The matter in question, an ordinance approving a plan “to streamline business permitting in Allen County,” was discussed by an extraordinary gathering of both the Allen County Council and the Fort Wayne City Council and witnessed by most of the leaders of the Fort Wayne business community. The ordinance in question was outlined in a generally informative presentation and then passed during a meeting within the larger meeting by the Fort Wayne City Council. The remarkable performance played to a full house in the renowned Allen County Public Library under the cooperative batons of City Council Vice President John Shoaff and Darren Vogt, the County Council president.

In short, the ordinance proposes to spend $1.5 million, about the price former Councilman John Crawford reminded me of the unsuccessful Calhoun Street redo, to make it easier for big construction and development projects to move through the local permitting process. Deputy Mayor Beth Malloy, one of the leading presenters and architects of the proposal, noted that currently it can take a frustrating month or much more to get a project permitted, which we were told repeatedly last night is much too long. Perhaps.

Consequently, a variety of fixes have been proposed in the proffered ordinance, including: aligning 19 departments on the same software, putting the process on line, making the progress of a project visible to the applicant, hiring an expediter to shepherd projects through the maze, setting up a feedback system and retaining a consultant to untangle the tangled growth of regulations that perplex and stymie projects. Ms. Malloy also noted that the permitting process wasn’t quite the disaster portrayed in the recent Republican mayoral primary. Sitting across from her was the loser in that primary and the soon to be former councilwoman, Liz Brown. Not in the room was the winner of the primary and the other complainant, Paula Hughes.

The ordinance in question was written to resolve problems that confront just eight percent of applicants while the other 92 percent proceed through the “maze” in 24 hours or less, Ms. Malloy said. The kicker is that the eight percent are valued at $330 million, probably as much or more than the smoothly-sailing 92 percent. Consequently, the effort is worthwhile. The 80-20 rule reduced to 92-8.

So, last night a parade of the leaders of the business community came to the lectern and voiced strong support for the ordinance: SDI, GM, The Building Contractors Association, the Alliance, the Chamber Fort Wayne Metals and the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, among others. There were two individuals who voiced concerns, but in general the 100 plus in attendance, mostly representing business, were strongly, adamantly in favor of the changes. One dissenter asked if the rush to help business will lessen review by neighbors and others who might be adversely effected by speeding the process. After a very few polite nods the group hastened right past his comment. Business is on the march!

The most interesting questions from the assembled council members, city and county, were posed by Councilwoman Liz Brown. Her’s were questions of procedure and of promise. First, she wanted to know who would “hire, fire and manage” anyone retained through the ordinance. The answers from the six member bi-partisan, city-county committee that has met for a year and a half to bring forth the ordinance, were muddy. The committee will do that, County Councilman Roy Buskirk softly promised. Well, the committee comprises two council members from each city and county, the deputy mayor and a county commissioner. It is ad hoc. What is the llegal standing for a committee derived from two councils to act unilaterally? Do they have appropriating powers, who will hold the money, who will follow up? Mrs. Brown asked probing questions that apparently had not been fully considered by the committee. Seems the country will hold the money, but the rest remains to be worked out. Trust us.

The second prong of Mrs. Brown’s questioning concerned just that, trust. She noted memories of a succession of committees and volumes of promises that red tape would be reduced and that computer upgrades would open bureaucratic bottle-necks. She echoed charges from her recently failed campaign for mayor that those promises had, by and large, been kept. Zing. Ms. Malloy and the founder of the committee, the rustic Roy Buskirk, explained how this process was designed with just those failures in mind and would lead to measurable progress. Trust us. They promised the committee would continue to meet and would continue to gather feedback from the business community. Trust us.

Despite her comments, one citizen and one member of the committee said that this step, the ordinance and the work, are essential to improving business and increasing jobs and the wage base in Allen County. Everyone nodded. Something needs to be done, was the choral response, and this seems the best step forward.

Becoming increasingly frustrated, Mrs. Brown went on to blurt out, “so we are agreed, it really stinks to do business in Allen County.” Hardly anyone nodded agreement. It was the sort of unnecessary comment that won her 25 percent support for her mayoral candidacy.

