IS IT TRUE August 3, 2013

IS IT TRUE that there is a most wonderful establishment on the island of Maui called Java Jazz?…Java Jazz is owned by a gentleman (loosely speaking) named Farzad who has been a friend of this writer for over 10 years?…that of all the things in this world that Farzad who is an entrepreneur, an artist, and a politically incorrect philosopher loves, his most treasured thing is the United States of America?…Farzad is of course a citizen who came to America from Persia but his love of this country exceeds that of most native born citizens?…Farzad is so passionate about American service people that every month he uses some of the profits from his business to bring people who have earned a purple heart in battle to Maui for rest and relaxation?…Farzad is starting a radio show soon from Java Jazz and there is a very high probability that someone from the CCO will be a guest on a regular basis?…when it comes to politics, Farzad agrees with the CCO that both major parties could use some serious improvement and that Libertarian principles may just be the salvation of either the Democrats or Republicans who have strayed so far from Jeffersonian realism that they have a long journey back to be sustainable?

IS IT TRUE that of the 953,000 jobs created in the United States during the first 7 months of 2013 that 731,000 of them were part time jobs and only 222,000 are full time jobs?…our government counts them anyway toward determining the unemployment rate?…all one has to do to be regarded as employed by the federal government for the latest weeks data is work one hour as a babysitter or a manual laborer for a paltry amount of money?…all of the part time jobs created this year (77% of all jobs) count toward employment whether these people work 1 hour or 29 hours per week?…a full time job for government calculation purposes constitutes working 30 hours or more per week?…this migration to a part time job society is a direct result of the half witted law formally known as the Affordable Care Act but informally referred to as ObamaCare?…this is just one more reason to force congress to hold a bill for 3 months before passing it and requiring each member to sign an affidavit stating that they have read every bill at least a week before being allowed to vote on it?

IS IT TRUE that New York Congressman Charles (Charlie) Rangle who was caught up getting free and reduced accommodations a couple of years ago was quoted by the Daily Beast in an interview last week as saying that “the Tea Party is the same group of White Crackers who fought against civil rights”?…while the City County Observer supports civil rights and admires the team of people who fought, bled, and died for civil rights, we really wish that the use of terms like “white crackers” would be met with the same level of disgust as other racially insensitive words?…in this arena there is no such thing as equal protection in the court of public judgment and media frenzy?…all racial slurs are bad and some are meant to demean?…the way that Congressman Rangle used the term “white crackers” was not only meant to demean people of the present for the sins of people of the past, but it was used in a media forum that does nothing but inflame hatred and promote distrust?…unless Congressman Rangle was referring to saltines or soda crackers as opposed to using that term as a racial slur then he should be tossed into the same media meat grinder that Paula Deen was?…it would be justice for Congressman Rangle and Paula Deen to be sentenced to eat a few meals together to think about the words they have chosen to use?…they may just learn to like each other?

IS IT TRUE that the City County Observer has just learned that Mayor Winnecke’s Chief of Staff, Steve Schaefer has acknowledged that it was MRC that marked 16 slides from the McGladrey report with the stamp of “draft” and used these 16 pages in their 114 page rebuttal manifesto?…the exact words used by Mr. Schaefer to communicate this information are as follows:

“the 16 pages that you attached are the response from MRC to the draft McGladrey report. MRC took the McGladrey draft and used pages out of it in their response. The words “draft” were added by MRC in their response.

Steve”

IS IT TRUE that the CCO agrees with Mr. Schaefer that this does indeed make sense?…it makes sense also that the McGladrey report of April 8th that was never marked as a draft by McGladrey was indeed the “IT Assessment and Executive Report” that is was billed as and was not a simple “draft” as many have asserted?…the peeling of the onion continues and someday we shall get to the bottom of this muddled confusion?

