Home Blog Page 7027

IS IT TRUE May 11, 2012

25
The Mole #??

IS IT TRUE May 11, 2012

IS IT TRUE

the more the Earthcare Energy deal comes unraveled the more shocking and amazing it is to see the level of blatant arrogance and blinding ignorance has been exhibited since the day it was announced?…that yesterday we all learned that the City of Evansville had violated the closing conditions of its own contract with Earthcare by making a $200,000 loan in advance of the approval by the Evansville City Council?…today we have learned that the Economic Development Loan Committee was the conduit through which this loan was funded and that the meeting to approve an “advance” of $200,000 against an un-approved loan with VAPORWAREpledged as collateral happened within hours of the perfectly choreographed photo-op at the old Whirlpool building?…four of the eight voting board members of the Economic Development Loan Committee had clear conflicts of interest when they cast their votes of support for the $200,000 advance?

IS IT TRUE that Christine Keck is an employee of a subsidiary of Vectren Corporation that has had an interest in this loan going through from the beginning?…that the PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) between Vectren and Earthcare Energy has been touted as collateral for this loan from Day 1?…Ms. Christine Keck was clearly in conflict of interest when she cast this vote?…Debbie Dewey the president of GAGE and the most visible public proponent of the Earthcare Energy deal was also clearly in conflict of interest when she cast her vote along with GAGE board member Greg Wathen?…that City Council President Connie Robinson who has advocated for the Earthcare Energy deal from the beginning and who voted yes on the loan approval just three weeks later was perhaps the person with the most conflict of interest in the whole deal?…the question of whether or not the boards and elected bodies of Evansville have even a first grade understanding of the meaning of ethics?…it seems as though these people are completely oblivious to what is right and what is wrong in business and governance?…that Evansville will never ever have good public policy if we can’t even elect or appoint people who know the meaning of the word good?

IS IT TRUE if the people of Evansville continue to tolerate what is becoming an atmosphere of open abuse of privilege, conflicts of interests, and using public positions to further personal agendas that we get what we deserve?…that the actions of the public officials both elected and appointed on this project rival anything that has happened in Detroit, Chicago, Washington D.C., or in some small town in the south back in the 1950’s?…this is disgusting to the point that we should not wait until the next election to start replacing these people?…that this is so much worse than spending $3,500 on an Opus One fueled Christmas dinner that is makes one’s head spin?…the CVB board who wasted $3,500 was tarred and feathered by the public and former Mayor Weinzapfel for their deed and summarily dismissed?…that anything less with this board is a failure to provide good stewardship of the public dollars?…Mayor Weinzapfel was neither invited nor aware of the Opus One party but that Mayor Winnecke was fully aware of what was happening with Earthcare’s $200,000 advance?…that public apologies and dismissals are in order?

IS IT TRUE that in the case of our City Council President Connie Robinson it is time for her to step down or face whatever consequences that the rules of the Evansville City Council have available?…that being conflicted like this is not appropriate for a member of the council and are grossly inappropriate for the president?…that allowing Ms. Robinson to maintain her seat on council is to sanction these actions?…it is time for the people of Evansville and the non conflicted members to demand accountability?…we wonder if Evansville has the will as a city and a people to clean the mess that our elected and appointed officials have made, and we are not talking about litter?

FUNNY FRIDAY: “Cat vs Automatic Feeder”

0

Community Asked to Share Ideas on Ending Homelessness

4

(EVANSVILLE, IN)- The Commission on Homelessness invites all area residents to participate
in ending homelessness. Comments will help refine Destination: Home, the 10-year plan to end
homelessness in Evansville and Vanderburgh County and create permanent solutions to end
homelessness as we know it today.

“This is an amazing opportunity for Evansville – to have this caliber of national, state and local
experts focused on homelessness for an entire week has never happen here before,” said Luzada
Hayes, Resource Coordinator for Destination: Home. “Anyone who has ever had a thought about
what we, as a community, need to do about homelessness, this is your opportunity to make those
thoughts known. Everyone has some expertise to help end homelessness. Come join us. ”

Attendees will join discussions with national, state and local experts on core issues of
homelessness during “Charrette Week” based on the following schedule:

May 14
9:30 Welcome
10:00- 12:00 Discussions on increasing access to permanent housing
1:30- 3:30 Discussions on coordinated access and prevention
4:00- 6:00 Discussions on healthcare

May 15
9:45 Welcome
10:00- 12:00 Discussions on Re-Entry
1:30 – 3:30 Discussions on performance measures
4:00- 6:00 Discussions on homeless children and young adults

May 17
6:00- 8:00 Public Feedback Session – comment on the recommendations developed from discussions earlier in the week

May 21 11:00-12:30 Presentation of Final Recommendations
All sessions will be held on the University of Evansville campus, in the Ridgeway University
Center – rooms 251 & 252. Anyone not able to attend the session are welcome to send an email
with their comments to: connect@destination-home.info.