In the run up to the vote on the ordinance, Darren Vogt invited those at the table to pose questions. Few posed questions, most made statements, such as one from City Council President Mitch Harper who said the resolution was “hastily drawn” and “incomplete,” his shot at the administration. The internecine warfare of the last two weeks threated to resurface when Karen Goldner and Tim Pape responded with their own testy comments. Mr. Harper noted that it was not an appropriation bill, at all, more like a resolution. Tom Smith, the level-headed councilman from the northeast side, agreed with Harper. The real work of parsing and appropriating lies ahead for both councils, those august solons of county council, and the playground scrappers on city council.

It was left to Mr. Shoaff, who chaired the evening’s meeting, to reign in another of Mrs. Brown’s outbursts and to bring the matter to a vote, which passed, nine-naught. Unanimity takes strange forms.

So, business wins one. The pressure is now on Ms. Malloy and the county commissioners to flesh-out their proposal and win funding. What we were reminded last night is that government needs a good reform every now, a fresh look, new eyes, and to determine if policies of a century or even a decade ago are still relevant and citizen-friendly, and to remind government employees that they work for us. Repeatedly, the comment was made that some departments of government are not customer-friendly to which, based upon my unfortunate experience in the building department a year ago, I can attest. So, this process should not just be about smoothing the way for developers to bulldoze the neighborhood overnight, but rather smoothing the way for every person in Allen County to receive fair, courteous and responsive treatment when dealing with government.

Related posts:

1. A Tough Job Being a Council Member Tuesday night I watched Liz Brown with some admiration.  During...
2. The Pointed Comments of Liz Brown By Jim Sack There is just something about the way...
3. Let the Fun and Games Begin By Jim Sack Budget time at city council. The budget...

Elissa McGauley was not happy. The economic development specialist for the Department of Economic Development, slumped in her chair, her face was not its normally bright, smiling self. In front of her, to the right, at the city council table, sat Tom Lewandowski and Cheryl Hitzemann, both of the Northeast Indiana Central Labor Council, representing, as they said, “unemployed and anxiously employed” area workers.

They were systematically highlighting inconsistencies in the tax abatement program that Mrs. McGauley runs for the city.

Lewandowski and Ms. Hitzemann had been at the table before, a few months ago, for the same purpose, to inform council that the powerful labor body would conduct a study to determine if the promise companies made while seeking tax abatements were being fulfilled. They said at the time that they would work closely with Mrs. McGauley and were very complimentary of the time and attention she had given them up to that point. They were no less complimentary last night as they stressed repeatedly that it was the system, designed by the state, city and council, to bring jobs to the area and to increase the local average wage, that they were assessing, and their’s was not a quest to excoriate any one person or any company for failure to perform or for fraud.

So, last night they handed down their indictments, based upon assessment of the 2005 promises and the subsequent reports, detailing whether the unnamed companies had delivered the goods. Hard to tell, was a big part of the findings.

Mr. Lewandowski and Ms. Hitzemann said in comparing the scores of reports they found widespread inconsistencies in what was detailed: the reports, they added, were a hodge-podge of ill-defined statistics signifying next to nothing for the central purposes of evaluating compliance and in support of that stated goal of creating more jobs paying higher wages.

When Mrs. McGauley was asked to join the two at the table she did so reluctantly and, at first, suggested she really didn’t want to talk about the matter. She then went on to agree with much of what the labor leaders had said. But she was not the issue and council treated her with deference and respect. It is the way the program is set up, and especially the vagueness concerning how compliance is to be reported that was severely called into question.

Councilwoman Liz Brown tried and failed to undermine the duo’s analysis which, as Mr. Lewandowski hastened to add, was done without the first taxpayer dollar. Mrs. Brown didn’t seem to get their point that the system was not providing measurable data, something she has so often less deferentially demanded in other situations. Finally, Council President Mitch Harper expressed the essential point: that we citizens are all expected to “be in compliance” in our personal dealings with government and it should not be any different for corporations who seek government help, your tax dollars, in order to grow, in order to make a profit. It is a question of the “erosion of trust in government,” he added, a point well made.

It was later noted that a company would be “in compliance” if they hit 75 percent of their apparently fungible employment and payroll goals. Hmmm. Try that with your boss…or your creditors. Seventy-five percent. Isn’t that a low “C” in school. Is that our expressed level of excellence? A council member asked what would happen if the company achieved 74 percent? Eyes searched the ceiling for an answer. None was really given. In essence, once a company has gotten their tax abatement the money is all but gone and just try to “claw it back.” Heck, we could get a reputation of being anti-business.

