CITY OF EVANSVILLE
ONE N.W. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. BLVD.
EVANSVILLE, INDIANA 47708
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
LLOYD WINNECKE
September 28, 2012
In response to the State Board of Accounts 2011 audit filing for the City of Evansville, Mayor Lloyd Winnecke released the following statement:
“First off, I would like to be clear regarding city finances. The City of Evansville maintains a balanced budget with a surplus. The city’s fiscal health is strong and affirmed by the bond rating of ‘AA-’ assigned by Standards & Poor’s. The ‘AA-’ rating means the city has a ‘very strong capacity to meet financial commitments.’
For background purposes, the State Board of Accounts (SBOA) conducts annual audits of municipal and county governments statewide. Currently, the SBOA is completing audits for the year 2011.
Shortly after taking office in January of 2012, our administration became aware of long-standing difficulties with the conversion to a new financial software package that was installed in late 2010. The city converted from a 25-year-old financial system to a new windows-based real-time operating system that facilitates thousands of monthly transactions.
I directed City Controller Russ Lloyd, Jr., and his team to review the issues and implement a corrective plan of action to ensure confidence in the city’s finances. While the state was considering the city’s request for an extension, the city’s financial team diligently completed the 2011 reconciliation process.
As a result, it has been concluded that the difficulties revolve around a mismanaged conversion to new software, deficient training of city personnel using the new software and insufficient oversight and project management. While the conversion was the main reason for the difficulties, the delay in complying with the SBOA’s audit requests was directly linked to the lack of monthly reconciliation of the city’s bank accounts in 2011.
The good news that I would like to emphasize to taxpayers is that the accounts have now been reconciled for 2011, and the city has requested the SBOA return to conduct a final review.
As part of our process, city personnel have received updated training in the new technology overseen directly by the software vendor. The vendor continues to be onsite to provide additional training and process improvements.
Our administration has spent significant time and staff resources to address this past problem and is confident in our financial management practices going forward.â€
Mayor Lloyd W. Winnecke
LOL….So much for phase two of the cover up, a public acknowledgment by the head honcho that it wasn’t his problem…he inherited it, but had the kahunas to fix the problem. (It’s All Good!)
Like I said yesterday I really enjoy a good conspiracy and this one is only lacking a deep throat character lurking around ready to tell the whole truth. 🙂
JMHO
Yes it appears (re: sentence 1) the primary thesis of the multiple-monikered conspiracy theorists is cracked like a smashed atom, and (re: sentence 2) now Deep Peep will be replacing Dink Think in the heirarchy of plausibility.
Maybe so…but it leaves a big question about John Friend CPA doesn’t it? How could the finance chairman of the city council not know this was going on? and if he did know did he not warn the city or the public that the auditors from the state would be very displeased? and that the city would be in violation of state codes?
To run on a moniker of “The Taxpayer’s Friend” and to keep your mouth shut tight…..I guess he had a bad taste in his mouth that he couldn’t swallow….or was it something else?
Deep throat where are you?
JMHO
Yes, I hear there are about 7 “deep throats” and 4 “song birds” working at the Civic Center ready to talk and sing!
Hear that Water and Sewer department and Building Inpectors office Director shall be the topic of information e-mailed to the CCO in the very near future.
All I can tell the overwhemely marjority of city employees are ready to expose all the back room political patronage that the Mayor, his Chief of Staff, City Controller Russ Lloyd, Jr. and Ben Miller shall have a great deal of explaining to do to the taxpayers of this community.
Looks like the backroom 9.9% rise increase given to the “Guilded 11”
has finally forced the troops to openly start to correct all the alledged political payoff by the Mayor to select Democrats shall bite the Mayor, his top employees and his few city council members puppets in the a–!
Let the games begin.
Civic Center mole you forgot to make reference to the past Mayor and his former City Controller in you statement.
Is the room spinning? Or is that just our city forbears twirling in their graves?
The Winnecke-Weinzapfel Beast tried stealing the Homestead Tax credit (to cover up this very mess) tried selling Roberts’ Stadium (nothing going to happen there, the damage is done), The McCurdy (opulence turned decay) the Executive Inn, ditto–love the walk tunnel to a landfill, just like the current has done to this city– backroomed and turncoated SOME of the the Democratic Party: Thanks Mark Owen-you and your other dollar dance buddies (ugh Mosby doing a runway/table dance with her bulging, drunken rump showing, I needed acid to clean THAT vision off) left the party bankrupt, and in litigation with your corruption-and thanks ever so for what you ALL did to Rick Davis for “pushing the wrong people around”-yes Rick, never disturb hungry vultures on the feed…
The ONE good thing about this? Rick Davis didn’t land in the middle of it when it blew up in EXACTLY the right faces. Bon appetit, Vultures-Evansville WILL rise from your ashes. Find out where David Nixon is hiding, and join him-do us all a favor.
And speaking of graves, Lloyd-is Nom Nom stealing some grave teeth gold for your NEXT $$$—I wouldn’t count on it, he tends to save his OWN enormous butt first.
