IS IT TRUE October 31, 2012

16

The Mole #??

IS IT TRUE October 31, 2012

IS IT TRUE that the Ford Center project audit is finally going to happen according to Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke?…the Mayor received notification yesterday from Bruce Hartman, who is the head of the State Board of Accounts that the request for the SBOA audit that was made in the summer will be honored?…there is no time line available on when the audit will start or when it will finish?…it leads one o wonder that other than curiosity and the chance that another $1.6 Million will be found under a rock just what actionable information could come from this audit?…this could and should have been done all along and could even have been available before the election?…strategically speaking the timing could not have been better to mitigate any risks that the audits findings will impact any election at all?…that how the City of Evansville conducts its business is quite important in the decisions that people of the entire county are making on how to vote in the referendum on consolidation?

IS IT TRUE that buried in the details of the recent campaign finance disclosure form that expenditures were made of two polls on behalf of the YES Team?…YES (approval of consolidation) has been reported by several MOLES to have been running nearly 20 points behind the NO Team that calls itself CORE?… the same MOLES have reported and the disclosure confirms that YES spent about $100,000 of their over $300,000 war chest that was sent down through the local Chamber on local advertising?…that the second poll that was run after the $100,000 was invested in ads found that YES has only closed the gap by a couple of percent that left the YES Team trailing the NO Team by over 15 points?

IS IT TRUE that the MOLE NATION tells us that someone at the state level said pull the plug on the TV budget and withdraw the remaining dollars that were made available to close the gap at the end of the campaign?… that local YES officials were not pleased with this decision and tried to push the issue, saying that was meant to budget the TV campaign, and was told “No!, why spend another dime to lose when the first $100,000 only moved the vote by a couple of points?”…the CCO is shocked at the magnitude of the gap reported by our MOLE NATION and while we have done no polls ourselves were expecting a very tight race with both sides still having a decent probability for a win next Tuesday?…if the MOLES are correct about these POLLS that it should be obvious as the pullback in local advertising should be visible to those who watch local TV stations or maintain awareness of other advertising efforts?

IS IT TRUE that the CCO has maintained all along that consolidation is a good idea but that the plan that we are voting on is a toothless plan that actually forbids even touching the lowest hanging fruit for finding efficiency in government?…that a paltry savings of only about $750,000 only represents 0.2% of the combined current City-County budgets?…these are the budgets that are already over 50% higher per capita than peer cities that offer similar services?…if consolidation goes down at the ballot box the YES Team which has done a very professional job can pin the tail on that donkey of a consolidation committee that concocted a plan that was toothless and a vote without threshold rejection for both the City and County residents?…the CCO believes that if the consolidation provided for threshold rejection and identified some respectful amount of savings from consolidation like 10% ($36 Million) that this would be passing by a 20 point margin instead of struggling against an underfunded opposition?

IS IT TRUE that if and we still do mean if consolidation fails that should he City of Evansville go on an annexation binge that the only winners will be attorneys and that the well for working together will be poisoned by such aggressive tactics?…if one believes in the concept of consolidation as the CCO does and believes it to be appropriate for the City of Evansville and Vanderburgh County that the best course of action going forward after a loss by the forces for YES will be to immediately form a new consolidation committee with a goal to find 10% savings and to spare no sacred cows?…after that is finished another referendum can be held in 2015 or so with threshold rejection so the entire county can work together willingly to make this a better place?…if no committee can muster the courage or the brainpower to find tangible and achievable savings that consolidation would be best served to wait until a group of leaders come forward with the brains and courage that it will take to forge an alliance of skeptics?

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

16 COMMENTS

  2. Just Vote NO to this incomplete and poorly done plam of CONsolidation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  4. The consolidation plan is a “Trojan Horse” filled with hollow promises, plans for a Super-Metro Mayor, plans to immediately begin increasing the taxes of those who own their homes, forcing seniors on fixed incomes to sell their homes when taxes become too high to pay, further damage the economy of the area, and rake off all the tax dollars possible into “campaign chests” through more baseball parks and construction projects.