IS IT TRUE May 10, 2012

15


IS IT TRUE May 10, 2012

IS IT TRUEthe announcement that the Earthcare Energy deal was being placed into default for not performance on the part of Earthcare Energy was in political circles an orchestration of related and unrelated events to take full advantage of every natural and manufactured distraction that possibly could have been lumped together in time?…this announcement came at about midnight on election night in the home town of Richard Mourdock who became the first person from Evansville to win a Senate based election in over 50 years (Ellsworth was not opposed)?…a manufactured announcement of an economic development nature was perfectly timed to follow the Earthcare announcement by less than 10 hours?…there was hardly a waking hour that people only had the Earthcare announcement to ponder?…the choreography of the Earthcare vaporization announcement has only been exceeded in precision and grace by the filming of Mayor Winnecke’s “Go You Chicken Fat Go” video?

IS IT TRUE now that the announcement that most of the people of Evansville without blinders on knew was bound to happen it is time to do a post mortem analysis of just how did such a thing like this happen and how much will it really cost the people of Evansville in the end?…the first thing one must understand is that in spite of carefully chosen words of a terminal nature, this deal is NOT DEAD?…the reality of the February 28th document signed by Earthcare and the Mayor is that Earthcare legally has 30 days to cure any deficiencies?…the claim yesterday that it was a requirement to have a guarantee from the Department of Energy is not quite what the letter says?…the real language says that they have to be pursuing the DOE guarantee?…the real reason to put the deal into default as it turned out was the fact that Earthcare Energy has never produced a license with Langson Energy that they have represented to have had since day one?… the simple requirement to show that document and to be VETTED for having it prior to calling a press conference and announcing the deal would have saved Evansville 10 weeks of drama, an embarrassing vote at the now polarized City Council, and a whole bunch of money?

IS IT TRUE the Department of Metropolitan Development at some point loaned Earthcare Energy $200,000 and they now OWE THE CITY OF EVANSVILLE $184,000?…we wonder who authorized this loan and when that check was cut?…there are other costs that will come in as the post mortem continues through the next 30 days?…the City of Evansville has been paying Ted Ziemer for billable hours spent on the Earthcare project plus expenses?…there are other people on the payroll of the City of Evansville who have spent time on the Earthcare deal that could have been spent elsewhere?…the $184,000 that was handed to Earthcare is certainly at risk of never being paid but that we should not be surprised if the total cost of the FIRST NON-VETTING FIASCO OF THE WINNECKE ADMINISTRATION turns out to burn the people of Evansville for about $300,000 by the time all of the cash has been counted?…that if your amortize that over the 5 City Council members who voted for this without asking the obvious VETTING related questions that works out to $60,000 in losses of taxpayer dollars for every yes vote?…that Earthcare will go down in Evansville history as a failure to THINK AND VET on the same proportion as the McCurdy Hotel and the downtown Convention Hotel debacles of the Weinzapfel Administration?…this happened the same way, flushed a similar amount of money down the toilet, and for the same idiotic reasons?…that we wonder if the government of Evansville will ever learn to VET before hauling out the cameras?

IS IT TRUE the CCO is certain that there will be no post mortem analysis done by the City, the Courier, or any of the TV stations so we will attempt to carry that pail of water?…that today the CCO will be filing Freedom of Information Act requests with the Mayor, the City Controller, and DMD for all contracts and disbursements, or pending liabilities with respect to the Earthcare Energy project?…we know we won’t be told how much tax money GAGE spent on their part of this fiasco but we expect that is of Freedom Festival proportion as well?

Underground Railroad Traveling Trunk to Make Stop at Highland Elementary School

0

Thursday, May 10

10:45 a.m.

