IS IT TRUE? Part 2 July 8, 2011 Another Survey of What Evansville Needs???
By: Joe Wallace
IS IT TRUE that Greg Wathen the President and CEO of the Economic Development Coalition for Southwest Indiana released the first phase of the anticipated study that the United States government is paying $231,000 to Garner Economics of Atlanta to do?…that the one of the bits of content of this study is to tell the people of Evansville what our plusses and minuses are?…that in management lingo this is called a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Analysis?…that the most valuable information to improve on is your weaknesses so that you can actually use that knowledge to make things better?
IS IT TRUE that a SWOT analysis was done and published when the last master plan was done in 2000-2001?…that the weaknesses of 2001 are still the same in 2011 with a few more weaknesses added and the hole that we have dug into getting a bit deeper?…that another SWOT analysis was done as part of the WIRED initiative in 2007?…that the writer of this installment of IS IT TRUE was a participant in that SWOT analysis?…that the 2007 SWOT analysis had about 25 participants and was facilitated at USI?…that some of the legacy weaknesses were attempted to be removed from the study by a few members of the committee who are a part of the legacy and sympathetic to the current administration?…that at least one person was formally counseled about speaking out about ugly truths in what was supposed to be an open and honest forum?…that the weaknesses of the 2007 study were the same as they were in 2001 and are still the same as the “outsider†study published today?
IS IT TRUE that Evansville’s problem is that it does not use these expensive studies as a call to action to take actions designed to improve on the weaknesses?…that if the past is prologue that somewhere in the City of Evansville in a very few weeks there will be a tribunal formed of the legacy contributors to community discussions?…that the dominant parts of their discussion will have a predetermined conclusion along the story line of “them outsiders don’t understand our uniqueness and that them weaknesses ain’t weaknesses at all, they is strengthsâ€?…that denial runs deep within the oligarchy of Evansville?…that denial runs so deep that is sometimes seems like someone must be profiting from the prevention of positive change?
IS IT TRUE that just for the sake of repeating the weaknesses that seem to get swept under the rug every six year or so that they bear repeating?…that Evansville ranks 368 out of 370 metro areas for internet connection speed?…that the Evansville Airport is not business friendly because of low numbers of flights and difficult scheduling?…that the City of Evansville is cited as unattractive and compared to rundown rural communities for attractiveness?…that the availability of professionals is so sparse that it is cited to be a hindrance to doing business here?…that as has been published in the CCO and other publications that there is exactly ZERO venture capital available?…that the utility bills are cited for being 20% above the national average and 50% above the cost in the peer cities of Davenport, IA and Chattanooga, TN?…that with respect to educated people living here that Evansville trails the nation in every single category?…that if the past is prologue for these weaknesses that NOT A DARN THING WILL BE DONE ABOUT IT UNTIL ANOTHER STUDY IS DONE IN 2017 WITH THE SAME ROTTEN RESULTS?
IS IT TRUE that the City County Observer and this author have published article after article regarding the “pall†over Evansville, the failure of the business community to establish any venture fund at all, the litter problem, the degradation of infrastructure, the lack of transparency in local government, and the appallingly uncompetitive wages that local professionals are paid?…that we would like to know where to send the bill for our services?
IS IT TRUE that last week we posted a video call “the Wayseers Manifesto†that we called a celebration of creativity and accomplishment oriented people?…that this video expressed the belief that 10% of the population are such people?…that these people that are vital to positive change are the very kind people that are so turned off by the failure of oligarchies to embrace positive change that they either leave (brain drain) or assimilate by suppressing who they are?…that when and only when Evansville can find a way to stop driving the creative and outside of the box thinkers that are born here away can it even hope to attract such people from somewhere else?
Behold the Wayseers Manifesto:
http://city-countyobserver.com/2011/07/02/the-wayseer-manifesto-a-celebration-of-pushing-the-envelope/
Yeah, maybe.
Here’s a rebuttal:
http://wemustknow.net/2011/03/wayseer-manifesto-selling-freedom-or-selling-psychopathy/
By the way we do not necessarily advocate buying anything from the guy that did the video. We do however agree with his assertion that 10% are wired differently and that that is the 10% from which nearly all positive change comes from. The pitch for the book actually reminds me of Scientology.
1) The “Business Leaders” picked to implement change are the least qualified. They’ve already “made it”. The last thing they want is fundamental change that could threaten the pile of chips they’ve piled up for themselves. Same reason why these corporate captains make lousy people to set on Venture Capital boards.
It would be interesting to find out: based on the two prior studies performed–were there EVER any serious initiatives launched to attempt to “implement the Plan” ? ; and
2) Just curious: re: the Internet connection speed weaknesses: this area has multiple commercial internet providers, and they appear to be independent from one another. What is it that a community (vs. a business or multiple businesses) would do to improve internet connection speed for an entire geographic area ?
In regards to #2 the only thing a community can do is express a demand for the service and pay enough for it to make it profitable. I for one was surprised that the ranking was so low. I don’t even care to know what two 3rd world lookalikes may have been worse.
High speed internet (not to be confused with the DSL speeds they call high speed here) is vital to being attractive to any business now.
I would have guessed that in a free market, one of the established ISP’s would have jumped on this true high speed internet and offered it up for all, leaving competitors in their electronic dust.
I would have been wrong ! Would be interesting to see how the other cities with better internet compare in terms of poplulation, trend, etc. Not trying to in anyway undermine the importance of having high speed connections, but if it’s just a free market matter, does that mean the market is betting against Evansville ever having a demand for the service ? Now, THAT would be an immediate reason to circle the wagons !
Meanwhile… the republican/democrat dog and pony show continues in washington, with both sides boo-hooing about not being able to cut spending.
Looks like another fine example of wasted federal taxpayer money right here.
Is this yet another prime example of the problems with our job market (And insane guvy spending)?
There are perfectly capable locals that could have produced a bromide laced, SWOT for beer money and expenses… and have time on their hands. Instead, we search out contractors from out of the state. But on top of it, we wait for a federal grant – adding to the damned $14+ Trillion deficit!
At first I was shocked this little pamphlet of information would cost so much… 231K. But then I realized that maybe it isn’t that bad, after all, our FDP homes for the poor cost 240K! Ugh.
With Weinzapfel, GAGE, ERC, FDP & CVB… already on the warpath, supposedly fighting all of our “problems”!!! Can someone ask these groups why analysis now is needed? Is this yet another case of READY, FIRE (Do whatever feels right), AIM (Study the problems to justify whatever needs to be justified)?
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