IS IT TRUE? February 4, 2011

IS IT TRUE that the mission statement on the City of Evansville’s website for the city parks reads “Creating quality of life opportunities by providing safe environments and affordable programs to enhance fun, fitness, and education for residents of all ages in our community?”…that from what we have been enlightened to by Dr. Neil Troost and his daughter’s encounter with a hypodermic needle that Sunset Park is not safe?…that Dr. Troost, Jordan Baer, and others in separate investigations have uncovered absolutely deplorable conditions in nearly every park in Evansville that is under City of Evansville management?…that the City County Observer is being made aware of many private citizens who indicate a willingness to volunteer to get our park system back into acceptable condition?…that assuming that can happen one park at a time there would still need the resources allocated and the funds committed by the City of Evansville to keep the parks safe and manicured or we will have the same dilapidated conditions within 6 months of the cleanup?

IS IT TRUE that On Friday February 4, 2011, at 2 PM at the Vanderburgh County Election Office, Brent Grafton will file to become a candidate for the Republican nomination for the 5th Ward seat of the Evansville City Council?…that it is expected that Mr. Grafton will win that nomination and will face a Democratic challenge in the general election that may or may not come from incumbent City Councilman John Friend who may face a challenger for the Democratic nomination or opt to run for an at-large seat on Council?

IS IT TRUE that Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel has been quoted as saying that the maintenance job of SMG at Roberts Stadium as being “atrocious”?…that Dave Rector, the man that Weinzapfel put in charge of that maintenance in April of 2010 seems to agree with his boss and has exposed pictures that show apparent safety issues in the Roberts infrastructure along with non-working water fountains and taped shut toilets?…that it is alleged that those pictures shown to the news media showing cluttered areas with cans of gasoline, tools, and facilities maintenance equipment scattered about a storage room were taken over six months after the City of Evansville put Mr. Rector in charge of the maintenance of Roberts?…that if the place is a dilapidated mess as indicated by the pictures that Mr. Rector released that some of this alleged ramshackle management has continued on his watch?…that as we pointed out yesterday that it is possible that the City of Evansville by default or by design prevented SMG from doing their job?…that prevention doctrine just may cause some problems for the City of Evansville in the event that this has happened?

IS IT TRUE that we really wonder who controlled the budget for maintenance at Roberts Stadium before April 2010 and how that budget was determined and allocated?…that we are very curious about the itemized list of the $300,000 that Mr. Rector claims to have saved the City of Evansville in his 8 months managing the maintenance of Roberts Stadium?…that if Mr. Rector will provide documentation with an explanation for those savings in an itemized format that the City County Observer will publish his report in full and without edit or bias?…that equally that we make the same offer to SMG to publish any statement they have with regard to the maintenance costs, tasks, funding or lack thereof, for the 8 month period immediately prior to the City of Evansville taking these duties over?

IS IT TRUE that examination of the City of Evansville budgets should indicate how much is being spent on Roberts Stadium?…that Roberts Stadium general maintenance expenses are classified under code 026-012?…that there are 5 maintenance people and a lead listed as paid by the City of Evansville budget?…that in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011, the amounts budgeted by the City of Evansville for maintenance at Roberts were and are $476,115, $515,131, $482,917, and $509,671 respectively?…that the capital improvement budget for Roberts from Riverboat funds for the same years were and are budgeted at $153,000, $40,000, ZERO, and $22,000 respectively?…that it appears that the maintenance budget changes very little from 2008 to 2011?… that the capital improvement budget appears to have been taken to nearly nothing starting in 2009?…that saving $300,000 in 9 months from an annual budget of around $482,917 would essentially take a complete mothballing of the operation to accomplish?…that we are truly curious to see if Mr. Rector will share an itemization of his savings since March of 2010 when Mayor Weinzapfel put him in charge?