So, council has now to decide whether it will act to improve the alleged messy system, or wait for another evening when Mr. Lewandowski and Ms. Hitzemann present yet another set of findings that further call into question the efficacy of the entire program. It was added by another council member that the information provided to council upon which they now make decisions about your tax dollars would not be sufficient information for a business to make sound decisions. Hmmm.

Meanwhile, Mrs. McGauley, slumped in her seat and John Sampson, another of the economic development gurus in Fort Wayne, the director of the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, looked very concerned sitting next to Mrs. McGauley. Mr. Samson has yet to answer Mrs. Brown’s question about the “losses” his organizations have suffered in their quest to bring jobs here. He says that statistic is impossible to determine, but he is sharp as a tack when it comes to touting his operations few “wins.”

In a side note, the agenda last night was dominated by new ordinances creating tax breaks for companies in exchange for the promise of jobs…. Word must be out. One of the applicants, it was noted, is a company that shut down operations in Hicksville, our not-so-distant neighboring community, to come here, certainly in part for the abatements. One can question whether companies play towns and cities off against each other in the abatement game, and one can certainly question whether that which companies promise to us is ever delivered. Given the inconsistencies in the self-reporting system now run by Mrs. McGauley’s office is very hard to determine, at best.

Brick streets and their maintenance was also on the agenda last night. A bill to preserve and maintain our few brick streets was passed with hardly a whiff of dissent. Tim Pape noted that brick streets last significantly longer than asphalt streets, cost fractions to repair over the same period of time, are better for the environment (asphalt leeches oil in to the ground), can be locally produced (oil comes from you know where), and enhance property values in neighborhoods where brick streets exist. I argued these same points in the mid-80s to city government, the Block Grant evaluation task force during the Helmke years, but got nowhere. To their credit, West Central pushed this for years and the city has finally come around, so thanks to Tim Pape and to the others whose efforts will save you tax dollars and enhance a bit the livability in those neighborhoods.

Oh, and one other thing, John Shoaff, councilman-at-large, announced last night that he is gearing up to fight changes to State Boulevard where it curves at Spy Run Creek. The state wants to straighten the curve and add lanes so as to speed traffic another couple of miles per hour, exactly the opposite of the successful traffic-calming effort on Rudisill Boulevard. Given the road is part of our Park and Boulevard System, deemed of historic significance by the federal government, and passes through a neighborhood that is also on a historic register, Mr. Shoaff has plenty of backers in his effort.

By the way, sorry for the hiatus. Germany called…

Related posts:

1. Understated Drama at City Council By Jim Sack One of the reasons I so enjoy...
2. Under the Bus By Jim Sack Mitch Harper was on time, in plenty...
3. Warnings of Political Agendas and Posturing By Jim Sack Glynn Hines woke everyone up at the...

Beans.

The Republicans at city council last night were anxious to get through the short agenda and onward to their bean dinner in the suburbs. The coming primary is foremost in their minds and judging by the recent haircuts and sartorial dress at council last night more than a few are girding for the last hectic week before the fates decide. The agenda was to a necessary distraction.

But, Mitch Harper played it straight. No short cuts. Business with a smile, but all business. He even recognized a large group of Boy Scouts who came to observe the governmental process and who were led by the city’s able forester, Chad Tinkel. Mr. Harper even invited three of the Scouts to lead the body in the pledge of allegiance that opens the regular session of council last night. Steady at the helm.

The committee session was rather proforma, a public hearing to which no one spoke, followed by discussion of three measures which all passed out of committee with 9-zip or 8-one majorities. Ah, consensus. In fact, two measures, the designation of economic revitalization zones to help local companies expand, were approved with numerous laudatory comments about each business. One council member made a point to commenting to the Scouts that the companies were both in high tech suggesting what merit badge they might next pursue.

The regular session zipped right along with mostly 9-0 votes, but Mrs. Brown registered a couple of “no” votes as did Mr. Harper. The president also abstained on bills concerning one of the software companies. Mr. Harper is very, very careful to protect his reputation for fairness and might be taken as a model by a couple other council members.

