IS IT TRUE, Part 2: November 12, 2010

IS IT TRUE that after the recount that Kathryn Martin has been certified as the winner of the election for Knight Township Trustee?…that Mole #3 predicted that she would win?…that Mole #3 is still the undisputed King of the Molehill and retains the title of Nostradamus of Local Politics?

IS IT TRUE that there seems to have been a shake-up in management at SMG Evansville? …that the website of SMG Evansville lists one Sandie Aaron, Regional Vice President as the top ranking officer?…..that Todd Denk and Darren Stearns are listed on the website (www.smgevansville.com) as Assistant General Managers?…that the City County Observer is curious about the redeployment of Ms. Aaron back into power in Evansville from Pensacola?…that the CCO has recently reported on the number of events cancelled in the Centre?…that perhaps with the new Arena coming online in 2011 that SMG will be stepping its game up a notch?

IS IT TRUE that on November 22, 2010 the Evansville City Council will vote on a Resolution to allow the Evansville Redevelopment Commission to issue and sell $2 million dollars worth of bonds? …that these bonds will be paid off by using money received by the City of Evansville from property taxes? …that $500,000 dollars of the bond money is earmarked for renovations and upgrades to the City’s parking garages?….that the parking garages are located in the Downtown TIF District?….that improvements such as these could be paid for by use of TIF funds or Riverboat funds?….that the TIF funds and Riverboat funds are committed to the Downtown Arena project and therefore not available to upgrade and repair the parking garages?….that $1.5 million dollars of the bond money is earmarked to build six more houses as part of the Front Door Pride program?…..that of the 14 Front Door Pride homes already built, eight are unsold even though they can be purchased for a fraction of their approximately $200,000 cost?

IS IT TRUE that the Evansville Icemen have been chosen as the official hockey team of the new Evansville Arena?….that the Icemen brought Evansville a championship last year after a long drought of winning professional athletic teams?…that the Icemen are drawing capacity crowds of nearly 1,500 people to Swonder?….that winning sells tickets?…that Mayor Weinzapfel has projected that up to 100,000 spectators per season (3,000 per game)?…..that as winning sells tickets that the Mayor may just be very wrong in his projections?….that if the Icemen continue their winning ways and establish a tradition of championships that the attendance will be much higher than the 100,000 that the Mayor projects?…that the same goes for UE basketball?….that it is winning that made Robert’s Stadium a success and it will be winning and only winning that will make a financial success of the new Evansville Arena?

YR’s Make A Difference Grant Recipients Meeting Today at Youth Resources!

The seats are quickly filling up for the 2010-2011 Youth Resources’ Make A Difference Grant recipients’ meeting this afternoon, where recipients are learning more about pre- and post-evaluations and other required grant documentation from YR’s Jessica Fehrenbacher! What a GREAT GROUP!

Youth Resources of Southwestern Indiana ‎2010-2011 YR Make A Difference Grant Recipients:

1. Bosse High School – Bosse Cares/Study to Win Program: The group wants to pair a Bosse athlete with a fourth or fifth grader at Glenwood. The focus will be on providing a positive role model for the younger students with an emphasis on reading and studying.

2. Bosse High School – Ronald McDonald House Project: The students in the Moderate Cognitive Disabilities Program want to prepare meals for the Ronald McDonald house and then deliver them to the facility.

3. Castle Community 4-H Club: Youth members will put together military Hero packs that will be sent to children/youth whose parent(s) are serving in Indiana National Guard and Reserves. The packs are a way to say thank you to the youth and their family for their loved one’s service.

4. Chandler Elementary School – Student Council: The council wants to create “Birthday” boxes for less fortunate children in the school. The box would contain a gift, wrapping paper, cake mix, cake pan, candles, icing, and spaghetti meal. The council members would pick out the gifts, sort the items, and pack the boxes.

