IS IT TRUE January 14, 2014

IS IT TRUE the City County Observer received an anonymous email yesterday that had some attachments with it detailing a proposal by GAGE to change the scoring form for tax abatements that are oftentimes offered to companies that are expanding or being attracted to the region?…after looking these proposed scoring sheets over it is clear that these proposed new scoring sheets simplify the process and remove some of the subjective areas that politicians of Christmas past have used to give more points to their cronies and favorites?…the CCO would like to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate Debbie Dewey and the GAGE staff for getting simplification and objectivity to the threshold of acceptance with both the City of Evansville and Vanderburgh County?…this is something that was recommended years ago but was resisted by the powers that be at that time?…this is a very positive step toward codification of an objective fair process into the tax abatement process that has been abused much too long?…we encourage both the city and county governments to adopt the recommendations of Ms. Dewey as the law of local lands when it comes to scoring tax abatement applications?

IS IT TRUE Evansville has once again been the subject of a national publication and this time it is the Wall Street Journal that came to town to profile one of the attributes of the City of Evansville?…this time the Facebook site “scooter people of Evansville” is probably to blame for the unflattering article?…this follows the previous national exposure of being the fattest city in America, the most miserable city in America, Jon Stewart’s crap in the street capital of America, or even the jilted boyfriend down the chimney getting stuck capital of America?…this time the lampooning is over the number of scooters in Evansville and the distinction of these so called “liquor bikes” because one of the reasons people ride scooters is too many DUIs?…the Wall Street Journal opined on Evansville’s scooter riders as “There are riders wearing pajama bottoms in broad daylight, with their thong underwear protruding from the tops of their jeans, toting cases of Bud Light Platinum and occasionally passed out next to their bikes in a parking lot?”…even Mayor Winnecke was quoted in the WSJ for his opinion on the explosion of scooters in River City?…there were even references to pictures of locals dragging lawn mowers and deer carcasses behind these vehicles?…we and others are hoping the city wasn’t depending upon this article to lure Fortune 500 companies to Evansville?…the only positive is that our best locally owned coffee shop, Penny Lane Coffee got themselves into the picture with one of the more well known scooter riders out front?

IS IT TRUE it seems as though City Councilman and potential mayoral candidate John Friend and his future opponent Mayor Lloyd Winnecke have found something they agree on?…that is their joint opposition to Governor Pence’s proposal to eliminate the personal property tax on corporations?…the basis for this agreement of these antagonists lies in the fact that it will remove $7.3 Million per year from the General Fund?…it also eliminates the ability of the City Council, Mayor, and County Commissioners to selectively decide who gets tax amnesty through the tax abatement process?…they must not like losing that bit of power?…one would think that both of them would realize that eliminating taxes on production equipment carte blanch may just be a competitive edge for Indiana in the business attraction game?…there have been (and still are) many businesses in Evansville that enjoy an exemption from property taxes via the formerly biased tax abatement process?…among the companies that have benefitted from this exclusive and often capricious offer are both Old National Bank and Vectren?…perhaps Governor Pence has this one right and the local opposition is misdirected?

IS IT TRUE that there is a move afoot to use public dollars to repair and refurbish the mansard roofed French architectural treasure known as the Owens Block Building?…only five years ago then Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel and DMD Director Tom Barnett were boasting about a Henderson based investor that was going to turn this building into high cost townhouses with subterranean garages?…we guess that along with the McCurdy and the downtown hotel all went to hell in a hand basket after much publicity and brouhaha?…we wish the City of Evansville well in this endeavor?…we do realize that the cost to make this happen may be so far above market value that it is not feasible?…if this is not feasible when compared to a demolition and rebuild project we hope the powers that be will have the good sense to abandon this quixotic task and opt to demolish it instead?…the old girl is pretty but she may not be worth it?…it is too early to make that determination right now?

IS IT TRUE that after two years of wailing and gnashing of teeth Mayor Winnecke has finally gotten to spend some money in a city park?…it seems as though there was enough money left over in the budget of the Parks Department at the end of 2013 to provide the Mayor with sufficient funds to build three jungle gyms in select city parks?…the photo op for the new jungle gym in Lorraine Park that had its swimming pool closed a few years ago over lack of maintenance was so irresistible to City Councilwoman Missy Mosby that she made her own little youtube video to commemorate the new jungle gym?…having state of the art equipment for children is a part of running a functional and attractive parks program?…for that we congratulate the Parks Department for not using their budget and for making this new equipment possible?…we do wonder just what was neglected to find this money because it has only been a few months since the Parks Department was complaining about having insufficient funds to maintain the existing parks?…Evansville’s population has fallen since the parks were established?…if the park acreage were reset to the levels that reflect the population losses, about 400 acres of parks need to be repurposed?…we hope that the Parks Department finds a way to properly maintain these new jungle gyms and the parks where they have been installed? …we hear that corporate citizen Vectren donated a sizable amount money towards the purchase of the jungle gym equipment at Lorraine park?  …we wonder if  Vectren also donated money towards the play ground equipment purchased for the two 6th Ward parks?

IS IT TRUE the water mains of Evansville continue to break at an alarming rate causing road closures, boil advisories, and requests to use as little water as possible?…the water pipes of Evansville are the non-EPA-mandated elephant in the room?…everyone knows about the EPA mandate for the City of Evansville to spend over $540 Million to make repairs to stop dumping raw sewage into the Ohio River every time it rains more than an inch an hour?…what people are not as aware of is that the main water lines in Evansville are older and in worse shape than the sewers?…the fiasco of the last week with the mains breaking is rooted in another multi-generational legacy of neglect?…many of the water pipes in the ground that deliver water to the customers of the Evansville Sewer and Water Department are over 60 years old and are made of cast iron?…cast iron is not very resistant to shear forces or impacts and tend to fail often in adverse weather?…when they do break chaos comes with it because of the locations being under roads?…water main breaks are the perfect storm of neglected infrastructure destroying roads with cave ins and disrupting service to a population that just this month was hit with a 38% price increase?

IS IT TRUE that fixing all of the decrepit water mains has been estimated to cost more than $500 Million just like the sewers?…with the sewer repairs expected to raise water bills in Evansville into the $300+ per month range and the water main repairs that are needed yet not mandated forcing that number perhaps to double that, Evansville is headed to a very uncertain future?…maybe it is time to consider a managed abandonment of some of these old lines and declare certain parts of the town to be wilderness?…we should all rest easy though because Mayor Weinzapfel’s Johnson Controls deal will make sure we have a shiny new meter to measure the water that makes it through these dilapidated pipes?…doing the meters first makes about as much sense as buying a new state of the art speedometer for a car that won’t start and has a cracked engine block?

IS IT TRUE that last week’s jobs report was disappointing not only in the anemic hiring numbers but with the growing number of able bodied workers who have just dropped out?…the United States now has a labor participation rate of only 62.8% and 91.2 Million people who are of working age who are not working?…some of course are by choice but others have used their benefits up and have statistically ceased to exist as far as the nonsensical 6.7% “official” unemployment rate suggests?…there are only 155 Million people in this country on a payroll?…that is only half of the population and 62.8% of the potential workforce?…for our government to concoct a calculation that equates that to 6.7% and to publish it with a straight face while demanding an extension of unemployment benefits is psychotic?…if the unemployment rate were really 6.7% and falling by 0.3% per month there would be no reason to extend unemployment benefits?…perhaps the most appropriate compromise to assure the real unemployed group of near 20% can continue to function would be for the congress to first proclaim that the official unemployment rate is absolute rubbish?