IS IT TRUE that if SMG was as negligent in their management duties and in maintaining Roberts Stadium that something should have been done long before?…that only when the overall management of Roberts became a political hot potato did the accusations of “atrocious” performance begin?…that the City County Observer is somewhat skeptical of the timing of the accusations and of the surfacing of pictures of cluttered storage spaces at this time?…that we certainly hope that the truth will prevail from all of the cluttered words that are being thrown about?

IS IT TRUE that many elected officials from both the City of Evansville and Vanderburgh County have expressed opinions on the secretive method that the recommendation for the management of the new Arena was carried out?…that no one has really gone on record as saying that SMG should keep the job or that VenuWorks should not eventually emerge as the preferred management company?…that what all have expressed as being somewhat atrocious is the back room manner in which the decision was made?

IS IT TRUE that several attorneys have now reviewed the Indiana Code regarding “open door” laws and have expressed opinions that the Advisory Committee was and is subject to these laws?…that “open door” laws have been ignored by this committee?…that in order to have a clean process that is not subject to legal actions and allegations of improper conduct that this process unfortunately needs to be repeated?…that much of the distractive media blitz aimed at SMG may just be a ploy to divert the public’s attention from yet another back room deal that ignored Indiana’s open door laws?

IS IT TRUE? February 3, 2011

IS IT TRUE that in May 0f 2010 the City of Evansville took over the maintenance of Roberts Stadium from SMG?…that shortly after that Dave Rector, the general manager of the City of Evansville Building Authority took over these duties from SMG?…that Mr. Rector was on local television on February 2nd disparaging the performance of SMG when it comes to maintaining the condition of Roberts Stadium and making claims that under his management a substantial sum of money had been saved?

IS IT TRUE that Dave Rector was appointed to the Advisory Commission to decide who will manage the new Evansville Arena by Mayor Weinzapfel?…that it has been reported that this Advisory Commission was unanimous in their recommendation to remove SMG from consideration and to hire VenuWorks instead?…that it begs for investigation into the facts as to whether SMG was prevented from performing under the terms of their maintenance agreement by the City Of Evansville’s decision to take the maintenance over and to hand it to Mr. Rector?…that there is such a thing as the Prevention Doctrine that states the following?

“Prevention doctrine is a common-law principle of contract law which says that a contracting party has an implied duty not to do anything that prevents the other party from performing its obligation. A party who prevents performance of a contract may not complain of such nonperformance.”

The following are examples of case law defining prevention doctrine:

If a party to a contract is himself the cause of the failure of performance, either of an obligation due from him or of a condition upon which his liability depends, he cannot take advantage of the failure.[Meson v. GATX Tech. Servs. Corp., 507 F.3d 803, 806 (4th Cir. Md. 2007)]

The prevention doctrine is a generally recognized principle of contract law according to which if a promisor prevents or hinders fulfillment of a condition to his performance, the condition may be waived or excused. [Barnhill v. Veneman (In re Peanut Crop Ins. Litig.), 524 F.3d 458 (4th Cir. N.C. 2008)]

The prevention doctrine entails that, where one party to a contract takes an action that prevents the other party from being able to fulfill a condition precedent to that contract, the first party may not use its own action as a mechanism for avoiding performance of its contractual obligations. [General Datacomm Indus. v. Arcara (In re General Datacomm Indus.), 407 F.3d 616, 626 (3d Cir. Del. 2005)]

Prevention doctrine is also known as prevention of performance doctrine.”

IS IT TRUE that if the City of Evansville in reality prevented SMG from performing under the terms of the contract that the basis for the Advisory Commission’s recommendation and the ultimate decision may come under legal scrutiny?