The only bill that raised any dust was that which concerned the changing of lighting on the Cloverleaf. Marty Bender was angry. He reminded council that the interchange is state owned ground, however the city is footing the bill and the state can later order the new lights be taken down, thus, leaving the city out $200,000 and without lights at the busy interchange. His comment was forceful and latent with anger. He had previously mentioned how “screwed up” state government is compared to local government which he finds more than trying enough. He voted no, as did Mr. Didier, Mr. Smith and Mr. Harper. Five to four. Mr. Bender did compliment the city for choosing LED light to replace the sodium vapors, noting the savings in significant electricity and maintenance, but he was angry with the State of Indiana for not offering to contribute and holding out the threat that the Department of Transportation might order the city to tear it all down. Hmmm. One might wonder where this is going and where it may pop up again?

Mr. Harper gaveled down the regular session and then opened the floor to citizens to speak. Growing visions of beans were dancing in Republican minds, sugar plum fairies and all. Charles Eberhart, candidate for mayor on the Democratic ticket, popped the balloon as he strode to the table and then whispered some cryptic comments directed at Mitch Harper concerning something to do with the 4th District which Mitch represents. Very strange. Mr. Harper looked a bit perplexed, but more at the way Mr. Eberhart presented himself, I guess, rather than being uninformed of the topic. Mitch is seldom out of any loop.

Then, it was time for council members to speak. The beans were about to rise to their full gaseous potential despite bubbling in warming trays miles away from Ceruti’s. At first, a number of the council members passed their opportunity to comment yielding to John Shoaff who initially offered a rebuttal to comments made by editorialist Tracey Warner of the Journal Gazette in the Tuesday morning paper. Mr. Warner’s snipe at Mr. Shoaff concerned, and concerns, a traffic “problem” that the administration plans to “correct” in a manner which Mr. Shoaff opposes, the widening, straightening and speeding up of State Street west of Clinton. Mr. Warner wrote Shoaff was “micro-managing” and interfering. Shoaff shot back that the project affects hundreds of homes in a dozen neighborhoods and could well halve their property values and cost more to the community in the long run than we would gain from an extra lane and five more miles per hour of speed. Mr. Shoaff pointed out that Warner “micro manages” every day from his editorial page, so it is a bit like the pot calling the kettle black.

Then, Mr. Shoaff changed tack and comment on the recent spate of comments about how utterly and terribly hard it is to do business in Fort Wayne. He explained that, for sure, there are problems, but that by and large the system works quickly and takes into account the various interests that might be effected by new projects or expansion. He mentioned the matter of flood control, as one example. He singled out a candidate who had been expressing this forcefully and commented that it was a bit unfair. He tried to keep the comment “gender-free,” but slipped later and noted the culprit was a “she.” Mrs. Brown stiffened.

Shoaff added that a intergovernmental committee has been at work for a bit under a year and is about to offer a report. That committee included two county commissioners and the no non-sense Roy Buskirk. Mr. Shoaff is also a member, as is the deputy mayor and another member of council.

Then it was Mrs. Browns turn and she let fly. She offered one anecdote after another, including a failure to get forms and processes on-line and the infamous 40-copies of plans required to submit for a project. (She would, perhaps, have the tax payer foot the bill for reproductions?) She was hot. She added that over and over again as she has campaigned she has heard from developers and project managers that the system is cumbersome and convoluted.

She snapped that she stands by her comments that business development “efforts are stymied,” that it is an “extremely difficult process” and thanked Mr. Shoaff for the opportunity to “enlighten him on the process.” She did note it was a problem on both the county side and the city side, but did not note where complaints she had “constantly” heard should be directed. Her comments have been campaign attacks directed at the city administration in her effort to win the nomination, not against the county. As the city does not have a building department, as the county controls the taxing records, more than a few permits, and information on land use, as the planning department is a combined county-city affair it would be helpful to specify the bottle necks. The city may not necessarily be the “culprit.”

Mr. Pape then took his turn and pointed out that often fingers are pointed at the city when it is a county matter. He noted that 12 years ago a red tape commission was set up to slash that villain from local permitting processes. He talked about 12 years of the continuous improvement philosophy then introduced by Graham Richard and how the city, in that oft repeated chant, is doing more with less. Expect to see that line on billboards. Then, Mr. Pape chided Mrs. Brown: “It’s not the smartest thing to say you’ll do something over which you don’t have control.” She was visibly angry. He added that every developer wants a fast track for their particular project, but that there are others who will be effected by that change and those people need also to be advised and heard.

Then, Mr. Smith, a staunch Republican, gently added that during his decade plus on the Plan Commission he found staff to “work very hard” to help planners and developers, that the process was fair, and was balanced.

Mrs. Brown grabbed her bags and left in the middle of his last sentence.

