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?

IS IT TRUE that Evansville’s former Whirlpool plant has landed a new tenant called GBT-USA that is a Netherlands owned start-up company in the USA that will be providing turbine blades for the wind power industry?…that the commitment at this time is to invest $3.5 Million to create 40 positions in what will essentially be a pilot manufacturing plant?…that if all goes well there is a possibility that an additional 400 jobs may be placed in Southern Indiana with a manufacturing based investment of $40 Million?…that it is quite impressive that this foreign owned company can create jobs for only $85,000 per job?…that in a country where the Obama stimulus plan has been called out for spending $278,000 to create each job that it claims to have created, GBT-USA is a bargain and a great opportunity for Evansville?…that the City County Observer congratulates the economic development team that worked to put together the $3.0 Million incentive package from the State of Indiana and the $647,500 of incentives from the City of Evansville to sweeten the pot?…that as we predicted earlier “The Future my friend is Spinning in the Wind”?

IS IT TRUE that one of the most interesting discussions at the Evansville City Council meeting last night revolved around the legal costs associated with the Arena Project?…that project manager John Kish in response to a question posed by City Councilman John Friend informed the entire council that he legal costs now total $1,663,453?…that when asked if this was typical and justified Mr. Kish responded with a resounding YES with a tone and demeanor that sent the message of “how could you even ask”?…that Mr. Kish supported that assertion by stating that the legal teams had produced 1,200 pages of work?…that a quick calculation results in a price of $1,386 per page?…that each IS IT TRUE that we write is about a 30 minute exercise and is about one page?…that by that metric each IS IT TRUE should result in a payment to the author of $2,772.42?…that one can only wish to be paid that much money per hour and to have someone think that it is a colossal bargain?…that if we are paying attorneys by the page or even paying for articles by the page that a rate of between $100 and $150 per page is much more typical of the going rate per page for authors and lawyers?

IS IT TRUE that the roster of law firms that were paid for doing work on the Ford Center project sounded like that list of contributors to the Weinzapfel for Mayor campaign?…that according to Mr. Kish that the lion’s share of the money went to the Indianapolis firms Bingham McHale ($1.4 Million) and Barnes and Thornburg ($115,000)?…that several well known Evansville firms were named as providers of legal services that were all under $25,000 each?…that we really wonder if there was any way that all of the legal fees could have been earned by Evansville firms?…that we wonder if this kind of bond expertise exists here?

IS IT TRUE that Mr. Kish also asserted that the target of 21% of contracts being awarded to Women and Minority businesses has been met and that a bonus has been earned was both applauded and met with skepticism?…that Councilman Dan Adams asked for a list of the businesses that are WBE’s and MBE’s and for a location of each business?…that Mr. Kish committed to supply this list to the City Council?…that we are absolutely riveted at the prospect of learning that WBE’s and MBE’s were successful bidders on $26.8 Million worth of the contracts let to build the Ford Center?

IS IT TRUE that Mr. Kish went through an example with respect to architects involved with the design of the Ford Center?…that Populous was the prime architectural contractor but that some local input was also hired?…that hiring local firms was alleged to have increased the cost?…that Kish sounded very concerned about stringing out payments so that all of the subcontractors are paid in a timely manner?…that we wish that Mr. Kish and the people that pull his strings were just as concerned for securing payment for Evansville based Klenck Construction?…that while he spoke of Bingham McHale (Indianapolis Law Firm) being paid about $500,000 to develop the RFP for the hotel as a sound investment a local business is now in a compromised position to receive payment for real work?…that this is profoundly disappointing?

IS IT TRUE? September 13, 2011

IS IT TRUE that it has been widely reported that the economic development announcement that is bringing Governor Daniels out of Indianapolis has raised the hopes of laid-off people who build things all around Evansville?…that the farewell concert at Roberts Stadium attended by Mole #6 gave us all a hint as to just what this project may involve?…that Mole #6 would like everyone to get up and listen to Bob Dylan’s “Blowing in the Wind” and to hold that thought until the announcement is made one hour from now?

IS IT TRUE that the Evansville City Council was treated to another 10 minute speech on the much needed legislation regarding the details of just how one gets grandfathered in to “coop” athletic racing pigeons in the city limits?…that this time it was not a gang of pigeon heads that dominated a large portion of time in the Council meeting?… that this time it was two City of Evansville employees who smiled and rambled ad nauseum about where, how far, how often to clean the cage, and other details that are meaningless to all but a handful of people who live here?…that some things do not merit a pair of speeches before the City Council and that these racing pigeons are a perfect example of something that should be delegated to a committee?…that when the human cooing started the old movie line “they’re back” came to mind?

IS IT TRUE that the highlight of the meeting was as he always is another inquisition of Ford Center project manager John Kish by City Councilman and Chairman of the Finance Committee John Friend?…that some people have gotten so used to the “Battle of the Alpha Johns” that they are recording the interlude for later viewing?…that the biggest surprise of the inquisition last night was not a pleasant surprise at all?…that the biggest surprise came when Mr. Kish revealed that the demolition work done on the Executive Inn parking tower is contractually the obligation of Woodruff Hospitality LLC whose contract with the ERC to build a hotel was rescinded for non-performance?…that situation brought out questions regarding Klenck Construction, a locally owned business was going to be paid?…that Mr. Kish was adamant that the invoice for the work done by Klenck that was authorized by Woodruff Hospitality LLC would remain the responsibility of the shareholders of Woodruff Hospitality LLC even though the work was done on land now owned by the City of Evansville?

IS IT TRUE that Mr. Kish intimated that this may become a legal issue that needs to be negotiated by those two parties?…that Mr. Kish went on to state that Klenck Construction cannot legally place a mechanics lien on the property because it is owned by a municipality and that the legal precedent for his position is a 30 year old case involving one Mr. Bob Green and the very parking garage that was just torn down?…that all of this may indeed be the truth and that it may indeed be legal but in a situation where the City of Evansville clearly benefitted from the word that was done on its property under an agreement between the City of Evansville and the contractor Woodruff Hospitality LLC, it seems usury and disingenuous for the City of Evansville and the Evansville Redevelopment Commission to take advantage of what was a good faith arrangement that went bad?…that the little smirk on Mr. Kish’s face when telling this story was not appreciated by some of the viewers of the meeting of the Evansville City Council?

IS IT TRUE that we shall address more on the “Battle of the Alpha Johns” in IIT Part 2?…that we never want to see a competent local provider get caught in the middle of politics and hosed for payment on a big public project like the Ford Center?…that many friends, family, and sympathizers with locally owned businesses may just remember this SNEGAL hosing and hold it against the Ford Center?…that we hear that the amount is substantially less than 1% of the cost to build the Ford Center and even less than the legal bills paid to Indianapolis firms that all contributed to the Weinzapfel for Mayor Campaign?