Last night outside the city county building Mike Sylvester and I and several others were talking when Tim Pape walked by and noticed Mike. He immediately did an about face and in a unprofessional display of anger got within a few inched of Mike’s face gave him hell for posting information regarding Pape’s conflict of interest in the Harrison Square project. He was obviously *very* pissed off.
He must not like anyone with the title CPA. He pointed at my chest and asked “are you Reinking?”
Pape seems to be an an extrovert who likes a lot of attention; akin to a schoolyard bully. I could see him as the guy in school that stuffed the short kid into lockers.
I’m surprised he didn’t ask Fredo Mike to cough up some lunch money.
What’s next? An ordinance banning blogging about city councilmen?
AWB
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I watched a little bit of the city council meeting on tv last night and heard Tim Pape talk about the H.S. project and basically admit that he is for “more government” (maybe he said “larger government”). Doesn’t matter, I got his point very loud and clear.
It might be interesting to look at the regional accounting firm
Crowe Chizek. I believe they are the official C.P.A. firm for the
Fort Wayne downtown H.S.
I find their accounting reports lacking in detail for Fort Wayne’s H.S. project. Just a my observation.
May I share Crowe Chizek’s anaylsis and Financial reporting on the Sell of the Indiana Toll Road….. http://www.in.gov/ifa/pdfs/TollRoadFinancialAnalysis.pdf
I’m waiting for the Rate of Return in Indiana’s Investments.
I think we will wait, wait, wait & wonder what the heck happened.
That is what running scared does to someone. He doesn’t like it when the tables are turned and now its his reputation on the line.
Councilman Pape did not have his best day, that is for sure…
Mike Sylvester
It definitely set the tone for the entire night. We were all respectful in the audience and some of us waited nearly 3 hours to speak at the end of the regular session.
When we spoke at the end, individually, we did let City Council know there are plenty of people who STILL have concerns about the latest developments with various aspects of City government.
The beginning of the night’s tirade ended with further tirade from other Council members that ‘how dare we question’ their performance.
Silly me, I thought that was our job, to over see our public employees….
I was right there as well when the event happened. I thought it was ridiculous, and extremely unprofessional. If Pape was having a bad day for whatever reason he should have avoided addressing someone about an issue he has with them. It was a bad choice of actions on his part.
You dummies should of made sure kept your blogs anonymous. WOWO might even have linked to you.
Dan,
Considering your regular juvenile name calling, and usual misstatement of facts and false allegations, I would not expect you to report my conversation with Mike, nor my invitation to him to come to my office to discuss the matter, with any degree of accuracy.
As with everything else regarding HS, your reporting is grossly inaccurate and an exercise in ascending hyperbole. The lesson learned is to make no attempt to engage certain HS opponents in any rationale discourse as it only gives you additional opportunity to spread your falsehoods. When reason, facts, honesty and basic decency fail, tuning you out must be the answer.
Tim
Don’t leave us hanging! Did you tell him who you were???
That reminds me SO much of something my Dad used to tell me:
If you see ONE bully, chances are he has a host of “followers” somewhere. So when he (or his followers) picks on YOU, bide your time, until you get HIM alone, then COLD-COCK the SOB right in the snotbox, and tell him: “The next time You or ANY of YOUR friends say or do anything TO ME, I’m comin’ right after YOU and wailing the crap out of YOU…and ONLY YOU. Got that?”
And I have to admit…it worked damn well over the years.
Time to try it again I see.
(take your toys and go home, Timmy)
B.G.
(a No-Bullying Zone)
Face it mr Pape, no matter how you try to spin it, your conduct was unprofessional and unbecoming of an elected official. It doesnt matter what you told Mr Sylvester when nobody was watching. Your official conduct contributed to the lack of trust people have with our city government.
As a voter I believe you owe Mr Sylvester a PUBLIC apology for your actions.
To Fort Wayne City Councilman Tim Pape:
First, I would like to commend you. In your previous post here, you stated that the lesson learned is not to engage certain HS opponents. You did not say the lesson learned is not to engage any HS opponents. The entire Harrison Square project has become far too partisan. By this I am not referring to the commonly used context of adherence to a party, but rather to a specific cause. When people discuss this subject with someone else, the first thing most (both proponents and opponents) want to know is whether the other person supports it or opposes it. They don’t care how that position was arrived at, and they don’t care to hear one expound on whether their leanings are slight or extreme. And once they have determined this, there is no need for further discussion. Perhaps you are an exception to the general rule.
I will agree that a lot of people who write on the blogs talk hyperbole (and that is a polite assessment). I will also agree with Tom Hayhurst, and other members of council, who say that citizens often come before them recklessly tossing out mis-information. And I can also sympathize with Hayhurst’s lamenting of the lack of a New England town hall forum. But as much as the citizens who either don’t participate or don’t do so genuinely and honestly contribute to this situation, I will say that I feel there are a lot of problems from the other side (members of City Council) as well.
