We hope that today’s “READERS FORUM” will provoke honest and open dialogue concerning issues that we, as responsible citizens of this community, need to address in a rational and responsible way? 

WHATS ON YOUR MIND TODAY?

Todays“Readers Poll” question is: Do you feel that City Council shouldn’t release any funds to ECHO Housing Corp. until they are given a copy of the Forensic Audit report of that agency?

If you would like to advertise on the CCO please contact us at City-County Observer@live.com

The Fraternal Order of Police and the EVSC have been involved in a wage dispute involving 26 officers who work in an off-duty capacity for the school system.

EPD says the dispute has nothing to do with the administrations of the police department, the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office or the current school resource officers contracted with EVSC.

In a letter to the EVSC community Superintendent, Dr. David Smith said the school board has already approved a $2.50 raise for the off-duty officers. He added the funding for the additional officers isn’t provided by the state, just planned out in the EVSC budget.

Officials with both EPD and EVSC want to reassure parents that the on-duty positions will not be impacted by the wage debate between the FOP and the school corporation. And if the off-duty officers do follow through on the threat from FOP leadership to walk off the additional shifts in January, the contracted school resource officers will continue providing safety and security at the schools.

EPD full statement on FOP wage dispute:

“In recent days, media reports surrounding the wage dispute between the Fraternal Order of Police and the EVSC have led to concerns about safety in our schools. There have been questions as to how the proposed actions by the FOP will impact the police presence in EVSC Schools. We want to clarify some points in an effort to reassure the community that school safety remains a priority for the Evansville Police Department.
The FOP represents members of the Evansville Police Department and Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office. Members of both agencies currently work in an off-duty capacity for the EVSC. The current conversation about wages does not involve the administrations of either agency.

The Evansville Police Department has several safety measures in place to ensure a safe learning environment. The multifaceted approach recognizes there are many issues to consider when dealing with the safety of our children. They include but are not limited to, School Liaison Officers in each high school district- including Parochial Schools. Our Crime Preventions Officers use schools in their assigned area as their primary office workspace. We have directed patrols for motor patrol officers during school hours. We also have trained school crossing guards who serve as eyes and ears who can alert us to issues as students arrive and depart their schools. In addition, all sworn on-duty EPD employees are available to respond to any incident in the city, including an incident at a school.

All of these measures consist of on-duty resources that will not be impacted by any decisions related to the wage dispute. In addition to these boots on the ground resources, we will continue to work with the EPD training unit, the EVSC Police Department, and EVSC staff to ensure school safety training needs are met.”

EVSC Superintendent Dr. David Smith:

“Dear EVSC Community,

As you may have heard, the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) asked for a pay increase for officers choosing to work off-duty shifts in the high schools. At the November 13th meeting, our school board approved increasing the hourly rate by 10%, to a total amount of $27.50 per hour. We will continue to post schedules for these off-duty shifts. Officers and deputies who are interested in working may continue to sign up as they have for the past 8 years. We certainly hope the FOP leadership does not follow through on their message to officers that FOP membership will be revoked for any current off-duty officer choosing to work for us. The school board agreed to increase the rate of pay, and I firmly believe officers who want to work should be allowed to do so, without fear of repercussions.

Please understand, these six off-duty shifts are an additional layer of support we have utilized since 2010. This is in addition to the 26 current law enforcement officers who provide support to our schools on a daily basis. If off-duty shifts are not covered in January, as the FOP leadership has threatened, the 26 current officers will continue providing security and safety support without interruption.

Unfortunately, the State of Indiana does not provide funding to the EVSC for off-duty officers. We have found ways within our budget to fund this program, which is not a simple process in an era of limited school funding. The hourly rate of $27.50 is the point at which it makes better financial sense to add additional, full-time law enforcement officers to our EVSC Police Department. These uniformed, armed officers are specifically trained and certified as school resource officers.

We appreciate the great relationship we have with both the Evansville Police Department and the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office, as the leadership and officers from these agencies have been incredibly committed to school safety and security. We look forward to continuing this strong partnership as we work together to maintain safe learning environments for our students and staff.

Sincerely,
David B. Smith”

Commentary: Trump, The Courts, The Constitution, Tomcats And Marriage Licenses

By John Krull
TheStatehouseFile.com 

INDIANAPOLIS – In the summer of 2016, while the presidential campaign raged, I ran into a lawyer with impeccable Republican and conservative credentials at the Statehouse.

We stopped to chat and the conversation, naturally, ran to politics.

At one point, he shook his head and said he couldn’t support Donald Trump.

John Krull, publisher, TheStatehouseFile.com

“For now, I’m just a Hoosier Republican. I can get behind the candidates here in Indiana, but not nationally,” he said.

The breaking point, he explained, came when Trump attacked a federal judge, Gonzalo Curiel, who had the misfortune to draw a class-action lawsuit involving students who claimed to have been defrauded by Trump University.

Trump claimed the judge couldn’t be impartial because he was “Mexican.” In fact, Curiel was born and educated here in Indiana.

