IS IT TRUE that the fireworks are heating up in the campaign to seek the Democratic nomination for Mayor of Evansville?…that the heir to the Weinzapfel thrown will absolutely have to fight for it?…that the City County Observer does not condone or approve of the first volley of name calling and accusations of not being a team player that has been lobbed by the Tornatta campaign at the Davis campaign?…that we would prefer that this nomination were decided by a battle of wits instead of a battle of nits?…that calling someone disloyal and disruptive to a machine that operated behind closed doors, spent lavishly on a temple of sport, and found legal but sneaky ways to circumvent the will of the people should be worn by Mr. Davis as a BADGE OF HONOR?…that it is better to be a member of the loyal opposition who seeks to better the conditions of the whole than a water carrier for a team with a reputation for breaking the rules?

IS IT TRUE that as we have stated now for a full week that there are some real game changing issues that need to be addressed by the next Mayor of Evansville?…that substance and not schoolyard drama is what should be used to judge whom is the best man for the job of Mayor of Evansville?…that position papers of substance with JOBS, INFRASTRUCTURE, PARKS, and COMPETITIVENESS need to be addressed and they need to be addressed now?…that failure to address these issues in a public way with plans and strategies of depth is the only way to prove any candidate’s worthiness to lead this city?…that Evansville has the legacy problems that it has like a languishing economy, federally chastised infrastructure, litter, blight, brain drain, overflowing sewers, and lack of transparency because the status quo that created these problems has been coddled and celebrated as opposed to being challenged?…that any candidate that does not challenge the status quo and minimally communicate some detail regarding positive changes is truly unworthy of anyone’s vote?

IS IT TRUE that in plain simple “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it style” rhetoric we have now been treated to the old adage “if you ain’t with us you are agin us” by Mr. Tornatta?…that as we reminded the President of the Evansville City Council a few weeks ago, Sir there are many things that are broke and they are in need of fixing?…that in truth if any candidate is not on board in accepting the stubborn facts that our best and brightest young people leave town for better career opportunities, a large portion of the town has the smell of neglect about it, that crime is escalating, and that the housing stock is increasingly dilapidated really needs to have an intervention?…that celebrating where we are as a city is about as worthy of a celebration as a basketball team that just went 3 – 23 and lost its senior day game by 30 points?…that dramatic change is needed and it is needed now if Evansville is to reverse the slide to become Evanstroit?

IS IT TRUE that we and the people of Evansville are still waiting for substance and vision from a worthy candidate?…that we and the people of Evansville expect and deserve honesty and transparency in government?…that we and the people of Evansville expect and deserve a full accounting of the capital projects that are under way and on the drawing board that will consume local taxpayer dollars?…that whether it has been Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Whigs, Greens, or even Know-Nothings that the machine that has brought Evansville to the brink of operating in a third world manner is not worthy of support?…that it really is time for change on the banks of the Ohio?…that we are begging for the details of that proposed change to step forward and claim his place as our next Mayor?

EPD Activity Report April 10 2011

IS IT TRUE that we are down to the last three weeks of the primary season in this watershed year in Evansville politics?…that the City County Observer has republished our readers choices for what are the most important things needing to be done right in 2011?…that at the top of the list was an EVANSVILLE FOR THE NEXT DECADE PLAN?…that inside of that plan there will be (if it is ever written) a page called the TABLE OF CONTENTS?…that minimally the table of contents will have items called JOBS STRATEGY, Parks and Recreation, INFRASTRUCTURE, and COMPETITIVENESS?…that there will be more but that these items are the ones that have the potential to define who and what Evansville is for the next 50 years?…that we are coming off of nearly a decade without planning and are in dire need of logical and achievable direction from our leadership?

IS IT TRUE that we demand and encourage the FOUR CANDIDATES for Mayor of Evansville to write and release to the public their detailed preliminary plans to address each of those subjects?…that we further encourage all FOUR CANDIDATES to release the balance of their own opinion as to what the rest of the table of contents will look like?…that the City County Observer will publish any and all position papers of substance written by all four or any one candidate?…that 30 second sound bites and 60 word abstracts to address subjects that require cognitive thought are nothing more than a platitudinal insult to the people of Evansville who are hungry for substance, competence, and honesty?

