We hope that today’s “IS IT TRUE” 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?”

IS IT TRUE long before the $18 million dollars North Main Street renovation project was completed, we publicly stated that the design plans of the North Main Street project were too narrow for vehicle traffic? …city officials ignored us and finished the project without correcting this obvious mistake? …please look at the cover page picture of this column and you will see what the city engineer came up with to stop cars from running over the newly installed concrete street and sidewalk bolder when they turn on the narrow North Main Street? …he put unsightly white poles on certain sections of the newly completed $18 million dollars North Main project?  …if this design mistake happened in the private sector someone would have been fired on the spot?

IS IT TRUE that the IGA store on North Main has advised its workforce that the store will be closing right after the first of the year? …this store is owned by The Houchens Food Group, the company says high theft, and low sales at Buehler’s IGA are the reason for the closing? …of course the powers that be would prefer that this news is not shared with anyone this soon after they spent $18 million making this part of town bicycle friendly with undersized lanes for vehicle traffic?

IS IT TRUE we’ve been told that Mayor Winnecke is quietly raising money to build an expensive “Exotic Bird” exhibit to be located next to the new Carrousel at the Zoo? …Its been alleged that the Mayor got a grant and raised money from generous donators to pay for this project?  …we hope that City Council put extra money in the 2018 Zoo budget to pay for the daily upkeep of this exhibit?

IS IT TRUE that the official “Swim Meet Time Clock” located at the Northside Lloyd Pool has been broken for over a year?  …the only way that coaches and parents can record the official swimmers times is by hand held time clocks?  …this situation needs to be corrected right away?

IS IT TRUE according to the Evansville Courier & Press’s their East Walnut Street building is under contract to be sold? …that the sale of their East Walnut Street building is expected to close this month?   …the Courier and Press plans to remain as a tenant in the building?  …we hope that the Courier and Press move to downsize will allow them to produce a better product and become more profitable?

IS IT TRUE that the 420 Building that was at one time the headquarters for Old National Bank was in escrow, for a while with plans to do $25 million of much needed improvements if and only if financing could be arranged? …we all learned earlier this week that the financing could not be arranged and the 420 Building is now back on the market for $5 million like it has been for over a decade? …to borrow $30 million to purchase and refurbish that building would require an appraisal of at least $40 million and unfortunately given the comps in downtown Evansville that is not even close to something that is possible? …the highest potential appraisal for the 420 Building given it’s square footage is on the order of $15 million and that is a stretch? …given that the building legitimately needs $25 million of improvements to be converted into class A commercial space, we are in for a long long wait for this building to be refurbished unless a person comes along who doesn’t need a loan and doesn’t care about a return on investment?

IS IT TRUE that long time School Board member Mike Duckworth is considering announcing as a candidate for the Vanderburgh County Commission sometime in January, 2018?

IS IT TRUE that former Vanderburgh County Republican party Chairman Jeff Hatfield decided not to run for the District II County Commission seat as a Democrat?

IS IT TRUE that Vanderburgh County Democratic party Chairman Scott Dank’s have been quietly working on getting an impressive group of individuals to run for Evansville City Council in the next city election?  …we hear that Chairman Dank’s may be getting some positive results in his search?

IS IT TRUE in a recent article written by the Evansville Courier and Press writer Jon Webb brought up the decade long stagnation of wages in Evansville that grew by only 1/3 of the national average during the last ten years, the rising utility costs and the general sclerotic pace of change in the race to the bottom?…for the record, the average wage in Evansville has declined from roughly 10% above national averages 50 years ago to about half what that wage is today?…that is losing by a factor of 4?…that Evansville is not even keeping up with Indiana and has atrophied to the point that an Evansville job pays 33% less than jobs in the rest of Indiana?…we are on the verge of being a third world city with a $127 Million hockey rink that can’t pay its own bills?…the governance that has created this situation has had a “band plays on” attitude with nothing but borrowing money for fun and games projects?…from an economic development perspective this area has never met a call center, retail chain, or low skills job it didn’t fall in love with and that is what is driving the race to the bottom?

IS IT TRUE the Evansville Sports Corporation recently held a Division II basketball tournament at the Ford Center and the attendance was not up to snuff? …all we can say is thank goodness that the Evansville Sports Corporation had several major corporate sponsors to cover all the expenses for this failed sporting event?  …we hope that the newly hired CEO of the Evansville Sports Corporation will do extensive homework before allowing his organization to bring another less than financial successful event to the Ford Center?

Todays “Readers Poll” question is: Do you feel that the City Engineer should be held responsible for allowing the narrow North Main Street project to be finished without correcting the obvious design problem?

Please take time and read our articles entitled “STATEHOUSE Files, CHANNEL 44 NEWS, LAW ENFORCEMENT, READERS POLL, BIRTHDAYS, HOT JOBS” and “LOCAL SPORTS”.  You now are able to subscribe to get the CCO daily.

EDITOR’S FOOTNOTE:  Any comments posted in this column do not represent the views or opinions of the City County Observer or our advertisers