IS IT TRUE August 2, 2013

IS IT TRUE that a timeline of events that can be used to figure out the order of actions with respect to the series of “drafts”, revisions, and final versions of the McGladrey Study of the IT status of the City of Evansville and Vanderburgh County?…just as Mayor Winnecke and others have asserted there was indeed a “draft” version of the report issued by McGladrey and the date on that “draft” is MARCH 20, 2013?…that “draft” was provided to MRC (Evansville’s IT contractor) who proceeded to write a 114 page manifesto to rebut some of the “keeping the lights on” comments in the MARCH 20, 2013 “draft”?…despite this McGladrey billed the City of Evansville just over $112,000 on MARCH 24th for “IT Assessment and Executive Overview”, the Controller’s Office stamped the bill received on APRIL 1, 2013 and paid the bill in early MAY 2013?…McGladrey issued the “IT Assessment and Executive Overview” to the Mayor’s office on APRIL 8, 2013 and did not mark the report as either “draft” or “preliminary” anywhere on it?…that should have been the end of the story and the City Council should have been issued a copy of the APRIL 8th report at that time?…life is just not so easy when politics is involved?

IS IT TRUE on that very same APRIL 8, 2013 day that the first McGladrey report was issued, the City of Evansville issued another Purchase Order #2880-00 for over $50,000 to McGladrey to do a “Technology Assessment”?…we and many of our readers wonder just what the 2nd Purchase Order was for?…it seems very much like the second Purchase Order would have been used to bill for time and expenses to review the 114 page manifesto from MRC and integrate it into a SECOND FINAL REPORT that was eventually supplied to the City Council and the public in late JULY 2013?…the CCO has not at this point been able to get the billing records or invoices from McGladrey with respect to PO #2880-00 but we are trying?…the McGladrey billing records for time and expenses after April 8, 2013 will provide information as to just how the scathing report of April 8th became the less scathing report of July 23rd?…it appears that the Office of the Mayor believes that neither the Evansville City Council nor the people of this town can handle the un-sugar coated truth about how OUR IT DEPARTMENT appears to a respected outside evaluation team?

IS IT TRUE that given that one of the reasons that Sherman Greer was fired by Mayor Winnecke was for buying $2,000 worth of radio equipment without soliciting competitive bids it is fair to ask the question “may we see the solicitation and the competitive bidding records for when the IT consulting contract was signed by the City of Evansville”?…our civic center moles tell us this happened in the last days of the Weinzapfel Administration and that former Mayor Weinzapfel along with current Mayor Winnecke (who was then a Vanderburgh County Commissioner) got together to sign the 5 year contract?…what our moles and the CCO are not aware of is whether or not this nearly $1 Million deal was part of a competitive bidding solicitation or if it was just signed off by the two high ranking elected officials without a bidding process?…this issue can be easily resolved if the Winnecke Administration will release the bidding record and the solicitation that resulted in this contract being signed?…if this contract of close to $1 Million was entered into without a competitive bidding process and then Mr. Greer was fired for not sending a $2,000 radio out for bids this will constitute the height of hypocrisy and the intent behind such a deal needs to be investigated?

IS IT TRUE the events of July that may be seen as totally negative to some offer a glimmer of hope that the City of Evansville may in spite of its tradition of letting some things slide while coming down like a ton of bricks on some unsuspecting scapegoat may be tending toward honesty and accountability?…July started out with the firing of Sherman Greer and the hiring of his #1 sidekick who was then summarily fired by Mayor Winnecke after only a few days on the job?…the things that led to the firing of these two long term and competent employees was jumping the gun and spending this year’s money on a truck that was to have been budgeted for next year and buying a radio for that truck without soliciting bids?…in view of the budget of the City of Evansville the number of dollars involved were miniscule but the offense did merit a consequence none the less?…if the actions of the City with respect to Mr. Greer and the exposure of this administration for obstructing the City Council from doing their job are not enough to force Evansville to straighten up and stop the good old boy nonsense, then nothing ever will?…the solution to the problems of multiple sets of rules for multiple people and a “let it slide” mentality for some but a “chained to the whipping post” mentality toward others can only be solved by mass voter demand for equality, fairness, and sanity in local government?…it would be most amusing to hear an 8 year old try to lie their way out of the messes made by the Mayors of Evansville during the last 10 years?