    The many realtors, who hold local government offices, will find a
    renewed glut of empty houses on the market with few buyers. Homebuilders
    will have fewer homes to build. Businesses, looking to expand, will find the tax and utility rates too high, even with the new “streamlined” government and tax abatements, and will locate in abutting counties, even across the river. Did you see Berry Plastics plan to reopen a closed factory in KY instead of Evansville?

    For those who live just outside the city limits take note:

    AREA TAX RATE % TAX INCREASE
    ________________________________________________________________
    Center Twp. County $1.7337 per $100

    Center Twp. CITY $2.8807 ” + 66.159 %
    ____________________________________________________
    Knight Twp. County $1.7613 ”

    Knight Twp. City $2.8704 ” + 62.971 %
    ____________________________________________________
    Perry Twp. County $1.7370 ”

    Perry Twp. City $2.8816 ” + 65.895 %
    ____________________________________________________
    Pigeon Twp. County $1.9982 ”

    Pigeon Twp. City $2.9485 ” + 47.558 %
    ____________________________________________________

    You will be the first to be “urbanized” or consolidated.

    Check your budget. How will this tax increase affect it, your savings and standard of living? If you are on a fixed income, how long could you stay in the home you worked so hard for?

    THINK!

    Then,

    Vote NO! on NOvember 6!

  5. Ms. Harris, Rev. Brooks, & Mr. Bittner were on the “committee” and are voting NO. The plan they worked on was re-hashed, squirmed around, & rewritten to the advantage of the carreer politians trying to protect their turf with appointed jobs. Your vision on the future is spot-on, till These hacks realize voters are tired of their crap, they will keep trying to get a better deal…. for themselves. The SBA should just open a branch in so. in. they could retire here. One way to bring jobs here.

  6. Another example of this and the prior administration thinking that they are above the law. First it was begging the Governor not to release the disclaimer and now it’s begging the State to do a limited audit of the accounts that are okay for them to look at. I am ashamed that Indy is caving in on the second one. We all know if something was wrong it went to the JW slush fund!

  7. This was a thoughtful, well-written editorial. Does the question come down to
    Everyone wants consolidation, just not this version or is this question about consolidation in and of itself?

    • I think if it was a better plan…it would go over better. Insert some real savings, Law, and Fire included, even tho it is very problematic. I think everyone wants the government to save money, and combining departments is a good way to do that. Keep some checks and balances, like not electing the entire council in one election. It’s just a bad plan, and we should not vote in an incomplete plan like the one we have on the ballot now.

  8. It is a blatant lie to say there will be no increase in taxes. When they annexed Knight township, our business taxes went up 110%. This is completely unsustainable. At least you folks outside of the city this go around get a vote.

    • That is absolutely true! The tax pecentage won’t be raised, but where they apply the higher “city” tax rate will be increased as they pull current county parcles into the Urban Services District. That effectively raises tax rates on new Urban Service District parcels with out changing the percentage of the city tax rate.

  9. Now if we can just get audits of the six years worth of contracts between the City of Evansville and SM&G, 2006-2011, we might have some inkling of what actually went on behind the curtain in the Weinzapfel administration.

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  11. The Weekly Standard

    The Blog

    Obama’s September 11 Phone Call
    10:53 AM, Oct 28, 2012 • By WILLIAM KRISTOL

    What was President Obama doing Tuesday evening, September 11, while Americans were under assault in Benghazi? Which of his national security team did he meet with, whom did he speak with, what directives did he issue? So far, the White House won’t say. (more)……….

    * * * * * * * * * * * *

    Obama has stalled the American public for 51 days now, and it appears that he will be able to stave off answering questions until after the election. Well I do not need an interpreter, I know what happened: A coward (Obama) let a real American hero (Ty Woods) die on US soil because he would not send help.

    As if I needed yet another reason not to vote for the guy.

    __

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