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IS IT TRUE May 12, 2014
IS IT TRUE that if all goes according to plan tonight’s meeting of the Evansville City Council will be the night that the opportunity for Earthcare Energy LLC to cash in another $4.8 Million of taxpayer dollars will disappear forever?…that is because at our last contact tonight was selected as the night for the second and third readings and the vote to be done with this poorly thought out mistake?…of course Earthcare is still current on making the paltry $380 interest payments on the $200,000 in funds that Mayor Winnecke used a little known commission that administers federal money for economic development loans to sneak the money to Earthcare?…many people still want to know exactly who the locals behind this rotten deal were and what they expected to get for it?
IS IT TRUE tonight’s City Council meeting is also when the vote may be held to authorize borrowing $56 Million for the City of Evansville’s cost to do everything needed to put the IU Medical School in downtown Evansville?…the unanswered but puzzling question is why the resolution states that the interest rate can be as high as 7%?…when this was seen we had a bond broker check on what other cities municipal bonds were paying in interest and the answer came back that most financially healthy cities are able to float debt at 4.5% and that DETROIT’S DEBT IS TRADING AT JUST OVER 7% IN THE AFTERMARKET?…it is disturbing to see that Evansville is contemplating paying essentially the same interest rate of 7% that a bankrupt city under state control is paying?
IS IT TRUE the City County Observer calls on the Evansville City Council to delay the vote on this debt issue until after the 2012 City of Evansville Audits have been released?…to hold this vote knowing that the 2012 audit will be anything other than clean with reconciled accounts could about to withholding material information which is not treated lightly in securities trading?…of course if the City Council would authorize the release of all notes or recordings made at the exit interview RIGHT NOW, all material information would be on the table so an honest knowing vote could be cast by all?…withholding material information is exactly what Earthcare Energy LLC did to the City Council back in 2012 and now it seems like some of our Council members are doing the same thing to the ones who were not in the 2012 audit exit interview?…we wonder if the members of the City Council and the Office of the Mayor understand just how serious withholding material information is?
IT IS TRUE in an article printed in the July 22, 2010 Courier and Press written by Tom Langhorne, that newly elected GOP party Chairman Wayne Parke admitted that he voted for Hillary Clinton for President in the 2008 Democrat primary?…that that in the recent Republican primary, Mr. Parke accused County Commission candidate Bruce Ungethiem of not being a true Republican?…posted below are the remarks made by newly elected GOP Party Chairman Wayne Parke in a 2010 Courier and Press article and ask yourself do you think Mr. Parke is a true Republican?
REMARKS MADE IN A JULY 22, 2014 COURIER AND PRESS INTERVIEW
“Parke acknowledges voting for then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the 2008 Indiana Democratic presidential primary. Under circumstances that can be complex, voting in a Democratic primary can make GOP officers and candidates in Indiana ineligible to carry the party’s banner.
Parke finds humor in his vote for Clinton, whom most Republicans consider an archenemy of the GOP.
“I was deeply concerned about Barack Obama,†he said. “I can remember as I asked for a Democrat ballot, I turned to my wife and said, ‘Did you hear that?’ And she says, ‘What?’ And I said, ‘Well, my dad just turned over in his grave.â€
Judges Reverse Judgment In Favor Of Town In Water Agreement
Jennifer Nelson for www.theindianalawyer.com         
A trial court erred as a matter of law in its interpretation of a disputed section of a water agreement between a real estate developer and the town of Huntertown; as such, the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed partial summary judgment in favor of the town.
Carroll Creek and Huntertown entered into a water agreement in October 2000 in which Carroll Creek would pay for constructing a water main that connects to Huntertown’s water service facility. Carroll Creek could recoup nearly $465,000 of its costs via a water connection charge from certain owners of real estate who connected to the water main.
Those charges led to this lawsuit and appeal, Carroll Creek Development Company, Inc. v. Town of Huntertown, Indiana, 02A03-1307-PL-282. At issue is Section 4.1 of the agreement. The water main will serve real estate in a defined “excess area.†The section states: “In the event any present or future owners of real estate within the excess areas shall, at any time within fifteen (15) years after the date of this Agreement, desire to connect into the Water Main, whether by direct tap or through the extension or connection of lateral lines to service the real estate situated in the excess area or adjacent to the excess area, to the extent permitted by law, … .â€
Carroll Creek and Huntertown couldn’t agree whether this section required people who lived in the Ravenswood subdivision and another subdivision on the Ruth Nobis farm to pay the connection charge. Huntertown argued that those homeowners do not have to pay because they are not included in the “excess area†as defined in the water agreement. Carroll Creek’s interpretation of Section 4.1 was that the owners of real estate in the excess area who connected to the water main would be subject to the area connection charge when they used their water main connection to service real estate that was in either the excess area or area adjacent to the excess area. The company argued Huntertown failed to prove that the property owners in question had never owned property in the excess area.