IS IT TRUE that the president of the Evansville Redevelopment Commission, Bob Goldman was quoted as apologizing to John Kish for the uprising of elected officials that caused the ERC to postpone the vote on the Arena manager until February 15th?…that Mr. Goldman is also quoted as saying that “he would not be postponing a decision by HIS COMMISSION again?…that Mr. Goldman must have caught the affliction from Mayor Weinzapfel that causes him to think that public agencies can be owned by appointed or elected officials?…that the Evansville Redevelopment Commission, the Office of the Mayor, and the City Council are not owned by any individual elected or appointed steward?…that all of these bodies of officials are OWNED BY THE PEOPLE OF EVANSVILLE?…it is about that elected officials and appointed boards start serving their real masters (the people of Evansville) as opposed by some puppet master that seems to dictate their decisions?

IS IT TRUE? February 3, 2011

IS IT TRUE that the presentation by Dr. Neil Troost regarding the shameful condition of Evansville’s city parks is enough to infuriate the calmest people among us?…that for the City of Evansville to advertise itself as having a “high quality of life” and as being a “great place to raise kids”, takes on a whole new meaning when a six year old child is pricked by a hypodermic needle left by a drug addict in Sunset Park, one of the best kept parks in town?…that upon examining a well designed but shoddily maintained set of city parks, Dr. Troost and others have documented graffiti that has lingered for years, used condoms, drug paraphernalia, prostitution, and open air drug dealing?…we wonder if this is Evansville’s version of a great place to raise a family?…that we have posted an article and Dr. Troost’s power point presentation to the Evansville Parks and Recreation board yesterday on the following link?…this presentation will not make anyone swell up with civic pride for how the business of running parks is being done in the City of Evansville?…that to call this condition indicative of a “high quality of life” is false advertising?

http://city-countyobserver.com/2011/02/02/4857/

IS IT TRUE that the local Tea Party seems to be fed up with business as usual here in Evansville as well?…that Frank Peterlin the founder and leader of the local Tea Party has called upon “up to 22 Godly men and women to run in the Democratic and Republican primaries in the 2011 Evansville City Election?”…that Mr. Peterlin’s plea included the following information?

“If you or someone you love is called to service please contact us at http://www.meetup.com/Tri-State-Tea-Party/ where we hold our TEA PARTY Straw Polls to determine who the TEA PARTY supports.”

IS IT TRUE that there is a new but counter-intuitive group in Evansville that calls themselves Southern Indiana Democracy for America that had their first meeting last night?…that this ad hoc group was launched on Facebook last week and has already gathered 54 member that include both people from all across the political spectrum?…that the description of this group is published as follows?

“We are a dynamic, nonpartisan group of people based in Southwestern Indiana dedicated to supporting fiscally responsible, socially progressive candidates at all levels of government–from our local school board to the presidency. Our grassroots organization is an agent for positive change in our community, state, and nation. We meet monthly–please join us”

IS IT TRUE that ad hoc groups like the Tea Party, the Southern Indiana Democracy for America, Tri-State Tomorrow, and even the City County Observer are attracting attention and growing because business as usual in our City, our State, and our Country are not seen as delivering acceptable governance?…that the universally accepted upon and agreed upon premise that conservatives and progressives seem to be in 100% agreement on is that our system of governance has been exposed as failing the people that it was elected to serve?…that as long as the city parks look and live like Detroit, city officials are snippy and dismissive of people like Dr. Neil Troost, and the people’s business is done behind the locked doors of elected power by appointed committees, then these groups and others like them will continue to flourish?…these citizen groups are forming for the noble purpose of doing the governments job because government is not doing its job in an acceptable manner?

IS IT TRUE that there is a fine line between what is going on in Egypt and what is going on in Evansville?…that the world seems to be in a period of discontentment?…that this discontentment with the status quo is valid and as plain as the nose on ones face to see?…that somewhere in Cairo, Egypt a few short years ago in private homes, the people that we now see in the streets were forming their own Tea Parties, Southern Indiana Democracy for America’s, and Tri-State Tomorrows?…that those groups attracted members, that politics and governance continued to fail them, and that a breaking point was reached?…that blood has been shed and changes will be made but that if the political leadership of Egypt would have listened and acted 10, 20, or 30 years ago and practiced good public policy all day everyday that this bloodshed could have been avoided?

