IS IT TRUE April 26, 2013

IT IS TRUE home invasion burglars are not having a very prosperous year here in Vanderburgh County, Indiana?…this week two more wannabe thieves were held at gunpoint by a homeowner while waiting for the police to come and haul them to jail?…while raising the danger level the Tri-State should embrace it’s growing image as a place where homeowners are independent enough to own a gun and courageous enough to protect their homes with those guns?…if more thugs and crack heads who think it is just fine to break into people’s homes were shot or held at gunpoint by homeowners waiting for a ride to jail incidences of home invasion burglary would most likely fall?…the opposite has been proven to happen by the dimwitted City of Chicago that saw violent crime rise by double digits last year after banning guns?…while Chicago may be earning a reputation as the “Murder Capital of America”, Evansville is becoming the “Homeowner Protection Capital”?…for these reasons the CCO commends the local residents who stand up for their families by facing down these thugs and furthermore thanks and celebrates the rapid response of local law enforcement to situations where they assume control of the situation after the homeowners have done their jobs to protect their homes?

IS IT TRUE that there is also good news on the economic front nationwide in the form of consumer spending increasing during the first quarter of 2013?…it seems as though the official annualized growth rate of consumer spending was 2.5% for the first quarter?…many Americans will be confused by this number because it is annualized?…what this really means is that consumer spending really increased by 0.625% (one-fourth of 2.5%) during Q1 and not the full 2.5%?…this is a welcome surprise that was probably driven by unrequested increases in credit card limits?…after 4 years of seeing credit limits cut for no good reason that stifled consumer spending there are now widespread reports of people opening their bills to discover a credit limit increase?…businesses are also seeing orders increase and are beginning to hire people?…raises of 3% and above are also making their way back into the annual review cycle for prosperous businesses that have survived the Great Recession?…a visible contradiction to such good things during the past week has been Fiskar Motors that is yet another case of a stimulus backed company closing their doors?…the subtitles of many articles about this increase in spending are “despite government spending drop consumer spending rises”?

IS IT TRUE there may just be a lesson to be learned from an economy that finally seems to be getting up off of its butt since government spending has slowed?…all government spending happens as a result of either taxing earnings and activities, borrowing against future taxes, or printing money?…none of these things except in rare cases actually stimulates economic activity broadly?…when the government takes $700 from a taxpayer and spends it on a hammer only a handful of government workers who process the paperwork and the guy that sold the hammer benefit?…then a taxpayer spends $700 at a variety of places many people in the private economy benefit and that $700 multiplies?…maybe the right approach to the Great Recession would have been to contract government spending back in 2008 when the $%^# hit the fan?…we hope that the people and the leaders of this country learn from this new prosperity and that it continues?

IS IT TRUE that in 2012 California Governor Jerry Brown eliminated all Redevelopment Commissions in the state?…that sounds like a strange and unexpected action for a Governor who has a life history of progressive politics?…even Jerry Brown came to the realization that local government through Redevelopment Commissions were bankrupting the state and themselves by using the RDA as a slush fund for building temples to sport, dog parks, and even bocce ball courts with borrowed money?…those days are over for now in California?…local leaders howled like smashed cats and one even threw up at the news but a year later things are dramatically better making this look like the right thing to have done?…California often leads the nation in new things and the abolishment of Redevelopment Commissions may just turn out to be the work of genius?…we wonder if Evansville is watching and learning from this?

IS IT TRUE April 25, 2013

IT IS TRUE the Evansville City Council received an apology last night from City Controller Russ Lloyd Jr. for not providing them with notification that any appropriation from a Rainy Day Fund 0245 for $155,000.00 for extractors and dryers for the Evansville Fire Department has to be advertised like any property tax fund?…that means 10 days prior to 2nd, 3rd and final reading the intention to spend this money has to be advertised publicly?… the earliest the ad can be placed is Friday so the first time to really consider spending this money will be Monday, May 6, when there is no City Council meeting?…Controller Lloyd committed to place it as an amendment to Finance Ordinance F-2013-4 for 2nd and 3rd reading for the Council meeting Monday, May 13?…it cannot be considered at a Special Meeting April 29 or May 1 or May 2 because it was not properly advertised?

IS IT TRUE the City County Observer would like to congratulate the board of directors of the Evansville Convention and Visitors Bureau for their decision to move forward with replacing the lighting in the Pagoda with LED lighting?…these bulbs will not only save enough money in a single year to pay for themselves but will last over 20,000 on hours?…this investment over the life of the bulbs will save the CVB on the order of $25,000 off of their Vectren bill over their useful life?…much to the surprise of many people it was Vectren that made the suggestion to the CVB to make the investment in LED lighting with a free energy audit?…LED lighting as was profiled by a recent article in the CCO and other publications by Joe Wallace has come down in price and up in reliability that there is really no excuse for anyone to purchase even one more incandescent bulb?…in some high cost areas with tiered electricity pricing LED bulbs can pay for themselves in a matter of a few months?…that similar technological advances have increased the efficiency of PV Solar as the price has plummeted until PV rooftops are a money saving home improvement as well?…for DIY types with the skills to tackle a solar project the cost per kW*Hour can be as low as 3.5 cents over 25 years?…even hiring the installation done typically results in a rate of only 7 or 8 cents per kW*hour?…that is still half the cost of the local electric rate?…of course a solar installation is expensive and lending is still tight but if the banks ever start to act like banks again and lend money against a cash producing asset PV solar has finally reached a point on the cost curve that makes it a good investment?…there will be a series of articles on this subject in the CCO and other publications on this subject?

IS IT TRUE that Mole #16 tells us that there is a disagreement between City Controller Russ Lloyd Jr. and City Council Consultant David Garrett about whether or not the City’s books are now reconciled?…Controller Lloyd asserts that they are while Garrett does not agree?…it will be interesting to see which side of this disagreement the Indiana State Board of Accountancy comes down on as the City of Evansville prepares to go into the audit season for the third year in a row where reconciliation is in a less than exemplary state?…in all fairness Controller Lloyd and the Winnecke Administration inherited a financial situation that makes chaos look great from the Weinzapfel Administration?…a hole that took 8 years to dig may take more than a year and a half to fill in?…we are satisfied that at this point the Winnecke Administration has had the good sense to stop digging the hole deeper?…the real dilemma is what to do with the people who dug the hole in the first place?

IS IT TRUE the audit of the construction of the Ford Center is expected to be made public in the next couple of weeks?…several CCO Moles are telling us that there will be several embarrassing and costly instances of mismanagement exposed for all to see?…such audits of large public works projects often reveal overpayments to contractors that have not been refunded?…underpayments seldom show up since the contractor community has a good handle on their billing?…a final tally of the number of dollars that were paid for work on the Ford Center that ended up finding their way into the coffers of Evansville politicians in the form of campaign contributions would make an interesting read?…the practice of paying contractors and service providers that turn around and make contributions to the politicians that hired them is perhaps the most dishonorable way of legally laundering taxpayer dollars into the campaign coffers of politicians that has ever been devised?…this practice needs to be exposed and stopped at all levels of government?

IS IT TRUE that any and all public officials who vocally support or vote in favor of a hotel subsidy before the Ford Center audit is public and all problems are corrected does not have the self discipline to serve the people of this community well?