The trial court granted summary judgment to Huntertown on the issue. The judge concluded that the “whether by†clause in Section 4.1 was intended to clarify that the excess area owners will be subject to area connection charges even if they do not connect to the water main directly. But this interpretation changes the “to service real estate situated in the excess area or adjacent to the excess area†language to “that service the real estate …,†the judges noted. In doing so, the court disregarded the plain language of the water agreement.
“The plain language in Section 4.1 of the Water Agreement provides that owners of real estate in the excess area are subject to the area connection charge if they connect, directly or indirectly, to the water main ‘to service the real estate situated in the excess area or adjacent to the excess area[.]’ Thus, the language of Section 4.1, agreed upon by the parties, shows that the intent of the parties was that the area connection charge would be assessed against excess area owners in two specified situations,†Judge Rudolph Pyle III wrote.
The appeals court remanded for further proceedings.
Commentary: God’s wicked sense of humor
By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz
IndyPoltics.Org
The one thing I admire most about God is his/her wicked sense of humor, especially when it comes to dealing with folks who claim everything they do for your benefit is in his/her name.
Abdul Hakim-Shabazz is an attorney and the editor and publisher of IndyPoltics.Org.
Abdul Hakim-Shabazz is an attorney and the editor and publisher of IndyPoltics.Org.
Now, let me start by saying I am freely admit I am not a religious person by any stretch of the imagination. I do believe in a Creator. However, I don’t allow anyone else to tell me how that relationship should work. My Creator and I have a great thing going. I thank him/her on a regular basis for all cool things he/she allows me to do and for the awesome people to hang out with and he/she lets me keep doing those cool things and hang out with great people.
Commentary button in JPG – no shadowI bring this up because my “pro-family†friends have been doing victory laps following the primary defeats of Northeast Indiana State Representatives Rebecca Kubacki and Kathy Heuer. They claim in numerous e-mails that have bordered on manifestos that Kubacki and Heuer’s opposition to the marriage amendment in its original form is what did them in. The marriage amendment was part of it, but any intellectually honest observer knows there were a lot more moving parts involved: low voter turnout, late starts by both candidates, etc. But hey, in politics a win is a win, so I will give them their due. (Notice I did not use the term devil).
Now where God comes into play is the day after the holy warriors declared victory and began saber rattling against other lawmakers who had issues with the marriage amendment, a federal judge ruled that Indiana must recognize one same-sex couple from out of state. One of the women was terminally ill and wanted to die in her home state. They were married legally out-of-state but Indiana did not recognize their marriage. So they did any American would do. They exercised their God-given right to take their government to court. And they won their fight – although it’s important to note the court ruled the decision only applies to their case and it is being appealed to the 7th Circuit. Frankly, I don’t see how opponents win, because time after time courts have come back ruling that there is no rational reason for the government to deny same-sex couples the right to be as happy or as miserable as everyone else who’s gone down the road of matrimony.
And that’s where God’s wicked sense of humor comes in. Less than one day after the marriage amendment supporters were declaring victory and getting ready to launch another crusade, a federal judge comes along and formally opens the door that they have been fighting for years to keep closed and raise money. During the entire marriage amendment debate I argued an amendment to Indiana’s state constitution would do nothing to stop a federal judge from declaring it unconstitutional and throwing it out. And it looks like I was right, but what else is new?
As I stated earlier, I am not a religious person, but I have faith in my Creator that everything works out the way it’s supposed to in the long run. And it appears to me, that in the long run, the big guy/gal in the sky wants all of us to be happy and thankful. I can’t think of something to be more happy and thankful for than finding the person you want to spend the rest of your life with and making it happen.
No, I take that back. The only thing cooler than that is when the Creator uses his/her wicked sense of humor and makes stuff happen that people who invoke his/her name to make money and scare people don’t like. It shows how awesome he/she is and how powerless they are.
