IS IT TRUE that tomorrow night, November 28, 2011 there will be a hearing of the Indiana Utilities Regulatory Commission at THE CENTRE beginning at 5:30?…that the topic of discussion is the proposed “dense pack” project and the way that Vectren is proposing to finance it?…that this meeting is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC and that the PUBLIC WILL BE ALLOWED TO SPEAK?…that those who complain that the IURC is a rubber stamp group that never comes to Evansville and won’t listen to regular people need to make a point to be at this meeting?…that this is an opportunity to start an education process between the IURC, Vectren, and the people of Evansville that should have started many years ago?

IS IT TRUE that the Evansville City Council has a regularly scheduled meeting that conflicts with the IURC meeting?…that as the governing body of the City of Evansville that each and every member of the Evansville City Council and the Council members elect all should be at this meeting looking after the interests of their constituents?…that if that takes rescheduling the City Council meeting to do so then that is what should be done?…that the same goes for all Vanderburgh County elected officials?

IS IT TRUE that the proponents of the Vision 1505 project to convert the old Safe House into a permanent homeless shelter are patting themselves on the back again?…that to the extent that the homeless need a place to sleep the CCO thinks such efforts are worthy of charitable organizations?…that we continue to assert that PAYING $240,000 PER APARTMENT IN CONSTRUCTION COSTS in a market that has plenty of apartments available in the free market at LESS THAN $20,000 EACH is government waste of the highest order?…that there are more than enough empty apartments and abandoned houses in Evansville that will serve the homeless well for a rent check of under $500 per month?…that the Vision 1505 project is the equivalent of paying $240,000 each for 33 $20,000 cars for carless people?…that even when a project is a nice thing to do that runaway waste of public dollars is not the right thing to do?…that somewhere on the east side there is a group of 33 single family homes that are currently occupied by their owners that would gladly accept $240,000 for their houses that have market values of far less?…that this project is the local poster child for government waste and actually makes the FRONT DOOR PRIDE program look intelligent?…that for those of you who have forgotten that program builds for $200,000 to sell for $100,000 which is a lot better than building for $240,000 to create value of $20,000?…that restoring sanity to the federal government needs to start at home by rejecting projects of massive waste?

IS IT TRUE that the readers of the City County Observer believe by a 4 to 1 majority that no “viable” hotel deal will be struck before the Weinzapfel Administration leaves office?…that these same readers believe by a 2 to 1 margin that Mayor Elect Lloyd Winnecke should have veto power over any financial deals struck by the Weinzapfel Administration during its last days in office?…that without an affirmative recommendation by Hunden Strategic Partners that any deal that may be entered into is not “viable” anyway so let the games continue?

IS IT TRUE that if a scholarly study on the performance of the consolidation of the City of Louisville and Jefferson County government is not front page news in Evansville, IN then the CCO wonders what on earth would merit front page news?…that yesterday the Louisville Courier Journal reported that the consolidation of governments in Louisville which was the first major consolidation in a couple of decades had utterly failed in every category?…that this was buried on the Henderson Gleaner website and that the City County Observer was the only other local publication that carried it until a comment went up calling the Courier and Press’ failure to cover it as “sick”?…that about 20 minutes later the story was posted on the CP site and that today it is buried in the middle of the paper so a story about Mater Dei fans can grace the front page?…that consolidation is the most important topic on the 2012 ballot for local affairs and that every scholarly study about consolidation and especially Louisville’s should always be covered and done so prominently?…that we bet if the results would have been glowing that they would have been right on the front page?

IS IT TRUE that there were about a dozen emails touting getting something FREE in the old inbox this morning?…that in every case there was small print of some kind or a fee to get it FREE clause that caused them to make sense?…that the only FREE offering that did not have some fine print qualification was from a wayward Princess of a third world country that needed help getting some $10 Million out of a secret bank account?…that we all know that is a scam?…that so goes the thought process on the $51 Million deal that the City of Evansville has signed with Johnson Controls?…that there has to be a catch somewhere and that the CCO has filed a Freedom of Information Act request to learn exactly how the cash flow diagram will look and whose cash if fueling it?…that in searching for other places that have taken Johnson Controls up on this we found some but not a large number?…that the sparseness of implementation also raises one’s eyebrows?…that if there is any group in America that is adept at getting free stuff it is local governance and Mayors?…that if this deal was really a $51 Million for nothing deal that we would expect to find that thousands of cities across America would have this in place or in process?…that we anxiously await the contract and will make it available to anyone who wants it including the other media outlets who seem to be falling for the third world Princess’ offer?…that the CCO was not invited to the official press briefing about the FREE $51 deal?…that we expect that the Weinzapfel Administration that called the meeting wanted nothing to do with answering the questions about cash flow that they know full well would have happened?

