CCO Outstanding 2009 Public Servant of the Year – Sherriff Eric Williams
By Ralph Edwards
The John F. Kennedy Club of Vanderburgh County held its 3rd annual Family Fun Day on Saturday, Aug. 28, at Burdette Park. The event, which began at noon, featured local Democratic Party candidates and was highlighted by featured speaker Pat Bauer of South Bend, who is the Indiana Speaker of the House.
The buffet included hamburgers, hot dogs, American potato salad, German potato salad, sea food chowder, chips, drinks and assorted deserts.
The Chairman of the Board of the City-County Observer, Ron Cosby made brief remarks saying that the City-County Observer will continue to be a nonpartisan publication, however he emphasized that he and his staff recognizes that there are outstanding candidates on both sides of the political aisle. He believes the mission of the CCO is to inform the electorate of who they are. He said today is an example of an outstanding public servant who we are going to honor. He introduced Don Counts, Editor of the City-County Observer and Dan Kisner, Staff Artist.
City-County Observer Editor Don Counts called Sheriff Eric Williams to the platform. Don stated “Eric Williams was elected Sheriff after nearly 20 years of service to Vanderburgh County as a member of the Sheriff’s Office. Eric is a true servant leader for our community. He served as the Chief Deputy Sheriff for eight years under former Sheriff and now Congressman Brad Ellsworth. Sheriff Williams is a champion of youth related and other community issues. Eric grew up in Vanderburgh County and now, with his wife Jude, they are raising their three children in Vanderburgh County. Sheriff Williams is committed to making Vanderburgh County a safe place to raise a family.”
Don had the honor to present Sheriff Eric Williams a privately commissioned caricature by Dan Kisner showing the Sheriff and his hero Barney Fife. The City-County Observer also presented Sherriff Williams with a $250.00 gift certificate for a Wing Party for 20 people at Show Me’s Restaurant and Bar for him and his friends.
Don also announced that Dan Kisner, staff artist for the City-County Observer will be sketching caricatures for a few more hours. After the speeches and presentations the crowd thinned as the guests were treated to free swimming, fishing and miniature golf for the rest of the day. There was an unofficial count of about 511 attendees to this most successful event.
Will the economy double-dip or are we still in a recession. Peter Cohan, president of Peter S. Cohan, a management consulting and venture capital firm, wrote in his latest blog for Daily Finance, that we really haven’t emerged out of the first recession; and, though growth might be occurring it is happening at such a slow pace it doesn’t feel like real growth.
Contrast our country’s anemic growth over the past three years with that of Japan’s lost decade where economic expansion came to a total almost complete halt from 1991 to 2000. During this period, most Japanese households didn’t feel the economic effects on a daily basis but the long-term impact of nearly negative growth shifted Japan from having the world’s second largest economy to a point where today China’s economy has recently surpassed it.
The Eagle has Landed!
Good news for Evansville Regional Airport with the addition of another daily Dallas flight on American Eagle starting in November. Most airlines are doing anything but adding new service and the new Dallas route comes at a good time as Evansville Regional Airport is also seeking a federal grant to add new service to the Washington, DC market, which will allow for greater air access to the east coast.
Capital Campaign getting ready to Start
It’s hard to believe that the Coalition’s inaugural three-year capital campaign is nearly complete. Due to the financial generosity of Southwest Indiana companies and individuals, we’ve been able to achieve some significant accomplishments over this same time period.
Since 2007, the Coalition has helped secure $346 million in new investment, 1,780 new jobs and $33 million in grant funds to build community capacity in an economic environment that some might say has been difficult at best. A third of the Coalition’s annual budget is generated by contributions from the private sector.
We’re getting ready to kick-off another three-year campaign and we firmly believe that the Coalition has provided real value for all of our partners. Our goal is simple – to maintain private investment at $400,000 per year. If we are lucky enough to increase that number by adding new investors, it would be a strong plus as currently 80% of the Coalition’s private sector contributions are provided by just 28 investors.