5. Discovery Church Youth Group: The youth want to coordinate monthly group activities with the residents of the Riverwalk Communities. From November through May, the group will have a different activity every month.

6. Dream Center: The center has a youth program called S.H.I.N.E (Shining Hope in Neighborhoods Everywhere). This program encourages youth to give back to their community. The center has a “Feeding the Hungry” Food Basket Program that serves at-risk youth
and needy families in the community. Food baskets will be put together and delivered to families right before Thanksgiving.

7. Fairlawn Elementary School – Second Grade Buddy Program: The second graders at Fairlawn want to put together a buddy program at their grade level. Each month they will complete a different activity that promotes working together.

8. Fort Branch Community School – Student Council: The council members would like to host a kindergarten orientation, called “M & M” Math Night. They want to purchase educational books and kits for pre-kindergarteners. During the orientation, the young kids will meet faculty, take part in learning activities, and play a math game where they get to add and subtract m&m’s.

9. Glenwood Leadership Academy: The third, fourth, and fifth grade students will write letters and make holiday cards for their neighbors. They will then complete and “blitz” the neighborhood with the letters, kindness, ornaments, and potted plants.

10. Glenwood Leadership Academy/Hebron Elementary School: The first grade students at Glenwood and the fifth grade art students at Hebron will team up to explore the wetlands at Eagle Slough. The two groups will exchange letters, learn about birds, build nesting boxes, and create artwork.

11. Heritage Hills Natural Helpers: The high school and middle school helpers want to start a new program that welcomes new students. The goal is to help make the transition to a different school environment easier.

12. Patchwork Central’s Junior Helpers: The Junior Helpers program is a group of middle and high school students who serve as mentors/leaders for elementary students in the Arts & Smarts after-school program at Patchwork. The helpers want to sponsor a “Christmas Store” where they can help the elementary students get gifts for their families.

13. Resurrection School – Third and Fourth Grades: The students want to decorate pillows for children at Riley Hospital in honor of Clare Scheller. Clare is a Mater Dei graduate who is at Riley undergoing cancer treatment.

14. Scott School – Check-Out Program: Scott 5th graders will adopt 3 non-profit organizations and shop for items for the agencies. Students will be given a budget and will try to save the most money with the items they buy. They will then deliver the items to the three organizations.

15. Scott School – Scott Cares Program: The students from Ms. Cook’s class will plan a meal, purchase the ingredients, serve the meal, and visit with the volunteers and those people who come to eat at First Ebeneezer Church meal program. The students will also organize the food storage and clean up afterwards. They will also clean litter in the nearby park.

16. St. John School: The students have decided to support the Albion Fellows Bacon Center’s Never Alone program. Their goal is to make small blankets to be put in first responder patrol cars. The blankets will then be given to young children.

17. St. Joseph School (Evansville) – Student Council: Once a month, the students will prepare a meal for the residents of Ozanam Family Shelter. The meals will begin in October and run through May.

18. St. Joseph School (Princeton) – Third Grade: The class wants to host a Literacy Luau to bring families together for literacy awareness. They will have a dinner and activity stations for the youth.

19. St. Theresa School – Seventh Grade: The students want to complete the project “Blankets for Buddies” for their “2 and 4 legged” buddies. The groups will make blankets for animals at the Humane Society and for the residents of Lucas Place.

20. St. Wendel School – Fourth Grade Military Service Project: The fourth grade students at St. Wendel will connect with local soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. At Christmas and Easter, care packages will be sent to individuals serving in war areas. Throughout the year, letters will be written to the soldiers.

21. St. Wendel School – Second Grade “Operation Rudolph”: The second graders will plan, implement, and oversee a holiday party for children whose families have been separated by incarceration and who are now being housed at the Volunteers of America facility.

22. TSA Youth Group: The group has a project titled AIDS Holiday Project that meets the needs of lowincome families affected by HIV/AIDS in the Tri-State. At Christmas, they give food, gifts, gift certificates and clothes to the families affected by this disease. As part of this effort, they also wrap gifts at Barnes & Noble to raise money for this project.