IS IT TRUE that the CCO is very proud of the accomplishments of the Mater Dei Wildcats football team?…that we are even proud of how close they kept yesterday’s state championship game against Fort Wayne Bishop Luers (or Fishing Lures as we were calling then while watching)?…that sometimes in sport, mathematics, acting, and even literature one runs across a competitor that is just so much more talented that victory is of extremely low probability?…that Fort Wayne Luers looked like a Division II college team as opposed to a high school team?…that the natural talents of speed and size were complemented by focus and good coaching?…that our well coached and focused but out-manned Wildcats had about as much of a chance to beat Luers as the Indiana Hoosiers would have against LSU and for the same reasons?…that the #1 ranked high school football team in America is Louisville Trinity that knows as Bishop Luers does that speed and size are the ticket to a dynasty of championships?…that Trinity beat the #1 ranked in 4A in Indiana team from Cathedral by a score of 36-14?…that in all likelihood Trinity would beat Fort Wayne Bishop Luers by a similar score or more because of the talent superiority?…that Mater Dei, UE, and all of the other Evansville schools and even businesses will have to realize that, accept it, and do something about about the talent gap to compete on those levels?…that until then we will continue to express pride in teams like the Mater Dei Wildcats who truly did their best against a superior opponent?

IS IT TRUE that the Weinzapfel Administration chose the afternoon of the Wednesday before Thanksgiving to announce that “no significant developments” have occurred in the now three month vetting process to determine if the RFP for the downtown Convention Hotel will end with success?…that the City County Observer wonders what in the daylights “no significant developments” really means?…that could mean that the vetting is not complete?…that could mean that it is complete and that the Weinzapfel Administration did not get the answer they were wanting to hear?…that it could mean that neither proposal passes muster?…that it could mean that the VETTING company like Klenck Construction has not been paid and is holding on to their study?…that it most certainly means that the Weinzapfel Administration and the current Evansville Redevelopment Commission have no business making an affirmative decision to go forward with this project?…that whatever mess this VETTING study uncovers should be left for the Winnecke Administration as they will have to live with it and pay for it?

IS IT TRUE that these proposals could easily have been VETTED in less than one month if all of the information needed to VET them was in their packages?…that if the pertinent information was not in their bid packages that should disqualify them anyway unless it was a minor detail?…that it is our belief that both packages have been complete for well over a month now?…that the Weinzapfel Administration and the ERC seem to be determined to continue their John McCain imitation when it comes to VETTING?…that VETTING a person for Vice President of the United States that is a heartbeat from the White House is EXPECTED to take only a week or so yet the ERC has let this drag on for three months?…that at this point we really wonder what is being hidden because there is no way that it could really take this long to VET two proposals?

IS IT TRUE that if the Weinzapfel Administration does something that is incredibly stupid or moves forward with any course of action that is not validated by a recommendation by Hunden Strategic Partners that the first act of the Winnecke Administration should be to terminate the agreement?…that the first step to make that happen will be for the current Evansville City Council to deny to fund the project until after the Winnecke Administration has been installed to govern Evansville?…that the City Council is the governing body that must be counted on not to be railroaded into any stupid course of action?…that 5 of them are coming back and will have to deal with the actions of a lame duck council that has been known for wearing puppet strings during their incumbent terms?

IS IT TRUE that when we all get back together for an ERC meeting that it appears highly probable that City Centre Properties LLC will not have paid their taxes and that the deadline of November 30, 2011 will have lapsed?…that we are guessing that given the depth of the hole the ERC has dug for itself that an extension will be granted whether the taxes are paid or not?

IS IT TRUE that the new CEO of the Evansville Convention and Visitors Bureau has been quoted as saying that “the lack of a hotel had left attracting larger events to The Centre convention facility on a back burner”?…that we wonder just how much this continuing debacle has actually cost THE CENTRE as even being considered to be a viable convention destination and how many years it will take to correct this colossal mistake?…that the City of Evansville should pay Vanderburgh County for the failures and lost revenue from their non-baked, non-planned failures?