Within the next 45 days, the Coalition will be reaching out to you asking for your continued support. I realize that these are tough economic times to be asking for financial support but much of the new investment and grant funds secured for Southwest Indiana would not have come about had the Coalition not existed. Your financial support makes what we do possible, and let me thank you in advance for your consideration.
Trent and his wife, Beverly, reside in Mt. Vernon, the same small town in Posey County where Trent was raised. The youngest of three children, Trent was the first in his family to attend college.
After graduating from law school, Trent returned home to Mt. Vernon and began work as Posey County’s Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney. Three years later he was elected Prosecuting Attorney for Posey County.
While serving as the lead law enforcement officer for Posey County Trent cracked down on the meth epidemic and took on the toughest criminals. Unafraid to take on his own party, Trent launched the investigation that led to the conviction of a corrupt elected sheriff of his own party.
Trent’s expertise in the courtroom included being designated a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the prosecution of an international drug trafficking case.
After twelve years as a local prosecutor Trent went from the courthouse to the statehouse to use his experience as a prosecutor to work across party lines to pass the strongest anti-meth law in the country.
Trent built a reputation as a bi-partisan leader with a record of cutting middle class taxes, opposing new sales taxes and creating a half a billion dollar property tax relief fund.
While living in Mt. Vernon, Trent has given back to his community in a number of areas. He served as President of the Posey County Community Foundation, assisted in the development of a community-wide recycling effort while a member of the Solid Waste Citizens Advisory Board and taught many young people the importance of teamwork as a youth football coach.
Trent and Beverly attend First United Methodist Church, the same church Trent has belonged to as a child.
Trent’s family remains close as his parents reside in Vanderburgh County. Brett, Trent’s older brother, resides with his family outside Mt. Vernon, while his sister, Jackie and her family reside near Louisville, KY.
Trent will give a short presentation on issues concerning veterans, at the Vanderburgh County Veterans Council meeting, Thursday, September 2 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. See www.TrentForCongress.com for more information.
Kathryn Martin Kathryn Martin has Exceeded Expectations in Cleaning the Knight Township Mess
By: Don Counts
Kathryn Martin was appointed to serve the remainder of the term of Linda Durham the elected Knight Township Trustee by Democratic Party caucus in March 2010. Linda Durham was seated to the trusteeship over objections raised due to her difficulty in obtaining bonding resigned from office and has since been arrested on felony theft and official misconduct charges.
Ms. Martin is currently seeking that office as the democratic candidate running against republican Jim Braker. If the past five months are any indication of what the job of township trustee is, then Kathryn Martin has certainly been battle hardened.
The job of a township trustee typically include recommending an annual budget to the elected legislative body of the township, reporting to that legislative body about the condition of the trustees office, managing the office, and managing the protective and humanitarian services that townships provide to the approved budget. It is certainly not required or even expected that the township trustee should have the responsibility of auditing a predecessor’s performance for fraud, negligence, and abuse. It however appears that Ms. Martin has willfully taken the bull by the horns and led the effort to do exactly that. The City County Observer applauds her can-do spirit and commends the way that she has carried out her responsibilities thus far.
It has been widely documented that the alleged actions of Ms. Durham and her Chief Deputy, Tonda Pauley have left Knight Township in dire financial straits. It was abundantly clear from the time she was seated that she would need substantial guidance and oversight to succeed as township trustee. The responsibility for that oversight falls squarely on the shoulders of what Indiana Code IC 36-6-6 refers to as the legislative body of the township. Locally this term legislative body has been commonly referred to as the advisory board. Despite the less official term adopted locally, the duties of the legislative body are truly legislative as the full body of Indiana Code IC 36-6-6 spells out.
Specifically, in IC 36-6-6-9, the legislative body is tasked with conducting an annual meeting on or before the third Tuesday after the first Monday in January of each year consideration and approval of annual report of executive; disposition of funds. During this meeting the annual report of the executive including the budget and the financial performance of the previous year are approved, altered, or disallowed by the legislative body. A member may administer oaths necessary in the examination of the report. The legislative body has broad powers to go along with its broad responsibilities.
