IS IT TRUE the testy meeting of the Evansville City Council on Monday night has now had an overnight to sink in and there is something first and foremost that is now blatantly obvious?…the Winnecke Administration has withheld material information from the City Council and from the people of Evansville for an extended period of time regarding the complications of the financing?…they have not only withheld material information, but they are now engaged in what some would call a “bait and switch” tactic where a $71.3 Million project that included a high rise hotel, a parking garage, and an apartment complex is devolving into a twin version of Riverhouse style hotel buildings and nothing else?…the Winnecke Administration is pursuing this “bait and switch” in a secret negotiation involving the City, HCW, and Old National Bank?…the source for this information is none other than Mayoral Chief of Staff Steve Schaefer from his testimony before the City Council?…it also seems as though they have every intention of moving forward with some watered down non-expandable deal with the authority to commit the full $20 Million that the City Council approved for a subsidy for A $71.3 MILLION PROJECT?

IS IT TRUE the City Council, or at least all of them who are not named McGinn, Mosby or Weaver, were visibly disturbed by the willful misrepresentation by omission that the Mayor has committed and let Mr. Schaefer know it?…the problem with what happened next is however typical of this Council when it comes to rolling over for the Mayor’s desires?…once again this Council showed lots of bark but no bite?…like an aging toothless dog this City Council erred on the side of giving the Mayor what he wants and failed to even bring Councilwoman Stephanie Brinkerhoff-Riley’s motion and Connie Robinson’s second rescind the approval for the $20 Million subsidy to a vote?…they barked allot over the Earthcare Energy LLC debacle but rolled over and ratified what could have been a $5 Million waste of the taxpayer’s dollars?…they barked allot over the Johnson Controls space age water meters that Weinzapfel shoved through during his last hours as Mayor, but rolled over for Winnecke who took up Weinzapfel’s cause?…the barked allot over the failure to VET the principals of HCW, but rolled over when the vote was taken?…they just did the same darn thing?…the only member of the Council who has consistently showed some courage in opposing Mayor Winnecke’s hair brained financial schemes has been Councilwoman Riley?…with no consequence to pay for entering into nonsensical agreements without VETTING other than Mr. Schaefer taking a tongue lashing for his boss, there is no reason to expect anything else during 2015?…the modus operandi for this Council is and has always been BARK, BARK, BARK, and then ROLL OVER?

IS IT TRUE there was no mention of one of the most important players in the hotel game by Mr. Schaefer last night?…that would be the actual construction company that would build whatever amended kluge is brought forward?…one would think that the Ford Center “golden child” Hunt Construction would be part of the negotiation as without a firm quote all the words of Mayors, bankers, and developers are about as worthless as the City Councils barking?

IS IT TRUE a member of the Evansville Redevelopment Commission who took to the lectern last night to plead for moving forward so “we don’t lose the $2 Million we have already spent” seems to have forgotten what the money was spent on?…part of the money was spent on a detail design of a high rise hotel, an apartment building, and a parking garage?…it seems to reason that if the design of the hotel is changes dramatically and the other two structures will not be built at all that the $1 Million or so spent on design is ALREADY WASTED WHETHER THE PROJECT MOVES FORWARD OR NOT?…the other part of the money was supposedly spent on core drilling and analysis on the lot?…that constitutes characterizing the GEOLOGY OF THE LOT prior to construction?…that part of the work will not be changing anytime soon unless a John Kish frightening earthquake happens, so that money has not been wasted even if it takes 20 years to start construction?…this has always been the problem with the ERC?…they have exhibited no knowledge of finance, never heard of VETTING, and this guy seems to think that obsolete plans have value and that the geology of the lot changes with the phases of the moon?…it is our hope that newly appointed ERC Commissioner Cheryl Musgrave will bring a large helping of sanity and competence to an appointed commission that has been devoid of such things for at least 10 years?

IS IT TRUE that the City Council can ratify a new bond issue very quickly if the Mayor ever comes back with a plan that will work?…based on that one fact the only reasonable action considering the shameless way that material information has been withheld and theatrics have driven the process is to rescind the prior approval with the option to amend or reinstate should an achievable proposal ever come from the Mayor and his compadres?…one of those compadres in the form of Councilman Jonathan Weaver is reported to have once again requested a police escort to his car after a Monday’s Council meeting?  …it is laughable that a young man in good physical condition like Councilman Weaver should fear a member of the graying Geritol Mafia for him telling what they think of him?

IS IT TRUE last night the Evansville City Council moved forward with one of the most important of the appointments to a commission that it has ever made?…it did so in a spirit of cooperation and excellence that the City County Observer believes will yield positive dividends for many years to come?…Cheryl Musgrave was appointed to the Evansville Redevelopment Commission by a vote of 7 – 2 with only Council members Mosby and Weaver opposing her appointment?…Musgrave having previously served as the Indiana Commissioner of Local Government Finance, as Vanderburgh County Commissioner, and as the Vanderburgh County Assessor is imminently capable of bringing the keen eye of scrutiny to a commission that has been seen by many as a rubber stamp for Mayoral pet projects under both the Weinzapfel and Winnecke Administrations?…it was the ERC, the most powerful capital spending commission in the City of Evansville that sat expressionless when the term VETTING was introduced to the Evansville vocabulary during the first convention hotel failure?

