By Jim Sack
It was like watching a fine fencing match. First Smith and Brown meet, then Pape and Harper squared off.
Last night was assignment night. The new president of council, Marty Bender, rearranged the location of each council member in both the committee room and the grand hall of the people. Mr. John Shoaff nestled between Karen Goldner and Liz Brown in committee, Tom Didier exiled to the extreme right wing of the dais in the grand hall. It was also an evening to decide who would serve on each board or commission upon which council has a designated seat. Most decisions went quickly. Glynn Hines wanted reappointment to the cable board. No one else cared, so he was seconded and voted promptly in. Mitch Harper was voted to serve on the Downtown Improvement District. Then came the first little fight.
Mr. Bender asked who would like to serve on the plan commission, a position former council president Tom Smith had held for ten years, without complaint and without criticism. Liz Brown announced her interest, to the surprise of a few at the table. Both were seconded and a vote was held. Five to three was the outcome in favor of Mrs. Brown. Tim Pape, as is often the case, was absent. It was obvious that Mr. Smith was not happy with the result. It was a bit of a slap in the face, perhaps pay back. Within a couple of minutes another vote was held. Liz Brown to retain her seat on the solid waste board, she cited a number of reasons, and a few heads nodded in affirmation. Then, Karen Goldner announced she also wished to occupy that seat. Shoaff, seated between the two candidates, asked if a compromise might be arranged by delaying the vote which brought laughter from the table and audience. He was, after all, seated between the combatants and was seeking peace lest he be caught in the crossfire. Nope. The vote went on. It was about that time that Mr. Pape buzzed in and seated himself just in time to cast the deciding vote…against Mrs. Brown in favor of his fellow Democrat, Karen Goldner. Mr. Smith had cast his vote for Ms. Goldner as well. A small bit of revenge. He probably was happy to see Mr. Pape whoosh in.
With that ended, council began the mundane reading of ordinances and acted on each. Mundane. A couple of tax abatements ably explained by Elissa McGauley for the administration. (She is among the most cogent and informative of city staff who comes down regularly to enlighten council on proposals.) Odds and ends.
Toward the end of the committee session, Tim Pape asked each member to sign a letter endorsing a bill in the state legislature authored by Phil GiaQuinta, to reduce the number of Allen County commissioners from three to one and to reform the council council to serve as a legislative branch, rather than just a fiscal agent. Shoaff said he had not read the full bill and asked Mr. Pape if the bill he was asking council to endorse would accomplish those two goals without causing new problems. Others asked similar questions. Mr. Pape, who brought the matter to council and was asking for each to endorse the measure, announced that he had not yet read the bill. Hmmm. Mr. Pape did not circulate the letter to the public, so it is hard to tell what council actually endorsed, given the way lawyers convolute things it could have said almost nothing. Mr. Pape also did not respond to my request for a tally of who signed and who did not, but Mr. Shoaff said that he believed all members had signed. Can one suggest the blind leading the blind. Given the matter has been widely publicized, probably not, but it would make sense for someone to have been versed in the bill, especially Mr. Pape who was circulating the letter of endorsement.
Members adjourned to the great hall and to their new seats there. Mr. Didier on the extreme right, Mr. Pape to the immediate right of the president, the others adjusting to their new neighbors. Gavel down, the president went through the business or reading and passing ordinances forwarded from the committees. Everything went smoothly until an off-agenda matter came up: Mitch Harper had tried, unsuccessfully, to get a campaign finance measure on the agenda. Sandy Kennedy whirled to face the chair and scold the body, Mitch Harper in particular, for missing a deadline to have the ordinance in her hands soon enough to prepare for the meeting. 2:00 p.m. is the deadline, she almost yelled. It caused me to wonder if they are still working with quill and ink.