As Ms. Durham was seated as Knight Township Trustee in early 2006, by statute there must have been two annual budgets and two reviews with oversight provided by the legislative body. The City County Observer is quite curious to know about the outcomes of the budgetary and financial reviews of these annual meetings. If the recent revelations regarding the dire financial straits of Knight Township came as a surprise to anyone, they certainly should not have been. The performance of the legislative body should be under just as much examination and scrutiny as the performance that led to Ms. Durham’s resignation. The legislative body in its annual meetings, quarterly reviews, and by calling special meetings could have and should have averted the current situation before the Knight Township Trustees office became financially functionally insolvent.
This insolvency leaves Knight Township in need of a loan to enable the office to remain open until its next allocation of taxpayer money is available in December. Indiana Code provides for the mechanism to seek and secure loans in IC 36-6-6-15. Sec. 15. states that (a) If the legislative body finds that an emergency requires the borrowing of money to meet the township’s current expenses, it may take out temporary loans in an amount not more than eighty percent (80%) of the total anticipated revenue for the remainder of the year in which the loans are taken out, and (b) The legislative body must authorize the temporary loans by a resolution.
The local media has been reporting during the last news cycle that Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel has floated an idea for a $200,000 loan from the Evansville Bond Bank that is funneled through the Vanderburgh County to Knight Township. As good as this intention may be, haven’t we been down this path before? This convoluted solution sounds eerily similar to the scheme hatched by Mayor Weinzapfel to supplement the salary of Evansville DMD Director Tom Barnett by funneling Evansville Bond Bank money through GAGE to Barnett. This time it’s different because the Mayor is conducting the people’s business in public.
We believe it is appropriate for the Evansville Bond Bank to make a loan directly to the Knight Township Trustee’s Office because the public good demands it. The City County Observer would like to thank Mayor Weinzapfel for seeking ways to circumvent the major financial challenges facing Knight Township Trustee’s office.
There are legal and appropriate ways for Knight Township to seek and secure a temporary loan. The first step as codified by IC 36-6-6-15 is for the legislative body of Knight Township (Advisory Board) to adopt a formal resolution to seek such a loan. The City County Observer acknowledges that this important first step was taken by the Advisory Board. We hope that a legal and palatable lending source can be secured to keep the Knight Township Trustees office open and functioning. State law states the County Commissioners signs contracts and the County Council find ways to financially honor them.
The fate of keeping the Knight Township Volunteer Fire Department protecting homes and lives and the Knight Township Trustee’s Office to continue helping serve the basic needs of the “poorest of the poor†is now in the hands of the Evansville Bond Bank, Knight Township Legislative Body (Advisory Committee), County Commissioners, County Council and Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel! We believe they are up to the task! In our heart of hearts we believe if the Knight Township Trustee, Kathryn Martin seeks the wisdom of advise of Pigeon Township Trustee Mary Hart and gets the funding for this office we will quickly see if she is worthy of reelection to this office. If she makes any missteps or blunders running this important position that serves the needs of the “Poorest of the Poor†the City-county Observer will hold her accountable.
Attorney General Greg ZoellerZoeller: Embezzling poor relief for personal expenses, concert tickets was “unconscionableâ€
INDIANAPOLIS – Today Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller filed a lawsuit against a former Knight Township trustee in Evansville to recover nearly $78,000 in public funds intended for poor relief and fire protection that the ex-trustee and an aide allegedly squandered on personal expenses and luxuries, such as New Kids on the Block concert tickets.
“For the ex-trustee to pilfer taxpayers’ money intended to help Hoosiers in economic crisis and divert it for her own entertainment and comfort is unconscionable and a betrayal of the public trust. The Attorney General’s Office will do everything within its legal authority to hold this individual and her accomplice accountable,†Zoeller said.