The Youth Resources Make A Difference Grants, previously known as the Service Learning and Youth As Resources programs, provide grants for local youth-led service projects. These grants address real problems and enhance young people’s brain…storming, planning, budgeting, communication, teambuilding, and leadership skills. During the process youth learn practical applications to academic learning, use cognitive and social skills, develop future job skills, and realize they can solve community problems, which helps to build self-esteem.

127,389 local children and teens have been involved in 1,972 youth-led service projects and have received over $692,427 in grants from Youth Resources. More than 700 youth were directly involved in 19 Make A Difference Grants projects in the 2009-10 school year making a positive impact on nearly 5,800 others in their communities!

Applications are accepted each fall for grants ranging from $100-$1,000.

Youth Resources Make A Difference Grant Program is YR’s founding program and it was started by the National Crime Prevention Council as one of the three national pilot sites over 23 years ago! For more information please visit www.youth-resources.org or call 812-421-0030!

Deference to the Mayor? Why? For What?

Last Sunday the City County Observer first reported in our IS IT TRUE column that Mole#3 had confirmed from a highly placed informant that Rick Davis will be announcing his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Mayor of Evansville. We went on to report that the announcement will be taking place at 6 PM on November 11, 2010 at the Soldiers and Sailors Coliseum. At this point in time Mr. Davis’s plans have been widely reported and the Democratic Central Committee’s Fall Festival Booth Removal crew is spinning like a whirling dervish again.

This Monday, Mark Owen, chairman of the Vanderburgh County Democratic Party, said he preferred that Davis had shown “deference” to Weinzapfel. Owen has consistently asserted that “deference” is expected from prospective candidates for the Democratic nomination for Mayor of Evansville. Chairman Owen believes that aspiring candidates should wait until Mayor Weinzapfel makes his intentions known to challenge his supremacy. Owen is quoted as saying that “There is a certain level of respect due to the incumbent mayor”.

Davis said he will run for the Democratic nomination without regard to what Weinzapfel’s timing or intentions may be. Davis went on to say that, “no one is entitled to any position in the Civic Center”. The City County Observer agrees completely with Mr. Davis that there are no nobles of rank, title, or entitlement in the American electoral process, the City of Evansville included.

The dictionary defines deference as “respect and esteem due a superior or an elder; also: affected or ingratiating regard for another’s wishes”. Is any sitting elected official such as a Congressman, Governor, President, Dog Catcher, Magistrate, Assessor, or Mayor actually due the level of a respect of a superior or elder? If these people are truly superior beings with elder status shouldn’t they be running unopposed and enjoying near unanimous approval ratings?

We are somewhat relieved that this call for deference came from the mouth of the Chairman of the Democratic Party as opposed to from Mayor Weinzapfel himself. Clearly there is a bit of hero worship and adoration for Mayor Weinzapfel behind Chairman Owen’s words. For any candidate to personally express such a sense of entitlement and superiority would constitute an extreme case of arrogance or narcissism.

Does Chairman Owen want to see a Democratic Mayor of Evansville take office on January 1, 2012? If he does then he should not take actions that undermine the pool of candidates that are starting to come forward and throw their hat in the ring for the nomination. Rick Davis is the first but he probably won’t be the last. This primary is shaping up to be a spirited contest with or without Mayor Weinzapfel on the ballot.

From what we hear the Republican primary will be contested as well. That is the way it should be. There really are more than two people in the City of Evansville with the ability to govern and the more ideas that get introduced the better our governance will be. The election for Mayor of Evansville in 2007 was basically Mayor Weinzapfel against a completely unqualified person that won the Republican primary because there was no truly strong Republican candidate. In spite of the fact that the Mayor’s opponent was widely recognized as not ready for prime time, the challenger still got 15% of the vote. Mayor Weinzapfel went on to his second administration with a sense of mandate. Is it possible that this sense of absolute power contributed to the decisions and actions that have led to his fall in popularity?

