IS IT TRUE? September 14, 2011 Extra Morning Edition

IS IT TRUE that it seems as though the vote to move the consolidation proposal came down to a party line vote at last night’s Vanderburgh County Commissioner’s meeting with the two Republicans in favor an Democratic Commissioner Stephen Melcher casting the lone NO vote?…that Commissioner Melcher has consistently expressed the opinion that a threshold rejection option is the only fair way to proceed with a vote on consolidation and even made a motion to amend the proposal to include one?…that neither Commissioner Winnecke nor Commissioner Abell seconded his motion so it did not go forward?…that now the issue of referendum or no referendum is in the hands of the Evansville City Council?

IS IT TRUE that maybe next year the City of Evansville can try to consolidate with the City of Newburgh in an election with no threshold rejection provisions?…that with the tax base and wealth that Newburgh has the City of Evansville could just take that over at the ballot box with its overwhelming population advantage and start sending Evansville’s bills to Newburgh to be paid?…that if this consolidation committee would have identified and clearly communicated what the significant savings from consolidation will be AND held a vote with threshold rejection that we believe that consolidation would have passed?…that they did neither and may have just set back a real and profitable consolidation effort by 10 years?…that only the City Council can send the message that doing nothing and annexation by the ballot is not acceptable?

IS IT TRUE that the City County Observer is pleased to see the focus that is coming together to advocate for making pseudoephedrine a prescription medicine at the state level and if not to force the state to let local government make this decision?…that both Evansville Fire Chief Keith Jarboe and Police Chief Brad Hill whose people are on the front lines of the collateral danger from the meth scourge that keeps accelerating in Vanderburgh County agree?…that Oregon and Mississippi have enacted prescription only laws and have seen meth lab seizures fall by about 70%?…that disrupting the supply lines is a very basic yet effective military move that has been practice for thousands of years?…that it has been proven to work in two states?…that Evansville and the State of Indiana need to get their act together in the effort to disrupt the cooking of meth?…that State Representative Gail Riecken is poised to carry the torch at the state level?

IS IT TRUE that our military has detonation bags for grenades that contain the blast to protect people in the proximity?…that the CCO was approached last week with the idea of applying this detonation bag technology to develop a bag to contain the toxic chemicals and potential blast from a one-pot meth lab?…that such a tool would be invaluable to law enforcement professionals all across the country?…that this technology may just be available for licensing through the PIA that GAGE has with Crane Navsea?…that this is commercial product with an immediate demand?…that this could be a great opportunity for an Evansville business to capitalize on the Tech Transfer program in a nationally relevant yet profitable way?…that as we have often stated, if the BRAINS, AMBITION, and MONEY are committed to this kind of a project, local jobs and local wealth will be created by doing a good thing?

IS IT TRUE that we would love to share the name of the person who had this idea but do not yet have permission to do so?…that many people would be surprised?…that a feasibility study and a patent search has been initiated with the appropriate tech transfer officer?…that the person who had this idea is very skilled at connecting existing technologies to immediate needs?…that the seemingly obvious answer is not always the right answer?

IS IT TRUE that if the results of the special election in the 9th Congressional district of New York are any indicator of national trends then we are in for a wild ride in the upcoming election?…that this particular seat is of interest since it is the seat that was held by firebrand and Facebook famous Anthony Wiener?…that this district is one of the more solid Democratic congressional districts in the United States with a 3 to 1 advantage to the Democrats?…that no Republican has represented this district for nearly 100 years UNTIL YESTERDAY?…that Republican Bob Turner defeated Democrat David Weprin in what is being described as the biggest rejection of party ideology and performance since Republican Scott Brown was elected to Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat?…that we wonder if Evansville will follow much of the rest of the United States to become a nation where at least for one election thinking and character means more than party?

IS IT TRUE that the 3rd Ward and 6th Wards of Evansville are contested races that have traditionally been in the bag for Democrats as the City of Evansville has been for many years?…that five seats on the Evansville City Council that have been solidly in Democratic hands for over thirty years and mostly in the Democratic bag for nearly a century may now offer spirited contests?…that the City County Observer is encouraged and supportive of people actually informing themselves and thinking through the votes they cast as opposed to just voting along party lines?…that maybe Evansville is right in line with the country when it comes to being fed up with the clubs (parties) that have long determined the limited choices that we have had for public offices?…that Evansville has certainly had its fill of unqualified candidates riding to office on the coattails of a charismatic but functionally unopposed incumbent?

IS IT TRUE that the City County Observer has a copy of an invoice from the Klenck Construction Company to Woodruff Hospitality LLC that appears to be for the demolition of the Executive Inn parking garage and part of the Executive Inn along with associated rubble cleaning?…that this invoice covers the time up until the contract between Woodruff Hospitality LLC and the Evansville Redevelopment Commission before the ERC rescinded the agreement?…that the amount of this invoice is a substantial sum of money but a drop in the bucket when compared to the total of the Ford Center and the proposed Hotel?…that it is on the order of a couple of weeks interest on the bonds?…that as the amount of the money involved is sort of trivial in the big picture that there must be some other axe being ground?

IS IT TRUE that perhaps the power of the Office of the Mayor of Evansville is being used to settle a score with Woodruff Hospitality LLC?…that allegedly during a meeting in April of this year attended by some principals of Woodruff Hospitality LLC, Mayor Weinzapfel, and key members of the Mayor’s staff that Mayor Weinzapfel threatened to “destroy Martin Woodruff”?…that the smirk and the words at Monday night’s City Council meeting did make one believe that there is something more than the cost of demolition driving some agenda?…that using an elected office for a personal vendetta is really not the kind of actions that Evansville needs to launch the new Ford Center?…that during the course of the construction there have been cost overruns due to collapsed sewers, busted water pipes, difficulties in the finishing process, learning curves with ice sheet production, the price of oil etc.?…that in every case the problems seem to have been dealt with and the providers have been or will be paid?…that using the power of an elected office to carry out a personal vendetta is not an action that a person who is worthy of an elected leadership role would do?…that after all, the City of Evansville has benefitted from the improvements to its property and the business that did the improvements should be paid?…that this is not a time for opportunistic vendettas to be carried out from positions of power?