Zoeller’s office filed a complaint for recovery of public funds against former Knight Township Trustee Linda K. Durham and Durham’s former chief deputy trustee, Tonda Pauley, seeking an order to require the defendants to reimburse taxpayers for the amounts taken by fraud or misappropriation. The lawsuit was filed today in Vanderburgh County Superior Court, along with a motion for a temporary restraining order to prevent the defendants from hiding or transferring any personal accounts the State may seek to claim later.
A State Board of Accounts certified audit of Knight Township government’s finances for the time frame of January 1, 2008, to March 31, 2010, found that Durham misappropriated $74,544.76 in public funds and Pauley misappropriated $3,336.23. A certified audit triggers a legal process where the Attorney General serves as the State’s collection agent to recover public funds that were stolen, mishandled or diverted.
According to the SBoA audit, Durham made a long list of purchases using the township government’s credit card without supporting receipts or invoices. Durham’s improper personal purchases at public expense included: Autozone, Bath & Body Works, DIS Disney Movie Club, iTunes, LA Nails, Mineral Makeup, Spencer Gifts, Wet Seal, McDonald’s, KFC, Domino’s Pizza, Taco Bell, Dairy Queen, Little Caesar’s, Papa John’s, Pizza Hut and Donut Bank and numerous other eateries. Durham also purchased flowers, hair care items, movie tickets, gasoline, groceries and six New Kids on the Block concert tickets using taxpayer funds, the audit found.
Beyond Durham’s $47,025.71 in undocumented improper purchases, the suit alleges Durham is responsible for another $9,691.06 in undocumented disbursements; $1,115 for unnecessary overdraft and service fees; $4,868.64 in audit costs; and $11,844.35 for overpaying payroll to herself, Pauley and two other employees.
Specifically, the audit found that Durham paid herself her salary in advance — drawing a full year’s salary by August 6, 2009 – and then overpaid herself $8,452.74 in payroll by March 11, 2010, the date she resigned.
Pauley, who left office March 29, 2010, is alleged in the lawsuit to owe the township $3,336.23, mostly for undocumented improper purchases. Zoeller seeks triple damages against both defendants.
Zoeller today also filed motions for temporary restraining orders asking the Vanderburgh County Superior Court to freeze any bank accounts or retirement plans Durham or Pauley may have to prevent them from transferring or concealing funds. A magistrate granted the orders today. If the court later enters a civil judgment against the defendants for the amounts owed, then the Attorney General could seek collection of the assets to reimburse Knight Township’s misappropriated funds.
“The ex-trustee’s misuse of public funds as her own personal blank check has left the Knight Township office and its new management in a terrible bind as they try to meet the basic responsibilities of providing emergency relief to the poor and paying for fire protection. My goal is that we can eventually claw back some of Durham’s ill-gotten gains so that the new management can restore the township office to financial health,†Zoeller added.
Public officials who handle money are required by state law to obtain a surety bond – essentially, an insurance policy against employee theft so that there is money that can be tapped to reimburse taxpayer funds. Zoeller’s lawsuit seeks to redeem three bonds taken out on Durham totaling $60,000. The suit names the bonding company, Platte River Insurance Company, as a defendant.
Separate from the Attorney General’s civil case, Durham was indicted by a Vanderburgh County grand jury on two Class D felony criminal charges – theft and official misconduct – and Durham awaits trial.
Today’s action filed in Vanderburgh County follows a similar complaint for public funds filed last week in another Southern Indiana county, Lawrence County, against three officials of Shawswick Township in Bedford, Ind., after an SBoA audit. The lawsuit alleges former township clerk April Eagen-Dorsett owes $180,376.28 for the misappropriation of public funds for personal expenses; her husband Randy Dorsett owes $113, 017.38 and current township trustee Peggy Dorsett owes $3,952.87. The Lawrence County Circuit Court granted the State a temporary restraining order against all three defendants last week, prohibiting them from concealing or transferring their assets.