Chairman Owen has undermined the democratic process by his insistence on deference. What will he do if Rick Davis wins the primary? Will he support a winning candidate from the party that he has the responsibility to lead or will he give a half hearted effort to a candidate whose every effort he has tried to blunt. First it was the childish removal of one of the Democratic Party’s booths at the Fall Festival and now it is a call for “deference to the Mayor”. What will the next effort to undermine Mr. Davis’s efforts be? Perhaps a phone bank to undermine Mr. Davis’s candidacy will come next. We certainly hope not.

This is the United States of America not the Soviet Union. We do not shuffle our Komrads into and out of power positions based on party allegiances and deferring to others. Americans do not wait our turn to lead. Americans seek leadership position when their ideas and their desire to serve inspires them to do so, not when the head of the Politburo grants permission to do so. This country is better because all people are able to file their papers and run for office when they choose to do so. That is what Rick Davis has done. The Chairman of the Vanderburgh County Democratic Party continues to attempt to blunt his ambitions. Chairman Owen may rest assured that the Republican Party will not be showing any deference to Mayor Weinzapfel.

If Chairman Owen is to lead the Democratic Party, then he needs to do the job that he was chosen to do and stop treating that job as though it is the Chairman of the Mayor Weinzapfel Entitlement Committee.

NEWS RELEASE

Contact: Melissa Mauser
V.P. Communications, Women Right of Center
Ph. 812-480-2675
womenrightofcenter@yahoo.com

November 9, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

EVANSVILLE, Ind. ~ The founder of an education ministry specializing in theological, historical and Constitutional programs will speak to members and guests at a Women Right of Center (Women R.O.C.) meeting on Thursday, Nov. 11, 6:30 p.m., at Oaklyn Branch Library on Oak Hill Rd.

The meeting is open to the public.

Thomas Weddle, founder of Restore Government Ministry, is working to restore the original principles of historic American Constitutionalism. Weddle holds an annual 12-week Institute on the Constitution and has been an instructor with the program since 2003. The majority of Weddle’s prior career in public communications was spent in Constitutional litigation to restore and protect the rights of competitive public utilities.

Women R.O.C. is a local group that promotes knowledge and involvement in politics and the community. The group’s website is found at www.womenrightofcenter.com.

For more information about Women Right of Center or the November 11 meeting, contact Melissa Mauser, V.P. Communications, at womenrightofcenter@yahoo.com or call 812-480-2675.

Introducing Steve Smith, Finance Columnist for the City County Observer

The City County Observer is pleased to welcome Steven Lowell Smith who most recently emerged onto the Evansville Region’s stage as a candidate for the District 78 seat in the Indiana House of Representatives as our Financial Columnist. Mr. Smith as a CPA and an MBA is uniquely qualified to understand the intricacies of increasingly complex opportunities of personal finance, wealth management, and financial planning. Steve like many of the movers and shakers of the Evansville Region did a stint in the big city of Chicago before returning to the Tri-State to establish a Private Financial Management Firm in the place that he has come to cherish as home.

We are looking forward to Steve’s columns on Personal Finance and hope that our readers learn much about the investment options available from his writing. His first column on Roth IRA’s is now available under our masthead title of Personal Finance

City, Federal and State Regulators Reach Agreement to Resolve Sewer Overflow Litigation Settlement nets City time for critical planning and implementation for long-term upgrades to sewer system

(EVANSVILLE, IN) – November 9, 2010 – Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel today announced that
after lengthy, arduous negotiations with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), an
agreement has been reached to resolve the lawsuit DOJ filed against the City in September 2009
regarding alleged violations of the Clean Water Act (the Act). The agreement, or consent decree, is set tobe approved by the Water and Sewer Utility Board this afternoon.

