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Westside
Improvement Association
General
Membership Meeting President
Paul Farmer called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Attending:
Abell, Marsha; Abney, Ann; Abney, Louis; Bain, Gayle;
Bartek, Methodius; Bartek, Pauline; Basden, Bill; Basden, Marge; Berning, Dot;
Berning, Jerry; Bradley, Ernest; Carithers, Carol; Cates, Linda; Clancy, Daniel;
Cleek, Linda; Coslett, Pat; Craig, Steve; Eicher, Doris; Fanello, Catherine;
Farmer, Paul; Gerteisen, Suzanne; Gerteisen, Wayne; Hornbrook, Bob; Hoy, Phil;
Huber, Mary; James, Shirley; Kolb, Bonnie; Lloyd, Maggie; McCallister, Steve;
McReynolds, Janet; Mosby, David; Musgrave, Cheryl; Musgrave, Shelby; Padget,
Fred; Parkinson, Steve; Rhodes, Mary Curran; Schapker, Marc; Schapker, Minnie;
Sensmeier, Bernice; Southerland, Lynn; Southerland, Neil; Spencer, Helen;
Tenbarge, Allen; Tenbarge, Richard; Thread, Shane; Tornatta, Troy; Wallenmeyer,
George; Wallenmeyer, Loretta; White, Alton; White, Martha Treasurer’s Report: Bernice Sensmeier presented the treasurer's report
for July. President’s
Report:
Farmer urged all WIA members and friends to sign up for a shift (or more!) at
the Fall Festival Booth. Chair
Bonnie Kolb reported that arrangements are coming along.
Farmer read a thank-you note from Keith Herrmann, 2000-2001 recipient of
the Paul Harper Scholarship.
Farmer received a letter from the Fraternal Order of Police requesting
support of WIA in their contract negotiations.
The letter was made available to the membership to read.
Presentation of several 2000 awards was once again postponed due to the
absence of the intended recipients. By-Laws:
The By-Laws revisions were mailed to the WIA membership and were previously
approved by the Board of Directors. Shirley
James moved that they be adopted as presented; Martha White seconded the motion.
The motion passed without opposition.
The new By-Laws will go into effect on January 1, 2002. Schutte
Road Development:
Additional revisions to the Dan Buck rezoning petition have been filed.
Fred Padget will analyze the changes and his analysis will be posted on
the web site. Town
Hall Series: WIA will sponsor a series of Town Hall meetings on land use
issues this fall. The first session
will be held on Saturday, September 8, 10 a.m.-12 noon at USI’s Mitchell
Auditorium (in the Health Professions Center).
Additional sessions will be held on October 20 at Ivy Tech State College
and on November 10 at the University of Evansville. USI has agreed to be a cosponsor of the series.
UNOE has been approached about cosponsorship as well.
Details will be posted on the web site as they become available. Meet
the Winners:
As a follow-up to the “meet the candidates” session cosponsored by WIA and
the Farm Bureau last fall, winning candidates were invited to talk to us about
their experiences since the election. They
were asked to talk about their successes, their challenges and frustrations, new
ideas, vision for the future, and how they perceive the role of citizen
involvement in government. Each
speaker was allowed a maximum of ten minutes.
Speakers (in order of appearance) and highlights follow:
Pat Coslett, School Board, sees his work on the vocational school
as a major accomplishment and is working on bullying issues in the schools.
As a businessman, he finds the lack of speed in government frustrating.
He brought no swine to the meeting.
Maggie Lloyd, Superior Court Judge, is proud to be the first
elected female judge in Vanderburgh County. She is interested in creating
correctional programs for adults that are similar to approaches taken in the
juvenile courts and is adapting to the rigors of switching from civil to
criminal cases.
Phil Hoy, County Council, is pleased with his role as Council
liaison with the judicial system and with keeping taxes low.
He finds balancing the need for quality programs with the need for fiscal
responsibility one of his greatest challenges.
He suggested the book Suburban Nation for those concerned with
land use issues.
Catherine Fanello, County Commisioner, reports moving the new jail
project forward as a success and is working on new uses for the Old Courthouse
and wants further improvements to Burdette Park.
She would like to see more long-range planning, accordingly, the
Commission has asked county department heads to prepare five-year plans.
Linda Cates, School Board, reports that the very successful
community involvement efforts at Cedar Hall School are being moved into a wider
community through the WOW program in ten additional schools.
One of the greatest challenges for the Board is dealing with increasing
costs without a concomitantly increasing budget.
Marsha Abell, County Clerk, reported on the updated computer
system and extended hours implemented in her office.
The 2000 election results were on the Internet in real time, resulting in
the earliest reporting in Indiana. One
of her greatest challenges is attracting and retaining staff within her budget
limits; others are keeping up with changes to Indiana law and with the actions
of the county courts.
David Mosby, County Commission, is pleased with attracting new
business to the Vanderburgh Industrial Park, improving Burdette, and the quick
action that saved the Executive Inn as a convention hotel.
Challenges include lack of sufficient funding, lack of office staff for
the Commission, and the difficulties of coordinating county, city, and state
needs and functions.
Troy Tornatta, County Council, was with us even though he is in
the midst of the County Council’s budgetary process.
He reports holding taxes down as an accomplishment but was clear that he
prefers increasing taxes to cutting needed services.
He cited the example of the Sherrif’s Office running out of budget for
vehicle fuel before the end of the budget period—stopping patrols is not an
option. The
meeting was adjourned at 8:55 p.m. All attending were invited to stay for refreshments and informal conversation. Respectfully
submitted, Linda
Cleek, Secretary Next Board Meeting: Wednesday, September 26, 11:30 a.m., Red Bank Branch Library |
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© 2008 Westside Improvement Association, Inc. |