Abdul is an attorney and the editor and publisher of IndyPoltics.Org. He is also a frequent contributor to numerous Indiana media outlets. He can be reached at abdul@indypolitics.org
Analysis: A Peek At Pence’s Presidential Resume
By Lesley Weidenbener      
TheStatehouseFile.com
INDIANAPOLIS – Gov. Mike Pence is apparently thinking about a bid for president in 2016 – at least that’s what he told The Washington Post.
Back home in Indiana, he’s steered clear of any such talk. No surprise. He’s been governor less than 17 months, so a move to go on the road to run for national office might not be so popular.
But a look back at what he’s done in less than a year-and-a-half in office reveals that he’s been checking off a list of accomplishments that could look pretty darn good on a presidential resume – even if they’re either not making tremendous impact on Hoosiers or can’t wholly be attributed to his administration.
Check out these examples:
Resume: Common Core opponent
National perspective: Pence leads Indiana to become the first state to pull out of Common Core. The Post calls Pence “one of the loudest voices†attacking the standards.
Indiana perspective: Indiana’s new standards largely cut and paste from Common Core, with some additions and subtractions – changes that haven’t satisfied Common Core opponents. And conservative state lawmakers led the initial charge to drop Common Core.
Resume: Tax cutter
National perspective: Pence cut the inheritance tax, business property taxes, the corporate income tax and individual income taxes, while keeping the state’s budget in the black.
Indiana perspective: Pence’s tax cut proposals were largely scaled back or rejected outright by a Republican-dominated state legislature. Lawmakers were already cutting the inheritance tax. The Senate insisted on the corporate income tax cut, which Pence had not requested. The individual income tax cut, which is half of what Pence requested, has yet to take effect and will eventually slice the tax burden for the average household by only about $75. And no part of the business tax cut will occur unless local officials approve it. Plus, most of the financial hit for the state budget will come in future years.
Resume: Education reformer
National perspective: Pence is overseeing the broadest private school voucher program in the nation and working to expand it.
Indiana perspective: Daniels and GOP lawmakers are responsible for the voucher program, which was largely in place when Pence was elected. Pence tried to lift the program’s income restrictions, but the GOP-dominated legislature told him no – essentially leaving the program as it was.
Resume: Budget balancer
National perspective: Under Pence, Indiana has one of the healthiest budget surpluses in the nation.
Indiana perspective: Pence inherited a big budget surplus from Daniels and largely maintained it. But he’s also proposed tax cuts that will reduce revenue and new spending on roads and preschool that could reduce the surplus. And while Daniels paid for major highway expansions like Interstate 69 up front in cash, Pence has proposed spreading those payments out over decades.
Resume: Job creator
National perspective: Indiana’s unemployment rate has plummeted 2 percentage points in one year, the third largest decline in the nation. Private sector job growth has also been among the best in the country.
Indiana perspective: Most economic development deals promise jobs that will be created in the years ahead, meaning much of the job creation can probably be attributed to the Daniels administration.
Still, according to The Washington Post and others, Pence’s star is rising. The Republican primary field is jumbled, which creates an opening for Pence to swoop in and charm the conservative wing of the party.
“In the last few months, people have reached out,†Pence told The Washington Post. “I’m listening.â€
He’ll have to make a decision soon to put together the money and the political apparatus in the early primary states to make a bid viable. But the resume is ready – as long as the scrutiny isn’t too strong.
Lesley Weidenbener is executive editor of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
Letter to the Editor: Being a Good Neighbor
Being a Good Neighbor
A large percentage of Evansville’s citizens rent their home. This means that they either have a written or oral agreement to take possession of and live in a residence that belongs to someone else. A small segment of these renters continuously break the law, and in doing so create serious problems for their neighbors. This behavior, in addition to terrorizing a neighborhood, is expensive to the rest of us in terms of the use of our police and other city services. The issue that law enforcement and neighborhood leaders regularly encounter is that some landlords will not evict a problem tenant, even when that tenant has clearly violated the terms of the lease with their behavior.
The “Good Neighbor Ordinance†is new law that will address this problem. The Ordinance creates new tools for landlords to use in addressing issues not related to the payment of rent and a minimum standard of behavior for tenants. For a landlord that cannot determine what amount of bad behavior is enough to trigger an eviction, the Ordinance is instructive as to how much a neighborhood must endure before a landlord shall enforce his lease and file an eviction. Most of the behaviors that cause problems in a neighborhood are not serious crimes. The Good Neighbor Ordinance draws a line between those that commit serious felonies and must be evicted, and those that have less serious bad behavior that we hope to change through a two or three strike warning system.
