IS IT TRUE March 28, 2014
IS IT TRUE Mayor Winnecke’s reaction to the Gallup survey that placed Evansville in a four way tie for 180th out of 189 American metro areas with respect to well being is perplexing?…we wonder if the Mayor clearly understood that the data that produced this low ranking came from a survey of his constituents and not from some New York based travel consultant?…since the sample size of about 750 is statistically significant the results of the polling should be assumed to be an accurate representation about what greater Evansville thinks of itself relative to how the other 188 metro areas think of themselves?…one would think that any Mayor who digested this information would have the presence of mind to know that there is either a massive communication problem or that the results are accurate?…for a guy who ran on the premise of collaboration and inclusion to attack a poll that was taken from his own constituents just makes no sense at all?
IS IT TRUE on the bright side of the results of the well being study it must be realized that the results are subjective and relative to other metros?…a ranking of #180 out of 189 does not mean that Evansville is a rotten place to live, it simply means that the people who live here think less of this area than residents elsewhere think of their homes?…Evansville in our eyes with all of its legacy problems is still an okay place to live?…in most scientific metrics Evansville ranks at or near average in nearly every category?…of course these metrics do not ask questions about Billion dollar sewer problems, pot holes, shoddy houses, and dilapidated sidewalks?…these are the kind of things that make the people who actually live here think less of their hometown and poorly toward the legacy of politicians who fiddled while Evansville melted around them like a month old Halloween pumpkin on the porch of an abandoned house?
IS IT TRUE this Gallup survey is about the RIGHT NOW and not about projects on the perpetual drawing board like the downtown hotel, dog parks, ball fields, or even the IU Medical School?…for a Mayor to read about constituents who are unhealthy and diminish that by saying “we have a once a month free exercise classâ€, is just disconnected from the reality of today?…for that same Mayor to listen to a constituent that has minimal earnings and suggest a trip to the zoo is disconnected from the reality of today?…for a Mayor to hear of a recent college graduate that can’t find a job who is thinking of leaving town and respond with “we will be opening a new hotel downtown in 2 years†is disconnected from the reality of today?…we could go on all day but the reality of today is that Evansville’s Mayor, it’s City Council, and the good old boys who pull their strings need to step outside of the golden echo chambers that they live in and start solving the problems of today instead of pouting about accurate polls and pushing fun and games before everything?
IS IT TRUE the Securities and Exchange Commission has launched investigations into municipalities that may have misled investors about their financial condition?…LeeAnn Gaunt, chief of the municipal securities and public pensions unit at the SEC said Thursday that a review of past disclosures by financially stressed states and local governments has resulted in an unspecified number of investigations?…the unit is looking for instances where there is “tension between the disclosures and the subsequent announcements†of financial stress by municipal bond issuers, she told a National Association of Bond Lawyers conference in Boston Thursday?…this increased scrutiny on proper disclosure by cities that issue bonds to finance projects and operations should get the attention of every city council in the United States that is pondering bond issues to raise money to finance new projects?…accurate pro forma documents of the cash stream that is being pledged to pay off the bonds will become more and more accountable as these cash streams vaporize in the face of real day to day operations?…there are a couple of projects in Evansville that are underperforming substantially when compared to the projections used to get the projects approved and the first place?…some of the people may come to rue the day that they made those projections if the feds come knocking and ask the question “was this fraud or was this simply incompetence?â€â€¦we should be learning the results of the 2012 city audit and the responses from the city to any issued raised by the SBOA any day now because the time to respond has lapsed?
