IS IT TRUE that the City of Evansville Department of Water and Sewer has placed a new and rather extortive weapon in their debt collection arsenal?…that recently landlords who live in the area served by the City of Evansville who have rental properties that the tenants have failed to pay the water bill for are being threatened with having their personal water turned off unless they pay the overdue amounts that their tenants stiffed the water department for?…that in the cases that we are aware of the landlords had no prior knowledge of the situation regarding their tenants defaults and that letters went out last week giving unsuspecting landlords only a week to make good or lose their own water service?…that this is an insulting program to local landlords, is not even legal for Vectren to do, and will drive even more of the rental properties in the City of Evansville into abandonment?…that the way this happens is a) landlord rents to tenant, b) tenant gets water turned on in THEIR NAME, c) tenant does not pay water bill, and d) City of Evansville threatens landlord with termination of service on other properties and gives them one week to pay?…that we predict that this insane policy will drive landlords away from the City of Evansville and will in the long run even drive some residents out?…that it seems as though BIG BROTHER from George Orwell’s 1984 has taken over the City of Evansville?

IS IT TRUE that this practice needs to cease and desist immediately unless the intentions of the City of Evansville is to make the 10,000 already abandoned homes in the City look unattractive to any investor at any time?…that idiotic practices like this are a great way to expand Detroit like conditions of mile after mile of blight with no prospect of ever cleaning it up?…that this practice is brought to us by the same local government that after 3 months of shame cannot even manage to clean a pile of debris at 600 East Franklin Street that has been widely publicized?…that the insanity never seems to stop emanating from the Civic Center?

IS IT TRUE that the pre-hearing that was scheduled for today in Indianapolis regarding the Vectren request to increase the fee to ratepayers for installation of the dense pack technology has been CANCELLED?…that the reason for this CANCELLATION is the fact that the November 28th hearing on the same topic will be in Evansville and having redundant meetings is not necessary?…that this is a big win for the people of Evansville and also for the Vectren Corporation?…that Vectren was the object of affection of a group of about a dozen marchers from the Occupy Evansville group yesterday?…that is a small fraction of the 150 people who marched around the Vectren Building back on October 15th?…that environmental advocate John Blair was quoted then as stating how difficult it is for protest movements of any kind to get any traction in Evansville due to the fact that locals are raised not to disrupt the status quo?…that in other news regarding Vectren, we have word from the young lady who got the unwelcome surprise of a back bill over a defective meter?…that Vectren has admitted that they made an error, is speaking respectfully with her, and that it looks like a fair compromise may be in the near future?…that when this happens you shall know?…that if it does not then you shall know as well?

IS IT TRUE that another endorsement from a place that is certainly not known for endorsement of Republican candidates has now broken for Lloyd Winnecke?…that the local newspaper that reports mostly on African American issues known as OUR TIMES has published an extensive endorsement for the Republican candidate for Mayor of Evansville?…that the endorsement states that “when City Councilwoman Connie Robinson cast her lot with Republican Winnecke we have no choice but to follow her lead”?…that as much as the CCO is against people using endorsements to tell them how to vote we are sort of flabbergasted that a legitimate publication would ever make any endorsement based on the preferences of any elected official?…that the day that the New York Times justifies an endorsement of one politician by the desires of another politician that all credibility will be lost?… the that you may read the endorsement on the following link and see for yourself?

http://www.winneckeformayor.com/files/2011/10/Our-Times-Endorsement.pdf

IS IT TRUE that the Davis for Mayor campaign has informed us that they received notification yesterday that two expenses had been paid for them by the Indiana State Democratic Party?…that $12,315 was paid to Buying Time Media and that $8,929.83 was paid to Putnam Partners both of the Washington DC area for ads and media production?

IS IT TRUE? October 24, 2011

IS IT TRUE that with all of the hoopla and negative campaigning that is going on in the race to become Mayor of Evansville that the City County Observer would like to redirect some energy away from the game of “pin the tail on the donkey” that seems poised to start playing itself out and attempt to start a dialog on governance?…that neither Mr. Davis nor Mr. Winnecke has a bag of magic dust to throw at Evansville’s problems?…that the ingredient other than the obvious ingredient of cash on hand that both will have to address will be the retention and attraction of major league talent to their immediate staff?…that another issue will be how to get people of talent to agree to sit on boards through appointments?…that if the truth is told the Mayor of Evansville or any city is only as good as the people that can be attracted to public service?

IS IT TRUE that both candidates have expressed their intention to replace both the Fire Chief and the Chief of Police?…that there are other department heads that may be set to roll as well?…that both candidates have expressed dissatisfaction with the Front Door Pride program, the state of decay in the Evansville Parks, the potholes in our roads, and of course the Combined Sewer Overflow issue?…that we wonder if that set of problems will result in another four department heads rolling with the new administration?…that for every head that rolls for whatever reason a new head will have to be hired?…that one thing is for certain and that is any department that is currently a mess was presided over by a head that may be rolling?…that discontentment with a program such as Front Door Pride may not be the fault of the lieutenant that carried out the action plan at all?…that if you do not like the fact that Front Door Pride houses are too expensive for the neighborhood and are languishing on the market it is the architect of the program that needs to be blamed and not Mr. Tom Barnett who seems to be a very good executive when it comes to carrying out his orders?…that in some cases the department heads should not roll but in others they should.