A discussion ensured. Mr. Harper explained briefly the essence of his ordinance and asked the council attorney if he had signed off. Attorney Bonahoom said he had not yet. Apparently, he had plenty of time to review and make sure the bill was in proper format, but he had not yet signed off. Hmmm. So, the matter of introduction became a moot point. The rules would not be suspended. But the discussion continued. Mr. Harper explained the bill, modeled on others which are on the books in other states, would shine a brighter light on campaign contributions and reduce the likelihood of “pay to play” contributions from contractors to candidates, a sort of cover charge to get a chance at contracts. Mr. Pape took umbrage with the timing, asking why it was to be placed on the table just just before the submission of January campaign reports, essentially calling into question Mr. Harper’s motives? Mr. Pape took additional umbrage with comparing us to New Jersey and Illinois where legislation is currently in place. Mr. Harper again calmly explained that those bills had survived challenges and were working. Then, Mr. Harper asked Mr. Pape if he would have voted against a similarly constructed state law, House Bill 1001, which recently passed 97 to 2? (Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend) Mr. Pape looked down and then retorted that it was the “characterization” of the bill to which he objected, comparing Indiana to places like New Jersey and Illinois. The second fencing match was over with the point to Mr. Harper.
The bill will come up again, and it is intended to clean up some of the quid pro quo of politics in Allen County where contractors, builders, law firm and others are expected to contribute to candidates in exchange for contracts. We will take a look at the contribution list that soon comes out to see who has collected what from whom. Mr. Harper has plenty of support on council for tidying up the public’s business. Mr. Pape looked very much like he was defending the system of pay for play.
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High drama and low comedy at it’s best. Council never disappoints. I would ask if there has been any more word on limiting citizen input at these meetings to save time and embarrassment for Council and the Administration? I’ve heard of discussions about limiting citizen comments to 2 minutes and that prospective speakers will be required to show proof of residency and will need to apply a week in advance to speak. This only makes sense as Mr/Chief/President Bender told the newspaper that he wanted to eliminate “extraneous discussions”. This will also mean that Marty will be able to get home in time to see Wheel of Fortune on the TV.
Doug, those might be true, but there was no indication from the president that the open mic at the end of the general session would be curtailed in any way, and I was listening. Perhaps we will be visited with restrictions later, but it was not the case Tuesday. I think the battle is joined between Mr. Harper and Mr. Pape. It seems clear that Mr. Harper is considering a run and preparing his ground. It seems that Mr. Pape is the mayor’s lead warrior on council who will defend the mayor’s position as his proxy. Mr. Pape tried to embarrass Mr. Harper and failed. Mr. Pape also called into question the motives of Mr. Harper’s proposed ordinance which is, as I understand it, not in keeping with the rules of the council. You might remember a few months back Ms. Golder called Mr. Harper “disingenuous,” or a liar, another breech of the rules. I think blades have been crossed and will be crossed with more frequency in the months to come. Wear a helmet. I have mine.
Atta Boy Mitch!!
Jim,
I just want to say “Thanks!” for your recaps of city council happenings. They are informative and helpful in my assessment of the council members.
My pleasure, Steve. I go to each and then try to have a glass of something after the meeting with one or more of the members to get their take on what had transpired. Much of it is arcane. I can not think of better entertainment at a better price than city council on a Tuesday night. City TV does a nice job, but it is a flat screen. Sitting in the audience you can see the eyebrows raise, the angry glares, and hear the comments so much better. Given there are ten strong personalities, plus the peanut gallery it is a wonderful soap opera with millions of dollars on the table each night. Drama at discount prices.
Jim,
I especially enjoyed this written line of yours:
“Sandy Kennedy whirled to face the chair and scold the body . . . for missing a deadline to have the ordinance in her hands soon enough to prepare for the meeting. 2:00 p.m. is the deadline, she almost yelled. It caused me to wonder if they are still working with quill and ink.”
In a time where Congress immediately emails their passed bills to the President for consideration, I’m wondering if the Fort Wayne Clerk’s office is still using a Gutenberg printing press to make those copies of the agenda!
Charles, it seems the hold up is the city council attorney who was given the proposed ordinance with plenty of time to review and formalize it. Seems, because he has a full time job and the city council gig is part time, that he could not find enough time to get to the city’s business. Sandy did just what I wrote. She scolded Mitch for missing the deadline. She told the president it would be a bad precedent to suspend the rules. That surprised me. I know they can make changes up to the last moment. The question is when the deadline should be. It is not fair to members, who have received a packet the Friday before the meeting, to find a new element, potentially a little bomb, inserted at the last minute. To Mitch’s credit he informed others, perhaps everyone appropriate, well in advance. So, a few key strokes would have worked, had the president been willing to suspend the rules and the clerk seen fit to so allow him.