IS IT TRUE that candidates for local office who dismiss such groups will do so at their own peril?…that groups like these are what sparked the unrest that made the United States of America and independent country?…there are many people who are beginning to think that it is time to clean house again?…that these kinds of groups can and may just wreak havoc on both major political parties objectives in the 2011 City of Evansville elections?

IS IT TRUE that somewhere in Egypt a few short years ago a publication dedicated to good public policy started and began to expose rotten governance?…that people became aware, then shocked, then disgusted, then…..?…that these publications were all online and are using twitter and Facebook to transmit data out of Egypt today?…that a free press, and informed public, the courage to demand change, and the gumption to make it happen is what is needed to take back our parks and other things that are just not acceptable?…that we sincerely hope that it is done without bloodshed?

This Father’s Plea Falls on Deaf Ears

Today, Dr. Neil Troost, the Evansville physician whose young daughter was stuck by a hypodermic needle that was discarded in Sunset Park made a presentation to the Evansville Parks and Recreation Department. His day in front of people of authority that are on the payroll of the City of Evansville in his words was a “raging disappointment”.

Dr. Troost expressed particular disappointment in the demeanor and verbalizations of Steve Bohleber. He paraphrased Mr. Bohleber’s responses to his pleas for help as follows:

“things are tough all over america”

“money is tight”

“we dont have control over the budget”

Dr. Troost gave specifics and was met with platitudes and a dismissive attitude. This is of course coming from an appointed and compensated board of Mayoral appointments that are currently engaged in disparaging SMG over low pressure water fountains and other routine maintenance issues at Roberts Stadium in support of the Mayor’s efforts to replace them with another manager for the new downtown Evansville Arena. After viewing the pictures of the state of the parks of the City of Evansville it is difficult to see how the Parks and Recreation board of directors could opine on the state of maintenance of anything.

It is one thing to inconvenience someone over a drink of water. It is quite another to have 6 year old children playing in public parks where needles discarded by drug addicts, used condoms, and F Bombs painted on playground equipment constitute business as usual.

My fellow citizens, the state of these parks is so far beyond unacceptable that it is inexcusable. If this is what the people of Evansville expect and are willing to tolerate from local government then this is not the Evansville of our youth. When did it become okay for public boards and officials to be dismissive to citizens who bring up safety issues in public areas? When did it become okay for the discards of drug addiction and outdoor sex to be littering the ground?

We don’t think that it has ever become okay to treat public places in Evansville like a crack house in Detroit. This is an utter disgrace. As residents we should all feel shame for this situation. It is time to take the blinders off, to reach a state of awareness about the condition of a park system that was something to be proud of years ago, and to demand both performance and accountability from public officials that treat citizens and public property with neglect and dishonor.

Look at the presentation. Determine for yourselves if this is acceptable. Let your elected officials know one way or the other. If this is fine with you please tell them, but if you see this as the culmination of a blight that has been building for years and it is time to STOP IT, please let them know that too.

Here is a link to the powerpoint presentation. Please censor this from young children.

parks_presentation_2_neil troost

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Published without bias or editing

By: Rick Davis

Once again, a proposed recommendation directly affecting Evansville taxpayers — in addition to the future of Downtown Evansville — is being decided by a relatively unknown board consisting of appointed members, including one who does not even live in the Evansville area, and includes only one elected official. In the latest example, the Evansville Arena Management Committee — which has no direct accountability to the public and meets hidden from the public and without public input — has recommended that the City of Evansville hire a new, unheard of company to manage operations of the new Downtown Arena. This unheard of firm would also manage The Victory Theatre and will be in direct competition with SMG’s management of The Centre for already stretched downtown parking facilities and entertainment opportunities. The new Downtown Arena is a facility that has received an investment of $127.5 million in taxpayer dollars to be paid for by Downtown TIF money, food & beverage taxes and casino revenues. The Downtown Arena is a facility that is the centerpiece in the latest revitalization effort for Downtown Evansville. But only one of the members of the Evansville Arena Management Committee is an elected official, meaning a decision on the future of Downtown is being made behind closed doors by a body that has little or no accountability to the public. On Tuesday, after spirited hearings in an amazing expression of self restraint, the Evansville Redevelopment Commission voted to table a decision to hire the new firm so that elected officials from both the City and County can publicly discuss this important situation. It’s time we put more elected officials on all of these hidden boards, including the Evansville Redevelopment Commission, so that taxpayers can hold them openly accountable for the decisions that are supposedly being made on behalf of the public.