The truth is there are problems as Mrs. Brown points out. Some are easier to overcome than others, many are not so easy to resolve because a given, specific problem is inter-governmental, some problems, in fact, were created in Marty Bender;s “friends” in Indianapolis at the legislature and will have to be solved there. The city is a creature of the state and they set many of the rules. The city and county, however, are working together now on the problem and we all expect them to offer specific changes to remove ridiculous or outdated provisions from local books.

Ironically, as the dust settled, as Mrs. Brown’s heels could be heard clomping toward the parking lot and her cooling bowl of beans, Mr. Shoaff was heard to say that his reference had been to statements made by Paula Hughes, not Mrs. Brown.

Related posts:

1. Warnings of Political Agendas and Posturing By Jim Sack Glynn Hines woke everyone up at the...
2. A Tough Job Being a Council Member Tuesday night I watched Liz Brown with some admiration.  During...
3. A number of things.. By Jim Sack The Skybridge and the Embassy. I am...

So the big item on the agenda last night was a $30 million bond proposal to further clean our drinking water. One council member after another offered appreciation to the administration for the way in which the project was structured and for the recent briefings the administration gave to council members leading up to the committee vote.

The usual suspects who most often support the administration voiced their approval: Karen Goldner, Tim Pape and Glynn Hines. Even John Shoaff said it was wise and appropriate. Mr. Shoaff is usually to bonds as a mongoose is to cobras. He doesn’t like them for a variety of reasons, mostly the additional cost, but last night he express approval and appreciation of the project. Other council members around the table asked a few questions and made a few comments, but nothing unusual until Liz Brown, candidate for mayor in the Republican primary, and councilwoman-at-large, jumped in.

“So, you’ve been working on this for ten years! she said. A polite and affirmative response was offered by Kumar Menon, the head of city utilities, who detailed a deadly outbreak of cryptosporidium in Milwaukee water in the mid-90s that led to new, federally mandated treatment processes. She asked a few more questions and got more polite answers from Dr. Menon, his associate Matthew Wirtz and another gentleman from the department. She nipped at the proposal from a variety of angles trying very hard to find somewhere to attack. She finally did, it seemed, for a brief moment, find an opening concerning other projects that would be undertaken with money from the bond, projects that would otherwise have been paid for from other sources. Her vision of uncovering malfeasance in office petered out. Each subsequent line of interrogation led to more polite answers that all seemed rational business practices. Other council members nodded or rocked in their chairs. She leaned forward and asked about the City Utilities cash that would be involved in the project and was met with more polite and detailed explanations. She finally, with a tone of frustration, ended one line of questioning with a mutter comment, “well, that’s disturbing.” It was hard to tell what had disturbed her, but she was clearly disturbed.

She ended up being the only member of council to vote against, what another member of that body labeled, the safe drinking water bill.

Then, as the vote was called, she blurted that she wanted to explain her vote. Heads turned. Apparently, she is not against safe drinking water, not against the UV equipment to be purchased with the $30 million, not against the bonding method, not against the low interest rate, not against anything in particular that had anything to do with the bill before her, she was just angry that Menon and City Utilities had supposedly snubbed her over unrelated questions of fire hydrant financing from a year ago and she was using this vote and her questioning to find a way of getting back at them for her perceived injustice. Menon apologized for failing to provide her with the information she had requested and rather lamely said he had that very information for her just yesterday but she had failed to show for the briefing, but she could stop by anytime, he smiled. She made the point a second time and Tim Pape reminded her that she had missed the meeting.

Normally, bills make three steps through council: introduction, committee discussion and final vote. Introductions are rather pro-forma, usually just a reading. The committee session, in which all members are a part of all committees, is where, homework having been done, each member may ask as many questions, ad nauseum, should they so wish. Normally, council members explain their rational for voting a measure up or down during final vote in regular session. Apparently, Mrs. Brown felt compelled to blurt out her frustrations well in advance of the final vote, as if she was trying, in some sad way to explain her seething anger.

