The Board of School Trustees of the Evansville Vanderburgh voted on Nov. 21, 2011, to approve a recommendation to make Office Max the sole vendor for office supplies for the EVSC through this school year. This process came about through work with the University of Southern Indiana and its contract for office supplies through Office Max.

The EVSC Cooperative Purchasing Organization (CPO), which has more than 70 member organizations benefitting from joint purchasing power, has formed a strategic partnership with the University of Southern Indiana’s Office of Procurement. This partnership will work to the benefit of both organizations. When advantageous, the University of Southern Indiana will take the lead with the CPO in the bidding process to further amplify the purchasing power of this alliance. In other cases, the CPO will have the opportunity to “piggy-back” on contracts and quotes that the University has access to through its buying networks. This will also lead to potential shared services and programs.

Earlier this year, the University of Southern Indiana sought competitive proposals for office supplies and service. Office Max was awarded a contract with USI, producing major savings and increased service. The University included a “piggy-back” clause and the EVSC Cooperative Purchasing Organization had the opportunity to accept the same pricing and service. “This will produce major hard dollar savings for EVSC and other CPO member organizations,” said Mike Raisor, EVSC executive director for operational excellence. “On copy paper alone, the EVSC estimates savings in excess of $26,000.”

There are also savings in the fact that the CPO was able to consolidate both office supplies and copy paper within one vendor. By being able to “piggy-back” off a legally executed request for proposal, the CPO was also able to forego the costly and time consuming bid process for not one, but two commodities. “As we go forward with our agreement to partner with the University of Southern Indiana the EVSC CPO will continue to save the costs associated with and decrease the amount of time to complete buying agreements when USI takes the lead in the bidding process and uses it’s staffing and resources,” Raisor added.

“We are pleased to be able to share the office supply negotiation work of our procurement office with EVSC so that they are able to take advantage of cost savings,” said Steve Bridges, assistant vice president for finance and administration. “Partnerships such as these are the cornerstone of success in times of financial constraint. Efficiency is critical for us to maintain our reputation as a great value in higher education with the lowest tuition costs of four-year public institutions in Indiana and even in a seven-state region. The office supply contract is an example of our efforts in this area and to share it is a win for all parties.”

November 15, 2011

Marion, Ind. – In May 2011, Vectren Corporation (Vectren) assembled a strategic partnership with the City of Marion, Ind., including representatives from City Hall, businesses, nonprofit organizations, educational institutions and faith-based communities, to develop a unified, collaborative approach for revitalizing economically-challenged neighborhoods.

“We reviewed a number of cities in Vectren’s service area before settling on Marion to jumpstart our company’s new emphasis on community sustainability,” said Vectren Vice President of Community Sustainability and President of the Vectren Foundation Jeff Whiteside. “This community has an outpouring of financial and volunteer support, which is essential to guiding this revitalization effort. Ultimately, Vectren’s investment in community redevelopment projects like this will create strong, sustainable communities, which are the core of growth and development for the state of Indiana.”

The partnership will officially launch with a community-wide presentation featuring national community organization and development expert, Jim Capraro. The Vectren-sponsored event will take place on Dec. 6 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Marion Public Library.

Capraro is chief executive officer of the Chicago-based Greater Southwest Development Corporation. Marion residents are invited to attend the presentation to learn more about how to mobilize resources to positively impact their respective neighborhoods in addition to learning more about the City and Vectren’s partnership and how Jim Capraro’s 35 years of community organizing and development experience will help provide direction for this effort.

“In the past few months, we have assembled a group of highly-engaged community leaders and residents to ensure this community revitalization effort is a success, and we’re hopeful even more will be a part of this initiative,” said Jacquie Dodyk, executive director of Marion’s Affordable Housing & Community Development Corporation. “Although the key strategies to enable this holistic revitalization are still materializing, we’re looking forward to improved neighborhoods throughout our city and appreciate Vectren being a catalyst for this endeavor.”

About Vectren

Vectren Corporation (NYSE: VVC) is an energy holding company headquartered in Evansville, Ind. Vectren’s energy delivery subsidiaries provide gas and/or electricity to more than one million customers in adjoining service territories that cover nearly two-thirds of Indiana and west central Ohio. Vectren’s nonutility subsidiaries and affiliates currently offer energy-related products and services to customers throughout the U.S. These include gas marketing and related services; coal production and sales; and energy infrastructure services.

