For the 18th consecutive year, regional artists participated in a juried exhibition entitled WORKING TOGETHER. Presented in memory of VIRGINIA B. LOWENTHAL, the July 30 – September 18 exhibition in the Museum’s Old Gallery is presented in cooperation with the Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana and the Evansville Museum of Arts, History, and Science. Juror for this year’s competition was Becky Allen, the Exhibitions and Programs Director at the Lexington Art League in Lexington, Kentucky.

The opening reception will be Saturday, July 30 from 6-8p.m.(CST), with the 10 awards being presented at 7 p.m. at the Evansville Museum. For complimentary reservations, please telephone 812-425-2406 no later than July 27, 2011.

This exhibition showcases 68 pieces of original artwork from artists in the Tri-State area. Visitors can view the art during Museum hours – Tuesday through Saturday 10am – 5pm, Sunday noon – 5pm. The exhibition will be on display through September 18, 2011.

CCO Exposed Cloak of Secrecy: Corrections Made Wednesday Morning

The City of Evansville and the Evansville Redevelopment Commission have removed the password restrictions that were recently placed on the agendas and minutes of their meetings. The City County Observer had previously reported on the fact that access had been denied to the public, to elected officials, and the media.

We thank and applaud the Weinzapfel Administration for its rapid response to this situation. We however wonder just what thought process ever concluded that restricting the public’s access to information that is owned by the public was the right thing to do.

We trust that this will not become an issue again.

Air quality forecasts are provided as a public service. They are best estimates of predicted pollution levels that can be used as a guide so people can modify their activities and reduce their exposure to air quality conditions that may affect their health. The forecasts are routinely made available at least a day in advance, and are posted by 10:30 AM Evansville time on Monday (for Tuesday through Thursday) and Thursday (for Friday through Monday). When atmospheric conditions are uncertain or favor pollution levels above the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, forecasts are made on a daily basis.

Ozone forecasts are available from mid-April through September 30th. Fine particulate (PM2.5) forecasts are available year round.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 20TH
Fine Particulate: Moderate
Ozone: Moderate
Ozone (peak 8-hr avg): 66-75ppb

Time 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM
Subject GIS TECHNICAL COMMITTEE
Location 318
Recurrence Occurs the third Wednesday of every 1 month effective 7/20/2011 until 7/20/2011 from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM
Reminder 15 minutes
Laura Howell @ 5071
Categories ROOM 318

Time 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM
Subject BLOOD PRESSURE SCREENING/FREE
Location MAIN HALL 1ST FLOOR
Recurrence Occurs the third Wednesday of every 1 month effective 7/20/2011 until 7/20/2011 from 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM
Reminder 15 minutes
435-5015 HEALTH DEPT
Categories EVENTS

Time 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Subject CRIMINAL JUSTICE PLANNING
Location 318
Recurrence Occurs the third Wednesday of every 3 months effective 7/20/2011 until 7/20/2011 from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM
Reminder 15 minutes
SHERYL @ 421-6296
Categories ROOM 318

Time 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Subject PARKS BOARD
Location 301
Recurrence Occurs the third Wednesday of every 1 month effective 7/20/2011 until 7/20/2011 from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM
Reminder 15 minutes
GLENN BOBERG @ 6141
Categories ROOM 301

Time 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Subject DEFERRED COMP
Location 318
Reminder 15 minutes
DIANNA WEBB
WEBBD@NATIONWIDE.COM
Categories ROOM 318

UPDATE: PASSWORD RESTRICTIONS REMOVED WEDNESDAY MORNING

http://city-countyobserver.com/2011/07/20/erc-removes-password-restriction-on-public-information/

Password Now Required to View Minutes of Public Meetings: City Councilman Denied Access

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

In an unexpected and astonishing move the agendas and minutes of the Evansville Redevelopment Commission have be password protected. This action had to have taken place between Sunday July 17, 2011 and Tuesday July 19, 2011. This fact was made known to the City County Observer by through a comment placed under our article regarding the Executive Inn Dilemma. Upon notification, we tried to access the minutes of the May 4, 2011 meeting as we always do and were denied access because we do not have a password.

We contacted Evansville City Councilman John Friend by telephone regarding the password protection option that has been enabled. Councilman Friend then attempted to access the same information and was also denied access. Councilman Friend was somewhat astonished that such an action had been taken and committed to contact both Matt Arvay, the Chief Information Officer for the City of Evansville and Mayor Weinzapfel about the situation.

