IS IT TRUE? Part 2 August 17, 2011 City Managers and Counterfeit Benjamins

IS IT TRUE? August 17, 2011

IS IT TRUE that crime is taking an interesting twist in Evansville this week with the announcement that someone passed a counterfeit $100 bill into the offering plate at St. Ben’s and took $80 change?…that using a church to launder counterfeit money is a new low in the character department?…that we have a suggestion for a name for this bandito?…that we think that this person should be called “Paul”?…that Paul robbed Peter to pay himself?

IS IT TRUE that using a church to launder money or to create fraudulent tax deductions is not a new trick?…that an older version of a self enrichment scheme involving a church is to cash personal checks at church and then deduct the amount as a charitable donation?…that I do remember that trick being exposed by an evangelist back in the 60’s?…that a Google search under the term “money laundering through a church” yields 5.4 Million responses?…that such schemes are as old as the church itself?…that the news of “the Paul bandit”’s exploits is going viral and that our own EPD media rep Karen Kajmowicz is in today’s Chicago Tribune discussing the counterfeit offering?…that the Associated Press has picked up on the story so we can expect to see Evansville on the whimsical parts of some national news stories today?…that here is a link to the Chicago ABC affiliates version of Paul’s deeds?

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local/indiana&id=8311145

IS IT TRUE that the subject of hiring a city manager came up in last night’s meeting of the mayoral candidates in the historic district?…that Winnecke expressed clearly that he would not be having such things but that Davis will consider it?…that the issue of having a city manager is not a new one and that many states explicitly call for a city manager form of government?…that Kentucky has city managers to manage the cities leaving the mayors to more ambassadorial roles?…that there are cities that are under a city manager form of government that prosper and those that don’t?…that there are cities with a mayoral form of governance that prosper and those that don’t?…that in Louisville the Mayor’s annual salary is only about one-third of the amount paid to the city manager?

IS IT TRUE that Lexington which has a city manager was one-third the population of Evansville in the mid 1950’s?…that in the 2010 census Lexington has grown to have a population that is nearly triple that of Evansville?…that some of that may be attributed to having a city management style of government where there is little opportunity for a strong-man mayor to gain control?…that strong-man personalities tend to stay away from mayoral roles that are ceremonial as opposed to administrative?…that hiring a city manager that hopefully is not drawn to cameras like a moth to a light bulb may just be a good idea?…that such a person may just protect a population from itself?…that given the track records of populations that repeatedly elect people like Marion Berry and Kwame Kirkpatrick make the city manager option look attractive?…that eventually Evansville will drink the Kool-Aid and elect a Mayor that is all charisma and no substance that does not have a sense of right from wrong?…that when that day comes that we will wish that we have a city manager form of government?