To learn more about Vectren, visit http://www.vectren.com.

Source: Vectren Corporation

City County Observer Request

Joe Wallace, Publisher
City County Observer
218 Rosemarie Court
Evansville, IN 47715
812 431-3877

November 22, 2011

Office of the Mayor of Evansville Indiana and the Evansville Redevelopment Commission

RECORDS REQUEST

Dear Records Request Officer:

Pursuant to the state open records act, I request access to and copies of all contracts, studies, requests for proposal (RFP), project labor agreements (PLA), terms of payment, estimates of savings, and other pertinent documentation associated with the recently announced agreement between the City of Evansville and/or its surrogates and Johnson Controls and its associated subcontractors and/or surrogates.

To be more specific the project that I refer to is the recently announced project worth approximately $50 Million that will pay for itself in savings and enhance the public WIFI, the intelligence gathering, the meter reading capacity of the City of Evansville. I also request any and all studies that indicate that the Evansville region will rise from its present 368th of 370 ranking to at least 92nd in the study that the Coalition commissioned with respect to internet connectivity.

I agree to pay up to $100 to cover the cost of copying the document.

If my request is denied in whole or part, I ask that you justify all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the act.

Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,

Joe J. Wallace

Joe Wallace, Publisher
City County Observer

City of Evansville Response:

November 22, 2011

Joe Wallace, Editor
City County Observer
218 Rosemarie Court
Evansville, IN 47715

Re: Public Records Request

Dear Mr. Wallace:

The Office of the Mayor received the written request (attached) that you submitted via email to the Mayor’s Office and Evansville Redevelopment Commission for “access to and copies of all contracts, studies, requests for proposal (RFP), project labor agreements (PLA), terms of payment, estimates of savings, and other pertinent documentation associated with the recently announced agreement between the City of Evansville and/or its surrogates and Johnson Controls and its associated subcontractors and/or surrogates” and, further, for “any and all studies that indicate that the Evansville region will rise from its present 368th of 370 ranking to at least 92nd in the study that the Coalition commissioned with respect to internet connectivity.”

This response to your written request is made pursuant to Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act, I.C.5-14-3 et seq. The Office of the Mayor and/or other City departments may have records that are responsive to your request and is in the process of retrieving and reviewing the necessary files. A response will be provided on or before December 20, 2011, to advise you of our findings. Pursuant to I.C.5-14-3-8, a fee for copying any records in response to your request may be charged to you and payment of such costs must be made prior to releasing copies of public records. It is understood that you agree to pay up to $100.00 to cover the cost of copying documents.

Regards,

Katy

Katy Nimnicht
Communications Director
Office of Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel
City of Evansville
One N.W. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
Civic Center, Room 302
Evansville, IN 47708

One of the discussion points in the coming discussion regarding the proposed Right to Work legislation in the State of Indiana will revolve around the use of Project Labor Agreements (PLA’s) in public works projects. There are many studies out there with both pros and cons and the City County Observer will be posting many of those and even case studies for the purpose of educating our readers on this subject.

A PLA was signed and adhered to in the construction of the Ford Center and is believed to be in place for the recently announced $50 Million project between the City of Evansville and Johnson Controls. A PLA is also a requirement for the eventual builder of any downtown Convention Hotel.

The executive summary of the study on the link at the bottom of the story follows.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Based on an extensive analysis of the literature, legal opinions, and Congressional testimony on the use of Project Labor Agreements (PLA’s) on public construction projects, as well as interviews with proponents and opponents of their use, the Research Bureau makes the following observations:

• Project Labor Agreements, which are prehire collective bargaining agreements setting the terms of employment on an entire construction project, have been increasingly pursued by unions working on public projects since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld their legality under Federal law in the Boston Harbor case (1993).

• PLA’s are not needed to secure “fair” wages to workers on public projects, since such wages are already guaranteed under “prevailing wage” statutes in Massachusetts and other states.

• The chief benefit that PLA’s on public projects offer to the public is a guarantee of labor harmony, i.e., a pledge to avoid strikes and speedily resolve interunion disputes during the course of the project (Occasionally, however, such pledges have been violated.)