Highland Elementary School, 67001 Darmstadt Rd.

Students at Highland Elementary School are learning what slavery was like in the United States with the help of the Underground Railroad Traveling Trunk. The trunk, provided by a grant from Old National Bank, is on loan to Highland from Lyles Consolidated School in Lyles Station, Ind. (located near Princeton, Ind.) The trunk contains a pair of shackles, cotton, underground railroad quilt blocks, union and confederate coins, slave reward posters and many books. The trunk will help students learn first-hand about slavery in the United States and the African American struggle for freedom as they finish reading the book, Trapped Between the Lash and the Gun, tomorrow.

Trapped Between the Lash and the Gun is about a young boy who is transported back to the days of slavery and experiences what life was like on the plantation. As students finish the book tomorrow, they will use items from the trunk to help bring the story to life.

Highland is the first school to use the Underground Railroad Traveling Trunk, provided by Lyles School which is one of the last remaining African American settlements in the state.

Greenway Advisory Board Meeting – 5/14/2012

0

I. Call to Order

II. Minutes – April 9, 2012

III. Old Business – Greenway Update
a) Industrial Corridor – Boberg
a.Phase 4
b) Report on New Greenway Trails and Bike Lanes – Boberg
c) Report on Graffiti Removal Service Proposal – Boberg
d) Report on Trailhead Sign – Boberg
e) Update on Lights at Shirley James Gateway Plaza – Boberg

IV. ETC Report – Roberta Heiman

V. New Business
a) Approval for Cleaning of Graffiti at the Four Freedoms Monument – Boberg
b) Review and Approve New Trail Sign from the Southwestern Indiana Historical Society – Boberg
c) Any Other Business the Advisory Board Wishes to Discuss

VI. Adjourn

Councilwoman Stephanie Riley Releases Statement on Earthcare Default

9
3rd Ward City Councilwoman Stephanie Brinkerhoff-Riley

For Immediate Release
May 9, 2012
Contact Stephanie Brinkerhoff Riley, 812-499-3384

I am pleased that the City of Evansville has decided to walk away from the deal with Earthcare Energy. I commend Mayor Winnecke for doing the right thing. I don’t think he had a choice, given the research done by the City County Observer, Dan McGinn, and myself. The public reaction that followed was both justified and expected. Although I believed this project was suspect on its face, you didn’t have to get far beneath the surface to expose some serious issues.

I am hugely disappointed in the performance of GAGE in even suggesting the project, and for their complete failure in properly vetting the project. I frankly, question the future of the organization and why the City is contributing so much to its budget. The fact that Debbie Dewey has refused to report how much of the money the City is giving GAGE for her compensation, is enough to warrant looking at this entity at budget time. We would be better served to keep at least some of that money for City Council to have its own budget to perform the duties that GAGE was either unwilling or unable to do.

Evansville is now galvanized against making loans to start-up businesses and is skeptical about traditional incentive packages. If a group of entrepreneurs that really have the potential to be the next Intel or Apple were to apply for help today, it would be political suicide for Mayor Winnecke or any member of the City Council to support a loan to that business. This is unfortunately one of the consequences of poor vetting and rushing the vote. Hopefully, in time the Mayor and the City Council can regain the confidence of the people through transparency and competent performance.

Now we must find a way to recover the $184,000 that Earthcare owes to the taxpayers of Evansville. Let’s work together to make sure that there are no more vetting fiascos, and that Evansville is seen by the outside world as a competitive and desirable place to do business.

Mayor Winnecke Releases Reasons for Aborting the Earthcare Deal

15

Mayor Lloyd Winnecke stated today that Earthcare Energy failed to meet two of the requirements imposed by the City of Evansville and outlined in an agreement between the two parties.

Winnecke said today that Earthcare failed to apply for a loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy and went on to advise city attorneys that they had no intention to make such application.

The second requirement that Earthcare failed to meet was to make any license agreement with Langson Energy available to City of Evansville officials. In an effort to save the deal Earthcare officials stated to City Attorney Ted Ziemer that they were “going to get” a non exclusive license with Langson. Earthcare had previously claimed to have an exclusive license to manufacture the Langson Step Down Generators along with the assignment of a patent on the device. It was eventually learned through private channels that no patent existed.