The facts, though, didn’t deter then-candidate Trump.

“I have a judge who is a hater of Donald Trump, a hater. He’s a hater,” Trump said of Curiel in a speech.

That speech appalled the conservative Hoosier lawyer.

“When Trump attacked the judge, that was too much for me,” the lawyer said. “If you support the courts and the rule of law, you can’t stand for that.”

Trump eventually settled the suit before Curiel’s court by agreeing to pay the aggrieved Trump University $25 million.

I’ve thought of that conversation often in the past two years – generally when President Donald Trump has launched another attack on the courts or a judge.

Those attacks have come often, because the courts have had frequent cause to curb the Trump administration’s assaults on liberty, due process and other enshrined American principles.

This hasn’t happened because judges and courts “hate” Donald Trump.

No, the president’s troubles with the judicial branch have occurred because, to use a great line uttered about a president from a much earlier era, Donald Trump “has about as much use for the Constitution as a tomcat has for a marriage license.”

I’ve known a lot of judges in my career.

The overwhelming majority take their jobs and their roles seriously. They could make a lot more money in private practice. They take their seats on the bench as an act of faith – an expression of their belief in the law and the law’s majesty.

That said, they’re also human beings.

They don’t enjoy being a blowhard’s political punching bag any more than the next person does.

I’ve wondered since that talk with the lawyer when the judges were going to start pushing back against the president – and how they would do it.

The moment came during Thanksgiving week.

A federal district judge in San Francisco blocked the Trump administration from denying asylum to immigrants who cross the border illegally.

“This was an Obama judge,” the president lashed out at Judge Jon S. Tigar. “And I tell you what, it’s not going to happen like this anymore.”

That was too much for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

“We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges,” Roberts countered in a statement. “What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them.”

The chief justice’s public rebuke of the president was in many ways unprecedented.

But, then, Trump’s conduct in office has been unprecedented.

His attempts to undermine and defy the authority of the courts and the law have been more sweeping than anything Richard Nixon or Andrew Jackson – two presidents who also had strong authoritarian predispositions – ever contemplated. Time and again, this president has asserted that he is answerable to no one but himself and that he is above the law.

Roberts’ rebuke was a long time coming but justified.

It also had been predicted – sort of.

Earlier this year, Judge Curiel ruled in favor of the president and rejected a challenge to Trump’s plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border.

In his decision, Curiel noted the great political controversy aroused by the proposed wall and cited the legal reasoning of a “fellow Indiana native” who also was a judge.

That fellow Indiana native?

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who was born in Elkhart.

Hoosier lawyers – you’ve got to love them.

FOOTNOTE:  John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism, host of “No Limits” WFYI 90.1 Indianapolis and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The City-County Observer post this article without opinion, bias or editing.

SOUTHWEST INDIANA CHAMBER TO ANNOUNCE THE 2019 ATHENA® AWARD, FINALISTS

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (December 4, 2018)

WHO: Tara Barney, President & CEO – SWIN Chamber

            Jan Davies, 2017 Athena Award Representative

WHAT: Press conference announcing the 2019 Athena Award® Finalists

WHEN: Tuesday, Dec. 4 at 2:00 p.m.

WHERE: Southwest Indiana Chamber Offices

                318 Main Street, Suite 401,

              Evansville, IN 4770, Evansville, IN 47708

The representative of the 2019 ATHENA Award® will be announced at the 28th annual ATHENA Award® Luncheon on Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, at Old National Events Plaza in Downtown Evansville. A representative of the Athena Award demonstrates excellence, creativity, and initiative in their business or profession. They provide valuable service by contributing time and energy to improve the quality of life for others in the community and they actively assist women in realizing their full leadership potential.

Past award representatives include Chris Ryan (2018), Jan Davies (2017), Sara Miller (2016), Parri Black (2015).
To view representatives prior to 2015, visit www.swinchamber.com/ATHENA.

About ATHENA International and the ATHENA Award® Program

Chicago-based ATHENA International is a nonprofit organization founded in 1982 by Martha Mertz.

In addition to supporting, developing, and honoring women leaders, the organization seeks to create balance in leadership worldwide and inspire women to achieve their full potential. Since the program’s inception in 1982, nearly 6,000 leaders in more than 500 communities have received the ATHENA Award®.

For more information about the Athena Award Luncheon, to purchase seats, or to inquire about sponsorship opportunities, email Karen Robinson, events manager, krobinson@swinchamber.com or call 812-425-8147.

About Southwest Indiana Chamber

Since 1915, the Southwest Indiana Chamber has been a trusted ally of the regional business community. Today we are one of the state’s largest, strongest, and most impactful nonprofit business organizations, representing a total membership of more than 1,500 businesses, organizations, and agencies. About one-third of members have invested in our organization for 10 or more years. While nearly all major employers in our region invest in the Southwest Indiana Chamber, 71% of our member businesses have 25 or fewer employees.

Learn more about the Chamber, our members, and the Southwest Indiana regional business community at www.swinchamber.com. 318 Main St., Suite 401, Evansville, IN 47708.