The agreement is of the type previously reached by hundreds of municipalities across the country and
dozens in Indiana. Under terms of the agreement, the City will have more than two years to finish
developing a plan for upgrades to the combined and separate sewer systems and an additional 19.5 to 25years to make the improvements.

“It is unfortunate that Federal and State regulators chose to waste resources bringing this suit against the City. We never disagreed that there was a need to make upgrades to our system to address the decades old problem of sewage overflowing from our combined sewer system during rain events,” said Mayor Weinzapfel. “But we strongly disagreed with the terms under which DOJ sought to force us to make those improvements. By taking a hard line and fighting for terms that are fair, we now have a deal that makes sense for Evansville.”

The schedule outlined in the agreement is important to allow sufficient time to properly assess the needs
of the sewer system and identify a long-term, affordable and cost-effective plan that fits Evansville’s
needs. Such a plan will have to be phased in over time.

When the DOJ filed suit, it was demanding a mere six months to develop a plan and only ten years to
complete all of the improvements. Such a fast implementation period would have had a dramatic impact
on sewer rates and was not justified given Evansville’s already demonstrated commitment to making
improvements to address sewer and flooding problems. Additionally, as proposed improvements are
considered by the City over the next two years, the public will have an opportunity to evaluate and
provide input into upgrade options.

The DOJ also ultimately agreed with the City’s plan to develop an “Integrated Overflow Control Plan”
rather than separate plans for combined sewer improvements and separate sanitary sewer improvements,
conceding that integrated and coordinated improvements to the systems were more logical and practical
since most of the City’s separate sanitary sewer system flows through the combined system. Separate
planning and implementation of improvements would have significantly added to the total costs of the
projects and made it very difficult to properly plan and budget for improvements. The City plans to
aggressively pursue green, sustainable solutions as part of the final plan. Project costs will not be known
until the plan is fully developed, but it is expected that improvements will cost many millions of dollars.
Consequently, sewer rate increases necessary to fund the improvements are also not yet known.

The City will also be required to pay a civil penalty in this matter. Such penalties are a part of every
consent decree Federal regulators enter into with local governments. The penalty in this case was
negotiated forcefully. In the end, the City will be required to pay a $490,000 civil penalty ($70,000
State/$420,000 Federal) to resolve all claims and liability for alleged past violations. While this amount
is in line with what other cities have been required to pay, it is much lower than what the DOJ initially
demanded.

The City’s agreement with the regulators does not resolve the City’s claims against Environmental
Management Corporation (EMC), the City’s former operator which is now owned by American Water.
In fact, the consent decree has language that expressly anticipates that the City will continue to pursue
EMC to pay the civil penalty and other out-of-pocket costs and damages. The City brought EMC into the
Federal lawsuit last year, and intends to continue to pursue EMC aggressively. EMC operated the City’s
system for more than 15 years with express and sole responsibility for compliance over that period.
Unfortunately, EMC failed to stand with the City to help defend this case. The City believes EMC is
clearly responsible for the penalty and should be held accountable for failing to comply with its
contractual obligation to properly run the City’s system.

The City has also agreed to conduct reviews of plant and sewer system operations and develop more
clearly-defined operational procedures. These operational improvements should have been developed and
implemented long ago by EMC; and EMC’s failings put the City in a difficult position in this litigation.
After the Utility Board votes on the consent decree today and it is signed by the parties, it will be filed in
Federal Court. After a 30-day public comment period, the City anticipates the Court will accept and enterthe decree as final.

October 25, 2010
News Release

The delegation of Hoosier business and community leaders traveling to China and Japan with Governor Mitch Daniels has been finalized. The delegation will be in the two countries from November 6 to 17.
This will be the sixth trade mission that Daniels has led as governor. The cost of the state delegation is being covered entirely through private donations to the Indiana Economic Development Foundation and utilizes no tax dollars.

