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Letter To The Editor By 3RD Ward City Councilwoman Stephanie Brinkerhoff-Riley

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The City’s ability to borrow money and pay it back at the lowest possible interest rate took another hit today. The hotel bond is rated as an A. The highest rating is AAA. There are 3 levels of A ratings and the City is now scraping the bottom of the top category.

According to Standard & Poor’s rating definitions, a AA rating differs from the highest rated obligations (AAA) only to a small degree. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the bond is very strong. An A rating is somewhat more susceptible to the adverse effects of changes in circumstances and economic conditions. The next level, BBB, indicates that adverse economic conditions or changing circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened capacity of the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the bond. Anything below BBB is regarded as having significant speculative characteristics.

The problems with the City’s bond rating began when spending started to outpace revenues, and the City went on a borrowing spree. This started with the borrowing of $127 million for the arena and millions for sewer and water system projects while gambling became more competitive in the state and property tax caps took effect. The City used to hold an AA rating status but was identified by rating agencies as trending from stable to negative last year. This negative trend applies to all bonds or loans taken out by the City except for loans taken out related to the sewer system. Thus far, rate increases have outpaced spending with regards to the sewer system, although that is poised to change as an EPA plan to address combined sewer overflows is approved. Water system bonds and the arena bonds were downgraded from stable to negative.

Now the hotel bond rating demonstrates a further deterioration in how investors view the reliability of the City to repay its creditors. An A rating itself is certainly not a crisis, but the negative trend, as the City sets out to borrow $77 million for the hotel and medical school cannot be ignored. This rating will require that the City’s debts be repaid at a higher interest rate than if the City had maintained its AA rating. It can also create problems with any attempts to refinance the loans to lengthen repayment periods or take advantage of historically low interest rates.

In high school, getting an A is something to cheer about. In municipal bonding, it is not. It solidifies as fact the downward spiral of the City’s borrowing capacity that began five years ago. At a time when revenues haven’t covered the amount spent for nearly four years, it is hard to accept the extra blow of paying 2 to 3 points more in interest than other communities with better credit. The hotel bond allows up to 7% in an interest rate. AAA bond rated cities are paying 4%. The difference between 4% and 7% on a 20 million loan paid over 20 years is 17.2 million in interest versus 9 million in interest. It matters, and an extra 8 million in interest for a struggling City is a huge problem.

