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Republican Chairman Wayne Parke calls Treasurer Rick Davis’s Work Record as Deplorable

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COUNTY TREASURER RICK DAVIS’ WORK RECORD IS DEPLORABLE

(Evansville, IN) – Rick Davis has long been known among Civic Center personnel as someone who is rarely at work doing his County Treasurer duties. Now, following a Freedom of Information Act request, 85 pages of electronic records demonstrate just how bad his work habits have been. It is deplorable. “Rick Davis is a full time elected politician, being paid a full time salary but only working part-time as Treasurer,” said Republican Chairman Wayne Parke.

Over the last 12 months (October 1, 2011 through September 28, 2012), I believe the data contained in the electronic documents indicate the information below is an accurate summary account of Rick Davis’s extremely poor work record:
1. Only one day in 12 months did Rick Davis show up to work on time (on or before 8 AM).
2. When Rick Davis did show up for work, he normally showed up late around 10 AM. The records do not show how long he stayed at work once he arrived.
3. Rick Davis never showed up at all 45 weekdays (Monday through Friday) during this 12-month period. That means he did not show for work at all about 18% of the time. Of the work days missed by Rick Davis most were Fridays and Mondays, creating a long weekend.
4. When he shows up for work, Rick Davis has a practice of leaving the building and returning to the Civic Center at approximately 3 PM, shortly before quitting time. Normal quitting time for Civic Center employees is 4:30 PM.

Rick Davis is an Elected, County Government Official who gets paid $63,088.00 a year. In addition to his salary, he receives 14 paid holidays, major medical coverage, dental & vision benefits, prescription coverage, group life insurance and PERF (Public Employee Retirement Fund) paid for by Vanderburgh County taxpayers. “Rick Davis’s salary and benefits are nearly twice the amount of the average Vanderburgh County resident,” said Parke. “Everyone else must get up and go to work rain or shine. Taxpayers deserve a Treasurer that does the same thing.”

The taxpayers of Vanderburgh County are being cheated. As an elected official currently serving as our County Treasurer, Rick Davis needs to be setting a positive example for other office workers by giving the taxpayers full value for the money and benefits he receives. If Rick Davis worked for a business, he would be fired for his deplorable attendance. It is time to let Rick Davis go.

Posted without edit, comment, or bias

Source: E. Wayne Parke, Chairman of the Vanderburgh County Republican Party

Romney’s 20% Income Tax Cut, “the Math Works”, by Joe Wallace

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Joe Wallace, Coachella Valley iHub

One of the biggest points of contention in both the Vice Presidential debates and the Presidential debates that degenerated into a “your math doesn’t work” vs. “oh yes it does” spitting contest had to do with an assertion made by Republican Mitt Romney regarding an across the board income tax cut.

Mr. Romney asserted that it was possible to cut the tax rates across the board by 20% and at the same time place a cap on deductions without giving a big tax break to people considered by the Obama campaign to be in the top 1% at the expense of the middle class. Romney did not share a specific cap that he would propose to place on deductions but has publically mentioned the numbers $17,000, $25,000, and $50,000 as possibilities.

In an attempt to settle the argument, satisfy my own curiosity, and to boil the question down to a simple IRS Form 1040 that most of us are familiar with, a new tax table was constructed for a Romney proposal. Currently the top tax rate of 35% kicks in for married filing jointly filers at an adjusted gross income of $379,000 where highly paid couples are required to contribute (that is the word used in the tax code) $102,574 plus 35% of the amount over $379,000.

With a Romney proposed cut in rates of 20% this couple’s “contribution” would be $81,060 plus 28% of the amount of AGI over $379,000. On the surface that looks like a big tax cut for a couple making a combined salary of over 7 times the average household income which is now just over $50,000 per year or 10% below its high.

Limiting the amount of itemized deductions allowable will in most cases change that. In order to investigate what would have to happen for Mr. Romney’s claim to be possible a simple Excel spreadsheet was created with variable deduction limitations. A further assumption was made that the average high earning couple currently has a total of 25% of gross earned income in deductions.

A number of iterations were conducted and the magic number for the deduction limitation came out to be $49,357. That limitation guarantees that a couple with gross earnings of $500,000 or above with deductions of 25% of earnings with not ever pay less taxes that they would have paid under the current tax rules and rates. Furthermore those who earn above $500,000 per year pay more in income taxes that they would under the present system.

Couples with high earnings an deductions below the deduction limitation would get a tax break which seems in line with the intention of only limiting deductions that are actually used.
A couple earning $5 Million per year would see their taxes increase by 6.14% to $1,361,120 per year. In a rare and extreme instance where a couple earned $1 Billion they would see a tax increase of 6.8% to $279,961,120.