Marty Bender was also irritated by a new lighting proposal for the Cloverleaf where Coliseum Boulevard (the Bueter Road) meets Maumee Avenue. He was not, however, angry with the city; nope, his frustration was with the State of Indiana. When the state rejiggered the ramps at the intersection they removed a 90-foot tall light. The city, upon review and consideration, decided to install new, highly energy efficient lights and to remove the badly deteriorating and costly-to-maintain tower lights. LED systems are going in. According to Marty, the state caused the problem, has placed a variety of constraints and mandates on the project and requires a state approved contractor do the work, but will not contribute the first dime to the project. Regardless, the city traffic engineer noted that costs of operating the new lights will plummet, as will maintenance costs. The old lights required changing expensive bulbs every two years, the new LEDs should last 15 years between change-outs. The old system eats 44-thousands watts of energy per year compared to 8,200 watts for the LEDs, according to the engineer. He, Shan Gunawardeena, went on to add that the city is replacing old systems through out Fort Wayne with LED fixtures and leads the state in that sort of energy saving, dollar saving effort. President Mitch Harper then brought up LEP (Light Emitting Plasma) lights which were invented in Indiana and are manufactured just south of Indianapolis. A long, technical discussion ensured, but the off-shoot was that the city is also analyzing LEPs to determine their quality, longevity and cost of operation. The city clearly feels proud of their cost-saving, new tech initiatives.

The other big matter last night was a flood mitigation project between the old north side industrial park and the I-69/Coldwater intersection. A land swap will mitigate flooding in the area, make land more “developable” and beautify there area, as well. Most members of council were clearly pleased with the resolution, including Tom Didier, in whose district the area lies and in whose ears regular complaints have been heard repeatedly from the hundred or so firms that have suffered water damage and other problems over the years. The deal between the City, Menards and Sturges Development will cost just under one million dollars, but the city will be able to recoup much of the costs and put more land in production thus yielding a few more tax dollars. We shall see.

In all, three big projects came to the table and the city walked away with three wins. It is an election year and each Tuesday is increasingly highly charged as we approach the May primary and then head toward the November ballot. It was clear that the election was a factor in the discussions.

Related posts:

1. A Tough Job Being a Council Member Tuesday night I watched Liz Brown with some admiration.  During...
2. Council thoughts.. Usually the questioning on city council is blunt. Straight forward...
3. Council Sets the Stage… By Jim Sack It was a fresh start last night,...

The star of last night’s council meeting was a citizen, Phil Marx. It was a dose of reality after an evening of mud-wrestling.

What Mr. Marx vividly and dramatically detailed to council was a litany, a long-long litany, of the abuse he and his neighbors had long endured and against which they had fought and defeated in order to take back neighborhood from thugs. Mr. Marx read police statistics for just one street, his, that were simply amazing -knifings, screw-driver to the head, shootings, assaults, false 911 calls, battery, vandalism…jeez, Louise. The list went on and on and on to the discomfort of all members of council and everyone in the audience.

Then Marx, who led the fight against the gang-bangers and drug heads and thieves,handed out a bit of credit. Assistant Chief and councilman Marty Bender, he said, would make multiple stops and ever-so-slow patrols through his neighborhood on a daily basis to show the colors, to run off perps, to simply check to see if Mr. Marx and neighbors were still standing! Over a period of years Marx and others fought back and, as he noted last night, took back their neighborhood from the derelicts who had terrorized him and everyone else on the block. Marx then read his list of infractions from a more recent police cycle and it all came up goose-eggs. Apparently, closing one den of thieves, one house, changed the entire tenor of the neighborhood. Mr. Marx again gave praise to Marty Bender, lauded Chief Rusty York and all the officers who had taken time to ride down his street to just check and to show the colors.

Mr. Marx also voiced his appreciation to Council President Mitch Harper for starting the curative ball rolling by writing on Mr. Harper’s blog about the ongoing battle of neighbors vs. low-life. Mr. Marx, noticeably, did not express appreciation to his councilman on the east side during his recitation of the ordeal.

For Mr. Marx is was an empowering ordeal that he could well have done without. Few of us want to be harassed by young toughs with their hats on backward, tats climbing their arms, their pants sagging to their knees and uttering threats, especially while we are on a ladder cleaning gutters, as Mr. Marx recounted. Mr. Marx fought back and relentlessly demanded the city take notice. It was apparent from what he said and how Mr. Bender responded that the city took a very long time to take Mr. Marx at his word and then an even longer time to weed out the gutter-dwellers.

So, I hope Mr. Marx will make stay involved in government, in holding official feet to the fire and help other neighborhoods rid themselves of these poor, neglect young miscreants.

Mr. Marx would be a better nominee than most for our local “leaders” citizen of the year award.