IS IT TRUE that it is time for candidates Davis and Winnecke to start discussing who and how they will be considering as candidates to fill key positions?…that Mr. Winnecke has rightfully been adamant that “being nice” matters?…that to achieve “niceness” will take a certain personality type in positions that interact with the public and that personality type is most often referred to as “amiable”?…that if there are positions that should be staffed by “amiable” people that are currently staffed by “controllers” that some lesser heads may need to roll too?…that of the four basic personality types only the “amiable” ones will be able to be counted on to project the new “nice” image that Mr. Winnecke has stated that he desires the face of the City of Evansville to be?…that the deck at the Civic Center certainly needs to be shuffled and in many cases some of the cards need to be discarded for either candidate to achieve their goals?…that we wonder if either of them has really thought this through and would welcome position papers on how to hire the best people and who their most valuable people under consideration are right now?

IS IT TRUE that Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel has been portrayed by multiple insiders as “livid” over the State Democratic Party’s decision to bankroll the Davis for Mayor campaign in the last two weeks of the election?…that what Mayor Weinzapfel may really be torque off about is the fact that according to the 2010 Itemized Expenses of the “Weinzapfel for Mayor” Campaign is listed a total year to date expense of $194,214 to the Indiana State Democratic Party?…that it seems as though they willingly accepted this money from the Mayors re-election campaign and are now investing it in the campaign of the candidate for Mayor of Evansville who won the Democratic primary, Rick Davis?…that the money being invested in advertising on behalf of Mr. Davis is focused completely on the secret meetings held in Mayor Weinzapfel’s office to remove the Homestead Tax Credit from the people of Vanderburgh County?…that in a very real way Mayor Weinzapfel paid this one forward by sending $194,214 to the state party coffers last year?…that we also hear that the state party Chair is not returning phone calls from Mayor Weinzapfel?

IS IT TRUE that the official press release from the Indiana State Democratic Party has finally been made available and that the reasons for speculation on the reasons for their heartburn with the Democrats of Evansville is finally published?…that straight from the horse’s (State Party Chair Dan Parker) mouth comes yet another scathing of Republican Candidate for Mayor Lloyd Winnecke?…that as campaigns go this is a continual pounding of the same negative drum that many people are growing deaf too down here in the Pocket City?…that if the real facts are to be known that Mr. Winnecke or one of the other Republicans that were carefully handpicked for an invitation to that secret meeting needs to give us a real blow by blow analysis of what really happened and how on earth that many people could have lost their memory?…that this is the time for Mr. Winnecke to put a stake in the ground and to name names about that April Fool’s meeting?…that for the Indiana Democratic Party Chair to make Mr. Winnecke the singular focus of the blame for this dark hour in Evansville politics is not the whole story either?

IS IT TRUE that CCO comment poster haveagoodun has suggested the old Three Dog Night song “Mamma Told Me Not to Come” as the theme song for the secret meeting that was held in Mayor Weinzapfel’s office to take away the Homestead Tax Credit?

IS IT TRUE that Mole #13 tells us that in addition to City Councilwoman Connie Robinson who announced that she is crossing party lines and throwing her support to Lloyd Winnecke as many as 17 more prominent and well known local Democrats will be making public statements backing the Winnecke campaign?…that is not as surprising as it may sound to an outsider as everyone in Evansville who has been watching this year’s mayoral race knows about the feud within the Vanderburgh County Democratic Party?…that we need to call Weird Al to town to do a parody of Randy Newman’s “I Love LA” with some perfect lyrics chosen for the antics of the Vanderburgh County Democratic Party?

IS IT TRUE that yesterday between NFL football and the St. Louis Cardinals games that the Evansville Police Department only had a 7 page activity report?…that is about half of what most reports are?…that sports of local interest at least correlate slightly to days of lower crime?

IS IT TRUE that the Courier and Press published their “endorsements” for Evansville City Council yesterday in the paper but did not put that information online until later in the day?…that even though the CCO will not make endorsements and encourages the general public to read, think, and vote as opposed to letting a publication, a party, a union, or some other group that feels a need to offer guidance tell them how to vote?

IS IT TRUE that on our readers poll regarding crossing party lines to vote or make endorsements our readers mostly chose “crossing party lines is the mark of an informed voter” (48%), or “Parties, we don’t need no stinking parties” (31%) to the only 20% who see crossing party lines as political treason?…that we are encouraged that our readers are supportive of freedom of choice and freedom of thought in the voting booth and with respect to endorsements?…that the old days of “pulling the rooster” and brainless straight ticket voting are finally on the way out?