This analysis of course made no assumptions with regard to capital gains and only dealt with taxes levied on earned income which all Americans are subject to pay.
The conclusion with respect to the debate based pissing contest is that Romney is right. He can drop income tax rates 20% without redistributing money from the middle class to high wage earners.
A couple with an AGI of $50,000 under the Romney plan will see and income tax reduction of $1,500 based on the tax rate dropping from 15% to 12%.
Of course this does not balance the federal budget but it does simplify the tax code and go a long way toward leveling the playing field with respect to itemized deductions.

EVSC’s Medical Professions Academy to Host Informational Night, Open House

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The Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation’s Medical Professions Academy (MPA) will host an informational night for current eighth grade students, along with an open house for current MPA students, on Monday, Oct. 29. The informational night will begin at 6 p.m. and will take place in the Central High School Media Center. The event is open to any current eighth grade student and their parents, and will provide information on the courses included in the Medical Professions Academy and provide an opportunity for visitors to hear from current MPA students and tour MPA classrooms. After the informational session, an open house is scheduled for current MPA students and their families, beginning at 7:30 p.m.

The Medical Professions Academy, located at Central High School, is a half day program that utilizes courses through the nationally recognized Project Lead the Way program. Currently in its second year, MPA allows students to explore professions in the medical field through an integrated and interdisciplinary course of study involving English, Principles of Biomedical Science, biology, and technology. In addition to course work, students learn through hands-on activities, from local medical professionals, and from field experiences. The Medical Professions Academy is open to any student from the area entering school as a freshmen in the 2013-2014 school year.

For more information on the Medical Professions Academy, visit www.evscschools.com/mpa or contact Chris Gibson at 435-8292 or by email at christopher.gibson@evsc.k12.in.us.

Central High School to Host Candidates Day

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Central High School is continuing its tradition of hosting Candidates Day — a chance for area residents to hear candidates on the issues and to ask questions on Monday, Oct. 22, from 9-11 a.m. in Central’s auditorium. It is free and open to the public.
Candidates who have confirmed they will be in attendance and the office they are running for include:
• Larry Bucshon and Dave Crooks – 8th Congressional District
• Glenda Ritz – State Superintendent of Public Instruction
• Wendy McNamara and Trent Van Haaften – State Representative
• Vaneta Becker and Terry White- State Senate
• Suzanne Crouch – State Representative
• Annie Groves and Gary Gulledge – Coroner
• Susan Kirk and Rick Davis – Treasurer
• Maggie Lloyd and Keith Wallace – Judge of the Superior Court
• Barry Blackard and Brett Niemeier – Judge of the Superior Court
• Chris Walsh and Debbie Stucki – Clerk of the Circuit Court
• Clifford Holm and Z Tuley – County Recorder
• Jeff Mueller and Linda Freeman – Surveyor
• Angela Koehler Lindsey, Judy May, Mike Goebel, and Stanley Wheeler – County Council at Large

Although not a debate, candidates will have an allotted amount of time to speak and share their views and ideas. For more information, individuals can contact Jeff Johnson, social studies and world language department chair, at 435-8292, ext. 41302 .

Phillips Sentenced After Pleading Guilty to Child Molesting

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Evansville, IN – In August of 2012 Jacob A. Phillips, age 35, plead guilty to Child Molesting – Class A Felony and Two Counts of Sexual Misconduct with a Minor – Both Class B Felonies. Friday, October 19, 2012 Phillips was sentenced by Judge Robert Tornatta in Vanderburgh County Superior Court to 30 years for the Class A Felony Child Molesting and 10 years for each Class B Felony Sexual Misconduct with a Minor. Phillips time is to be served consecutively in the Indiana Department of Corrections.

Phillips was arrested in April 2010 after the victim and her relative went to Holly’s House to report the crimes which took place over a period of 9 years in Vanderburgh, Warrick and Posey Counties.

Phillips also plead guilty to two counts of Child Molesting in Warrick County regarding incidents that took place in Chandler with the same victim. For both counts, one a Class A Felony the other a Class C Felony, Phillips was sentenced to 35 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections. The judge made no determination as to whether that sentence should run concurrent or consecutive with sentencing in Vanderburgh County. Judge Robert Tornatta ruled that Phillips sentences in Warrick County and Vanderburgh County should run consecutive to each other.

Phillips awaits a trial and or sentencing in Posey County for additional charges stemming from incidents with the same victim.

