IS IT TRUE? September 26, 2011 Part Two: Consolidation and Arm-Twisting

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Vote my way please

IS IT TRUE? September 26, 2011

IS IT TRUE that tonight is the night that the Evansville City Council will have to make a decision with regard to the consolidation plan being adopted to be sent to the voters of Vanderburgh County during the 2012 election?…that as there will be an election for the President of the United States that 2012 is expected to have a good turnout of voters?…that a large turnout for an important decision is a good thing?…that while the CCO accepts the theory that consolidated government should lead to less government we are still not convinced that this plan has even scratched the surface when it comes to taking advantage of potential savings?…that some of the largest line items in the budget are actually forbidden from being discussed for about 10 years?…that leaving opportunities off of the table when it comes to implementing tangible financial benefits is a compromise that was ill informed?

IS IT TRUE that this consolidation plan remains a “buy into the concept now and trust the next generation of leaders and elected officials to get it right” document?…that if this plan would have been crafted in a way that the sacred cows were actually examined and tangible benefits were proposed that the opposition would have very little of substance to stand on?…that if this plan fails at the ballot box that the failure to muster the courage to really look for large savings will be to blame?…that the budget of the City of Evansville is roughly $1,000 per person more than the budget for the City of Henderson?…that these cities are not materially different with respect to services offered?…that we wonder just what we are getting on this side of the Ohio River for that extra $1,000 each?…that if Evansville’s per resident budget was equal to Henderson’s that it would be about $117 Million less?…that given that fact there has to be more places to find substantial savings by consolidation and rightsizing?

IS IT TRUE that some members of the Evansville City Council that have to vote on this tonight have asked time and time again for a definitive and correct tabulation of the cost savings?…that the documents requested have been withheld from our elected officials who are entrusted to cast an informed vote?…that if a COMMITTEE withholds information from a VOTING OFFICIAL that the only informed way to vote is NO?

IS IT TRUE that the streets of Henderson are in about the same kind of shape or better than the streets in Evansville?…that the parks of Henderson are much better kept than the parks of Evansville?…that the crime rates of Henderson are comparable to those in Evansville?…that the City of Henderson to a person unfamiliar with the area would look nearly identical to the City of Evansville?…that given all of this we wonder what the $1,000 per person extra that we spend is going for?…that it can’t all be gasoline and electricity which are always more expensive on this side of the money saving bridge?

IS IT TRUE that the silence is deafening when it comes to an update on the VETTING of the proposals to build a new downtown Convention Hotel adjacent to the Ford Center?…that time is creeping forward and that this decision may just be delayed long enough for this dilemma to be tossed onto the inauguration dinner plate for the new Mayor of Evansville?

IS IT TRUE that Mole #27 tells us that there is some backroom arm twisting going on with the newly appointed members of the Board of Directors of the Evansville Convention and Visitors Board?…that there are several pet projects of politicians that are in the consideration loop at the CVB and that we are not surprised that some “last days of the administration” jaw-boning may be going on to spend the last available funds that the old guard will have any say over?

9 COMMENTS

  1. I understand our brilliant city council president has made the statement, “voting to send this proposal to referendum is not voting for the proposal”. This type of enlightenment is why he will no longer sit on council after January. Voting for this is a stamp of approval for the proposal. I also hear that a couple of other yes votes are because Missy and Curt are tired of “wasting their time” with this issue. Missy needs to go the way of her kin BJ. Voting yes tonight, for a screwed up proposal shows the type of leadership we are currently under, “SCREWED UP”. VOTE Rick Davis if you want to change this. Rick and Lon Walters have my vote.

  2. Missy Mosby is a pawn of Weinzapfel and his cronies and does not belong on any kind of governing body. It would be in the best interest of Evansville to vote her out of office!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  3. Wow, is that John Friend (no hair) being taken down by Dan McGinn ? Love the six pack (fan with a cooler in the first row) !

  4. The City of Evansville is a chartered city. As such, it has the authority to choose the form of government its citizens shall live under.

    If Evansville wants to try another form of government that is fine. But the City of Evansville has no right to drag non city residents into its referendums.

    The elimination of the rejection threshold for this referendum has given the equivalent of 2 votes to every city resident and 1 vote for every non city resident.

    This referendum is nothing short of a power grab by the current city administration, which has been in my humble opinion, the worst city administration in my lifetime.

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    • “The Worst City Administration in my lifetime”.
      The Darkside Democrats a dispicable bunch, from “Head” down to the bootlickers like Missy Mosby, and her brother-in-law BJ Watts.

  5. Well, now that the city council has voted to send the “plan for reorganization” to a referendum vote can it be long before we start to see the real influence behind this push start to flex their substantial financial muscle?

    When you have the head of the local chamber of commerce, arguably the lobbying group with the deepest pockets, on the committee that developed the plan, and speaking to the city council in favor of adopting the plan right before the vote was taken to send the plan to a referendum, you understand that MONEY will take a dominate role in selling this plan to the public, and truth may wind up being the victim.

    I have said it before and I will say it again: It is The City of Evansville’s government that has failed its citizens, not Vanderburgh County government!

    It is the city that needs to change. To vote good ethical people into office and to frog kick the good ole boy cronies to the curb at the civic center.

    What will profit if we expand this current city kleptocricy to also cover the county?

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