We have also confirmed the password protection as being applied to over a dozen of our Moles, friends, and candidates for office that no one is being granted access. No one has expressed any reaction other than outrage and amazement that such a move was taken.

Minutes taken at public meetings are public property. If redactions are necessary to protect any personal information then there is a period of time after the minutes are approved and before they are posted to the web or otherwise made available to the public for redactions to be completed.

As the Federal Reserve Board reported to Congress in the context of financial information: “[I]t is the freedom to speak, supported by the availability of information and the free-flow of data, that is the cornerstone of a democratic society and market economy.”

Indiana University Professor of Law Fred Cate and Richard J. Varn, the Chief Information Officer of the State of Iowa wrote in a paper titled The Public Record: Information Privacy and Access,

“The law has traditionally balanced access and data privacy by providing for disclosure of all information held by the government, except where such disclosure would offend a specific, enumerated privacy interest.”

The most recent minutes of the Evansville Redevelopment Commission that are posted are for the May 4, 2011 meeting. That is a full 10 weeks ago. This is too long for the posted minutes to languish while waiting for someone to spend 3 minutes and post them. Deliberate restriction of public information from the public is oppression of information and undermines the spirit of the Constitution of the United States. There is no place for oppressive policy in local government. This is bad public policy and quite possibly unconstitutional.

The City County Observer in the name of transparency and constitutionality demands that the City of Evansville and the Evansville Redevelopment Commission remove the password protection from a requirement to view published public records. We furthermore invite the other members of the media to join with us in this demand.

The dark days of elected members of the Evansville City Council having to file Freedom of Information Act requests to be given financial documents and the people of Evansville having to be granted passwords to access information that they paid for must come to an end. This is not acceptable.

Here is a link to the access page, click on any date and you can see for yourself that the password restriction is still in place. If you find this offensive please contact the Mayor, your City Council member, and the Redevelopment Commission.

http://www.evansvillegov.org/Index.aspx?page=277

Link to Professor Fred Cate and Richard Varn’s paper:

Public_Record

IS IT TRUE that on first blush it seems as though regardless of whether the Kunkel Group or Prime Lodging LLC are chosen to go forward with the new Downtown Convention Hotel that the grand opening will not occur before 2013 and that it is highly probable that this grand opening will be roughly two years from right now?…that the estimates of the time to get to a fully vetted decision and for the necessary loans to fund is about 6 months?…that given the similarity of the bids with respect to number of rooms, height of building, cost to construct that either company will take about 18 months from the time the project commences to opening day?…that the CCO would like to suggest July 4, 2013 and are looking forward to the opening?…that some preliminary vetting efforts are starting today?

IS IT TRUE that speaking of spending public money that while our Congress is in Washington DC shaking fists at one another in a marathon cage fight to decide just how much to raise the nation’s debt limit, that back home in Indiana a surplus of over a Billion dollars was just announced?…that whether you are from the “My Man Mitch” crowd or the “Ditch Mitch” crowd that we all should take pride in the fiscal accomplishments of Governor Daniels Administration?…that running a surplus in a contracting economy takes diligence on a daily basis, innovation, and the willingness to sacrifice today for the future?…that all Hoosiers should be pleased and proud of how our state has responded to the economic malaise of the last 3 years?

IS IT TRUE that the Evansville Redevelopment Commission has placed a password requirement on the website for reading the minutes of their meetings?…that the minutes of these meetings are public information and should be easily available to the general public?…that as the entire country progresses toward transparency that the Evansville Redevelopment Commission has decided to put password protection on access to the minutes of public meetings?…that it is bad enough that the minutes are typically not posted until they are 2 months old?…that intentionally withholding minutes of public meetings from the public in a read only format has a very high probability that some very negative consequences may occur for those who are involved?

IS IT TRUE that in a short 111 days we will all know whether it will be Lloyd Winnecke or Rick Davis who will become the Mayor that will assume responsibility for executing the decisions that are playing out right now?…that that there are 165 days remaining in the Weinzapfel Administration?…that the latest extension in the four year saga of the McCurdy start date expires in 11 days?…that the Evansville Redevelopment Commission should take a page from its own playbook and rescind this agreement on the basis of non-performance?…that if the ERC had not done that very thing with respect to Woodruff Hospitality LLC that the downtown Convention Hotel would still be in perpetual limbo?…that even though we are 2 years behind schedule with the hotel project that at least some positive momentum is being gained?…that we should all cross our fingers for a vetting process that works and leads to a grand opening in 2013?

