Mayor Asking People To Push Council To Vote On Funding Of “PENGUIN” Exhibit At The Zoo?

For several years the City County Observer and past Council Finance Chairman John Friend CPA have been saying that the City of Evansville is facing major financial challenges because of deficit spending practices and un-necessary political pork barrel projects.

Every time we reported that City Council has a major deficit shortfall concerning the 2016 City Employees Health care budget City Controller Russ Lloyd Jr stated that the city is in sound financial shape. When we question un-necessary spending practices of the City, Finance Chairman Dan McGinn, President Missy Mosby and Jonathan Weaver also declares that the city is in great financial shape.

September 23, 2016 Amended Employee Insurance Health Plan Offer By Mayor Winnecke

On September 23, 2016 Mayor Winnecke gave members of Police and Fire an amended Employee Insurance Health plan offer.  In his new offer he lowered the premiums costs of this plan very little.

The Mayor is now putting a political spin that he has reduced his newly amended City Employee Heath care premium by 35%.  However, is he is failing to mention that his newly admended 2017 Employee Health care package is still about a 300% increase over this years plan.

We predict that Evansville Police and Fire rank and file will be out in force at tonights City Council meeting to publicly object to the Mayor newly amended 2017 Employee Health care plan.

Attached below Is the link to the amended Employee Health care package offer presented to our Fire and Police Department employees by Mayor Winnecke.

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Other Observations Of Tonights City Council Meetings

It look like the Evansville City Council attempt to pass the 2017 budget at tonight meeting will be met with major opposition from taxpayers, not-for profits organizations, rank and file members of the Evansville Fire and Police Departments, Friends of the Zoo who want the plans for $11 million dollar “PENGUIN” exhibit to go forward and members of city appointed boards.

We have been informed by reliable sources that city budgeted $24 million dollars to pay for Employee Health care costs for 2016.  We hear that the city may have a financial shortfall of around $6 million dollars for this year.  It looks like past City Council Finance Chairman John Friend CPA predictions about the 2016 budget shortfall were track on!

The city is now projecting that the Health Care costs in 2017 will be well over $30 million dollars.  According to media reports that Council Vice President Jonathan Weaver, D-At-Large, said the city money situation is in “dire straits.” Finance Chairman Dan McGinn, R-1st Ward, now declares, that the City “can’t afford to pay their medical bills.” It looks like Council President Missy Mosby is in political hiding. We wonder why they didn’t realize this problem last budget year.

We are hearing that Council leadership (McGinn, Mosby and Weaver) and Mayor Winnecke are now talking about moving city funds around so they can pay current and future bills.   Council leadership (McGinn, Mosby and Weaver) and Mayor Winnecke are now planning to raid millions of dollars from the Riverboat Fund, reduce the 2017 Homestead Tax Credit  by 2% and increase the Local Income Tax.

Oh, just in case the Mayor and his City Council leadership team  (McGinn, Mosby and Weaver) would like to know that Mr. Friend is also  predicting that the 2017 budget challenges shall be even greater!

FOOTNOTES:

We find it interesting that Councilman Jonathan Weaver is telling the main stream media the reason why the City of Evansville Health Care fund are experiencing major deficits are because of “OBAMA CARE.”   Isn’t parts of the City of Evansville Health Care fund self funding?

Mayor Winnecke is facing the biggest political challenge of his career.

We predict that Council members Elpers and Hargis will rule the day when they garner the needed votes to reject the funding of the “PENGUIN” exhibit.

We have just heard that the Mayor is on his Facebook page asking people to show up and push Council to vote on funding his proposed “PENGUIN” exhibit at the Zoo?  What this tells us is he is putting “PENGUIN” over the funding of Employee Health Care program for city employees.  All we can say about this is “WOW”!

City Controller Russ Lloyd Jr. budgetary wisdom will be question and challenged after tonights meeting.  Our elected officials will be questioning why Controller Lloyd Jr didn’t warn them earlier about major budget problems.

To approve the proposed 2017 City budget it would require the majority of council members to vote on it.  We are hearing that Council leadership (McGinn, Mosby and Weaver)  and Mayor Winnecke have painted themselves in a political corner concerning the poorly crafting of the proposed 2017 City budget.  It looks like members of City Council are in for a long and stressful evening defending the Council leadership and Mayor Winnecke’s 2017 budget cuts.