The Mayor’s office has also disclosed that a $200,000 loan made by the City of Evansville to Earthcare Energy currently has an outstanding balance of $184,000. The Mayor expressed the opinion that he suspects that Earthcare will pay back the $184,000.

EARTHCARE ENERGY DEAL IS DEAD!

34

CITY OF EVANSVILLE
ONE N.W. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. BLVD.
EVANSVILLE, INDIANA 47708

OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
LLOYD WINNECKE

May 9, 2012
For Immediate Release
News Advisory

EVANSVILLE, IN – The City of Evansville has been working diligently to close the financing with EarthCare Energy, LLC. Due to the failure of representations, covenants and conditions incumbent upon EarthCare Energy, LLC under the letter of agreement between EarthCare Energy, LLC and the City of Evansville, dated February 28, 2012, the City has determined that it is unable to close the financing with EarthCare. Mayor Lloyd Winnecke will be available for comment today, Wednesday, May 9, at 9 a.m. in the Mayor’s Conference Room, room 302 at the Civic Center.

Ella Johnson-Watson
Director of Communications
Office of Mayor Lloyd Winnecke
812-436-4965 (office)
812-760-5089 (cell)

Vanderburgh County Tax Deadline is Thursday, May 10th

0

EVANSVILLE – The Vanderburgh County Treasurer’s Office is reminding Vanderburgh County property owners that Thursday, May 10, 2012, is the final day to pay the spring installment of property taxes. If your payment is late, a 5% penalty is imposed on your outstanding balance for the first 30 days following the deadline. After 30 days, that penalty increases to 10%.

Vanderburgh County Treasurer Rick Davis reminds local taxpayers about ongoing construction at the Civic Center that has seriously reduced the number of parking spaces available at the Civic Center.

“Although the parking lot construction has been covered extensively by the local news media, including TV, radio and the newspaper, people still forget about the lack of parking spaces and are having trouble finding a parking spot,” said Davis. “We’re trying to alleviate that problem by promoting other popular forms of payment, including paying at Old National Bank; mailing your payment; or using our handy drop box in front of the Civic Center.

“Of course, if you have a question or need to talk to someone in person, we will be glad to assist our taxpayers,” said Davis. “But for the folks who just want to make their payments and do not require personal assistance, I recommend they use an alternate form of payment this year in order to help prevent more serious parking issues for taxpayers who require assistance.”

Davis reminded taxpayers that the Civic Center will be closed on Tuesday, May 8, due to the Primary Election Day, and that Old National Bank branches will be open and available to accept payments. When paying at Old National Bank taxpayers must bring the statement that was mailed to them by the Treasurer’s Office in order for the bank to process the transaction. Payments will NOT be accepted at the bank once the due date has expired.

You may also mail in your payment to PO Box 77, Evansville, IN 47701-0077. As long as your envelope is POSTMARKED by May 10, 2012, you will avoid late fees.

The drop box is also available in front of the Civic Center 24 hours a day. Davis said the drop box will accept payments even after the Treasurer’s Office closes at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Taxpayers can drop their payments into the box until midnight without being assessed a penalty.

“As of Monday, we’ve had 6,315 envelopes deposited in the drop box since 2009, when it constructed and installed by Organized Labor – at no cost to taxpayers,” said Davis. “The drop box has been amazing as far as helping cut down lines at the front counter. It’s been a huge blessing to our office and taxpayers.”

Payments can also be made online by visiting www.vanderburghtreasurer.org by using any major credit card. There is a user fee of 2.75% to pay online. The website also accepts electronic checks (E-Checks) for a flat $3 fee.

Payments can also be paid using a credit card by mailing in credit card information on a form provided by the Treasurer’s Office with every bill mailed out. There is a 2.75% transaction fee to take advantage of this feature.

You may pay by phone using any major credit card. Call 1-800-2PAYTAX. You will need to provide the following “jurisdiction code” – 2405. There is a 2.75% transaction fee to take advantage of this feature.

New this year is the ability to use a MoneyGram at any local Wal-Mart or CVS. With this cash-only service, you will need to have your bill with you. You will need to use the code #2910 for Real Estate Properties or code $2909 for Mobile Home/Business Properties. There is a convenience fee established for that service ranging from $4.25 to $8.25, depending upon the amount of your property tax bill.

1...7,0267,0277,028...7,317Page 7,027 of 7,317