Stephanie Brinkerhoff-Riley

3rd Ward City Council Member

EPA AT WORK

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IS IT TRUE AUGUST 14, 2015

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IS IT TRUE yesterday the Chairmen of the local GOP posted that “the CCO needs to crawl out of their apparent hole-in-the ground.  The majority of the public think Mayor Winnecke has done a good job trying to make Evansville the best it can be. They will be voting in November to express their thanks to him for his hard work”?
IS IT TRUE we have never witnessed such a verbal exchange between our bloggers in our many years of publishing the C-CO?  …we urge you to pull up yesterday’s IS IT TRUE and the Feature article on Gail Riecken and read what the bloggers are posting about GOP Chairman Wayne Parkes’ remarks?
IS IT TRUE a poster called Excuse Me submitted on 2015/08/13 at 3:41 pm | In reply to Wayne Parkes, made the following post?  ...EXCUSE ME posted:  “Are we to actually believe your statements about not insulting women?  You told Cheryl Musgrave in front of people at a Republican event that she wasn’t a Republican in your opinion. You also wrote it here. That seems like an insult to me.  Especially since Musgrave’s beliefs seem to more closely mirror conservatism than yours.”
“You have said publicly and posted here that Gail Riecken needs to learn. In fact you did it today.  That seems like an insult to me. Especially since, and I assume that you know how budget are created, state law basically requires a budget that pretends as if 100% of property tax revenue will be collected to garner the maximum levy from the Department of Local Government Finance.  What Winnecke has done, which is new for a Mayor, is spend like 100% will be collected.  Most other officials understand the necessary gap between what is projected in revenue, which is a fiction, and what can actually be spent.  Winnecke spent more than was taken in 2013, and both more than what was taken in and more than was originally appropriated in 2014. City Council passes a budget and then has to trust the Mayor to monitor revenue and adjust accordingly.  That trust has proven to be a mistake with Winnecke”
“You also may remember filing a grievance last year with the Disciplinary Commission claiming that SBR should lose her legal license. That seems pretty insulting. That grievance and the subsequent letter from the Disciplinary Commission summarily dismissing your grievance was posted on this site last summer.”
“You’ve been through 3 independently selected vice chairwomen in the same number of years. Obviously, you don’t like women and they don’t like you”.
IS IT TRUE we are  still looking forward to the Mayor explaining to the voters if there were any political motives concerning DMD, ERC or Evansville Brownfields Corporation purchasing about $1 million dollars on vacant and dilapidated property on North Main Street,  the awarding of 2014 facade grants,  purchasing dilapidated property in the Haynie’s Corner area and either giving them away or selling them well below appraisal price and the awarding of contractual professional service contracts, and the rationale of DMD/ERC giving a 45 year lease to the proprietors of the McCurdy Hotel for the $600,000 parking lot for $1 dollar?
IS IT TRUE it appears that newly appointed Evansville Brownfields Board member and the appointed “Promoter Of Downtown”  Josh Armstrong have failed to literally give away a Restaurant at 4th and Main?  …we wonder if DMD/ERC invested $35,000 plus to fund Mr. Armstrong position with the Chamber of Commence to spearhead the Restaurant give-a-way program?
IS IT TRUE its rumored that salaried Department Heads receive additional pay for attending the “Mayors Traveling City Hall?”  …that these salaries are paid by a grant funded by a “Community Development Block Grant”?

TRUMP POLLS

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Lincoln School Hosts Community Health Fair

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Research shows that healthier students do better in the classroom and to help all students in the community get school off on the right foot, Lincoln School is hosting a Back to School Health Fair that is free and open to the public on Saturday, August 15, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the school.

 

The event will include 35 vendor booths, health screening opportunities, community resources and much more. There also will be prizes for participation. Yoobi, a school and office supply company with a mission to provide fun supplies for children, also has provided free school supplies.

 

In addition, the first 200 students from Lincoln will receive a free school uniform, donated by SRG Global and a free book donated by Old National Bank.

 

Sponsors for the event include SRG Global, Old National Bank, CVS Pharmacy, University of Southern Indiana, Southwest Indiana Area Health Education Center and American Healthcare Dynamic.

7th Circuit divided over appeal from death row inmate

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Marilyn Odendahl for www.theindianalawyer.com

A split 7th Circuit Court of Appeals denied an inmate on Indiana’s death row a chance for a new trial, finding the exclusion of a witness’s videotaped interview which could have possibly exonerated him was inadmissible as hearsay.

Wayne Kubsch was convicted of the murders of his wife, Beth, her son, Aaron Milewski, and her ex-husband, Rick Milewski, in Mishawaka in September of 1998. No evidence was found to directly link Kubsch to the crime, but Chief Judge Philip Simon of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana described the case against the defendant as a “slow-moving accumulation of a glacier of circumstantial evidence.”

Before the 7th Circuit, Kubsch appealed the denial of a petition for habeas corpus. He argued, in part, his federal due process rights were violated because he was not allowed to present evidence from the Milewskis’ neighbors that would have given him an alibi.

The police concluded the murders took place between 1:53 and 2:51 p.m. However, a neighbor and classmate of Aaron Milewski told police in a videotaped interview that she saw her friend and his father at their home between 3 and 3:30 p.m. which was the time police had confirmed Kubsch was driving to Michigan to pick up his son.

Kubsch bolstered his claim by pointing to Chambers v. Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284 (1973) where the Supreme Court of the United States carved an exception to the hearsay rule.