IS IT TRUE that one thing that the candidates all seem to agree on is that JOBS is the item at the top of their list?…that one TV commercial from Troy Tornatta even references a JOBS PLAN of Mayor Weinzapfel that he would like to continue?…that we reiterate our offer to publish this jobs plan in its full content IF THERE IS SUCH A PLAN which we seriously doubt?…that for any candidate to squawk the words CREATING JOBS like Parrots of the Caribbean with no plan to back up the squawking is just more election year nonsense?…that CREATING JOBS takes much more than just chirping the words?…that we are quite interested in the details of how the campaigns have thus far done nothing more than acknowledge the problem?…that there are most likely a full 117,429 people in the City of Evansville that know that JOB CREATION is a problem here?…that only four of those people have put their names forward as candidates for Mayor of Evansville?…that those seeking office should be the ones developing the plans to lead the other 117,425?…that if the people who want to be Mayor will not advise us of their plans and ideas then we need to just hold a lottery of the total citizens of age and appoint our Mayor through a game of chance like the radio stations award people with disk jockey jobs for an hour in their contests?…there is much more expected of a Mayor than smiling for the camera and speaking in catchy phrases?…we look forward to these four gentlemen taking the opportunity to prove that they are men of substance and not just everyday politicians?

IS IT TRUE that many people have contacted us and expressed the belief that the total good private sector jobs created by the four candidates for Mayor of Evansville is exactly ZERO?…that we find this to be disturbing and do not want to believe it?…that we offer each and every candidate the opportunity to articulate the private sector jobs he has created, how he did so, and to release the details of the quality of the jobs?

IS IT TRUE that we also challenge all four of the candidates to share a “Take Back the Parks” plan?…that this would be a good exercise to get the brain cells working?…that the locations, the sizes, and nearly every other feature about our parks are well defined?…that the initial conditions are fairly well known?…that a thinking person should be able to put together a first draft of a “Take Back the Parks” plan in a couple of weeks even with a full time job?…that this is a softball challenge and we really hope our candidates will step up to the plate and take a swing at this one?…that sometimes leadership involves getting out there first?…that this is a fairly easy opportunity to grab by the horns and prove yourselves worthy with?

EPD Activity Report April 9 2011

Take That: April 9, 2011

Dilapidated Park Related Comments:

“Has anyone seen Lorraine pool? They kept pushing back the opening date last year-once the leaves turned, it was pretty evident someone fibbed-whatcha bet it wont happen this year?” Bootsie

“Dear future Mayor,

Please stop all NEW construction projects in all of Evansville. Please fix our sewers, streets, sidewalks, and parks. These are the basic job requirements when holding the mayoral position in the City of Evansville. Always has been. If you feel that there is some other project that takes precendent over these basic requirements. Please excuse yourself from the mayoral race now….or we will excuse you! C Me

“Also, why is Goebel Soccer Complex’s gates kept closed all the time? If this is a Parks & Rec facilty then why does the taxpaying public not have access to it? It would be nice to go kick a soccer ball around with your kid once in a while. Their excuse will probably be they don’t have the staff to go unlock the gates everyday.” C Woods

“During last summer’s heat Helfrich pool was not open & the reason given was because they didn’t have enough lifeguards to work it. Hartke pool’s kiddie pool was not open, we have no idea why. Lorraine was always closed, but promises kept being made to open it. When the city has a swim meet at one pool, the meets only last a few hours, but they don’t open the pool to the public for the rest of the day. This loses out on making money on admissions. It does not make sense! When trying to contact parks & rec to just ask a simple question on if the pool will be open the phone does not get answered. Now if you look at the Parks & Rec website the listing & locations of the pools has been removed this year. Good luck on finding your nearest pool if your new to the city.” C Woods

Comments Regarding Consolidation:

“…that if there is to be consolidation that it needs to be with the consent of the governed?…that a “one person one vote” scenario where either the City of Evansville or unincorporated Vanderburgh County reject consolidation will not constitute the consent of the governed?…that land grab or not, consolidation needs to have the consent of the governed to go forward?…”
Words worth repeating! I could care less if consolidation comes to a vote or not. Bring it on! The problem is, without Rejection Threshold, it is a RIGGED vote. 100% of rural voters could vote it down but it could still pass. Exactly how is that fair?” Magic Man

“In the past, consolidation has always gone down to defeat because county residents, those outside the corporate limits of Evansville, did not want it. They had witnessed the way the city was managed and made a conscience and informed decision that they did not want to live under that system.
In my personal opinion, this time, forces in the background within city government were successful in “persuading” two democrat and one republican county commissioner to vote to do away with the rejection threshold under that fallacious argument that we are all just one big happy family, never mind the fact that city dwellers can vote in county elections, but county dwellers are not allowed to vote in city elections.