Worse yet, City leaders have largely declined input from the full membership of the County Council and County Commissioners in an open forum for an expression of ideas, while secretly attempting to hire a second management firm to handle the operations of the new arena for its entertainment facilities owned by taxpayers. In short, if this faulty decision stands, the City and County will now have two competing management companies working against each other for the downtown entertainment dollar at The Victory Theater, The Centre, and The Downtown Arena. It simply does not make good business sense to have City and County venues competing for an already challenged entertainment dollar in a market the size of Evansville. Coordination of booking all three sites is essential. I would ask that City administration sit down openly with all of the County representatives and come to an agreement to have one company handle all of the downtown entertainment venues in the City and County so that every taxpayer who has a stake in Downtown will benefit. With our investment of the Downtown Arena, Evansville and Vanderburgh County residents have too much at stake, particularly with declining tax revenues due to a troubled economy. We have to stretch every dollar to ensure the public is getting the best, coordinated entertainment value possible. Hiring two firms to do the job of one is simply a waste of taxpayer dollars and sets up an unnecessary competitive formula that works against good common sense. It should not be allowed or tolerated.

Adding Capacity to Serve More Readers within 48 Hours

For the second time in 2011, the City County Observer and the Community Observer have generated sufficient internet traffic to crash our servers. At two separate times yesterday the internet server that hosts our sites was overloaded to the point that it shut down. Despite losing 2 hours of traffic over these technical problems both publications still set records for pageviews and for time on site.

These incidents and the one earlier in the year have made it necessary to migrate our sites to a dedicated server. We would like to acknowledge and thank our media partners at Townsquare Media for the part they have played in our recent expansion.

We would like to thank our readers for their continued interest in our content and for the encouraging comments that are posted. We even appreciate the criticism. As any person competent in control systems knows, it is only the constructive negative feedback that enables one to improve.

IS IT TRUE? February 2, 2011

IS IT TRUE that Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel made it clear yesterday that the City of Evansville gets to make the decision on what company gets to manage the new Evansville Arena?…that he is technically correct in his assertion?…that the Arena and the Centre to avoid competing for limited parking places and yes for the same audience need to coordinate efforts to optimize the use of the Downtown Evansville entertainment complex?…that as much as it is the City of Evansville’s decision to make, there are open door laws that apply in the State of Indiana and that trained legal minds submitted the following opinion to the City County Observer on the legality of the closed door manner in which this was done?

IS IT TRUE that the Evansville Redevelopment Commission is responsible for selecting a management firm for the new Downtown Arena pursuant to REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (“RFQ”) sent out by the City of Evansville to eight (8) potential companies?…that SMG, Central Illinois Arena Management and VenuWorks responded to the Downtown Arena RFQ?…that the Evansville Redevelopment Commission did the right thing by not voting today on the selection of a management firm for the new Downtown Arena.

IS IT TRUE that Sara Miller, a member of the Evansville Redevelopment Commission, was also a member of the six (6) member Interview Team (“Interview Committee”) who interviewed the three (3) Downtown Arena applicants on January 6, 2011 at some unknown Evansville location?…that the Interview Committee unanimously recommended that the Evansville Redevelopment Commission award the Downtown Arena Management contract to VenuWorks.

