IS IT TRUE the infamous and lingering Johnson Controls deal shoved through by the Weinzapfel Administration in its last days will be heard by the Indiana Utilities Regulatory Commission (IURC) on March 14th and is referred to as Case number 44295?…this will be the third time the Commission will have heard some version of this deal that keeps being tweaked in hopes that if can just sneak in under the restriction for being approved as something that pays for itself through guaranteed savings? Just as City Councilman John Friend, CPA warned the Evansville City Council last August, Umbaugh would come back with accounting trickery, they have done so?…the first time, they forgot that the project had to save at least 10%?…Umbaugh is also the same outfit trying to get the City of Evansville’s books in balance and were paid about $100,000 for the time they spent trying?…they are also receiving $55,000 for advise on the refinancing of the utility bonds which the Council approved last Monday’s meeting?…we really do trust that this organization will independent in their analysis in spite of their history in the book balancing and getting great contracts from the City of Evansville by both the Winnecke and Weinzapfel Administrations?

IS IT TRUE that the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation (EVSC) has been found in court to have violated public bidding laws for the way they transferred assets to remodel their headquarters without competitive bidding?…back when this was going on the City County Observer had opined that what the EVSC did was SNEGAL (sneaky but legal) as opposed to a violation of public bidding laws?…it seems as though even though care was taken to move property into other entities with perfect timing that the Court of Appeals has decided SNEGAL crossed the line this time?…it will be interesting to see what will be the consequence for this action as the building seems to be done in a quality manner and the price per square foot for the work seemed reasonable at the time?…we suspect slapped hands and maybe a fine will be the consequence?…we hope the Court realizes that any fine will come straight from the operating budget for running the public schools?

IS IT TRUE well placed CCO MOLES that there is a move afoot by a couple of elected officials to arrange a meeting between the City Controller, Russ Lloyd, Jr. and City Council Financial Consultant, David Garrett so they can to sit down together and discuss the issue of the Oct. 2012 Bank Reconciliation report?…if this happens we hope that the Mayor’s Chief of Staff stays at home because he seems to overreact in situations like this and shall causes problems between the above parties?…we hear that the powers that be are trying to set up this meeting on Friday morning of this week?

IS IT TRUE if you think that the October 2012 Bank Reconsolidation has caused major problems between the Winnecke Administration and Evansville City Council just wait till the findings for November and December of 2012 are released?…we hear that Mr. Garrett is presently working on the November 2012 Bank Reconciliation report as we write?

IS IT TRUE that yesterday in Washington DC in the United States Senate, Senator Rand Paul from Kentucky launched an old fashioned filibuster to block the candidacy of the person the Obama Administration put forward as the next Director of the CIA?…the purpose for the filibuster was simply to get high ranking members of the Obama Administration to publicly state that they do not feel empowered to murder US citizens on US soil?…they obstinately refused to simply answer NO to that question?…if the interpretation of the Constitution that these people are putting forth by refusing to answer NO is one that would lead to those who are suspected of crimes being murdered without being charged or convicted, the suspension of habeas corpus laws, and who knows what other 3rd world dictatorial practices?

IS IT TRUE that the world is a little bit better place since the despot Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has died and gone on to join his soul mates Josef Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Pol Pot in death?…if the United States is going to sit by and allow a constitutional interpretation that allows any government to make pre-emptive drone strikes or run black ops on US citizens who are considered by some government tribunal to be a threat the world will be a much darker place?…our country may be transformed from the “leader of the free world” to the “leader of a world without liberty”?

IS IT TRUE financial consultant David Garrett has issued his report to the City Council and it identifies some variances in the three large accounts managed by the City of Evansville that amount to nearly $17 Million with the net of the three variances amounting to nearly $7 Million?…that $7 Million is not in the favor of the City of Evansville?…the Winnecke Administration has fired a first volley back stating that they will repudiate Garrett’s findings as being incorrect?…this will be quite interesting because accounting, engineering, and other mathematics based professions really do have a right answer that will eventually be found for all to see?…David Garrett has done much research often with limited cooperation from city officials to arrive at his conclusions?…it is now up to the Winnecke Administration to respond in a timely and accurate way?…given the wording used in the first round of the face off for accuracy it is clear that either Mr. Garrett or the stewards of public money (City Controller’s office) will be proved to be wrong?…quite frankly the Weinzapfel Administration handed the Winnecke Administration a un-auditable PIG IN A POKE when it came to good practice in accounting?…when Mayor Winnecke took office the City of Evansville’s books had not been reconciled for a full year, there was no working software to do accounting with, and those facts were well hidden?…during 2011 and 2012 over $100,000 was spent by the City on CPA firms to fix these problems without success?…it was only when an audit by the Indiana State Board of Accountancy called the City of Evansville out for ineptness that the City Council hired Mr. Garrett to find the variances, the gaps, the failures, and to report on them?…he has done that and now the very people who failed to do this job are crying foul?…if the Weinzapfel Administration and the Winnecke Administration had done their jobs correctly there would have never been a need for David Garrett?…we hope other media will join the City County Observer in objective consideration of Mr. Garrett’s report and the forthcoming rebuttal by the Office of the Controller?…one of these assertions WILL BE PROVEN WRONG AT SOME POINT?

IS IT TRUE that the Ford Center is once again in the news for financial performance and as was easily predictable by the performance of similar facilities there was an operating loss?…the loss was only $281,000 which by arena metrics is not too terrible?…that does not include the approximately $8 Million of interest that was paid out of another pocket for the debt incurred to build the Ford Center?…the operating expense that put the Ford Center from making a profit was a collection of charges by the Building Authority of $1,861,293?…the Building Authority under the management of Dave Rector took down a significant amount of the operating expenses of the Ford Center?…it is time for the management of Ford Center to send the contract for these services out for bid and make the Building Authority earn this money the old fashioned way?…that would be to bid the job, win the job through a fair competition, and then do the job well?

IS IT TRUE it also seems as though there is no plan to do or fund the future maintenance of a capital nature at the Ford Center?…there have been recent reports of dirtiness, little things broken, etc. which do not reflect well on the maintenance crew?…it would be a shame if the Ford Center falls into squalor the way Roberts Stadium, Mesker, the Victory, and the Evansville Parks have?…the City of Evansville really has a terrible track record of taking care of things so this should come as no surprise?…the time to change that is right now and the time to establish good accounting practices is also right now?…when it comes to fixing and counting it seems like the City of Evansville had a municipal lobotomy some time ago?

IS IT TRUE it is being reported that the foreclosure of homes in the USA has diminished from the record rates of a few years ago?…the sale of properties for less than is owed on them (short sales) are making up for the foreclosures though as banks have finally learned that working with underwater homeowners is better than foreclosing and seeing properties devalue and rot?…it only took five years for this lesson to be learned?…this is a good reality to accelerate the adoption of sanity and sustainability in the vacuum created by the real estate crisis?…many of the abandoned homes in Evansville are owned by banks who foreclosed on them?…finding the people of authority in these slum owning banks may be a bigger problem for the landlord registry than tracking down out of town landlords?…we shall see how sharp the enforcement teeth are when it is a big out of town bank getting fined $100 per day for not registering?