We’re getting the tar, feathers, and rails ready. YOU’RE the wrong people-and you’re ALL crooked.
“Rick’s a nice guy, but not ready to become Mayor”? Can’t understand what you’re saying, dude-maybe you need to chew and swallow that carcass chunk in your mouth-but you’re right-HE’ll NEVER be this brand of dirty, greedy SOB SOME of you think is the job requirement. Integrity and honesty? THAT’S just the Inconsequential Voters’ pipedream….
In 1999 Tyler Technologies bought out Munis:
http://www.tylertech.com/about-us/leadership/john-marr-jr
This SHOULD have been a smooth running upgrade.
___
As for Winnecke’s statement, you can not make the claim that you are on top of things if you are constantly playing catch up.
___
“…the difficulties revolve around a mismanaged conversion to new software, deficient training of city personnel using the new software and insufficient oversight and project management.”
The Mayor refers to “…mismanaged conversion…” ” …deficient training…” “…insufficient oversight and project management…”
These are his own words, and yet he is complicit in having the former city controller who was directly responsible for these deficiencies, being hired at $80,000/yr. at the Water and Sewer Department.
Is this brilliant, or what?
Look for the big damage control piece in tomorrow’s (Sunday) 9-30-2012 Courier&Press. Probably front page above the fold.
Then on Monday, 10-1-2012, the SBOA will post the audit on their website for the common rabble to view.
___
No spin press, just dropped the conversation from the newspaper. Nicely placed 2 articles/opinions on consolidation. Then placed the huge article/ Definitely-opinion by the former mayor about his supreme leadership. This will definitely throw each of us into a spasm that the powers-that-be hope we will forget the auditgate disaster and the public will drink the zapple koolaide.
The name game is just started. Lloyd Winnenke, John Friend, Russ Lloyd, Jr. Johnny Weinzapfel, Jenny Collins to name a few. How about the rest of the Evansville City Council who knew about this audit coverup and didn’t speak out?
Get ready for Winnenke and Weinzapfel “cover up brothers” start throwing people under the political bus!
Oh, why hasn’t the media written about the major record keeping accounting problems in the Water ande Sewer department?
Isn’t the past city controller, Jenny Collins now the $81,000 a year Finanical Director of the Water and Sewer department. Didn’t Mayor Winnenke promoted her to this newly created position for doing an excelllent job as the City Controller under Weinzapfel?
Get ready for “political partonagegate” under the Lloyd Winnenke Administration to begin to unfold!
Why isn’t Ben Miller treating all his employees the same? Why is he allowing one the Mayor’s political appointees come and go without accountability or direction?
Can’t wait for the CCO to get a copy of a e-mail sent out to other Council members addressing this subject!
The Mayor’s Chief of Staff can’t figure out why the moral of employees working in Ben Miller is rock bottom.
Answer-political patronage!
The best known secret at the civic center is that Ben Miller is job scared and affaid to take on Mayor Winnenke’s “political patronage employee” in his department!
The Mayor and his Chief of Staff giving key jobs to Weinzapfel political buddies shall be one of the major reasons why “Vandygov” shall be handlely defeated in November!
Looks like we have a one term Mayor and first lady in the making!
Just read Winnenke statement on “Auditgate”.
Wht didn’t he say anything about the status of the City of Evansville accounting system for 2012??????????????
He really must think we are a bunch of idiots!
Before you can close the books on the months in 2012 you have to close the books for 2011. The previous administration left a mess that took months to fix. Now that 2011 is finally closed 10 months late by people who did not cause the problem, 2012 can be addressed.
Focus you ire on those that caused/enabled it… not the people cleaning up the mess.
Creditability is Fading Fast for Winneckeapple.
Attention C&P and 14WFIE. THIS IS SERIOUS! Less than 1 percent of audits get a Disclaimer. Not reconciling for at least 19 months is criminal negligence so someone should be pressing charges.
This will have serious consequences that the press isn’t mentioning. The credit rating of the City will be downgraded in the future! The recent review was done before this disclaimer happened. What this will mean is higher interest rates for future borrowings. Also, a disclaimer on a federal audit will mean less federal funding for the City.
The press has spun this to make Pretty Boy Weinzapfel and Princess Jenny to not look so bad. The fact is that they bought crappy software and they didn’t listen to the professionals about running parallel for a year. Jenny should be fired immediately and the new Mayor should retract all of these raises in the Controller’s Office!
Winnecke says that he directed Lloyd to take corrective action to fix the broken accounting system in January, when he “discovered the problem” after taking office.
Nine months down the road and the problem still exists and is said to now include the city’s water department.
What would you consider as a reasonable amount of time to take corrective action on such an important statutory matter Mayor Winnecke?
___
Mr. Mayor. Please tell us why you didn’t call this problem to the public’s attention upon taking office? This was not your mess, but your administration was left to clean up. Why keep quiet and protect the previous administration? Why give the controller that was in charge when this happened a cushy job at the Water & Sewer Dept. and then turn around and give her a fat raise?
Why isn’t this “statement” posted on the Mayor’s website?
Comments are closed.