Meanwhile, council distinguished itself in a fight over procedure, or, rather, make that two fights over procedure.

The first tussle was between President Harper and Councilwoman Golder. It was a mess. He proposed to change a decades-old process allowing “prior approvals.” Ms. Goldner defended the system. She said she could not see the difference between what he was proposing and what was currently in effect. His “new” system, he said, (suspension of the rules) and is in keeping with Roberts’ Rules of Order; the other process, prior-approval, is not in keeping, he said. He explained that his “new” system, which is really the older system revived, would end the questionable newer system (prior-approval) he said was put in place to “wire around Jimmy Stier.” Some of you will remember Jimmy. Essentially, prior approval was the fast-track system; Mr. Harper’s new system, (suspension of the rules) which was the old system, now raises the bar substantially requiring unanimous approval at a key point to move forward.

Another way of looking at it, the “prior approval” system anticipated that council would later “make good” on its promise by formally and legally passing said ordinance. Until it was formally passed, however, its legality was suspect and could leave 1) a contractor holding the bag, 2) a big hole in a street and 3) lawyers licking their briefs. (As a side note: Liz Brown, contradicting her normal pro-business position, uttered something in support of Mitch: it’s “not our job to get every ordinance out the door as fast as possible.” This is the woman who frequently complains about the city putting too much red-tape in the way of business.) The new system…or old system revived…is less subject to lawsuit.

The debate was nasty at times with Ms. Goldner being interrupted in mid-sentence by the normally polite Mr. Harper. She asked permission to continue with her thought. “No,” he snapped. Murmurs from other members at the table. Glynn Hines rose, rolled his eyes and poured himself a coffee at a side-stand in obvious muted anger. Eventually, Mrs. Brown offered a canned motion in support of Mr. Harper, which passed, and the matter ended, but not without tarnishing a bit the reputation of council.

As for the process, it was clumsy. Apparently, a couple council members knew what was coming, as witnessed by Mrs. Brown’s memorized motion, but the whole mess could have been averted with a little broader consultation.

Then, Mr. Harper invited a pair of vendors to the table to criticize the city’s handling of the cleaning contract for the People’s Palace. The two vendors leveled a number of charges and insinuations against the process and said they felt it had been “very questionable.” Mr. Pape asked, as a point of procedure, whether the two were being given special treatment by Mr. Harper and pointed out the irony of procedure being violated to discuss a perceived breech of procedure. It was the second mess of the evening.

Later, Jim Howard, the purchasing manager, had a chance to defend the way in which the contract was bid. He challenged each and everyone one of the arguments offered by the losing bidder. Again, as she did last week, Mrs. Brown asked Howard if the city could save money by not advertising bids as extensively as it does, as is required by law. Interestingly, she also encouraged greater government transparency later in the meeting.)

Another high point was the presentation of a clock to Mr. Pape for his years of service to the community. He accepted it graciously, if a bit prematurely. He has another seven months left on his contract. One can easily note that he is a changed man since his announcement not to run. His humor is lighter, less pointed, he offers more compliments, he tries to moderate disagreements, of which there are sufficient number.

Otherwise, it was a frustrating evening of arcane procedural wrangling juxtaposed against the message Mr. Marx presented at the dais. Marx and the rest of us are on the front line and need more help in protecting and improving our neighborhoods. Meanwhile, council parses words, toss barbs and otherwise looks petty.

Related posts:

1. Government is the problem Well, that is what Mitch Harper said last night at...
2. Warnings of Political Agendas and Posturing By Jim Sack Glynn Hines woke everyone up at the...
3. Budgets and Badgers By Jim Sack Budget time again, that annual process of...

Scott Harrold and Elissa McGauley sat before council last night as an example of city-county economic development cooperation and left nearly everybody in the room scratching heads to try to understand the tangled and intricate proposal they had introduced.

Harrold and McGauley are both economic development specialists with the county and city, respectively. McGauley, who called Howard her “counterpart” at the county, works to help businesses gain tax abatements and to oversee their compliance with the promises they make to the community in exchange for your help.” (The tax breaks they receive means you will have to pick up a share of their abatements, and millions in tax “incentives” are handed out each year in the hope the company will 1) keep its promises, 2) create jobs and, 3) add to the economic viability of Fort Wayne and Allen County.)

