As Oak Hill & Locust Hill Cemeteries remain in a dismal state of neglect, the questions still linger over why the city is choosing to advertise with the Courier & Press.
1. If the city is paying for the banner, how is this a better expense than using the funds on repairing the grave markers that supposedly were/are too expensive for the city to fix?
2. If the city is receiving the banner for free, why do they even need to advertise in the first place? Why take on more cemetery plots when you can't even manage the existing ones? Why take money for another cemetery plot when we know that the perpetual care for these plots isn't shall I say... perpetual?
3. Isn't it ironic that the city is advertising with the C&P when they were the only media outlet who hasn't reported on the conditions of these cemeteries and the efforts to fix these conditions? Or was this just a wicked coincidence?
To me, what makes this whole situation both ironic and hypocritical is the fact that the city seems dedicated in making sure they have an advertisement on the C&P's website, yet there has been zero efforts, at least publicly to engage the city with a plan for repairing, renovating, and then maintaining what are two local treasures from our city's past. The only time the city has placed an official in charge of this problem was when Councilman John Friend brought a funding request to the council to begin repairing these cemeteries. Since then, it's been all cricket noise.
While the city goes eerily quiet over Oak Hill & Locust Hill Cemeteries, we are constantly being bombarded with announcement after announcement of Winnecke's programs-mostly gimmicks. How many times have we seen Winnecke shove VOICE, Clean Evansville, and Re-Energize Evansville down our throats through the media? And how many times has Winnecke gone out of his way just to tell us his weekend schedule?
http://city-countyobserver.com/2013/03/02/mayor-lloyd-winneckes-weekend-schedule-2/
The Winnecke administration is like a zebra that will never change its stripes. They will try and try and try to make their failed programs work even when the city sends them a message that they simply aren't interested via only 17 people showing up to a VOICE session. But when the city tells them they want their grave sites and cemeteries cleaned up, they go out of their way to fight the problem, hide the problem, and/or ignore the problem.
Most of the things that happen in Evansville are controversial. I can name only a handful of projects that have been widely accepted by the River City locals. One of them is the fact that our local cemeteries need to be fixing the conditions of their grounds instead of advertising with their pals at the C&P.
Make no mistake, the conditions at these two cemeteries have been going down hill since AT LEAST the 80s when the city had to relieve two managers of their duties. The solution is not to throw all of the blame on cemetery superintendent Chris Cooke, nor is it even remotely acceptable to think that he himself is going to be able to fix these generations old problems. Did our city blame KEB for the enormous amount of litter in the city? Did our city blame our hospitals for its obesity? No, the mayor took action, even if it was through programs that appear to be just an attempt at gaining positive p.r.
However, the solution to fixing these problems is more accountability and action from the Winnecke administration. Chris Cooke only has two hands, if the city isn't allocating him an adequate amount of funds to fix these problems, how in the world is he going to be able to fix them? How can Chris, or anyone else for that matter, fix any problem at Oak Hill and Locust Hill if there isn't a plan, a source of funding, or even an effort by the Winnecke administration to recognize these problems, take them personally, and then get the city residents and government involved in fixing them?
This is no time for C&P advertisements, it's time for action. It's time to fix our cemeteries!
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