For further information on the case listed above, or any pending case, please contact Carly Settles, director of public relations at 812.435.5688 or via e-mail at csettles@vanderburghgov.org

Gavel Gamut

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By Jim Redwine
COFFEE

I did not start drinking coffee until I was forty-seven when the first President Bush sent my son to the Iraq War. Some of you may recall how our country rallied to the war tocsin in 1990. News accounts were non-stop and full of fervent cries to eliminate our former ally from the Iraq-Iran War (1980 – 1990). Mainly our country was hoping to erase the memories of Vietnam.
Because our family had skin in the war it was much more than a flag waving game to us and other families similarly situated. In my family we would stay up all night watching and waiting for news with trepidation. Coffee went from an ill tasting curiosity to a close friend.
Then, when the second President Bush sent Jim off to find weapons of mass destruction, coffee became, as one of my favorite musicians Randy Pease sings, “my favorite drug”. I met Randy at the New Harmony coffee shop on the corner of Church and Main. He is originally from Evansville, but, as one of those coincidences that seem to just happen in coffee shops, he and I both attended Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. Randy’s song about another coffee house contains the “caffeine is my favorite drug” line and is worth your time and the price of a compact disc.
The New Harmony coffee house is run by Sara and Dave Brown. Dave has loaned me his two volume set of A Documentary History of the Indiana Decade of the Harmony Society 1814 – 1824. The books contain copies of letters and other documents of the Harmonists compiled by the editor, Karl J. R. Arndt. Many are letters from George and Frederick Rapp. By coincidence, on page 381 of Volume I there is a receipt dated August 27, 1817 from one David Brown evidencing that Frederick Rapp paid him $52.00 and 12 ½ cents for “nursing and funeral expenses” for another Harmonist member. There is no explanation for not paying the entire bill of $65.12 ½ cents. According to the bill, the nursing cost $5.00, the coffin cost $5.00, the plot cost $5.00 and digging the grave cost $2.00. We can look into the other curiosities found in the volumes over the next few weeks.
The coffee shop is like the description of a Paris café. As you sip caffeine you sometimes can have a series of near life experiences where things you have forgotten and things you only wish you had done mingle in a mélange of pleasant or lively conversations and quiet reflections. Perhaps whoever coined the phrase “Life begins at forty” started drinking coffee then too.

EFD to compete in Marathon Relay

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When Fire Chief Mike Connelly took office January 1st, he already had several pages of items he wanted to address. One of those was Firefighter Fitness. Fast-forward a few months… One evening after dinner at the Fire Station, Captain Eric Jamison and his crew where discussing the Chief’s Firefighter Fitness Initiative. Jamison and Private John Chapman supported the Initiative but wanted to do more and even set an example for the other 270 plus members of the Department.

Jamison and Chapman developed a plan and then enlisted the help of Privates Scott Weber and Shawn Wiethop (wee-top). The 4 of them are going to participate in the Community Health Network Marathon Relay in Indianapolis on October 20th. They even paid the $140 entry fee out of their own pockets.

This is an open class race which means there are no age groups and everyone races at the same time and for the same awards. The race starts at 7:30 AM. Weber will lead off the relay with a 5.0 mile leg, followed by Chapman with a 7.5 mile leg, Jamison with a 6.55 mile leg and then Wiethop will anchor with a 7.15 mile leg.

What’s also amazing about this fearless foursome is they all are department veterans with a minimum of 10 years and ALL of them are over 40 years old. Not exactly spring chickens. Now, not to count your chickens before they’ve hatched (pun intended), but the team has worked hard and their time is very competitive. The team is determined to bring home a medal and hopefully it will be GOLD.

EFD to Host Public Safety Fair

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Many times the community only gets to see members of Public Safety when they are responding to an emergency. The Evansville Fire Department and other Public Safety agencies want to showcase their equipment and services without the dangers and the situation of an actual emergency.

On Sunday October 21st, from noon to 4PM, many of Evansville’s Public Safety providers will have demonstrations and displays so the community can see how well these agencies are prepared when the need arises.

The Evansville Fire Department will include displays on Firefighting, Fire Prevention, Investigation, Disaster Preparedness, Vehicle Extrication, Hazmat, Dive Rescue, Rope Rescue and Confined Space Rescue.

Other agencies also participating in the Fair; Evansville Police Department, Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office, Indiana State Police, EMA, AMR, Deaconess Hospital, Red Cross, Safe Kids of Vanderburgh/Warrick Counties, the Mayor’s No Meth Task Force and Ohio Valley Search and Rescue.