• The guarantee of labor peace is evidently purchased at the price of reducing the opportunity for nonunion contractors to compete for work on a project, since even if they should be awarded such work, the contractors are then compelled to operate under union rules governing such matters as staffing requirements that undermine the economies that might ordinarily give such contractors an advantage. Thus PLA’s tend to constrict the number of bidders on a project compared with those without PLA’s, and are likely to reduce the savings to the public that would accrue if nonunion contractors who are employed were allowed to follow their customary methods.

• Additionally, PLA’s tend to discriminate against nonunion workers, by requiring them if they are hired on a project either to join the union or else to contribute agency fees to the union as well as pay into its benefit funds, from which they are unlikely to derive benefits themselves.

• Because most smaller contractors are nonunion, PLA’s tend to have a detrimental effect in particular on the opportunities available to small businesses.

• Under Massachusetts State court decisions, PLA’s are allowable under state competitive bidding projects only for projects of large scope and complexity. It seems doubtful that the City Manager’s recent decision to order PLA’s for the North and Vocational High School construction projects will meet this test.

Link to Study:

WRRB MA Project Labor Agreements on Public Construction Projects The Case For and Against

Time 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM
Subject DESIGN REVIEW
Location 318
Recurrence Occurs the fourth Tuesday of every 1 month effective 11/22/2011 until 11/22/2011 from 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM
Reminder 15 minutes
SARAH @ 7825
Categories ROOM 318

Time 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Subject VANDERBURGH ALCOHOL BOARD
Location 301
Recurrence Occurs the fourth Tuesday of every 1 month effective 11/22/2011 until 11/22/2011 from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Reminder 15 minutes
Scott Bedwell 812-882-1291
Categories ROOM 301

Time 4:00 PM – 4:30 PM
Subject SOLID WASTE DISTRICT BOARD
Location 301
Recurrence Occurs the fourth Tuesday of every 1 month effective 11/22/2011 until 11/22/2011 from 4:00 PM to 4:30 PM
Reminder 15 minutes
JOE BALLARD @ 7800
Categories ROOM 307

Time 4:00 PM – 4:30 PM
Subject SOLID WASTE DISTRICT BOARD
Location 301
Recurrence Occurs the fourth Tuesday of every 1 month effective 11/22/2011 until 11/22/2011 from 4:00 PM to 4:30 PM
Reminder 15 minutes
JOE BALLARD @ 7800
Categories ROOM 301, ROOM 307

Greetings from Lacy, a loving 1-year-old DSH. This cross eyed cricket is sure to bring a lot of love and joy into your home. Lacy loves the company of other cats but will do just fine in a home where she is the center of attention. She enjoys chasing toy mice and pouncing on paper sacks. Lacy has not lived with children but her laid back personality will fit quite nicely into a home with kids. She would prefer to find a home without a K9 companion as they make her just a tad bit nervous. For more information on how to make Lacy a member of your family, visit www.vhslifesaver.org or call (812) 426-2563.

North and Reitz high schools and Thompkins Middle School “We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution” teams advanced to the state competition after participating in the district competition held Nov. 15. North finished first in the high school competition with a score of 866. Reitz finished second with a score of 865 and qualified for the state competition through a wild card slot. Both teams will participate in the state competition scheduled for Dec. 18. Thompkins Team A completed the competition with a score of 843 and will compete at the state level on Dec. 17. Both middle and high school state competitions will be held at Plainfield High School in Plainefield, Ind., west of Indianapolis.

The program teaches young people about the principles and values that the Constitution and Bill of Rights embody, and aims to give students a thorough understanding of their rights and responsibilities as American citizens. The program forces students to analyze constitutional principles and apply them to day-to-day life.

A panel of judges test the expertise of the teams in various areas based on the We the People text designed for the competition. Students address topics such as the history and philosophical ideas underlying the Constitution; the development and expansion of the Bill of Rights; and the roles of citizens in American democracy.

Other schools who placed at the district competition, but did not automatically advance to the state level, include: Bosse High School that placed third, with a score of 733; Helfrich Park STEM Academy that placed third with a score of 803; and another team from Thompkins Middle School that came in fourth with a score of 799.