IS IT TRUE that just as the CCO predicted when the “Competitive Realities” study was released that a seminar has been held and that at least one of the speakers has hatched a theory that our weaknesses really are an indicator of strength?…that most of the reports from the seminar do however support the assertion that the weaknesses are a source of valuable information to be used to change for the better?…that change for the better is a concept that we enthusiastically support?…that to change that which is bad first requires one to acquire the knowledge of what is bad, then to accept that conclusion, followed by actions to correct the problem?…that we wish Greg Wathen and his team much good fortune in stamping out the bad through positive action?

County by County and State by State Population Data

http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/map?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=thab1

IS IT TRUE? July 20, 2011

IS IT TRUE that the Evansville Redevelopment Commission has placed a password requirement on the website for reading the minutes of their meetings?…that the minutes of these meetings are public information and should be easily available to the general public?…that as the entire country progresses toward transparency that the Evansville Redevelopment Commission has decided to put password protection on access to the minutes of public meetings?…that this is one of the most oppressive actions that one could ever even consider to take if public information is wanted to be hidden from the general public?…that City County Observer poster Beerguy alerted us to this fact?…that we went to the website that contains the minutes of the Evansville Redevelopment Commission yesterday and that the public information was freely available to the citizens of the United States of America?…that Evansville, Indiana is an entitlement community and is very pleased to cash the CDBG checks that the people of the United States send to the community?…that maybe the people who issued and executed the orders to place password protection upon the minutes of public meetings need to be tutored in the laws of the American Republic?

IS IT TRUE that the First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights?…that the first amendment prohibits the making of any law “respecting an establishment of religion,” impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances?…that putting password protection upon access to meetings that were held in buildings paid for with public money, where people sat in chairs paid for with public money, discussing business that allocates the spending of public money, and freely accepts the public (probably against the will of the powers that be) into these meetings is potentially a violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States and the “Sunshine Laws” of the State of Indiana?

IS IT TRUE that there are things that local government does that can be classified as stupid?…that there are things in local government that can be classified as misinformed?…that there are things in local government that can be classified as obstructive?…that there are things in local government that can be classified as SNEGAL (sneaky but legal)?…that restriction access to public information in this manner is not an acceptable way to provide stewardship over the people of Evansville’s money?… that actions like this are the reason that the Freedom of Information Act was passed by Congress at the admonishment of President Lyndon Johnson on July 4, 1966?

IS IT TRUE that this oppression of public information is not an acceptable way to live?…that whomever did this or whomever ordered this done is not the kind of person that should work for the public?…that whether this action was ordered and executed by an appointed, hired, or elected official that the entire chain of command need to be asked to resign by the Evansville City Council?

IS IT TRUE that the minutes of the Evansville City Council are not password protected?…that this reeks of selective oppression?…that once again this is not acceptable from supposedly servants of the City of Evansville?…that we call upon every media outlet, every student of journalism, and every citizen of this community who believes in government transparency to call upon the Weinzapfel Administration that is the responsible party for this oppression of public information to remove this oppressive violation of the United States Constitution?

Grafton offers Business Tested Ideas for Improvement

During the course of running a business, managers, and entrepreneurs are frequently challenged to enter into win-win contracts to both buy and sell their products and services. Over the course of my business life I have found that “a good deal with the wrong person is not a good deal at all”. I have also found that a purchase order with a person or company that does not have the means to pay for the goods is not an order that should be accepted.

The difficulty that the Evansville Redevelopment Commission has encountered in securing a hotel developer that meets the same criteria that my businesses required in our contracts is rooted in the failure to do the up-front work that it takes to establish the basis for a business relationship. The word “vetting” has become the buzzword of the summer in Evansville simply because it has not been done.

Sufficient time is required to make a significant acquisition of capital equipment. This particular RFP was selectively published with a 2 week timeframe to respond. That is not sufficient to arouse the interest of enough potential developers. The other mistake was made by defining the incentive package that the City of Evansville was offering instead of letting the developers craft responses that will work financially for them. As a result there were no positive surprises and the two expected proposals showed up as expected. In a way the short time frame and the limited exposure vetted every potential developer in the entire country right out of the process. Now we only have two choices for a very significant project.

To complicate things we now have elected officials literally begging appointed officials to let them assist with the vetting process. Simple vetting like checking of credit, asking for and confirming trade references are common actions taken in running a business. We do this at my business and the ERC should have at least done the easy part.

There should be elected officials involved in the decision and the process. As a member of the Evansville City Council, I pledge to promote processes that are isolated from politics and to demand transparency when public money is committed. The people of Evansville have earned and deserve the courtesy of good public policy and transparent governance.