There will be a Kids Combat Challenge Course set up to inspire our next generation of Firefighters. Car Seat Safety and Don’t Talk/Text & Drive information will be available. Come watch Mayor Winnecke and Police Chief Bolin wash a Fire Truck to “payoff” on the 2012 Guns & Hoses wager. The truck wash is scheduled to occur at noon.

Food and beverages will be provided by Firefighter’s Local 357.

The Fair will be hosted at EFD’s Administration Building, 550 SE 8th Street.

VANDERBURGH COUNTY FELONY CHARGES

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VANDERBURGH COUNTY FELONY CHARGES

This feature is sponsored by Chris Walsh For Vanderburgh County Clerk. Chris Walsh is a veteran county administrator that strongly supports our local law enforcement professionals . Chris Walsh is a candidate that possess a non-partisan attitude with a consumer friendly demeanor. Chris also stands against unification of city and county governments.
This ad paid for by the committiee to elect Walsh Clerk.

VANDERBURGH COUNTY FELONY CHARGES

This feature is sponsored by Chris Walsh For Vanderburgh County Clerk. Chris Walsh is a veteran county administrator that strongly supports our local law enforcement professionals . Chris Walsh is a candidate that possess a non-partisan attitude with a consumer friendly demeanor. Chris also stands against unification of city and county governments.
This ad paid for by the committiee to elect Walsh Clerk.

VANDERBURGH COUNTY FELONY CHARGES

Evansville, IN – Below is a list of felony cases that were filed by the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday, October 18, 2012.

Brandon Baker Theft – Class D Felony

Desmonz Fullilove Dealing in Cocaine – Class A Felony
False Informing – Class A Misdemeanor
Operating a Motor Vehicle Without Ever Receiving a License – Class C
Misdemeanor

Preston Hawes Intimidation – Class C Felony
Strangulation – Class D Felony
Battery – Class A Misdemeanor

Frank Jackson Possession of Marijuana – Class A Misdemeanor
(Enhanced to a Class D Felony due to Prior Convictions)
Operating a Vehicle as an Habitual Traffic Violator – Class D Felony

James Martin Possession of Methamphetamine – Class D Felony
(Habitual Substance Offender Enhancement)

Dearrios Miller Operating a Motor Vehicle as an Habitual Traffic Violator – Class D Felony

Gary Snelling Possession of Methamphetamine – Class D Felony

Jeremy Wood Theft – Class D Felony

For further information on the cases listed above, or any pending case, please contact Carly Settles at 812.435.5688 or via e-mail at csettles@vanderburghgov.org.

Under Indiana law, all criminal defendants are considered to be innocent until proven guilty by a court of law.
SENTENCE CHART

Class Range
Murder 45-65 Years
Class A Felony 20-50 Years
Class B Felony 6-20 Years
Class C Felony 2-8 Years
Class D Felony ½ – 3 Years
Class A Misdemeanor 0-1 Year
Class B Misdemeanor 0-180 Days
Class C Misdemeanor 0-60 Days

Tallahassee Florida Consolidation Study

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Florida State Universities assessment of the ramifications of City-County Consolidation

Excerpts from the FSU study to consolidate the City of Tallahassee and Leon County that has failed at the polls on four separate occasions:

“What makes renewed interest in consolidation difficult to explain is that consolidation efforts are costly and contentious and the attempts meet failure about three-fourths of the time. In addition, the collective benefits promised for consolidation have not always been evident.”

“This paper critically reviews arguments for consolidation of governments in metropolitan areas and the performance of consolidated governments. Based on this evidence we argue that communities pursue consolidation for political rather than economic reasons.”

“We find that arguments for consolidation are based on heresthetical strategies by supporters, not on its empirical consequences.”

“The general conclusion of extant research is that consolidation in practice has fallen short of its promise. Market theories for public goods have generated a body of empirical evidence indicating that decentralized government results in greater efficiency than consolidated government and offer an approach to democratic governance based in civil society (Oakerson, 1999).”

“Arguments for cost savings through economies of scale, reduced duplication of effort, and greater technical capacity in service provision have been largely discredited by empirical research in the last fifteen years.”

“Electoral participation in the greater Jacksonville-Duval County area declined significantly following the consolidation of Jacksonville into a metro government (Seamon and Feiock, 1995).”

“Manufacturing, retail, and service sector growth were not significantly different after consolidation and the growth patterns of consolidated counties were not statistically different from counties in the same state that not enacting the regional government reform.”

“City-county consolidation is not about efficiency, racial division, or even economic development. It is fundamentally about political losers trying to be winners and the current winners trying to prevent this turn of events.”

Please review the complete study on the following link.

Tallahasee Florida Consolidation Study

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