Author Archive

By Jim Sack

And, the winner was….

…whoever you think it was.

Not being flippant, really, just observing. At last night’s mayoral debate at IPFW all three candidate’s made points, all three offered memorable moments and very few votes were changed. Partisans remained partisans, those on the edge didn’t get much raw meat to win their vote. The debate was a bit of a draw.

First, it was a very polite crowd who dutifully followed, except in one instance, the admonition of host Andy Downs to keep quiet throughout the night. No hooting, no hissing, no applause. The audience, me included, dutifully responded, except for one heartfelt moment. Happily, only one selfish man’s cell phone went off during the debate. Andy was clear on that, too. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Sack

Last night’s city council debate was frustrating to watch. It was the 5th District’s effort to hear what the six at-large candidates and the two district candidates had to say. With so many candidates the format could only be characterized as superficial.

First, we should all pay great respect to the candidates who offer themselves up to our scrutiny. Of the gaggle of eight all were men of integrity and capability. All would serve us well. All spoke cogently over the two hours of discussing community issues. None assault any of the others, there was no rancor, no sniping comments, no condescension, no “gotchas” efforts. One could easily predict that they would raise the level of debate and civility.

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By Jim Sack

After four weeks of passionate, intimate budget-making last night’s council was a bit like that movie cigarette-after-sex moment where the lovers stick around long enough to offer a few private thoughts before one heads out for dinner, to the Bean Dinner, in this case, Rand Paul was in town, the heart-throb of laissez-faire Republicans, Ran Paul, so a few of the Rs took the last puff, hastily pulled on their clothes and bid polite adieus to the Democrats before hurriedly leaving.

Their last bit of business on the tumultuous 2012 budget was a roll call vote which was requested by Mr. Shoaff. A roll-call vote allows each member to go on the record expressing their feelings concerning the issue at hand. Some members voted, but chose not to expound. Karen Goldner and Marty Bender remained taciturn. Mr. Shoaff expressed his concern with the deep cuts inflicted on the Park Department and the Police Department, valid capital needs, he said, that were slashed from their budgets. Mr. Smith rued the dying tree canopy and called on the mayor to budget from the Legacy Fund to solve the matter sooner than dragging it out over a dozen years. Mr. Didier said he had problems with the budget, as did everyone, as should be expected, but still voted for it. Then Mrs. Brown lashed out about how the budget was, in a phrase, filled with lies and deceit. Her lone ally, Mr. Council President Harper, noted that the budget’s income line was puffed out thanks to a doubled “payment in lieu of taxes” from City Utilities to the general budget, seconding that the revenue side was as every bit as dire as Mrs. Brown had tried over her last year at the table to point out. Mr. Hines told the group that the infrastructure of the city upon which economic development and the welfare of the city are based was and is crumbling and praised the city for doing more with less. Read the rest of this entry »

Candidates Forum next Thursday from 6 to 9 pm at Eicher. You are all welcome. All six at-large candidates have committed, as have Mssrs. Hall and Paddock. Eicher is on the (old Taylor) Ambassador Campus at 1025 West Rudisill.

Plenty of time to mingle and to ask questions of each candidate.

By Jim Sack

Zip for 23. Not one cut passed, not one.

John Shoaff struck out, Liz Brown went down in flames, Tim Pape’s cuts floated bloated belly up.

Last night, the last night of council deliberations on the budget, some 23 cuts were proposed and not one, not one, passed the entire council.

Here is the sound track: 8-1, 8-1, 8-1, 7-2, 7-2, 6-3-1, withdrawn, withdrawn, withdrawn, failed for lack of a second, failed for lack of a second.

Mrs. Brown, in her last days as a member of council, on her last legs as chief inquisitor, served her last night as chair of the finance committee. She had some 19 cuts proposed, but, in her normal polite style, she allowed the other two members who had proposed cuts to go first. Clear the decks. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Sack

Last night Beth Malloy reminded me of the joys of working in public service. It was the turn of the Mayor’s Office at Council to defend their budget and she was sent down from the grandeur of the mayor’s suite to plant the imperial colors. She smiled, she laughed, made puns and enumerated a fairly long list of items that have been implemented and others that are still on the mayor’s plate. She started with a bit of a homily by reminding most at the table the joys of managing a city, of seeking solutions and of helping citizens.

