IS IT TRUE the referendum for combining the governments of the City of Evansville and Vanderburgh County into a single entity are beginning to heat up?…a TV commercial that was aired by CORE the group opposing consolidation drew some pretty tough words from Laurel Meny who is the communications guru for YES?…one of the claims that has Meny upset is a claim that the plan of reorganization will “increase the number of appointed bureaucrats?”…Laurel does not mince words in her response to this claim as she calls it a blatant lie?…Meny stated regarding appointed bureaucrats that “The number of appointed officials following reorganization will not increase at all. Although some titles will change, such as changing the title of “Director of Communications” to “Public Information Officer,” the plan creates no new appointed positions. The number of appointees will remain the same”?…Meny was also critical of a claim that the reorganization plan will raise taxes?… Meny’s response to this claim was “The plan itself will not raise taxes at all. It actually will cut costs and make it easier to reduce taxes,?”

IS IT TRUE that the City County Observer invites letters to the editor on the subject of consolidation and encourage our readers to ferret out the facts as they are available in the consolidation plan?…the CORE group would catch less definitive grief from the YES group if they would use words like “may”, “could”, and “have been proven to in other locations” as opposed to stating things that elicit responses like “blatant lie”…we also welcome anyone from the CORE group who wishes to send us an article with direct quotes from the consolidation plan to back up the claims that the plan itself proposes tax increases or the numbers of political appointees now vs. later?…we support informed thought and encourage our readers and both campaigns to be accurate for the next 12 days?…one thing is for sure and that is some people will likely be better off with a YES vote and others with a NO vote while the benefits of the future are unknown in both cases?…it is difficult to project the future from a plan that for the most part dodged the responsibility of killing the sacred cows that keep per capita government spending in Evansville higher than peer cities?…if consolidation fails it will be traced straight back to a plan that showed no stomach for actually making the kinds of changes that really are possible?

IS IT TRUE that two checks totaling $1.64 Million were written in September of 2011 by the City of Evansville to cover construction costs incurred by the EVSC on the new North High School?…these checks were written on the Ford Center construction account and authorized by a blanket accounts payable voucher approval of the Evansville Redevelopment Commission?…this “honest mistake” as many in the chain of command are now calling it was just discovered and the $1.64 Million will soon be back in the hands of the City of Evansville as it should be?…this naturally happened during the last days of the Weinzapfel Administration at a time when the accounts of the City were not being reconciled monthly?…this is just the sort of thing that makes monthly reconciliation necessary and part of the laws of the State of Indiana?…that unfortunately it is not even surprising that the City of Evansville could misplace $1.64 Million and not even have the ability to know it?…we will also not be surprised if this is not the only such occurrence?…this is why AUDITS FOR PROJECTS LIKE THE FORD CENTER AND NHS need to be continuously updated?…it is just another day in Evansville when thing like this are discovered?…that City Controller Russ Lloyd Jr. has told the CCO that this is a BANK ERROR?

IS IT TRUE October 24, 2012 PART 2

IS IT TRUE that a new home grown family owned Westside business is getting ready to opening its doors to the people of this region? …that this business didn’t seek any public assistance such as grants or tax credits from GAGE, County Commission, City Council or Mayor Winnecke? …that the family of Andy Davidson has invested about $5 million dollars of their own money to bring Tin Man Brewing Company to Evansville? … that this new brewery shall be an earth friendly business that has a Mash Filter system that helps conserves both energy and water? …this type of filter uses about 40% less water and 15-20% less natural gas than a traditional Lager? …that this local Brewery shall create and produce a Robust Porter, Irish Red Ale, America IPS, Irish Dry Stout and a Bohemian Pilsner craft beers on site? …that the Davidson family has work miracles in renovating the building that shall house this upscale Brewery?…it’s about time our local elected officials drop by the Tin Man Brewery located on West Franklin street and thank the Davidson family members for locating this soon to be employer of 75 local people? …the City County Observer would like to be one of the first to thank the Davidson Family for bringing this one day regional multi-million dollars business to Evansville?

IS IT TRUE that Roberts Stadium did not “break even” most years? …if you look at the financials reports (this is public record) it often made money? …that SMG who managed Robert’s Stadium had no income from a hockey team, no naming rights, no start up loan from the city, and no loge seating “never” lost $300,000 per year? …that we wonder why VenuWorks seemly withheld their profit and loss statement until after they were awarded the Victory Theatre management contract? …that under the management of Roberts Stadium by SMG they not only made money but also able to pay for some of the losses of the Victory Theatre? …that with the Ford Center financially underperforming and no income left to support Victory Theatre losses the Parks Department had to dump the $350,000 a year debt off of their books and bury them within the DMD and hiding the $350,000 from their books to help fund Roberts Park?