Zoeller’s actions in Vanderburgh and Lawrence counties are part of a stepped-up effort to file actions to seek public accountability of tax dollars from public officials who misappropriated them. In 2009, the Indiana General Assembly passed a new state law, House Enrolled Act 1514-2009, that allows the Attorney General to intervene earlier in the State Board of Accounts audit process to prevent public funds from being squandered or depleted during an embezzlement investigation. The new law, which Zoeller supported, also doubled the amount of surety bond that officials must carry, to have more available if reimbursement is needed.
NOTE: Attached is an unsigned copy of the Attorney General’s complaint for recovery of public funds, filed today in Vanderburgh County Superior Court under cause number 82D03-1008-PO-4704. The State Board of Accounts certified audit of the Knight Township Trustee’s Office dated August 1, 2010, is found at this link: http://www.in.gov/sboa/WebReports/B37346.pdf
Thank you for contacting me with your views on recently passed emergency assistance for states like Indiana. I appreciate your comments and I welcome this opportunity to share my thoughts.
As you know, states across the country are dealing with significant budget shortfalls. In Indiana alone, $300 million in education funding has been cut from the state budget, and school districts throughout the state have handed out pink slips to over 2,524 teachers and other education workers. Schools throughout Indiana inform me they anticipate laying off hundreds more in the near future. Additionally, federal assistance for state Medicaid programs are expiring, meaning states will soon cut vital health services that not only affect seniors, the disabled and those with low-incomes, but also nurses and doctors whose employers will be forced to make cuts to staff. As the economy in Indiana continues to recover from the most damaging recession in a generation, the last thing we need to do is lay off thousands of hard working professionals. For these reasons, I voted for recent legislation to provide emergency education and Medicaid funding to states. This vital funding would allow many Hoosier teachers and health care workers to continue to serve our local communities.
I am pleased to inform you this bill, H.R. 1586, is totally paid-for and will not add one dime to the deficit according to the independent Congressional Budget Office. The bill pays for these investments by repealing billions in government spending and closing offshore corporate tax loopholes that allow companies to avoid paying their fair share. These savings actually go beyond the cost of this temporary assistance, cutting the deficit by over $1 billion.
Throughout the year, state and local leaders have asked for this assistance. For instance, in February, Governor Mitch Daniels co-wrote a letter requesting an extension of the Recovery Act’s Medicaid assistance to the state, noting that this funding “would greatly assist us in maintaining services and further stabilizing the economy.” In fact, without this assistance, state leaders said they would slash funding for the CHOICE program, which allows Hoosier seniors to get less-intensive care in their homes instead of moving into a nursing home. This program served over 9,000 Hoosiers last year alone, and many of those seniors could be forced to get full-time care in a nursing home if they don’t have any part-time care options. Extending this federal assistance will also prevent across-the-board cuts expected under current conditions at hospitals and other health care providers. When the state government cuts payments to these facilities–they have no choice but to lay off doctors and nurses.
Meanwhile, I received hundreds of calls and letters from Hoosier educators, parents, and community leaders all concerned about the significant cuts to education. Many were from teachers, who had lost their jobs and told me they didn’t know how they would continue to pay their bills. Parents also wrote in concerned about increasing class sizes and its effects on their child’s education. And superintendents and principals told me this will be the most challenging school year they have experienced in years. Most disturbing to me was a Lafayette teacher who won a state award for excellence in teaching, shortly after she received a notice she would not be returning the following year due to budget cuts. The funding in H.R. 1586 will help schools retain or hire over 3,600 educators and make sure Hoosier students receive a quality education.
Thanks again for taking the time to share your views with me. If you would like to learn more about my positions on issues important to you or receive regular updates on developments in Congress, please visit my Online Office at www.ellsworth.house.gov and sign up for my e-Newsletter.
On March 24, 2010, Dan Shaw of the Courier and Press has reported that the City Council of the City of Evansville is officially considering turning off the street lights to balance the 2011 budget. In Shaw’s article Council President B. J. Watts is quoted as saying,†If we can get rid of some of the street lights and save money, that’s what we should be doingâ€. All due respect to the honorable City Council President Watts, but there are basic services that need to be delivered to even profess to be a city.
