IS IT TRUE May 30, 2013

IS IT TRUE, that the CP reported the City of Evansville will be proposing a subsidy for the Convention Hotel, Parking Garage, storage/retail building, street infrastructure, walkway connectors, and rehab of the Centre to be $37,500,000?..the taxpayers of Evansville will. be paying interest on the debt during the construction period, plus the cost of underwriting the debt, plus legal fees all of which become capitalized when the real loan is secured by selling bonds after the construction has ended?…if all scales as other such projects the true cost commitment of the project will be $44,000,000 as opposed to the headline grabbing $37,500,000 that has everyone riled up?

IS IT TRUE that the City of Evansville’s current debt level is approximately $360,000,000 when both the City and the Water & Sewer Utility are considered?…that within the last month, the Winnecke Administration has brought in front of the City Council $637,000,000 of proposed additional debt including the $545 Million 75% solution to the sewer problem that will most likely be much higher when the EPA gets through with Evansville?…it has taken Evansville over 200 years to amass its current debt level, and within less than 30 days the Winnecke Administration is proposing to increase it by 78% to nearly one billion dollars?… when this all plays out every citizen of Evansville will be over $8,500 in debt for city bonds?…unlike the Federal Government, the City doesn’t have the means to print money to get out of this problem?…it can only tax the people that live here and those who own property?

IS IT TRUE the reason the anticipated sewer debt is now high enough to dwarf the debt it took 200 years to amass is because mayor after mayor for the last half century have been cowards when it comes to investing in basic infrastructure?…as much as the Winnecke Administration is where this rotten buck has stopped this really is a legacy problem created by a culture of neglect and tossing fluff to the masses so they forget about what local governments responsibilities really are?…if this had been fixed back in the early 70’s when it was fully discovered and understood the cost to repair it would have been less than $100 Million as opposed to the estimates that are approaching $1 Billion?…what may need to be done to solve this problem is to get the old silk screen machine fired up and make some pretty T-Shirts with a misleading slogan like “We Love the Smell of the South Side” so the problem will vaporize from the minds of the populace?…that clever T-Shirts is always the first solution to any problem that needs solving?

IS IT TRUE that Evansville or “Stoplight City” as the truckers call us may really be more accurately depicted as “T-Shirt City”?…the latest T-Shirt to hit the streets is the “We are Evansville” T-Shirts that a class at USI came up with when Evansville was characterized as the 8th most miserable city in America?…civic pride is a great thing and these students are to be commended for their sprit and willingness to try something?…we hope the number of volunteers grows to 117,000 from its current level of about 1% of that?…the annual Evening on the River tomorrow night where lots of fun and games activities like music, horsey rides, food, & booze are available for a fee of $50 will be graced with perhaps a thousand of these T-Shirts?…there will even be another army of T-Shirted litter pickers headed to Sunset Park, Kid’s Kingdom, the Historic District, and Goosetown for the dozenth time to pick up the filth accumulated from the slovenly way that the people who litter these areas live?…it actually feels good to get out an pick up litter but if the pig class outnumbers the litter pickers by 100 to 1 it can get as frustrating as training a toddler to use the potty?…at least with the toddler we who have raised them know our efforts will eventually pay off?…T-Shirts did not get the consolidation vote to pass and T-Shirts will not solve the problem of Evansville’s place in the American pecking order?…paying attention to infrastructure and doing things that a city is supposed to do instead of distracting the citizenry with fun and games may change Evansville over the next 20 years but there is no quick fix to a legacy of neglect?…the City County Observer hopes this Core of USI students represent the low water mark for Evansville and stay engaged in the civic process throughout their lives?…there are nearly enough of them to change the makeup of the Evansville City Council in 2 years when those seats are up for grabs again?