IS IT TRUE with the vote on consolidation looming and both sides making their case it is difficult not to dream about just how much good saving could have been implemented if the consolidation committee had not taken the cowards way out and forbidden some of the biggest opportunities from being considered?…that with a current combined City-County budget that spends roughly $1,800 for every resident of Vanderburgh County when Fort Wayne-Allen County is spending closer to $1,200 per year, THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN SOME REAL TANGIBLE SAVINGS?…just scaling could have saved up to $100 Million per year IF EVANSVILLE-VANDERBURGH HAD THE COURAGE TO SIMPLY COPY OTHERS?…at this point the decision to support consolidation looks very much like the Obama Campaign of 2008 that was swept into office on the promise of HOPE AND CHANGE?…it is very difficult to justify trusting any group of candidates to do the right thing when entrusted with nothing by HOPE?…it is regretful that the consolidation plan is so protective of sacred cows that HOPE for real CHANGE has been forcefully deferred for 10 whole years?…that would’a, should’a, and could’a are the most regretted words in the English language but they are a perfect description of the consolidation plan through the eyes of one who believes in the concept but is in disbelief at just how toothless the reality is?

IS IT TRUE that the CCO encourages the City Council to put a moratorium on further spending on things that are non-revenue generators of a playtime nature?…this means Centennial Park and Roberts Park both of which will eat up a total of more than $10 Million and cost maintenance fees that Evansville does not have?…the City of Evansville needs to get its own financial house in order before it expects to be an attractive candidate for consolidation with the county or even with a place like Darmstadt?

IS IT TRUE the Reuters news agency is now reporting that the White House and the State Department had emails from known Islamic terrorist organization had claimed credit for the attack that resulted in the death of the American Ambassador to Libya and three other Americans?…the two emails specifically mention that the Libyan group called Ansar al-Sharia had asserted responsibility for the attacks?…the White House including the President of the United States continued to blame the killings on a spontaneous response to a video that had been on youtube since May for a period of two weeks after the September 11th attacks?…that in the name of common sense one would think that even the most challenged people could connect those dots and acknowledge the significance of the dates, the reality of the attackers, and the absurdness of blaming a video?…election years make for some strange rationalizations?

IS IT TRUE that it is now be projected that gasoline prices will be dropping up to 50 cents a gallon in the United States before the election?…what will amount to over a 10% drop in prices in two weeks is projected to happen on the same day when Iran is threatening to “cut us off”?…that despite the threats from Iran the supply has exceeded demand at the perfect time for gas prices to become favorable right before we head to the polls to vote?…that two tanks of gas for two cars at a 50 cent a gallon price break will mean an election day dividend of about $25 for this household?…that with the accompanying fall in corporate earnings that has inspired a selloff of stocks to the tune of $500 Billion is lost equity in the last 3 days that getting $25 will cover the cost of a case of Corona and 3 limes to heal the pains from the market losses?…the cynics among us might just think the drop in gas prices is somehow manipulated by the government to improve the mood of the country as we vote?…the reality is that it is probably an oversupply caused by people conserving during the last couple of months when we were all bent over a barrel every time we filled up our tanks?

IS IT TRUE that hitting a bit closer to home, the City County Observer was not at all surprised to hear that the Ford Center incurred $300,000 in operating losses in its first year and that the projection is that the losses will continue and grow?…in the summer of 2009 Arena Project Manager John Kish stated that he expects to see a positive flow of cash from the beginning. Making a large profit isn’t a goal, since that would mean tickets sold for various events could be cheaper then followed his statement with, “The arena needs to at least break even.”?…that very same summer former Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel touted “the Recession” as the best time to build an arena because materials were cheaper and interest rates were lower but about to rise?…we wonder since the Ford Center seems to be a great venue for concerts, the Icemen are overachieving, and even UE basketball is drawing the 3,000 person crowds that the Arena pro-forma projected just how the place could possibly be losing money?…it has not been more than a couple of months since press releases went out stating how the Ford Center was making money?…we wonder if the City of Evansville was doing the books and failing to reconcile because both of these claims cannot possibly be the truth?

IS IT TRUE that when the repayment of the debt on the Ford Center is added to the total the annual losses (or should we call it redistribution) amounts to $8 Million plus the operating losses leaving the other projects in Evansville short by $8.3 Million this year and $8.4 Million next year?…this could easily continue for 20 years or more?…there is still nothing like buying a Rolls Royce on credit when the plumbing doesn’t work to measure the practical nature of an administration?…the other promise of a 4-Star hotel “if” we build the Arena is still a dirt lot that will require roughly $20 Million of public dollars to materialize just like the CCO said it would?