Street lights are one of those services. Functional sewers are another as are roads free of potholes, and potable water that does not emerge from the tap looking like burgoo as some people on Cynthiana Road have been dealing with for years. Couple all of that with the fact that some of our public parks facilities are in disrepair, and a couple of public pools were never opened this summer. It is negligence like this that earned Evansville its place on MIT’s list of America’s 150 forgotten cities.
What on earth is going on in the City of Evansville that has deluded our City Council President, Watts, into a psychosis that rationalizes that it is okay to spend $128 Million on an Arena and $18 Million on 8 baseball fields, at a time when one section of town can’t drink the water, some public areas are neglected, and some south side citizens can’t flush the toilet without knowing that their excrement may show up in their front yard. Now with this new mystifying revelation of City Council President Watts regarding turning off the City street lights, our good citizens may be increasingly victimized by rising crime rate when the lights go out.
According to Shaw, Pat Keepes, city engineer, said the cost increase that comes in response to Vectren’s plan to raise the rates charged to customers for the use of electricity. Vectren is asking Indiana utility regulators to approve a rate increase that will charge an additional $12.50 a month to the “average†customer, defined as someone who uses 900 kilowatts a month. So is a street light an “average†customer? Will the citizens of Evansville be offered the option to “adopt a light†to keep the lights on so toes are not stubbed, cars are not lost, and crime is kept down.
A city without lights is a city in decline. A city without maintained parks is a city in decline. A city without working sewers is a city in decline. A city without potable water for all citizens is a city in decline. If the City of Evansville hopes to ever be a cosmopolitan city these basic services need to be something that its residents can count on. Failing to invest in infrastructure that enables the delivery of basic city services such as sewers, drinking water, public area maintenance, and now street lights is simply misappropriation of taxpayer money. It begs the question “is this reasonable governance?â€
If City Council President Watts succeeds in his efforts to turn off the street lights to allegedly save inconsequential sums of money and the City Council agrees with him, MIT and others will continue to consider Evansville to be a forgotten city. If you turn out the lights, your party really will be over.
Economy Clobbers Hotel Prices: What is the Market Price for what Evansville Hopes to see Built?
Last week I submitted an article that was published by the City-County Observer that discussed what I referred to as the Executive Inn Dilemma. In that article my research and conclusions were predicated on two of the three most common ways to value a commercial property. In valuing income properties such as hotels, there are three approaches from which to select when conducting analysis: the income capitalization method, comparable sales comparison, and the construction cost approach. Although all three valuation approaches are generally given consideration, the inherent strengths of each approach and the nature of the hotel in question must be evaluated to determine which approach will provide supportable value estimates.
In “The Executive Inn Dilemmaâ€, I chose to compare the income capitalization method to the forecasts that are available for the construction cost approach. As you may recall, the construction costs are estimated in the $40 Million dollar range while the value of a proposed hotel using the income capitalization method is closer to the $20 Million level. It is the difference in what the City of Evansville will have to attract or pay for a hotel versus the value of the cash stream generated by the hotel that created the Executive Inn Dilemma.
The third and typically preferred valuation method that is considered by lenders is the cost comparable method. In this method similar properties are used to compare the “market rate†for a particular property. The theory behind this method is basically the same method that is used to value residential housing. That is, if a 220 room three star hotel in a similar market has sold or is for sale at a particular price, then accounting for any obvious differences, an investment opportunity here should have that same value. Comparable properties are difficult to find in today’s market because a large number of distressed properties on the market or that have sold recently have downwardly biased the values. You see, the great recession has depressed commercial properties as much or more than it has reduced the values of houses.
I was able to access Loopnet (www.loopnet.com) that is a nationwide service for listing commercial property for sale. I was able to find three listed full service hotels all of which have restaurants, swimming pools, and exercise facilities. They are also in similar markets to Evansville from a room rate and occupancy perspective. All are currently operating and are not distressed sale situations. The tabulation of these properties along with the number of rooms, hotel list price, the list price per room and the comparable value of the recommended 220 room, three star hotel that the City of Evansville and Vanderburgh County aspire to see opened as close to the grand opening of the Arena as is possible.
