Posts Tagged “Liz Brown”

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.

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By Jim Sack

Last night’s council meeting was so boring that a council member resorted to text messages to keep reporters awake.

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By Jim Sack

Brandon Seifert is running for the Lake Township Advisory Board. Not exactly a marquee office in politics, out there around Arcola, with a budget a fraction of the Wayne Township office, with none of the highly charged issues that surround a mayor’s office or a commissioner’s future. It is a quiet place where raising money for fire protection is paramount.

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By Jim Sack

It was like watching a fine fencing match. First Smith and Brown meet, then Pape and Harper squared off.

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By Jim Sack

Well, John Crawford. He offered his support to me when I fought the changes to Calhoun Street, so our last contact was as allies. I also was a strong supporter of a downtown ballpark, so he voted as I probably would have, and I loath smoking, so I have only a few qualms about his effort to force health on us. Additionally, the chats I had with him during his tenure on council informed me that he was very astute, well educated, deeply caring about Fort Wayne and tough.

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By Jim Sack

It was a fresh start last night, all smiles, laughter, joking. City council had not been in session for three weeks and members greeted each other as old friends, almost like a class reunion.

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By Jim Sack

The Skybridge and the Embassy. I am still not happy with the arrangement the city has with the new downtown hotel people concerning our access to the sky bridge. “Due to security concerns” the hotel will only make it accessible to we unwashed masses on those rare occasions when the Embassy is hosting an event. Since we paid for the damn bridge we should be able to use it during some sort of regular hours, say 6am to 10pm. Park in the garage near the Marriott and walk from there to the Grand Wayne Parking Garage. Why not? You paid for it and during heavy rain or snowfall it could be a life-saver.

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It was almost a jolly city council meeting last night. Even as the troopers were just beginning to trooped in you could see mostly smiles and friendly gestures. Tom Didier, always a happy guy, was the norm rather than the exception last night; the atmosphere during most of the rest of the year as was exemplified during the budget hearings when low grade snarls emanated from around the table. The meeting last night proceeded that way from front to back, only a couple of times did it seem that Liz Brown might go after someone at the table. (To be clear, Harper and Shoaff hardly ever are draw in to the snarling; Shoaff is a very gentile and collegial council member, Harper is highly conscious of the need for polite decorum and fully observes it.)

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The Fraternal Order of Police contract came to the table last night and received a do-pass vote. Police Chief Rusty York strongly supported it at the table. Behind him were two officers representing the FOP. Marty Bender wisely abstained.

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Usually the questioning on city council is blunt. Straight forward questions are asked and usually, meandering answers are given by city officials. There was an example of just the opposite last Tuesday.

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Blow for blow, topic for topic, insult for insult, last night’s City Council meeting was the most interesting I have seen in the year that I have been following that august body.

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