A city ordinance cannot change the process for an eviction or the burden of proof that a landlord must meet to secure an eviction order from a judge. The Good Neighbor Ordinance was written understanding two things: 1) the ordinance applies to landlords; and 2) there is no value in compelling a landlord to file an eviction that is not legally sufficient to obtain an eviction order. Therefore the Ordinance seeks to find a balance between behavior that cannot be tolerated even once, and behavior that can be changed with the right incentive. The goal over time is to see the number of eviction filings not related to a failure to pay rent go down as the standard of good behavior becomes uniform throughout the city.
The working group that drafted the Good Neighbor Ordinance is made up of representatives from City Council, the Mayor’s office, apartment owners, property managers, and the Crime Prevention Officers of the Evansville Police Department who interact on a daily basis with neighborhoods dealing with unchecked behavior. The Ordinance will not become effective in a vacuum. The passage of the Mandatory Rental Registry Ordinance last year helped further develop the Crime-Free Multi-Housing and the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) Programs led by Crime Prevention Officers. These programs include free training for landlords and property managers that includes screening tenants and having an effective lease. Through the Building Commission, landlords also have a Voluntary Rental Registry that is available and includes negotiated benefits related to the repair and maintenance of rental units. Additionally, as the Good Neighbor Ordinance goes into effect this October, it will correlate with the merger of the two rental registries on a new website that will include new tenant screening tools and a section for tenants with information about their rights and responsibilities.
Ultimately, the Good Neighbor Ordinance is not for attacking landlords or tenants but is part of a full spectrum approach to facilitating safe and healthy neighborhoods. Every neighborhood and each one of our neighbors is entitled to the quiet enjoyment of their residence, and this Ordinance is an attempt to make sure we all understand what it is to be a good neighbor.
Stephanie Brinkerhoff-Riley
Third Ward City Councilwoman
STATE PARTY RULES TO REMOVE LOCAL CHAIRMAN FROM OFFICE
For the last several days the City County Observer and the Courier and Press have been addressing the issue of open hostility towards present GOP Chairman Wayne Parke for his actions in the recent GOP primary elections. We have been informed that Chairman Parke has stated he isn’t going to resign his position as Party Chairman. We also are hearing from a few of his supporters that “Republican Party Rules” have no provisions in its bylaws that address the issue of forcing him to resign.  Attached are the official reference in the State Republican  party rules addressing this issue. Please take time and read the attached sections that will tell you how a local Party Chairman can be removed from his position.
This revision contains all changes approved as of September 18, 2013
RULES OF THE INDIANA REPUBLICAN STATE COMMITTEE. Â PREAMBLE, To further the rights of its members to freely associate to achieve the goals of the Party, the Indiana Republican Party State Committee adopts the following rules for the organization and government of the Republican Party of the State of Indiana:
ATTACHED BELOW ARE THE OFFICIAL STATE PARTY GUIDELINES TO FOLLOW TO FORCE CHAIRMAN WAYNE PARKE REMOVAL AS CHAIRMAN OF THE VANDERBURGH COUTNY REPUBLICAN PARTY.
Rule 3-42. A meeting of the County Committee may be convened at any other time upon call of the County Chairman, or upon written notice signed by not less than twenty-five per cent (25%) of the members of the County committee who have been members at least thirty (30) days prior to the meeting date (whether elected or appointed). If a meeting is called by members of the committee, it must be called within twenty (20) days from the date the first signature is obtained. A written notice, signed by each member joining in the call, shall be given to every member and officer at least ten (10) days in advance of such meeting. The notice shall state the purpose for which the meeting is called.
Rule 3-43. (a) At a meeting called under Rule 3-42, a member of the County Committee may make a motion to call for a special meeting to consider the removal of one or more officers of the County Committee, who must be specifically identified in the motion. This motion, if seconded, must be taken under consideration immediately by the County Committee.
(b) If the motion is adopted by a majority of those present, the County Committee shall convene at a date, time, and location set under Rule 3-45(b). The County Secretary shall file a written notice of the need for a special meeting with the Secretary of the State Committee no later than seven (7) days after the adoption of this motion.
