IS IT TRUE that Evansville, Indiana has always been accepting of a practice known as “political patronage” when it comes to jobs that are financed fully or partially by public dollars?…it has been so entrenched that a former Evansville Mayor whom we shall not name has been quoted as saying “I get all of the credit and they take all of the blame” to justify appointing his political supporters to jobs under his control?…”political patronage” came about at about the same time that the Tammany Hall shake down tactics in New York City were being used to drain the public coffers to enrich the politically connected?… the one thing that “political patronage“ staffing never seems to require is any expertise at all with respect to the job that one is being appointed to?  …”political patronage” staffing is a dangerous artifact of the past and has no reason to exist in the present?…the need for competence as opposed to loyalty will someday drive ‘political patronage” staffing from local government, but until then shenanigans like putting campaign managers into well-paid positions that are out of their league will continue in River City?

IS IT TRUE that Vanderburgh County Council has to approve the hiring of the new administrative employees (Pat and Z Tuley) at Burdette Park? …we predict an extremely heated in your face discussion when this issue is brought before County Council?  …we can’t wait to see which County Commissioner will come before the County Council to request that they approve Pat Tuley and his wife as new administrators of Burdette Park?

IS IT TRUE all we been hearing since the last Vanderburgh County election is that newly elected County Commissioner Ben Shoulders is the odds-on favorite of becoming the Democratic party nominee as the next Mayor of Evansville?  …the political deal he cut with his fellow Commissioner concerning the firing of the Director of Burdette Park has hurt his chances of becoming the Democratic nominee as the next Mayor of Evansville?

IS IT TRUE we wonder if the Vanderburgh County Council will allow Pat and Z Tuely to live in the upscale administrators home located on the property at Burnette Park rent free?   …we predict that the answer to this question is “heck no”?

IS IT TRUE we hope that Commissioners Musgrave and Shoulders read the Vanderburgh County “Nepotism Policy” statement posted in the employee handbook? …they may be in direct violation of this policy because they officially hired a husband and wife team to run Burdette Park?

IS IT TRUE last night members of the local FOP deferred the “VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE” against Evansville Chief of Police Billy Bolin? …this meeting was closed to the media and the public?  …the FOP membership deferred any action concerning this issue upon the advice of their attorney?

IS IT TRUE the lowest murder rate of any country in the norther hemisphere belongs to Iceland which has a population of only 350,000 for the entire country?…the murder rate per 100,000 in Iceland is 0.3 which equates to only 1 murder per year in a population that is the size of the entire Evansville Metropolitan Area?…the ten year average for the City of Evansville is 4.3 murders per year per 100,000 people?…that is nearly 15 times as high as the murder rate in Iceland which up to a point is demographically close to Evansville?…while Evansville is mostly populated (90% +/-) by people who self-identify as northern European, Iceland is closer to 99% who have been determined to be mostly of Scandinavian or Irish descent?…the economics of the two places are similar as well with Iceland holding a slight advantage in household income?… Evansville does stack up well on the murder rate scale with other American cities?… Indianapolis, Little Rock, and St. Louis have murder rates of 16, 22, and 50 per 100,000 people respectively?…to think that a once great American city like St. Louis has a murder rate that is 167 times higher than a country like Iceland should be seen as a slap in the face and a call to root out the reasons for this shameful statistic?

IS IT TRUE that Rachel Maddow thought she was on the verge of really laying the wood to President Trump last night when she announced with much enthusiasm that she had his IRS Form 1040 for 2005 and would be releasing it on air?… now Ms. Maddow knows how Geraldo Rivera felt when he hyped up Al Capone’s vault just to open it on national TV and find absolutely nothing?…what was learned from President Trump’s 1040 is that in 2005 he reported an income of $150 Million and paid taxes of $38 Million or 25% of his income in federal taxes?…there was not one word about debt to any Russians nor was there a word about what Trump’s net worth at the time was?…it is befuddling to hear educated intelligent people who are among those who do not care for President Trump pontificate about how his tax return would expose his alleged loans from Russians and that he was broke as a church mouse?…there is not and never has been any box on a personal tax return that asks any of us to disclose who we owe money to or how much our net worth is?…hearing educated people to expound on something that just doesn’t exist discredits everything else they offer opinions on?

Todays “READERS POLL” question is: DO you feel that the newly vacant position of Burdette Park Director should have been advertised in our local paper?