Comparable Property Table
Location Rooms List Price $/Room Comparable Value
Norcross, GA 244 $4,950,000 $20,286.89 $4,463,115
Little Rock, AR 212 $3,500,000 $16,509.43 $3,632,075
Dayton, OH 235 $2,900,000 $12,340.43 $2,714,893
Average 230 $3,783,330 $16,449.28 $3,618,841
Using the list prices of these three hotels, and they did take some time to find, the average comparable value for the proposed Downtown Evansville Hotel is only $3,618,841. If one assigns a 100% premium for location and newness to the recommended hotel for being new the comparable value method still only yields a value of $7,237,682. That is somewhat distressing as that value is on the order of only 18% of the projected cost of construction.
I am not advocating that a state of the art Downtown Evansville Hotel will only be worth $7.2 Million. The message that I want to make clear is that the Request for Proposal that is being prepared by John Kish and his team will be competing for funds with opportunities like these comparables. The depressed state of the commercial real estate market has already created a “bottom feeder†mentality among investors in lodging. The “bottom feeders†that may be attracted by the Evansville RFP will be comparing us to these opportunities.
The current market has blunted the efforts that Browning Investments has expended in pursuit of financing. That market is not going to change substantially in the next couple of years. My caution to the people running the effort is to be realistic in your expectations. The City of Evansville does not have an opportunity to buy a hotel from the listings above. If that were possible then today’s buyers market would be of benefit. Evansville and Vanderburgh County will find a way for this to get built or there will be no hotel. The value of the cash stream is worth half of the construction cost and the depressed market has driven prices of comparable properties to lows that have not been seen for decades.
WASHINGTON — Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released, for the first time, a detailed comprehensive overview on the employment of Persons with a Disability: Labor Force Characteristics, 2009. Armed with this new data, researchers, disability advocates, and policy makers can better project labor force participation for working-aged persons with disabilities.
U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis stated, “I am pleased that the data released today will help better tailor policies and workforce development strategies, leveraging the talents and skills of this important segment of our population. According to recent data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, just one in five people with disabilities were in the labor force and the unemployment rate for those with disabilities remains much higher than the national average. We will use this new information to help increase service capacity and accessibility to workforce development systems including the one-stop-career centers and ensure that people with disabilities have access to employment support, transportation, housing, and other support services. We will make sure that people who want to work can work.”
In 2009, the employment-population ratio — the proportion of the population that is employed — was 19.2 percent for persons with a disability. Among those with no disability, the ratio was much higher (64.5 percent). For all age groups, persons with a disability were much less likely to be employed than those with no disability. The latest unemployment rate of persons with a disability is 14.5 percent. These statistics were obtained from the Current Population Survey, a monthly survey that provides statistics on employment and unemployment in the United States.
To read the BLS report issued today and the current CPS go to http://www.bls.gov.
On September 1, the state will host a series of borrower outreach events to provide free help to Indiana homeowners facing foreclosure. All events will run from 3 pm – 8 pm (local time). All events are free and open to the public.
Homeowners can stop by anytime between 3 and 8 pm to attend a free workshop, speak with a counselor and begin preparing to meet with your lender. No registration is required.
Indianapolis: 3612 West Minnesota Street
Hammond: 2530 E. 173rd Street
South Bend: 1901 S Kemble Avenue
Fort Wayne: 130 Cook Road
Columbus: 2160 Arnold Street Evansville: 3300 E. Division (CST)
Terre Haute: 3614 Maple Avenue
Richmond: 1200 W Main Street
The events are hosted by the Indiana National Guard and sponsored by the Indiana Foreclosure Prevention Network, a state-organized coalition of community service and housing-related organizations, government agencies, lenders, realtors, and trade associations that are actively addressing Indiana’s foreclosure crisis. Individuals and families facing foreclosure to seek free assistance by certified counselors at any time by calling 1-877-GET-HOPE or by visiting www.877gethope.org.
