IS IT TRUE that the Evansville City Council postponed action on the rezoning of a proposed apartment complex on Pollack Avenue Monday last evening because neighbors stated they had no dialogue about the project with the developers?…that 2nd Ward City Councilwoman Missy Mosby asked Council take a step back and not approve this project until the developers meet with neighbors to address there concerns?…we agree with 2nd Ward Councilwoman Missy Mosby asking Council to delay the vote on this project?…this is a good example of a City Council person standing up for the concerns of her constituents?

IS IT TRUE the City of Evansville has recently adopted a social media policy that seems to absolutely trample all over the 1st Amendment right to free speech of their employees both on and off the job?…from the beginning to the end this new policy that we referred to Monday as the Chris Cooke rule is so far over the line as to require public employees to post disclaimers on personal social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, etcetera?…there are plenty of examples of municipality examples of social media policies available online from jurisdictions where social media was invented like Palo Alto, California that is the birthplace of quite a few of the social media outlets covered by Evansville’s primitive attempt to join the modern world?…for those of you who are interested the City of Evansville’s one sided, self serving, first amendment violating social media policy is on the following link?

Social_Media_Policy

IS IT TRUE that the City County Observer has often pointed out the Tom Barnett assertion that the City of Evansville is afflicted with some 10,000 uninhabitable dwellings that would cost well over a Billion dollars to refurbish?…after spending a Billion dollars on this collection of dilapidated homes the collective value would be less than half of the cost to refurbish them?…for this reason these homes will never ever be fixed up by investors who seek to actually make money on their investments?…if there is one thing that former DMD Director Tom Barnett was absolutely correct about it was the abysmal state of the housing stock in much of the City of Evansville?

IS IT TRUE we are doing something with this IIT that we do not often do and that is to pay a great big complement to the Evansville Courier and Press for their diligence in pointing out anecdotal case after case of dilapidated properties?…one of the things that the CCO prides ourselves in is in staying on a subject for a long time so that people have many opportunities to have get it?…we have done this with the continuing saga of the McCurdy, the downtown convention hotel, Roberts Park, the ballfields, the sewer problems, the sidewalks melting, and the potholes that rattle our teeth and mess up our alignment when we are driving?…it is about time that one of the mainstream media members took on a task that has a shelf life of more than 2 minutes?…the Courier and Press has done a diligent job of staying on this problem and for this we salute them?

IS IT TRUE that GOP Chairman Wayne Parke stated in last week Courier and Press article that the local GOP Central Committee contributed an additional $5,000 to Marsha Abell’s campaign after the April 21, 2014 deadline?

IS IT TRUE that Wayne Parke mandated that local GOP Central Committee give $5,000 to Marsha Abell’s campaign on 07/09/13, $5000 was given to Marsha Abell’s campaign on 01/17/14 and additional $5,000 was given to her after April 21, 2014 deadline? …Mr. Parks public statement made to the Courier and Press shows he has authorized the local GOP Central Committee to donate a whooping $15,000 to Marsha Abell’s failed County Commissioner campaign?

IS IT TRUE MR. Parke blamed low voter turnout for the defeat of County Commissioner Marsha Abell? …if GOP Chairman Wayne Parke would had granted Bruce Ungethiem request to give him a list of Republican voters who voted in the last couple of primaries we bet more voters would had showed up to vote?

IS IT TRUE that two of the many votes taken last night by the Evansville City Council were the right votes but taken at the wrong time?…the first right vote wrong time was of course the 9 – 0 unanimous vote to rescind the approval for the $4.8 Million loan to Earthcare Energy LLC?…the right time to have voted against approving so much as a nickel to Earthcare Energy LLC would have been in March of 2012 when the founders of Earthcare were being paraded around Evansville by some local supporters as if they were Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Thomas Edison?…four City Council members, the City County Observer, and a host of other people who have an understanding of technology and enough initiative to do some research figured that one out at the right time?…all that aside the damages from this little foray into the world of investment banking by Mayor Winnecke and his minions have now been limited to the $200,000 they snuck to Earthcare without telling the Council?

IS IT TRUE the other right vote wrong time from last night was the resolution to approve the issuance of bonds to support the IU Medical School?…this was only off by a short time and was really just out of order by what may turn out to be a few weeks?…the release of the 2012 audit should have come first and the interest rate should have been capped at 5% instead of 7% but all in all that probably will make little difference since the bonds will not be sold until after the 2012 audit has been released?

IS IT TRUE with all of the rain that we have been having recently the stark reminder that the Combined Sewer Overflow problem is still going on was obvious in the usual locations and particularly easy to see from the air flying over downtown Evansville?…the CCO is interested to hear the result of the EPA’s consideration of the $545 Million proposal made by the City of Evansville so the people of this town can be fully aware of the size of expenditure that awaits them?…It is closing in on a year without an answer and with a small uptick in construction prices we are sure the low end of this project is now nearly $600 Million and the high end may be approaching a BILLION DOLLARS?…either way the cost to do this necessary repair that has been ignored for 50 years is going to be staggering?

IS IT TRUE we are reminded that the roads. the sidewalks, and the water pipes are also crumbling or obsolete and added together will cost another Billion Dollars to get into minimal working order to be in compliance with what it takes to be a modern city?