Finally, if our elected City Council members would had listened to former City Council Finance Chairman John Friend CPA they wouldn’t be in the financial mess they are in now!

WHATS ON YOUR MIND TODAY?

Todays READERS POLL question is:  Should Council delay spending money on new Zoo exhibits and put money towards Employee Health Care costs?

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SEPTEMBER 26TH, 2016

GRIFFIN GLASSCOCK EVANSVILLE

The Evansville Police Department is searching for a burglary suspect after a woman claims she was thrown to the ground in her home.

The incident happened in the 700 block of E. Columbia street Saturday night.

A woman says she was in the bedroom and heard the back door open. She walked into the kitchen and claims the suspect pushed her to the floor. She hit him in the head with a flashlight, but the suspect kept saying he needed his tool bag.

The offender took off with a phone and bike.

Police are still investigating.

Fighters, survivors, and battle buddies took their message to the street for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Evansville.

The event raises money and awareness for the breast cancer movement. It also celebrates survivorship and honors those who have lost their battle with the disease.

7,600 people participated this year, raising more than $500,000.

Sheila Seiler said, “Of course we’d like to increase that. The more money we raise, the more money that can stay here for the people that we know and love. But also, the more money we cans end to research because we’ve got to find a cure for this disease.”

100% of the net proceeds go towards the mission. 75% of the net income stays in the community to help fund local programs offering breast health education and breast cancer screening and treatment. The remaining 25% supports the Susan G. Komen Grants program.

Let Trump Be Trump

Making Sense by Michael Reagan

For months we’ve been hearing complaints from the pundits that Donald Trump has not given us a clear idea about how he plans to defeat ISIS.

The TV pundits —- left and right —-are frustrated because Trump won’t say whether he’d use American ground troops.

He won’t even automatically take the use of nukes off the table.

Their complaints remind me of what Ronald Reagan did during the 1980 election against Jimmy Carter.

The pundits did the same thing to my father that they’re doing to Trump. They never stopped asking him during the campaign what he was going to do to solve the Iran hostage crisis.

But he did the right thing. He never said anything.

The liberals spent the whole 1980 campaign saying Ronald Reagan was a war monger and he was going to turn Iran into a glass parking lot with nuclear weapons.

You never saw a speech when he denied any of their most idiotic concerns because he didn’t given one. My father was smarter than the pundits were.

He knew you should never forewarn your adversaries what your plans were.

So he never said anything. He just let the liberals scare the Iranians and the world with all the things he might or might not do as president.

Everyone gives my father credit for the hostages going free on the day he was sworn in, and they should. But one reason they went free was because he kept the Iranians guessing.

They never did know whether he’d nuke them until he didn’t.

I find it interesting this election year that the right and the left keep asking the same questions of Trump. What will he do to defeat ISIS?

But the real story shouldn’t be what Trump might do. It should be what Hillary Clinton won’t do.

To appease her voters and liberal friends in the media, she’s already said she won’t use ground troops. I’m sure the monsters who run ISIS were relieved to hear that.

In the debates on Monday night I hope Trump doesn’t make the mistake of coming up with his plan to take care of ISIS.

I want him to come out with that plan after he becomes president.I want it to be a surprise for MSNBC and ISIS.

I want Trump to tell us nothing. It’s a no-brainer. When you go out to play an NFL game Sunday, you don’t give your game plan to the other team beforehand and then wonder why you keep losing.

The left spends too much time wanting to give the game plan to the other team and then they’re surprised when we lose.

Another thing I don’t want to hear from Trump in the debate on Monday is a whole lot of specific talk about policy.

The 100 million people who are going to watch the most watched debate in world history are going to be looking to see who is the most presidential.

They won’t be looking for the best policy wonk. If Trump starts talking about policy, you’ll hear millions of TVs turning off.

In my father’s first debate with Mondale in 1984 he was absolutely terrible because his advisers filled him with too much policy information.

In the second debate, they didn’t do that. They let Reagan be Reagan. And he won the second debate with ease.

On Monday, Trump needs to show some self-control but most of all he just needs to be Trump. If he does that he should win the debate because Hillary can never stop being Hillary.