In Wayne Kubsch v. Ron Neal, Superintendent, Indiana State Prison, 14-1898, the majority panel of Judges David Hamilton and John Tinder rejected that argument. The court explained the parameters set by Chambers were not met because Aaron’s classmate and neighbor; 9-year-old Amanda was not available for cross-examination at trial and her statements could not be corroborated.

Consequently, the majority concluded enforcing the rules of evidence to exclude Amanda’s recorded statement as substantive evidence was neither arbitrary or disproportionate.

“The risk of serious error is not enough, however, to open the gates of all hearsay of this type, especially where it is not corroborated as it was in Chambers and where it is not subject to meaningful cross-examination,” Hamilton wrote. “The unavoidable risk of error may offer a strong argument against the death penalty as a matter of policy, but that is not a choice available to us.”

In a forceful dissent, Chief Judge Diane Wood charged, “My colleagues are prepared to send Wayne Kubsch to his death on the basis of a trial at which the jury never heard critical evidence that, if believed, would have shown that Kubsch was not the man responsible for the horrible murders. … ”

She described the Kubsch case as being as close to Chambers as anyone is likely to find. Indeed, she contended, the excluded videotaped evidence in Kubsch was more reliable than the evidence presented to the SCOTUS in Chambers. And the exclusion of the videotape undermined Kubsch’s ability to show another individual committed the three murders.

Montooth Recently Promoted to Latent Print Identification Unit Supervisor

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Indiana State Police Superintendent Douglas Carter recently promoted Marcus Montooth to Forensic Scientist-Latent Print Identification Unit Supervisor.

 

Montooth is a native of Evansville and a 1997 graduate of Harrison High School. He later attended University of Evansville and graduated in 2001 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology. Montooth started his career with the Indiana State Police in April 2003 where he served as a Forensic Scientist and examined latent prints at the Evansville Regional Lab.

 

Montooth is now the technical supervisor for the Indiana State Police Latent Print Unit with examiners in Evansville, Indianapolis, Lowell and Fort Wayne.

 

Montooth resides in Vanderburgh County with his wife, Alicia, and their two children.

 

Governor Pence Authorizes Hiring of 113 Department of Child Services Caseworkers

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Indianapolis – Today, Governor Mike Pence announced the authorization of 113 additional Department of Child Services (DCS) caseworkers to meet demand caused by increased cases across the state. This authorization comes before DCS presents its annual report to the State Budget Committee on Friday, August 14.

 

“This authorization for 113 more DCS caseworkers is all about putting kids first,” said Governor Pence. “We want to make sure that we’re not only meeting our statutory obligations, but also that we’re doing right by our kids. There is simply no higher priority than the safety of the children in this state, and I am confident that by hiring these additional caseworkers, we can help ensure that our dedicated personnel at DCS are able to provide children in difficult circumstances with the time and attention they deserve.”

 

The State is adding 113 new caseworkers to become compliant with caseload standards, based on June 2015 caseload numbers. DCS will immediately begin to fill these roles to ensure the proper amount of personnel who can investigate and provide supervision for vulnerable children in Indiana.

 

In State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2015, Governor Pence called for the legislature to appropriate $7.5 million each year of the FY 16/17 biennium to DCS to fund 100 family case managers and 17 family case manager supervisor positions. All of the 100 family case managers have been created and filled through State Personnel Department. In SFY 2014, DCS added an additional 110 family case manager positions, and in SFY 2013, DCS added 136 family case manager positions and 75 family case manager supervisor positions.

 

“Children are being abused and neglected at an unprecedented rate in Indiana. In fact, from July 2014 to July 2015 the number of children entering into the DCS system has increased by 26 percent,” said DCS Director, Mary Beth Bonaventura. “There is nothing more important than keeping the children and families we serve, safe; and providing the necessary support to our frontline staff is paramount to accomplishing our mission.”

 

In March, the DCS released the findings from an independent workload and caseload analysis of the agency by Deloitte Consulting. The final report included 10 strategic and tactical recommendations to improve outcomes for Hoosier children and families, including additional staff.

Vanderburgh County Recent Booking Records

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EPD Activity Report

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