Author Archive

By Jim Sack

How to characterize the council meeting last night? Short? It certainly was that. About an hour, including formalities, presentation of the colors, a moment of silences and Marty Bender’s announcement that he hasn’t been to a barber in 14 years. Calm? Certainly that. Not the first eyebrow was raised. Workmanlike? Yep. Bills were read, hearings held without input, every ordinance was dispatched with a 7-0 vote. It reminded me a tape from 1933 BBC radio when the announcer in his droll, upper-class English accent introduced the program. “Now, news from the BBC in London. (pause) There is no news.”

So it was last night, bills came and went. Mr. Councilman Harper carefully amended a section of city code to protect city finances. Nods of approval from everyone at the table, as well as city employees who had stayed late to collaborate on the matter. Zorab Tazian was there. He came to shepherd a petition through council that amounted to voluntary annexation of a parcel of his land to the north of the city into the city. He sees access to city services – our tasty water, police and fire protection – as big pluses when he puts sub-divided lots crowned with McMansions up for sale. Mr. Tazian, for those who don’t know, is in a class by himself when it comes to business acumen. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Sack

There will be the water rate increase the Henry Administration wanted and it will be mercifully spread out over three years. There will not quite yet be a revision of a taxing structure that Councilman Mitch Harper wanted, but tune back in in two weeks. There will be., to the chagrin of the administration, a new face at council table. And there was a smart, but indecisive debate over the fate of our sewers and how to fund repair of cascading main breaks.

First, the new face: council attorney Joe Bonahoom introduced his new understudy, Jim Howard, the former purchasing director for the City of Fort Wayne who was just recently fired by the administration to the disgust of some and the head-scratching of many. Why ever he was fired we probably will never quite know, but now he will have a seat at the city council replacing the able Mr. Bonahoom when other duties call. There is some irony in this turn of events and it will be interesting to see how the old “friends” comport themselves when a matter of courtly etiquette falls to Mr. Howard to decide. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Sack

PILOT is an acronym for “payment in lieu of taxes.” The premise is that City Utilities is a business and should contribute taxes to the polity as does I&M and NIPSCO, you or I. The business assets of City Utilities are assessed as your home is assessed and payment is made to city government. As the valuation and commensurate assessment of the assets increase through improvements or inflation payments also rise.

So, last night Kumar Menon, the director of City Utilities, smart and nattily attired, came to council to get his rate hike, some 40 percent over two years starting in 2013, but he never quite got past the second slide in his Powerpoint. Welcome to the new city council. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Sack

Kumar Menon’s presentation to council was studious, refined and chocked with facts and figures and explanations of how the state controls much of water policy in Fort Wayne. He could lull owls to sleep. And, by the end of his lengthy slide show and presentation most council members had begun to ask how the effect of the rate increase might be “softened,” not whether it was inevitable or needed.

So, next week the matter will be rehashed and Mr. Menon, the dapper, erudite head of City Utilities, will be bring back his answer to their principle question – is there another way? “Oh, esteemed members of our glorious and beloved city council, fellow champions of the public good, health and welfare, after lengthy study, consultation with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, deliberations with our beloved mayor, the burning of much incense and incantations to the gods of sewers and cast iron pipe, the answer, in a word, is no! Any further questions?” Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Sack

The party-line concerning the elevators went something like this: we had them inspected, were told they were good for three or so more years, moved on to other things, were surprised when people got stuck between floors after move-in, found money that would not require council approval and here we are. Sorry, should have given you a heads up.

It was the inaugural Fifth Tuesday hearing and it was well worth the price of admission. I doubt, however, that anyone left the chambers last night satisfied with either questions or answers.

To set the scene, most months have four Tuesdays when the Common Council of the City of Fort Wayne does its work. Once quarterly a month has a fifth Tuesday and over time this “extra” Tuesday has been taken off by council. They have done that for no real reason such as a prevalence of sun spots on all fifth Tuesdays or a need to fly home to the meet with constituents, it is just boys’ night off. Council, in fact, operates on a three night rotation where a bill is introduced on the first Tuesday, debated or discussed the second Tuesday and then disposed of the third Tuesday. Given there are 52 weeks there is only one Tuesday that would cause confusion, not four, but things being things the fifth Tuesday has become time away from the rigors of talking. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Sack

My friend, Andi Udris, has resigned from the Alliance. I will miss him.

Andi Udris

To be clear, the abrupt resignation, which he did not signal to me when we breakfasted last week, looks more like walking the plank at the point of cutlass.

Perhaps the people who gave him the choice between jumping or being pushed had a good reason, perhaps, as was reported, it was a clash of personalities. I doubt anyone will bother to tell me. People in these positions use silencers.

Andi, to his credit, worked hard for this area and had big dreams for economic development. He clearly had begun to set down roots and bubbled of how much he liked Fort Wayne.

Somebody, apparently, didn’t care much for Andi, his ideas or his personality. You can see the members listed here on their website. They include the high and the mighty in Fort Wayne, as well as a couple who are moving on in life. They include people who are hired guns who will vanish in their own time from the local scene leaving very little, indeed, behind. Read the rest of this entry »