reason to launch a business to meet these “fun and game” needs by providing tickets and transportation for such events out of town.

    Louisville has a lot going for it, but there is a lot of “ugly” about it true. Evansville crime of past decade may not be much different the that of that Bluegrass city. How do their school system city wide compare to ours?

    Louisville can never compete with our way of the “sand shoveling” events for no real reason!

    Seen on CH 14, the McCurdy, the developer, the planned development in near future, but “still” without all finance in order. Does this seems to be a “planned distraction” while city budget has been the main news?

    • Just pointing out the successes of planning and executing. Fun and games are fine but not at the expense of sewers, roads, and other essentials.

  4. Okay, I have an easy question? What is the Ford Center costing the city of Evansville on a Daily basis when it earns a profit? Next question, what is it costing Evansville when it is loosing it shirt like it is now.

      • If you are right the Ford Center is the problem. I wonder if Winnecke will have the balls to blame this on Weinzapfel as he should have long ago. That bastard has screwed this city for the next 50 years with his legacy to himself. Watch out Ivy Tech. He will mess you guys up next.

        • It is no secret that the Ford Center is a big part of the problem, and that one is on Weinzapfel. Winnie is just trying to carry on the tradition of biting off more than we can chew, with all kinds of fun stuff even with EPA breathing down our necks on the CSO problems.

      • The $ 8 Million is the annual debt service (principal & Interest) paid for the construction of the facility.
        Also need to add to that the $ 500,000 or so of annual Operating Loss generated by the Ford Center. Use $ 8,500,000 as your numerator.

        Also, add in the $ 700,000 annual Operating Loss for The Centre across the street, and you get the idea.

  5. There is mention of sewer projects being affected by this budget stalemate. Is it not true that the water/sewer should have it’s own account for they have raised those service rates to fund those CSO and other projects? Does it appear one should watch this closely for they may be skimming funds to other areas?

  6. Evansville has a history of “planning to fail” as the community leaders since the 1960’s have “failed to plan properly”.

  7. Poor mayor gets knocked around by developers, conmen, the city council and no telling who else. He has the power to stop it. He should play his ace in the hole, the resignation card. About time for the EPA to come calling again, our esteemed mayor stubbornly lets the sewers continue to degrade while lobbying for a dog park. That just about says it all.

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