IS IT TRUE that it has been over a month since the Evansville City Council approved the purchase of Extractors to clean fire fighters equipment after they fight fires? …that the Evansville Fire Chief promised to have his fire fighters equipment clean by an outside contractor until the Extractors (washers and dryers) are installed if City Council would approve his budget requests? ….that the City Council approved around $35,000 to outsource the cleaning of fire fighters gear until cleaning equipment is installed? …that we have received many e-mails from Evansville Fire Fighters that as of this date not one piece of fire fighter gear have been by cleaned or repaired by any outside vendor as promised by Fire Chief and his EFD Health and Safety Committee? …we wonder what City Council members Dr. Dan Adams and Dan McGinn think about this situation?

IS IT TRUE that a very dangerous word was used in the CP editorial written by its former sports editor on Sunday?…that dangerous and disturbing word was “DESERVE”?…the context of the use of the word DESERVE was with respect to the City of Evansville’s ENTITLEMENT to have a classy hotel downtown right next to the Ford Center?…after mulling this over for a few days we really can’t grasp the sort of thought process that would ever think any city would DESERVE or be ENTITLED to anything at all that is on the list of things to be built predominately for the use of tourists?…we do admit that the City County Observer is not a publication that embraces terms like DESERVE or ENTITLEMENT on any level and especially not on fun and games?…for anyone to say that the City of Evansville DESERVES a classy hotel makes about as much sense as saying that a teenager DESERVES a new car for their 16th birthday?…good things in this life are earned and the City of Evansville has not earned the hotel complex that some City leaders are lusting after?…every last dime that the City of Evansville has to spend is a dime EARNED by some human being who lives here, works here, or owns property here?…the only fair way to make a decision on a hotel is to seek the permission of the people who have EARNED the money that has been taken or will be taken through taxation to pay for it?…what the people of Evansville DESERVE is a voice in how their earnings are spent?

IS IT TRUE former Mayor Weinzapfel started this whole use of the law to avoid the will of the people for fun and games projects like the Ford Center?…Mayor Winnecke being a loyal servant of the king has continued to pursue things that are not needed, deserved, or even necessary to run a functional city?…most citizens agree that this city needs to serve the people with police and fire protection, road maintenance, planning and zoning, code enforcement of some level, and of course SEWERS THAT WORK?…to pursue temples to sport, dog parks, skateboard ramps, and other non essential items that benefit only a few people when the roads are a mess, the sidewalks are impassible, and the SEWERS are under and EPA mandate is ignorant and irresponsible?…this collection of neglect of course cannot be laid at the feet of Mayor Winnecke as this reflects a policy of neglect over a half century?…what has really amped up under the last two administrations has been the zealous pursuit of giant public works projects that do not meet the NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE but very much reflects the WANTS of the last two Mayors and the oligarchy that supported their campaigns?

IS IT TRUE there are some that are beginning to push for the County to contribute to the hotel project based on the fact that the Centre is owned by the County?…in reality it is the City of Evansville that should be writing a check to the County for the losses incurred for the premature demolition of the Executive Inn and the failure to attract a new developer?…the County in a civil case would be justified in asking for relief of all of the revenue losses by the Centre for at least a 6 year period?…some say that number is as high as $8 Million per year while others say it is only a half million per year?…at any rate if there is money to change hands it should be a check from the City to the County for damages due to blatant mismanagement?

IS IT TRUE Mole #3 tells us that there is talk behind close doors that Evansville Convention and Visitors Bureau may be a tenant in the proposed new hotel complex? …if this is really true (and Mole #3 is seldom wrong) we wonder what will become of the Pagoda that was rescued from the scrap heap to house the CVB?…abandoning the Pagoda after spending millions of dollars of Innkeepers Tax money just a few years ago would be yet another case of local government surrogates behaving like locusts?…it is the same story of Roberts Stadium, countless parks, and ball fields played out once more?…we guess they will tear it down or let it rot to the ground? …we hope this is information is just a bad rumor and not fact? …we hope that the ECVB Director, Bob Warren would come forward and make a public statement that this is only a rumor and not true?