IS IT TRUE that there is finally a group of people coming forward to challenge the Winnecke Administration’s assertions that a dog park is a valuable resource that is worthy of public dollars?…it is well established that people do love their pets and verified by numbers that Forty-four percent of Americans own a dog and 29% own a cat?…among pet owners, 73% own a dog and 49% own a cat?…pet ownership among the American public breaks down this way: 27% own a dog but not a cat, 12% own a cat but not a dog, 17% own both, 3% own pets other than cats or dogs, and 40% do not own any pets?…a little known statistic is that there are more people in the United States who have dogs than there are that have underage children?…the preponderance of dogs is not to be confused with people who actually use dog parks in places where they are widely adopted?…some cities like Portland have gone “all-in” on dog parks having a high of nearly 6 dog parks for each 100,000 people?…some have called dog parks the park system for people without children?…we understand the love that people have for dogs but in a town where the public school system is sitting on a dozen failing schools and the usual list of dilapidated infrastructure dominates rainy weather, spending taxpayer money on a dog park is just irresponsible?…if some generous dog owners come forth with the funding to establish and maintain a high quality dog park it would be a good idea to just give them a park and let them do so?
IS IT TRUE that the intention of the City of Evansville to use $1.3 Million of federal funds to demolish some dilapidated houses has some people up in arms as well?…that these federal demolition dollars come with a set of rules that just make one question the thought process of the feds who wrote the grant rules?…the rules are that unless there is an individual, a non-profit, or a company that is willing to take over the stewardship of the lot after demolition then this handout can’t be spent on demolition?…that seems as though the demolition gods in Washington have decided that an empty lot is more of a problem than a ramshackle house where people can make meth, run a prostitution operation, or even set up a drug shop?…the restrictions on these funds are counter-productive?…if there was to be a restriction on the funds it should be that “any city without a blight elimination plan complete with a budget on record, can’t spend a dime?”…of course Evansville has no plan and no budget for such activities and seems to live opportunistically from one federal or state handout to the next?…with rebuilding or refurbishing being a financially unattractive proposition the kind of houses on the chopping block are for the most parts only candidates for adaptive reuse outside of the residential realm?…the Evansville DMD proved that redevelopment of housing is not worth doing with the Front Door Pride program that routinely built houses for $225,000 and sold them (often times to cronies) for $125,000 afterward?…the best case for demolition is to do it in large contiguous blocks for reuse of a different purpose?…whether one agrees with what happened or not, the large scale demolition of the older homes at 41 and Walnut to make way for a retail car lot is the right way to transform an area in a meaningful way?
IS IT TRUE that the highly touted opportunity for private companies to sell stock to the public through crowdfunding has still not launched?…this was part of the Jobs Act of 2012 that was one of the highly visible planks in the Obama re-election campaign?…this was passed 30 months ago and was supposed to go live on January 1, 2013?…it still has not happened as seems to be the case with many federal initiatives that take a little work?…this is not a problem that Congress made as they passed this bill?…this is just another of those real work situations that our federal government can’t seem to actually do anymore?…every day that crowdfunding is not approved by the SEC in another day of failure on the part of government to execute?