Maingate Booze Fest: In a gathering of Democrats at the Maingate Bar in downtown Evansville, the integrity of the City Council’s adherence to Sunshine Laws and a one Councilman’s career were compromised last February in a Booze Fest fuelled and paid for by and Indianapolis based contractor. A family feud exploded into name calling, denials, and tattle tale behavior in an evening more fit for Animal House or the Dukes of Hazzard. Such behavior is unbecoming of public officials and should never happen again. If it does the CCO will show less mercy than we did in 2012 and in 2010 when the CVB hosted a similar Booze Fest at Biagi’s.

Earthcare Energy Fiasco: From the job buying announcement to slipping Earthcare $200,000 through a unpublicized loan committee without so much as giving the City Council the courtesy of notice this was one of the sneakiest most inept examples of economic development of the decade. If we comprised a list of the dumbest and most deceptive practices for the entire existence of the City of Evansville the Earthcare Energy fiasco would make the top ten. To this day the people of Evansville are owed $186,000 as a result of this READY, FIRE, AIM idiocy. From the lame vetting, to the sneaking of a loan, up until the hour that Mayor Winnecke cleared his head and found a way to end this travesty, thinking people in Evansville were astonished at the numbskullery of everyone involved in this “attraction” effort. It remains to be seen if or when the people of Evansville will get their $186,000 back.

Mourdock’s Gaffe: In one of those statements that cannot be taken back Evansville’s Richard Mourdock went from a Senator in waiting to a political pariah. It was a sad moment for a good man and for SW Indiana as we have not had a US Senator from here for many years. Mr. Mourdock became the poster child for not allowing early voting with his gaffe that makes Vice President Joe Biden look measured and conservative in his impromptu speeches.

City of Evansville’s Accounting Nightmare: Who would have ever even dreamed that the Weinzapfel Administration would be outed for not balancing the books of the City of Evansville for the entirety of 2011? Not only did the Office of the Controller preside over a software integration that was not proven to work before the other one was decommissioned but it has now tainted the financial reputation of two administrations and is still not completely integrated. No consequences have been administered by any of the people involved at the board level or the employee level. Evansville in 2012 may have lost the title of the most obese city in America but the City Controller’s office would certainly rank beside Stockton and San Bernardino as the “Dumbest City in America”.

EPA Sewer Planning Slip: In 2010 the EPA won a summary judgment against the City of Evansville over the discharge of raw sewage into the Ohio River. This judgment allowed the City 24 months to propose a solution to the problem that could be implemented within 20 years. The city failed to deliver and then hired a firm owned by the person who failed to deliver to make a plan happen in a 6 month extension that has not yet been granted. This is another of those failures that just makes your head spin with disbelief. Is anyone managing anything in the Civic Center?

Johnson Controls Lazarus Appeal: The Weinzapfel Administration stuck many albatrosses around the neck of the Winnecke Administration and this $54 Million unnecessary project is the most expensive albatross that there is. The IURC denied the City’s application to go forward with the financing of this project that any sane administration would have celebrated and let it die. The Winnecke Administration however breathed the breath of life back into this deal and raised from the dead like Lazarus through the appeal process. Sometimes sleeping dogs should be left to lie and this was a perfect opportunity to do so. Instead, political capital and good money has been squandered to do the fiscal equivalency of bringing Jack the Ripper back to life. Things like this make many people wonder if the old puppet master Weinzapfel has his tentacles attached to current Mayor Winnecke.

Roberts Stadium Debacle: What was advertised as a real committee to find a productive use for Roberts Stadium turned out to be nothing more than a kangaroo court packed with enough lackeys to get the stadium condemned by neglect. The demolition of Roberts Stadium is an act of destruction of public property that should be prosecutable. It is an example of a single minded act by an administration that is mind numbingly devoid creativity outside of a few easily implemented ideas as praised in another article. This also is an indictment on the investment community of Evansville for not coming forward with a productive use of a perfectly acceptable facility.

Infatuation with Building Parks: Okay, for the ten dozenth time, how can we build more parks if we can’t maintain the ones that we have? Are we locusts consuming everything in our path or are we human beings with the intelligence to provide good stewardship for existing parks. So far it is looking like locusts. When will the cycle of neglect be broken?

Closing of the FREE DENTAL CLINIC: The free dental clinic that was established to serve the poor and indigent was closed in 2012 for lack of funding. Such clinics save more money than they cost in provided an ounce of prevention to avoid a pound of cure at a later time when dental problems land in the emergency room for the public to pay for. It seems as though Evansville’s penchant for the neglect of maintenance in the parks, Roberts, and Mesker has infected the minds that decide on the dental clinic too. We expect that soon someone will propose building a FREE DENTAL CLINIC for $10 Million and neglecting to appropriate any operational expenses. That would be par for the course.

Mesker Amphitheatre: First we were told that Mesker could not open in 2012 because $100,000 in painting and repairs were needed. A few months later it was revealed that to be “nice” Mesker needs a facelift that will cost over $20 Million. Do our elected leaders have it ingrained in their minds that the people of this community are so stupid that Forrest Gump would be the smartest person on the voting rolls? The Mesker fiasco is not only an indicator of ignorance of condition is it one of oblivious idiocy. How can this happen in a place that actually has a school system?

Financial Results of the Ford Center: The Ford Center is a beautiful facility that has overachieved its highest projections in terms of attracting people to downtown Evansville. It was announced last summer that the Ford Center was profitable to the tune of $300,000 a couple of months before it was announced that it had lost $500,000. Which is it and how can such disparate performance numbers be released? It seems as though the financial projections used to gain some public support to build the Ford Center are not rooted in reality. We are looking forward to the audit of the construction to see if that is as far out of line as the operating results.

