OP-ED: VANDERBURGH COUNTY COUNCILMEN JAMES RABEN Cites Leadership and Fiscal Responsibly

OCTOBER 16, 2022

I am the Republican candidate running for re-election this November for Vanderburgh County Council in District 1.  I have served as the Vanderburgh County Council Finance Chairman for 20+ years and served as President for 4 years. I have a reputation for being fair and fiscally conservative. I have a proven track record of holding down the cost of county government by spending your tax dollars wisely, while still providing all necessary government services and an environment that nurtures economic development and job growth. I am a proud supporter of our law enforcement and have served as the Vanderburgh County Sheriff Liaison for the past 3 Sheriff’s Administrations.

I am a lifelong westside resident of Vanderburgh County.  For over 40 years I was a Partner/Operator of Raben Tire Company and was elected to serve on the Tire Industry Association Board of Directors as the Governmental Affairs Chairman of North America.  As a 36-year member and Past President of the West Side Nut Club, I was elected to serve on the WSNC Board of Directors from 2011-2021.  

I have been married to Judi (Canterbury) Raben for 38 years, and together we are members of St. Joseph Catholic Church.  We have two sons, Jordan (35) and Alex (31), and are the proud grandparents of 1 granddaughter and 3 grandsons. 

I want to share a few of our most recent accomplishments at the Vanderburgh County Council within the past year:

• The County Council along with the County Commissioners approved a $10 million partnership with AT&T for countywide broadband coverage, paid for by American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds to be completed in 2023.
• The County Council approved and funded the County Commissioners’ unprecedented $7 million road re-paving plan to be completed in 2023.
• The County Council approved funding $15.2 million towards jail expansion to address the overcrowding issues and camera systems at the Confinement Center, and $1 million for a mental health wing. 
• The County Council approved $4.5 million from American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds for additional court space for Vanderburgh Superior and Circuit Courts. This is necessary to increase the speed of the judicial process, decrease delays in court hearings, and to reduce the jail population.

All of this with no impact on Vanderburgh County taxpayers’ property taxes.  

Tough decisions and a sound plan require not only leadership but also a keen understanding of county finances.  My many years of experience as Finance Chairman provide me with the financial expertise to help direct the tough decisions, which is critical for the many challenges facing county government today.

I appreciate your vote on Tuesday, November 8^th.

FOOTNOTE:  THE CITY-COUNTY OBSERVER POSTED THIS ARTICLE WITHOUT OPINION, BIAS, OR EDITING.

Another Morning Cup Of Coffee News A Little Of This and That

By Dannie McIntire

OCTOBER 15, 2022

There Is So Much Good News This Morning I Don’t Know Where To Start.

Our country continues to benefit from the massive pandemic American Rescue Plan funds the democrats passed back in 2021.

The city of Chicago, apparently flush with our federal ARP tax dollars, is implementing a “Guaranteed Income Pilot Program”. The city is awarding 3,250 eligible applicants with $500 of your federal tax dollars each month for two years. Now I’m not that proficient at math so I got out my calculator, that’s $39 million dollars over two years. 

What struck me as the most absurd part of this money give away is that applicants will not be required to provide information to verify their citizenship or immigration status?

The City of Denver is using $2 million of your Covid-1p ARP tax dollars to implement a program which will give more than 140 folks up to $1,000 a month in cash for a year as a basic income program. 

I can’t believe why our national leaders didn’t discover all this “free money” when I was younger and raising a family, oh wait, back in those days there was this thing called “personal responsibility”. 

It’s time for another cup of coffee.

If you wonder why the state of our educational systems nationwide is on the decline the next tidbits offer a partial explanation. 

Recently all but one student at the University Of Southern Maine walked out of their class demanding that the professor be dismissed for stating only two sexes exist. Well I can certainly understand their horror over hearing such a statement’ “oh I identify as a “it” and I’m too offended to attend this class any longer unless you fire the teacher”.

The University of New York, recently fired an award-winning professor of organic chemistry, after his students submitted a petition to the university In which they blamed their poor grades on his class being too hard. A quote from the their petition, “”We are very concerned about our scores, and find that they are not an accurate reflection of the time and effort put into this class.”

Now is it possibly just me, but I’m thinking it’s possible that many of the students were auto-passed through their earlier education and were shocked to find they were expected to study to achieve a passing grade. 

Goodness, time to brew a fresh pot of coffee.

Wegmans, a supermarket chain which has 109 stores, announced that they are discontinuing their phone scan app which allowed their customers to scan, bag their items as they shopped, click pay when finished and walk out the door. Wegmans cited “losses” as the reason for ending use of the scan app.

Now I have to think a good sum of money was spent by Wegmans to develop and initiate usage of the app in their stores. I dislike being such a doomsayer, but in today’s society, I could have saved them a bunch of money and told them it’s not going to work.

Read the headlines, we have folks entering stores with empty garbage bags, filling them, walking out, and no effort is made to stop them. Heck, why even bother with a self scan, grab and go phone app.

Goodness Dannie, get another cup of coffee and on to another subject. 

What else is in the recent news that causes me to scratch my head? The city of St. Louis is preparing to sue Hyundai and Kia over the number of car thefts in their city involving some models of their vehicles. 

Apparently, city officials believe the two auto manufacturers are at fault due to a “effect” which allegedly makes their models manufactured before 2021 more prone to being stolen.

From a letter written by the St. Louis City Counselor Shenna Hamilton to Hyundai and Kia; “”With this letter, the city demands that Kia and Hyundai mitigate the defective conditions providing thieves – including teenagers as young as 13 – the instrumentalities by which they are destroying property, endangering city drivers and themselves, and, in some cases, committing violent felonies”.

Gee, don’t blame our kids and career criminals for stealing vehicles because it has to be someone else’s fault.

I remember the old phrase, “if you can’t do the time don’t do the crime”.  Perhaps St Louis and other similar thinking cities should post this welcoming sign at their city limits’ “Welcome To Our City We Look The Other Way Because It’s Not Your Fault”. Give me a break!

A fresh cup of coffee, I’ll finish today’s column with a feel good item involving one of Evansville’s local businesses. 

Have you ever heard of the “Buddy Bench” program? It’s a very simple idea; benches are placed, most often at schools near their play areas. The schools personnel and students are told of its purpose; if a child is feeling conflicted about something going on in their life, maybe they are being bullied, trouble at home, or they simply are in need someone to listen. A child can sit on the bench as a signal they need someone to talk to.  

It’s a great program that a local Evansville business, “Green Tree Plastics”, participates in. They make the “Buddy Benches” out of re-cycled plastic caps and lids. Sponsoring organizations collect the plastic caps/lids and pay Green Tree Plastics to manufacture the bench. It takes 100 lbs of plastic caps/lids to manufacture a “Buddy Bench”.

A big thank you to a local Evansville company, Green Tree Plastics!