IS IT TRUE Mayor Winnecke’s Chief of Staff Steve Schaefer stood before a verbal firing squad at last night’s City Council meeting?…City Council Attorney Scott Danks on behalf of the Council asked “How could you not know if the Ford Center naming rights was $4 Million that the Centre was not worth $14 Million.?…when asked what triggered the valuation analysis of the naming rights Mr. Schaefer was mute?…he never answered the point blank question of how much money ONB was going to invest?…Mr. Schaefer should try out for “The Big Show” with that act?…this deal was derailed 15 months after the deal was announced because of negligence and a willful refusal to ask important questions and analyze them?…if this is how business is conducted in Evansville by its own government, there will soon be little business done at all because this has been a 78 month demonstration of abject incompetence?

IS IT TRUE Councilwoman Stephanie Brinkerhoff-Riley piqued much interest in moving to rescind the $20 Million bond issue that was passed 15 months ago under what turned out to be false pretenses?…it seemed like some other council members were inclined to rescind as well but in the name of keeping the peace the motion was withdrawn?…the clear meaning sent by the Council to the Winnecke Administration is that they had better not move forward with a deal that is substantially different than what was presented or there will be consequences?…Schaefer finally admitted that the apartments may be eliminated and the hotel is being downsized to the dual five story Riverhouse 2 scenario that we wrote about previously?…given those ideas the public handout for a new deal may exceed 40% while the original hand out was pegged at 25%?…the City Council may rue the day they did not take this opportunity to put handcuffs on handouts if Mayor Winnecke does a closed door deal to give that $20 Million out for a project that is substantially less valuable?

IS IT TRUE we did learn last night when a member of the ERC took the podium for his 3 minutes of fame, that between the City of Evansville, ERC and HCW, a whopping $2 Million dollars of taxpayers money has already been spent on the empty lot where a hotel should be?…it was even asserted by this gentleman that we gotta keep pushing on so we don’t lose that $2Million?…we assume that fellow never got that elementary school lesson about throwing good money after bad?…this is exactly 10 times what the Winnecke Administration snuck to the Earthcare Energy guys without the city council’s knowledge?…the members of the City Council who placed their trust in Mayor Winnecke not to spend that $20 Million without asking them must have amnesia or a shortage of courage?

IS IT TRUE the other fireworks of the evening came when the City Council voted 6 – 3 to over ride a Mayoral VETO on the home rule resolution passed last year?…Mayor Winnecke VETOED it based on his opinion that it violated the Indiana Constitution but Attorney Scott Danks expressed an opposite opinion?…this is the first time in a long time that a Mayoral VETO has been negated by the Evansville City Council?…the reality of what happened is that the City Council VETOED the Mayor’s VETO…get your popcorn folks because 2015 is going to be a wild and exciting ride in Evansville politics?

IS IT TRUE the crime in Evansville didn’t miss a beat with the ringing in of the New Year?…this time copper thieves were apprehended after breaking into the company known as Tri-State Environmental Products for the purpose of stealing some copper which now sells for roughly $3 per pound?…copper has risen to a level that makes old pennies that once really were made of copper worth 3 cents each just based on the raw material content?…of course it is illegal to sell United States currency for melting so gathering up old pennies to melt for a profit may get one into trouble?…some Moles tell us that this law is not very well enforced though?…with respect to aluminum, another metal that has risen in value to the point that aluminum siding has been replaced with vinyl for cladding houses?…that does not mean that aluminum siding is not also the target of thieves?…there are literally hundreds of houses in the dilapidated areas of Evansville that were once clad with aluminum siding?…the thieves in this case steal the aluminum siding as high as they can reach and then go sell it by the pound just like a diligent recycling person can sell beer and soda cans?…when you see a house that has the bottom half of the aluminum siding gone, you can chalk that up to thieves?

IS IT TRUE that old curmudgeon Morton Marcus hit the nail firmly on the head with his column on the false claims of the Indiana State officials regarding our state’s economy?…it seems as though these folks are touting the economic accomplishments of Indiana as outstanding and taking credit for them while at the same time talking down the nation’s economy?…Marcus rightly called out the nonsensical hypocrisy associated with these statements as the nation as a whole seems to be growing faster than Indiana, and in most well paying industries doing better than Indiana?…it is a basic personality trait of the politician to take credit for all that is good whether they had anything to do with it or not, and assign blame for or completely ignore the bad things?…the problem here is that elected officials these days from the Mayor of Evansville, to the Governor of Indiana, and all the way to that rat’s nest in Washington DC are living for the moment instead of engaging in competent long term planning and conducting periodic analysis to stay on course?

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