The rejection threshold was created so if your answer to the question above is no, then that type of government can to be forced down your throat.” Pressanykey

“I would like to hear from a county resident who could tell us under what conditions they would feel comfortable with consolidation. I would also like to hear from a city resident as to why this would be a benefit to most Vanderburgh County residents.” Steven Smith

EPD Activity Report_4-08-2011

IS IT TRUE that in the final possible hour the federal government averted the so called and much hyped “shutdown” by passing what both sides are calling historic with respect to spending cuts?…that cutting a whopping $37 Billion from the federal budget is the equivalent of cutting the average personal budget in Evansville by $12.45 per week?…that amounts to a couple of brain sandwiches per week?…that the people in charge of our country must have very little experience with budget cutting if they think that the equivalent of two brain sandwiches a week is a historic exercise in anything?…that the last minute deal was cut for political expediency as opposed to making any real significant financial difference?…that this whole exercise seems more like a three act play that could be named “The Washington Cycle” in honor of “The Kentucky Cycle” that was touring the country several years ago?…that neither play would be flattering to the choices of the actors?…that just this week the City County Observer called for more substance and less play acting from elected officials and especially candidates for office?

IS IT TRUE that there are still some candidates for office who have not been very enthused about accepting their invitations to participate in e-debates published by our sister publication The Community Observer?…that even more disturbing is the fact that we have offered every candidate for Mayor of Evansville the opportunity to have a position paper of substance published on the subject of consolidation with no restriction on the number of words they choose to use to articulate their positions?…that sound bite size word restrictions on issues that have dissertation size needs are not even worth the ink that it takes to print them?…

IS IT TRUE that City Centre Properties is the owner of record of the McCurdy Hotel?…that the McCurdy property is located at 100 SE Riverside Drive and is delinquent with respect to the November 2010 property tax payment in the amount of $9,792.31 and has been assessed a penalty of $979.24?...that City Centre Properties is currently delinquent on the property taxes for the McCurdy Hotel in the amount of $10,771.55?…that to bring this account current that City Centre Properties will have to bring a payment of $21,040.21 in by the next tax due date of May 10, 2011?…that if taxes are not brought current by May 10, 2012 that the McCurdy may just find its way onto the tax sale the following August?

IS IT TRUE that it has now been 1,437 days since the announcement was made on May 14, 2007 that the McCurdy Hotel was to be refurbished into luxury apartments?…that it has now been 1,291 days since the Evansville Redevelopment Commission at the request of Mayor Weinzapfel approved the spending of $603,000 to purchase the parking lot?…that City Centre Properties and Scott Kosene the developers of the McCurdy project are both listed as contributors to the Weinzapfel for Mayor committee for 2010?

IS IT TRUE that David Coker wrote an excellent article in today’s Courier and Press making some of the same points that have been made in the City County Observer for a long time now?…that Mr. Coker is one of the best minds in Evansville for recreating visual memories of the beauties of the past with the written word?…that instead of a home for pigeons and bats or even an upscale apartment building that the McCurdy Hotel could be and should be a HISTORIC HOTEL like the Seelbach in Louisville or the Canterbury in Indianapolis?…that we encourage you all to read Mr. Coker’s editorial?…that we are pleased that other media outlets in Evansville are coming forward to call attention to the travesty that the McCurdy project has become?… that the following link is to Mr. Coker’s article?

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/apr/09/mccurdys-beauty-now-for-the-birds/

IS IT TRUE that there are now 572 days remaining in the two years that the EPA had given the City of Evansville to present an acceptable solution to the Combined Sewer Overflow problem?…..that this plan is an expensive and complex endeavor that needs immediate attention to avoid the embarrassment and expense of another round of fines?

EPD Activity Report April 7 2011