(c) If the motion fails, the County Committee shall be prohibited from considering removal of the officer in question for at least one hundred and eighty (180) days or until the next reorganization, whichever comes first.
Rule 3-44. If a special meeting is held pursuant to a motion adopted under Rule 3-43, a motion to remove a County Committee officer requires a vote by two-thirds (2/3) of the eligible precinct committeemen and vice-committeemen to be adopted.
Rule 3-45. (a) Except for a special meeting conducted pursuant to a motion adopted under Rule 3-43, the County Chairman shall preside at all meetings of the County Committee.
(b) If a special meeting is conducted pursuant to Rule 3-43, the State Chairman (or the chairman’s designee) shall preside at the meeting of the County Committee. The State Chairman (or the chairman’s designee) shall set the date, time, and location of a subsequent meeting to consider removal of one or more officers in question, and shall provide notice to County Committee members under Rule 3-47 within ten (10) days after the Secretary of the State Committee receives notice under Rule 3-43. The meeting must be conducted within thirty (30) days after notice is provided under this subsection.
(c) Notwithstanding any other rule, an individual may not be appointed or removed as a precinct committeeman or as a vice-committeeman beginning when the motion is adopted under Rule 3-43(a) or when the required percentage of county committee members have signed a written notice under Rule 3-42, and ending at the adjournment of the special meeting.
Vanderburgh County Recent Booking Reports
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Local Legislators To Take Part In Tactical Emergency Training
This past week, State Representatives Wendy McNamara (R-Mount Vernon) and Ron Bacon (R-Chandler) traveled to Texas after being invited to take part in the Basic Tactical Operational Medical Support Course (BTOMSC) put on by the Cypress Creek Tactical Medic Team in Houston. The course is an international, 81 hour, six day total immersion course in tactical operational medical support. The course is open to the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Basic and above and teaches them how to respond in active shooter situations, mass casualty situations, meth lab explosions and more. “I was so impressed by the work that the Cypress Creek Tactical Medic Team does for our country,†said Rep. Bacon. “When an emergency occurs, it is essential that EMTs and paramedics are able to immediately start treating those who have been injured. The faster they are able to do their job, the more lives that can be saved. The Cypress Creek Tactical Medic Team teaches these individuals the important information that they need to safely and immediately begin their work during an emergency.†Reps. McNamara and Bacon were the first Indiana state legislators to take part in the training. They were invited in part because of their work on House Enrolled Act (HEA) 1111 which was authored by Rep. McNamara and co-authored by Rep. Bacon. In 2011 officers from the Evansville Police Department attended the tactical emergency training and began to implement some of the concepts in Evansville. Officers who received this training were able to save lives, that otherwise could have been lost. HEA 1111 was signed into law in 2013, and dealt with tactical emergency medicine. Before this law was enacted, there were no specific citations in Indiana that addressed the use of tactical emergency medicine by police officers. Those officers who were involved in violent confrontations were required to extract the wounded and secure them in areas where EMT’s and paramedics can address the wounds. “SWAT team members were trained in tactical emergency medicine, yet were not within legal right to perform immediate life-saving measures,†said Rep. McNamara. “This law addressed these problems by allowing individuals to save lives in dangerous situations. Trained personnel are not able to immediately respond in case of an emergency. In critical situations, first responder’s shouldn’t be prohibited from acting in a time of need. Attending the BTOMSC training, enabled me to view firsthand the need for HEA 1111 and more importantly, highlight the proactive steps we need to take in Indiana to be prepared to respond to austere encounters.†Reps. Bacon and McNamara were joined by members of Indiana Homeland Security, Officers of the Indiana State Police and Evansville Police Department as well as Texas State Representative Debbie Riddle. “Rep. Bacon and I are extremely thankful for the invitation and opportunity to learn even more about the work these brave men and women do in service to our communities,†said Rep. McNamara. If you would like to learn more about Cypress Creek Tactical Medic Team visit their website at http://www.ccems.com/. Rep. McNamara (R-Mount Vernon) represents portions of Posey and Vanderburgh counties. Rep. Bacon (R-Chandler) represents portions of Warrick, Pike and Spencer counties  
Rep. Bacon and Rep. attend a tactical medical training course with Texas State Rep. Riddle and President of the Board of Directors for Cypress Creek, Ruben Gonzales.