Now I don’t want this to get personal, so I’ll state that, forthwith, when I say “you”, I am referring to any of the various members of city council as a whole. I’ll also admit that I am merely stating my perspective, and with a further understanding of the facts, it is very likely my opinion could change.
There are a lot of people who feel that you have not held up your end of the bargain regarding a fair and open conversation between government and citizens. I would say that the Harrison Square project exemplifies this. Initially, I would estimate that people were divided fairly equally; a third for, a third against, and a third undecided, with a lot of questions. I also believe that, at this point, most of the original undecided’s have become opponents. If my estimate is correct, then it must be due mostly to one of two reasons. Either the argument for H.S. is weak and/or it was presented poorly.
I count myself as one of those undecided at the beginning (and I can document this, if necessary). I also am one of those who is currently opposed to it. The reason I went from there to here is largely due to the way you have presented it. Admittedly, I did not engage in discussions about H.S. early on. The first meeting I went to was probably in April of this year. It took place at a church on Reed Rd. It was a large event, so I’m sure you know when/where I’m talking about. Then, about two weeks later, there was another presentation at IPFW which I attended. After only these two meetings, I began to get the idea that something was not right. A few months later, I began attending City Council meetings and, as a result of what I observed, became more opposed to H.S.
Now, for a generalization of why my position changed, I would simply say that you have not made a full disclosure of all the relevant information. I can elaborate upon this also, if necessary. There were far too many times when citizens (and some members of council) asked relevant questions, only to be ignored, rebuffed, or mislead. The proponents of H.S. have said repeatedly “If only people would educate themselves about this, I’m sure they’d be for it.†But then, people are not given the information necessary for them to be able to fully analyze the situation.
When I spoke to City Council this past Tuesday, I used parody to make my point. In your response, you countered well against some of my points. But there were three points which you did not attend to at all. Two of them are of minor importance, but one of these points (the blank check) sums up almost completely my opposition to Harrison Square. So your response really did little to counter my opposition.
Additionally, you claimed that my parody of the situation was trivializing this important issue. I would counter that it has in fact been you (again, I remind you that I am using this term broadly) who has trivialized this matter by behaving in a manner which implies that you do not feel the citizens of this city should have any substantial input on your project.
I will begin closing this letter, as I opened, by commending you. Mr. Pape, you (and I mean this specifically) are obviously a very intelligent man. I think most people would agree with this assessment whether or not they hold the same opinions as you do. You are also courageous, first for running for public office, but more importantly for stepping into the sometimes wild and uncontrolled domain of the blogs. You are exactly the type of young professional that we want to attract and retain not just for our city, but also for our City Council. You make some very strong points when you ask “If not this, then what?†A lot of what you say (not just on H.S.) might be summed up as “Lead, follow, or get out of the way.†This is a maxim that I share a strong affinity towards.
Sir, it seams odd to me that my personal assessment of you so far (energetic, intelligent, a leader) runs so contrary to my assessment of your stance on several major issues which have passed before the council this year. I plan to make a habit now of following local politics more closely, so I expect that eventually I might resolve this paradox. In the mean time, I would request the following of you. Continue to let myself and others come before you to speak our minds. Explain yourself as fully as possible, especially on controversial issues. Remember that the bad actions of one member of your council, if not rebuffed by the rest, will be seen as a tacit endorsement of these methods by all members of the City Council. And finally, keep in mind that the ranting of some people who write on the blogs or come before your council to speak, should not bias your attitude towards all of them.
In return, I promise you that I will try to speak honestly and openly to you at all times (this does not preclude the use of parody as a valid and useful tactic, so long as I follow with a seriously stated explanation). I will try to keep my comments brief and on point. And finally, I will continue to keep my comments focused upon the issue, rather than making personal attacks.
Respectfully,
Phillip D Marx
462 E Suttenfield St
Fort Wayne , IN 46803
From a repost on Fort Wayne Left earlier today I was asked to mention in other forums:
I am not sure any of you understood who spoke that night. It wasn’t exactly a sliver of the voters. They were people who represented a great deal of many other people and their organizations.
Yes, I made an impassioned plea for the council not to quit working before the election, thinking anything was all sewn up. I made that plea on behalf of thousands of emails and people I have talked to just this past month. Let alone the number of phone calls and letters which come to me.
There are many many people who are not all right with the current actions or inactions City Council has taken/not taken in regards to many issues.
I, as well as others, stepped forward as representative of real people trying to get their attention and possibly some action on their behalf towards our common goals.
Dr. Hayhurst and other supporters of some controversial issues are, indeed, getting a lot of input. Unfortunately, it is the strange polarity that people will seek out others who support them. What we need to do as leaders on both sides is to see that there are commonalities with the stances we take on issues and use those to move forward instead of this heightened attack mode our political environment has become.
I think it is time the leaders of several organizations, both for and against the largest issues, come together and see where we can make lemons out of the very sour and damaging lemonade.