Greg Wathen, president and CEO of the Economic Development Coalition for Southwest Indiana will accompany Governor Daniels as a member of the delegation to Japan where he worked with the Governor and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation to bring Toyoda Boshoku to SW Indiana.

Below is the governor’s daily itinerary for the trip:

Monday, November 8 (China)
Governor Mitch Daniels will speak at a morning conference for business leaders in Shanghai. In the afternoon, the governor will visit several business prospects and host a reception for alumni from Indiana colleges and universities as well as Chinese companies that are interested in locating in the state.

Tuesday, November 9 (China)
Governor Daniels will meet with representatives from Shanghai Top Motor which in April celebrated the grand-opening of a 60,000 square-foot logistics center in Columbus, Ind. for its U.S. subsidiary, Techtop Motor LHP. He will also meet with several life science and electric vehicle companies in Shanghai before hosting a dinner for investment banking groups including CITIC, a state-owned Chinese investment company.

Wednesday, November 10 (China)
The governor will conduct business meetings with suppliers from Cummins, Inc. which is headquartered in Columbus, Ind., before traveling by train to Hangzhou, in Zhejiang Province. There he will meet with Zhao Hongzhu, the Party Secretary of Zhejiang province, who is hosting a banquet to celebrate the 23rd anniversary of the sister-state agreement between Indiana and Zhejiang. Former Governor Robert Orr signed a sister-state agreement with Zhejiang Governor Shen Zulun in Indianapolis on July 23, 1987.

Thursday, November 11 (China)
Governor Daniels will speak at a conference for business leaders in Zhejiang and later will meet with representatives from Wanxiang Group and Geely Motors as a follow-up to the companies’ visits to Indiana earlier this year. In May, representatives from Wanxiang Group and Geely Motors traveled to Indianapolis for the first-ever China-U.S. Advanced Technology Vehicle Summit. During the visit, Wanxiang signed a letter of intent with lithium-ion battery maker, EnerDel to jointly produce battery systems for Wanxiang’s existing backlog of customers in China.

Wanxiang is China’s largest auto-parts supplier and second-largest private company, with over $10 billion in annual revenue and 30,000 employees. EnerDel, which is currently ramping production at its three Indiana facilities, said the deal could bring its total central Indiana employment to 3,000 over the next few years. In the evening, Daniels will host a dinner for leaders from the Bank of China and the Chinese Export-Import Bank.

Friday, November 12 (China)
The governor and members of the delegation will meet with several business prospects while traveling to Anji, China, home to Yuankai Furniture, which announced plans in June to locate its U.S. headquarters in Marion and hire up to 100 associates over the next four years.
Saturday, November 13 (China)

Saturday is a non-business day in China so the delegation will take part in cultural tours and host a dinner for local officials from Zhejiang Province.

Sunday, November 14 (China/Japan)
The Indiana delegation will travel from Hangzhou to Tokyo, Japan to continue its economic development mission.

Monday, November 15 (Japan)
Governor Daniels will meet with leaders of Indiana’s three Japanese automobile assembly plants: Honda President Takanobu Ito, Toyota Motor Corporation President Akio Toyoda and Subaru Corporate Executive Vice President J. Kondo. He will also meet with Tochigi Governor Tomikazu Fukuda and ITOCHU Chairman E. Kobayashi. Representatives from ITOCHU, one of the largest general trading firms in Japan, traveled to Indiana last November and joined Secretary of Commerce Mitch Roob to sign a memorandum of understanding signifying the joint exploration of economic growth opportunities.

Tuesday, November 16 (Japan)
The governor and IEDC officials will travel by train to Nagoya to conduct business meetings with prospective companies as well as companies that currently have operations in Indiana including Toyota Industries, Aisin Seiki and Toyoda Boshoku.

Wednesday, November 17 (Japan)
The governor and members of the Indiana delegation will return to Indianapolis from Tokyo.