Zoeller seeks repayment by former clerk-treasurer to reimburse public treasury

INDIANAPOLIS – Today Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller’s Office filed a lawsuit against a former clerk-treasurer of the Town of Chandler, Ind., who misappropriated public funds by purchasing home electronics, computer equipment and vehicle batteries using the town’s credit card. The Attorney General’s lawsuit seeks recovery of more than $143,000 in public funds, fees and penalties owed to the town government due to former clerk-treasurer Timothy D. Osha’s misappropriation.

The State’s lawsuit, filed today in Warrick County Circuit Court in Boonville, Ind., seeks $143,010.36 as well as treble damages, costs and attorneys fees from Osha, a Chandler resident. Osha resigned from office as town clerk-treasurer in October, and earlier this month Osha also was criminally charged by prosecutors with theft and fraud.

“It is an affront to public trust when an elected official whose duties included managing public funds is accused of misusing those funds. Misappropriation in public offices for personal gain will not be tolerated and we will use the legal means at our disposal to obtain repayment from this defendant so the town treasury can be reimbursed,” Zoeller said.

In an audit report issued December 10, the State Board of Accounts (SBoA) found that between January 2008 until his resignation in October, Osha used the town government’s credit card to purchase various personal electronics, including Gamer Extreme videogame equipment, six remote controls, three TV tuners, various software packages, a motorcycle battery, golf cart battery and ATV batteries, an Apple MacBook and three Apple iPads, headphones, three notebook computers and three laptops. Since Osha’s purchases using town funds were personal and not for town government, the audit found he must reimburse $23,633.51. Additionally, Osha owes the town $310.34 for a carpet cleaner purchased with town funds but not located among the town’s equipment.

Also, the SBoA audit found numerous instances of bookkeeping errors that occurred during the time Osha was clerk-treasurer and in charge of the town’s finances, including failing to file tax withholdings. Late tax payments to the Internal Revenue Service and Indiana Department of Revenue and late unemployment insurance payments to Indiana Department of Workforce Development resulted in late fees, penalties and interest being charged to the town. The State’s lawsuit demands that Osha repay the late fees, penalties and interest, totaling $79,266.69.

When it learned of possible bookkeeping issues with the elected clerk-treasurer, the Chandler Town Council requested a State Board of Accounts audit. The investigation and audit of the incomplete records incurred another $39,799.82 in auditing costs, for which the Attorney General’s Office seeks repayment from Osha.

Today the Attorney General’s Office also filed a motion for a temporary restraining order asking the Warrick County Circuit Court to freeze Osha’s assets – including a house, five vehicles and bank and retirement accounts. Judge David Kelley granted the temporary restraining order and scheduled a hearing January 7, 2013, on the State’s motion for a preliminary injunction. If granted, the injunction would prevent Osha from selling, transferring or concealing the property until the underlying lawsuit is resolved to preserve assets that could be recovered later to reimburse the town for the amounts misappropriated.

In the State’s underlying complaint to recover public funds, Zoeller asks the court to enter a civil judgment against Osha. The Attorney General then could pursue a monetary judgment through collections, and could seek to attach liens on property, garnish wages or take any other actions a creditor could take against a debtor to collect on a debt.

Also named as defendants are two bonding companies, Western Surety Company of Sioux Falls, S.D., and Auto-Owners Insurance Company of Indianapolis, which at different times wrote different surety bonds on Osha for $15,000 or $30,000 of coverage. Such bonds serve as a type of insurance policy against theft by an official. By naming the companies in the lawsuit, the State seeks to redeem the surety bonds to partially reimburse the Town of Chandler for the amount owed. Any portion not covered by bonds would be Osha’s personal responsibility.

Earlier this month, prosecutors criminally charged Osha with theft and fraud, both Class D felonies, and he awaits trial in the criminal charges. Decisions about filing criminal charges in audit cases are solely the jurisdiction of county prosecutors, not the Attorney General. Whether a public official is civilly responsible for repaying misappropriated funds is a separate issue from whether they are criminally responsible for a loss.

Through his role as lawyer for state government, the Attorney General has legal jurisdiction to file civil lawsuits based on State Board of Accounts audits. Through such lawsuits, Attorney General Zoeller’s Office since January 2009 has collected approximately $2.4 million from former officials named in SBoA audits as reimbursement for amounts misappropriated.

NOTE: Attached is the complaint to recover public funds the Attorney General’s Office filed today in Warrick County Circuit Court against Timothy D. Osha.

The State Board of Accounts certified audit report B41501 of the Town of Chandler is at this link: http://www.in.gov/sboa/WebReports/B41501.pdf

When: Tuesday 8 January 2013 6:30 PM

Where: Willard Library – Bayard Room on the Second Floor

What: Monthly Meeting

A drawing for an attendance prize will be awarded at the close of the meeting… you must be present to win.

The Tri-State Genealogical Society will have a brief business meeting followed by our program:

TSGS has announced that the program will feature Greg Hager, he has been employed by Willard Library for 20 years, 19 of those years as the Library Director. 2013 marks Greg’s 30th year of working in libraries. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Rio Grande College and his Master of Library Science from Indiana University. Greg and his wife, Christina, are proud parents of four children ranging in ages 4 – 16. The topic of his program is:

The Willard Library Building Expansion Project

This is a program you don’t want to miss. There are exciting changes and development coming to our library. This promises to be a very informative program.

You do not have to be a member to come and participate at the society’s monthly meetings (except, no meetings in July and August).

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This time of the year, weather conditions may cause the society to cancel meetings… the decision to cancel usually is determined the day of the meeting, providing short notice. Since a bad weather system may develop later in the day (or that night), check our blog (http://tsgsblog.blogspot.com/) for cancellation notice or call Willard Library (812-425-4309).