EDITORIAL: THE TIME HAS FINALLY ARRIVED FOR 2014 BUDGETS RESULTS TO BE MADE PUBLIC

11
MAYOR
MAYOR
IT’S TIME FOR 2014 AUDITS RESULTS TO BE MADE PUBLIC

The time has finally come to see the State Board of Accounts audit of the City’s books for the year of 2014. We have been informed that the Mayor received the results of the audit a couple of days ago and the SBOA will release it to the pubic at some point this week.  The City-County Observer will provide a link to the audit  available shortly after its release. It appears that Paul Joyce, the SBOA director, has given Mayor Winnecke a little time to review the facts of the audit so his in-house spin doctors can polish and sugar-coat the findings about the state of our finances before dispensing it to the public for consumption.

The City-County Observer will be sharing our analysis of the audit with our readers over the days and weeks to come, as our limited resources allow us to fully examine the findings. When made public we invite our many readers to share their thoughts on the findings, especially in their special areas of expertise. It would seem to us that the mainstream media, with its considerable wherewithal, should be anxious to delve into the facts of the long overdue audit, but there is no reason at this time to believe that will happen.

The SBOA auditor’s findings concerning the allegations, made by former City Councilman and CPA John Friend, of unaccounted-for funds amounting to six (6) million dollars are of special interest. We will finally know whether Councilman Friend was right about the missing funds, or if City Controller Russ Lloyd was right in his vehement denial of the existence of any discrepancies. Mayor Winnecke and his Chief Deputy, Steve Shaffer, have strongly defended the stance of the Controller and displayed scorn for the opinion of Mr. Friend. We hear that this delicate subject may be dealt with very discreetly in a special supplement to the SBOA’s findings.If Mr. Friend is wrong about this issue he should publicly apologie to all involved for his unfounded assumptions concerning this issue.

We believe that if it turns out that Councilman Friend was correct in his statement that there is a deficit of six (6) million dollars in the finances of this city, that the Mayor should call a news conference and apologize to the voters. He should not tell us he “misspoke” nor that he was “ill-informed.” He should tell the truth about what he and his minions did to cover up this issue. We strongly suggest that the same press conference should include an announcement that he accepted the resignation of his City Controller ,Russell Lloyd. Jr.   Stay tuned. Things are about to get interesting.

FOOTNOTES: Our next “IS IT TRUE” will be posted on this coming Friday?

Please take time and read our newest feature article entitled “HOT JOBS”. Jobs posted in this section are from Evansville proper.

If you would like to advertise in the CCO please contact us City-County Observer@live.com.

Todays “Readers Poll” question is: Do you believe that GAY RIGHTS are CIVIL RIGHTS?

Copyright 2015 City County Observer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

11 COMMENTS

  1. They are counting on this dry subject sailing over the head and under the radar of the public. They will distract with bike paths and dog parks as needed.

    I think Paul Joyce was calling for the prosecution of SBR at one point. That is really all I needed to hear from him. Blame the whistleblower, try to destroy her. In a rare candid moment, he claimed he didn’t have the manpower to discharge his responsibilities and there was a period of ‘adjustment’ after the audit. Then … it was all in the sack. All was well. No problems. Not saying Pence put the arm on these people but not saying he didn’t.

  2. I’m sure everything possible will be done to draw attention away from the audit results. We may have a fireworks show on the riverfront and free ice cream for everyone when the news drops. I expect the results will be made public on Friday, and the Courier will make it part of the Friday “news dump”.
    If the allegations made by John Friend are dealt with separately, rather than within the main body of the report, it looks like a big red flag is waving on that one! It sounds like they’re telling us that things are fine, except for that $6 million shortage. I smell a rat!

  3. Missy Nosby and Weasel owe apologies if Friend is right. They said he was all wrong, along with the other good
    Republicans.

  5. Weinzapfel fired McGinn over the financial botch job at the zoo, didn’t he? I guess thats what makes him qualified to be the finance chairman on city council.

    • The Amazonia project was advertised to the public as a $13. million project. In fact, it cost $17. million to complete, an increase of 30.7%.

  6. Thanks to the CCO for all of the good investigative reporting you do. I don’t make many comments here, but I read it everyday before the Courier. I think you’re really onto something on this audit. I’m looking forward to comparing your articles on it compared to the Courier.

  7. Transparency and accountability are a thing of the past in Indiana. No longer a part of our culture anymore than the Black and White TV. If money appropriated by the congress for remediation of a vacant, abandoned, and blighted house in the neighborhood can be redirected to kicking tenants out on the street and demolishing a whole block of decent homes for a new car lot or the Brownfields can take our CDBG funds and buy worthless properties for $40,000 each, the SBOA examination of “the financial statement” means nothing. Along with the Black and white tv the “examination” of the “public records” is a thing of the past. Hell – the public can hardly even access their records.

    • I think it is a hybridization of “commercial” and “comical”. It is sort of comical to think of Jacobsville as a bustling commercial district. If you want to open a business, I suggest you open it on the east side. That is where families with disposable incomes live.
      Brace yourselves for the “new and improved” water rates. People on fixed incomes are going to be devastated, but we brought this on ourselves. It should have been fixed decades ago.

Comments are closed.