Years ago I worked for Win Moses on the 9th floor. On my first day I made a call to a neighborhood leader, my first call on the job, and said, “Hi, this is Jim Sack from the Mayor’s office.” Absolute silence on the line. Remember the pin-drop commercial? It was sobering and an informative lesson in the power and moreover the responsibility of the job. With her exuberance last night Ms. Malloy reminded me that many of the people in government are there to serve, to solve, to help. For many it is a calling to better their community, to help their neighbors and to leave a lasting legacy to their grandchildren. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Sack

Ron Vargo sounded a warning to members of city council last night: you are cutting muscle in your budget process. Tom Smith, councilman from the First, thinks there may be $3 million in fat in the city’s budget. Steve Schaefer called on council to cut their own salary (fat?) and save the taxpayer hundreds of thousands. Elissa McGauley won council support to shave tens of thousands of taxes from a developer’s bottom line in exchange for creating one job. And, Glynn Hines spanked fellow council members Mitch Harper and Liz Brown for their gang assault of Clerk Sandy Kennedy. Variation was the spice of life at council last night.

First, Vargo. He is the vice chair of the Northwest Area Partnership, a collection of neighborhood associations that do much of the work of government: they educate citizens, spread word of public policy, organize public support for projects, provide recommendations on what public projects might rank highest in the hearts of their neighbors. It is grassroots democracy and participation at its best. Vargo’s point was that the ever dwindling services available from city to citizens was frustrating to those who volunteer countless hours to better their neighborhoods. He observed that cuts in funding were causing a deterioration of the local infrastructure which diminishes appeal which leads to out-flight which leads to decay, blight and crime. He said the council in its urge to cut was entering “the realm of unintended consequences.” Polite sights from council, members checked their fingernails for hints of dirt, one member casually examined the ceiling for defects in workmanship. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Sack

High English Tea of Wednesday night turned into an ambush Thursday night. The highlight of the low moment, however, shows us that some members of council can plot together.

One would have thought that the appearance of Greg Leatherman, the director of Redevelopment, would have been the flash point at the third round of budget hearings. He and John Shoaff do not have a warm personal relationship, and Mr. Shoaff has been a constant critic of most matters surrounding the Harrison Square project while Mr. Leatherman, a veteran of two administrations, has been its champion. One would have thought Mr. Shoaff would have all but clambered over the table to drive his points home. Nope. Mr. Shoaff is far too respectable and respectful. He asked pointed questions in a very measured manner. His voice stayed on a even pitch and inflections were normal. Mr. Leatherman obviously hated some of the questions, but he, too, answered with restraint. Answers he did not have (or chose to defer…) he promised to provide at a subsequent budget meeting next week. In brief, Mr. Shoaff believes the original deal with the twin firms from Atlanta, Barry Realty and Hardball Capital, gave much too much to them and got too little for Fort Wayne, not to mention putting taxpayers on the line, should the deal fail, which is did. Too chummy, too needy on the part of the Richard Administration, not enough assurances, lacked full disclosure, were Mr. Shoaff’s points. He blames the Redevelopment Commission and Mr. Leatherman for all of that and, now, for not replacing Barry Realty soon enough concerning the condo/business building called the Harrison. Mr. Leatherman would say that the economic disasters of the 2008 stopped the project dead in its tracks, something he could hardly have controlled. They disagree. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Sack

First, a short tribute to Mister Transformative Change. Almost everyone at council table last night used their new iPad, in the audience a few people tapped away at iPhone screens and the PC in the room was a poor imitator of the Mac. Thanks, Steve.

City council entered its second night of budget hearings and you could hardly tell they had ever met, so polite and deferential were they. The usual rancor was gone, vanished! The session was highly informative, productive and polite. The only testy comment was offered by Mister Nice Guy, Tom Didier; the humor was just a tad blue, the pace quick and businesslike. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Sack

Council last night was a three-parter – the normal committee session which fairly sailed by, then an update on the city’s group insurance program and the exciting finale, the tumultuous budget hearings.

For a change, everybody was present, and gleaming before the members were their new iPads with IT expert Jim Haley hovering over each to fire them up and give a last round of instructions on their use, which was minimal on their maiden flights. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Sack

The work of the Legacy Committee came to a contentious end last night with the kind of confusion and hypocracy that makes city council look like a church kaffeeklatsch.

The committee comprises a dozen and a half civic leaders representing business, the schools, foundations, business, city council, education, business, non-profits and business. Appointed by Mayor Tom Henry, they have labored winter, spring and summer and into the fall to bring forth recommendations to the mayor on how the Legacy Fund might be “invested” for the benefit of all of the people of Allen County. They have called upon we the people, the vox populi, to express our aspirations for Fort Wayne. Read the rest of this entry »