IS IT TRUE that the Interview Committee did not comply with the requirements of the Indiana Open Door Law (Indiana Code 5-14-1.5) in connection with its interview and decision making process concerning its recommendation that the Evansville Redevelopment Commission choose VenuWorks to manage the new Downtown Arena.

IS IT TRUE that Sara Miller, as a member of the Interview Committee and a member of the Evansville Redevelopment Commission, should recuse herself from voting on the selection of the firm to manage and operate the new Downtown Arena.

IS IT TRUE that the entire Procurement Process, utilized by the City of Evansville, including the actions taken by the Interview Committee, could be subject to legal action should someone feel that the City of Evansville/Evansville Redevelopment Commission violated the Indiana Open Door Law?

End of Legal Contribution

IS IT TRUE that Mayor Weinzapfel and Mr. Kish’s assertion that VenuWorks missing some entertainment convention in California will put the performance of the new Evansville Arena at risk is what psychologist often refer to as a bit of “control drama”?…that if the Arena is everything it has been advertised to be that the first several months will draw big name acts and crowds no matter which firm eventually wins the business?…that if this whole process would have been conducted openly that none of the mudslinging of the last couple of days would have happened?

IS IT TRUE that Mayor Weinzapfel has accused the group that stood up before the Evansville Redevelopment Commission to oppose the secretive manner that the choice of VenuWorks was made of “politicizing” the decision?…that the process was indeed “politicized” by continuing the practice of secret meetings to conduct important public business?…that it was the Mayor himself who “politicized” this decision?…that the hit dog always howls?

IS IT TRUE that an arrangement may just be under consideration that will keep the park at 4th and Main a park?…that the City County Observer truly hopes this materializes and encourages all involved to endeavor to preserve this slice of urban green space for generations to come?

Physician Father Crusades for Sanitation and Safety in Evansville City Parks

The Evansville Parks and Recreation Department will have a regular scheduled meeting on Wednesday February 2nd at noon in Room 301 of the Civic Center. The agenda of the meeting is included at the end of this article.

In early November Dr. Neil Troost who lives across the park from Sunset Park stood before the Evansville City Council to describe an incident in which his 6 year old daughter was stuck by a hypodermic needle while playing in the sandbox at Sunset Park. Dr. Troost took it upon himself to bring this unfortunate event forward in an attempt to get the Evansville Parks and Recreation Department to do something about assuring that the City of Evansville parks were managed in a way that they are both safe and sanity. Much to his chagrin, there has allegedly been no official response from the Parks Department. When asked about his experience Dr. Troost said that “I engaged the parks department and got no reaction…no engagement, no park staff to my park, nothing.”

Evansville City Councilman Dr. H. Dan Adams personally went to Sunset Park to examine the situation and according to Dr. Troost, Dr. Adams found another hypodermic needle. Dr. Troost has engaged other members of the community as well and what he has found is an attitude toward Evansville’s parks that there is a long history of major dissatisfaction with the parks. Crime, drugs, prostitution, graffiti, poor sanitation, poor maintenance, broken equipment, and poor grounds care are considered typical by the citizens and officials that Dr. Troost engaged.

Depressed neighborhoods with horrible conditions that lack the advocacy for improvement are what Dr. Troost says he has learned in his investigation. He also found other stories of citizens going to the city for improvements, and feeling their complaints fall upon deaf ears. “The problem was just simmering” and looking for an event to rally around” said Troost when asked about the attention that has come to his daughter’s misfortune.

