There was little of significance on the agenda last night at council, so little in fact that members wondered why President Marty Bender had even bothered to hold the meeting. You see, there seems to be a cycle to the business of council not unlike various rhythms of life and, in council’s case, they peak during the budget season when there is a parade of paper and people to the table.

So, last night four items were on the agenda, four, usually the count is closer to fifteen or twenty. Three matters were steps along the way toward infrastructure projects. They had been discussed before and were rather routine. The last matter did, however, create a bit of discussion, a procedural vote on expanding the board of the Downtown Improvement District. The director of the DID and his deputy were explaining their reasoning behind expansion of the board. It was noted that five additional persons would be added and their names had been selected by the current members of the DID board. The names were read. Tom Didier asked, in essence, a simple question: will the council not be asked to offer names, as well? It is, after all, a public board, council makes dozens of appointments a year and those names are usually presented to council via a nomination by one council member or another. Sometimes spirited debate surrounds nominees. Councilwoman Karen Goldner tried, ineffectually, to explain a difference between the DID board and other boards that does not exist. She failed. Councilman John Shoaff added his voice to that of Mr. Didier. He suggested that the public should be involved. So did Councilwoman Liz Brown. They simply thought it would be nice, since the city is providing a large portion of the budget of the DID, that the community, through its elected representatives, have the opportunity to nominate citizens to that board.

There were those at the table who voiced their great respect for some of the names the DID had internally decided would join their board, but the counter argument was simply that the DID should be more open and democratic. Didier opened a small can of worms that fomented discussion for ten minutes. Given that there were only four items on the agenda and everybody was home in time for their favorite drama it was a very worthwhile discussion.

Council appoints many, many people to local boards to attend to the business of the community. These are volunteers who spend hours each month, sometimes many hours each month, reviewing and recommending courses of action, approving variances, recommending growth policy, etc. They have considerable power and often effect the expenditure of tax dollars. Liz Brown has called for regular reports from board appointees. She has been somewhat frustrated to date by lackadaisical compliance. Some have come through with those high flying colors, while others have not.

So, Mr. Didier was on the mark to ask why the DID had already picked its new board members. It certainly looked like an incestuous move, an insider’s club, only our kind of people need apply. There were, of course, stabs at explanation, but the simply point Mr. Didier raise was one of openness. He had the high ground. The DID did not.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 at 9:41 am and is filed under City & County Government, Fort Wayne, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.