Dr. Troost believes that the Evansville City Parks are a sign of neglect of our civic environment, and will be a barometer for progress. He would like to see the people of Evansville come out and support this movement to voice their opinion that “Sanitation and Safety” in Evansville’s parks should be a priority for the City Administration

Neighborhood leaders with particular problems are encouraged to come out and make it known. The agenda for the meeting follows:

BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS
REGULAR MEETING
KEVIN WINTERNHEIMER CHAMBERS
ROOM 301, CIVIC CENTER COMPLEX
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2011
12:00 NOON

AGENDA
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. MINUTES January 19, 2011
3. ELECTION OF OFFICERS
4. CONSENT AGENDA
a. Request Re: Execute Contract with United Consulting for Construction Engineering for the Pigeon Creek Greenway Passage. – Phase 3. – Boberg
b. Request Re: Approve and Execute Agreement Addendum for Transcription Services to Include Port Authority Minutes. – Hayes
5. OLD BUSINESS
a. Request Re: Open Quotes for HVAC Maintenance on System #2 at Swonder Ice Arena. – Nadeau
b. Request Re: Award Quote for Glass Work at the C.K. Newsome Community Center. – Schall
c. Request Re: Award Quote for Plumbing Improvements at Lorraine Pool. – Schall
d. Request Re: Approve and Execute Programming Agreement with Carver Community Organization for the C.K. Newsome Community Center. – Schall
e. Request Re: Authorization to Sign Uniform Property or Easement Acquisition Offer on Behalf of the Department to Acquire Property for the Pigeon Creek Greenway Passage. – Phase 3C-4. – Boberg
6. NEW BUSINESS
a. Request Re: Any Other Business the Board Wishes to Consider and Public Comments.
7. REPORTS
a. Dr. John Foster, WWNP, Howell Wetlands, Canoe Evansville
b. Dan Schall, Executive Director
8. ACCEPTANCE OF PAYROLL AND VENDOR CLAIMS
9. ADJOURN

IS IT TRUE? February 1, 2011 PART 3

IS IT TRUE that the Evansville Redevelopment Commission has postponed the vote on what firm will manage the new Evansville Arena for a period of two weeks?…that the deliberations and discussions that lead up to this vote should include elected officials from the Vanderburgh County Commissioners, the Vanderburgh County Council, and the Evansville City Council?…that these discussions should be announced, open, and treated as though they are subject to Indiana code 5-14-1.5-2?

IS IT TRUE that the City County Observer is shocked and amazed but profoundly encouraged by the elected officials who stood up for good public policy today at the meeting of the Evansville Redevelopment Commission?…that we are proud of Vanderburgh County Commissioner Marsha Abell for being a strong and solid watchdog of the Centre?…that we are also proud of the stand taken in favor of deferring the vote to allow public discussions taken by Evansville City Council members Curt John, Missy Mosby, Dan McGinn, and Councilman and Advisory Committee member John Friend?…that Mr. Friend is to be especially commended for recognizing the error of his ways, admitting it, and coming out in favor of public deliberations and good public policy?

IS IT TRUE that Vanderburgh County Council president Joe Kiefer met privately with Mayor Weinzapfel to request that this vote be delayed?…that his request was dismissively denied?…that Mr. Kiefer wrote a letter to the ERC asking that the vote be deferred?…that Mr. Kiefer is due commendation first for trying to broker the right solution privately but mostly for putting the courage of his convictions on paper for all the world to see?

IS IT TRUE that Arena project manager John Kish quoted Republican candidate for Mayor of Evansville and the president of the County Commissioners Lloyd Winnecke as saying “he is okay with what the Mayor wants to do”?…that no one other than Mr. Kish has attributed any statement to Commissioner Winnecke and that he has not made a public statement on this issue himself?…that the City County Observer would welcome and publish an unbiased position paper from Commissioner Winnecke on this issue and will not offer any editorial comment or bias on his position?

IS IT TRUE that today’s deferral was a giant positive step for the City of Evansville and for Vanderburgh County?…that being seen as a place that conducts business in an honest and open manner, that conducts deliberations in cognitive and respectful manner, and reaches informed decisions that garner public support will go a long way toward Evansville being seen as an attractive place to do business?…that this place is a little bit better today than it was yesterday?….that it feels good to write that last sentence?