So Last night Mrs. McGauley and Mr. Howard were at council table in a rare joint appearance (with a member of the Alliance ring side for support) to explain the proposal to abate, incent, and otherwise smooth the way for Greatbatch, an orthopedics company moving to town, to develop a plot of fallow land where California Road and Kroemer Road meet on the westside of town.

Greatbatch wants your help and our economic development teams have been, contrary to popular angst, been falling all over themselves to come up with an incentive package. Think: men in robes bearing gifts. With a high local jobless rate our representatives have been pulling out all the stops, including helping develop the parcel, laying utility lines and reimbursing the company for some of their costs of improvement, as well as abating their taxes for ten years in the future.

As there were only six members of council on hand last night it was easy to watch their eyes, many of which were glazed over. Trying to decipher the jargon Mr. Harrold and Mrs. McGauley used was like trying to follow a cricket test match on shortwave radio from Bangladesh. Liz Brown was the most determined to get to the bottom of the issue to determine whether it was a good deal or a flawed deal. She sensed more than a few flaws. It seemed even her keen observations were put to the test as indirect responses did little to answer her direct questions.

Mrs. Brown pointed out quite a few problems with the contract that had been presented to council, mostly ambiguities that she felt would give the company plenty of room to use incentives in ways they were not intended. Her questions were met with nuanced responses. She was clearly frustrated.

Councilwoman Karen Goldner then tried to sum up the jist of the matter, the broad flow of the deal, for we ignorant rabble and managed to get Mrs. McGauley and Harrold to nod to her synopsis in the way someone laughs at a joke they don’t quite get.

One council member finally asked Mr. Harrold if, in all their tracking of abatements whether the benefiting companies had fallen short of their promises and, if they had fallen short, whether incentive money, your tax dollars, had been “clawed back,” meaning repaid. Clawed back… Interesting way of looking at the process. The answer was yes, some companies had failed to deliver, but no, no tax incentives had been returned. “Special circumstances” beyond the control of businesses caused those problems and we should not expect them to repay, explained Howard. Given it is IRS season try that one when your return is flagged. Council has asked the same question a dozen times in the past two years showing a certain level of impatience and disapproval.

The measure passed. One council member subsequently told me that the tangle of promises and payouts, reimbursements and contracts was simply unfathomable. You have to wonder how many more of those glazed eyes on council had only a vague notion of what they had committed your tax dollars to do. By the way, the parcel is outside city limits.

There was more last night. Three labor contracts were up. Mrs. Liz Brown, candidate for mayor, voted against all three which included a 1%, across-the-board wage increase. While it may not matter in the Republican primary all of her votes against pay raises for city employees will be remembered in November.

Then, City Fleet Manager, Larry Campbell, whose grasp of verbs and pronouns is tenuous, defended a deal with Petroleum Traders for fuel. $3.7 million. Councilman Marty Bender likened previous gas deliveries to sludge and noted that police cars had stalled or wouldn’t start with PT fuel. Campbell replied that a rigorous testing program was in place to resolve that problem and that shipments had been refused. He added, later, that the city had not experienced that problem with deliveries from Lassus Brothers. (Penny wise, pound foolish?) He also added that he might have to return to council later in the year for another $100k or so should consumption exceed the budget. He hinted strongly that it would. Mayoral candidate Brown again was not happy. The contract passed.

Police chief Rusty York, soft spoken and seemingly tired, also testified before council last night. He spoke in support of a $1.142 million request for high tech gear for his patrol cars. In essence, each car is a mobile office with wi-fi access to the world – GPS, internet, contact with state and federal data banks with cross-referencing to known bad guys, cameras, digital hi-def recorders, etc. The discussion strayed to a conversation about where 911 offices would be located in the new two-building arrangement, but came back in time for a 6-0 vote in favor or Chief York’s request.

Council members Hines, Pape and Didier were missing last night. Spring break? Since his announcement that he would not be running for re-election, Mr. Pape has seemed to have flown the coop, as if that’s where haggard old lame ducks recover. Perhaps, instead of simply disappearing we might organize a dinner, give him a watch and ask the Democrats to appoint a replacement to fill out his term. Or, easier yet, he might just resume representing the district. While council meetings are noticeably shorter without him, his keen mind and rapier-like insights might have helped untangle the Greatbatch deal and kept his fellow council members awake as the dulling convolutions of the deal were disclosed.

Related posts:

1. Touché By Jim Sack It was like watching a fine fencing...
2. Text Me When It’s Over By Jim Sack Last night’s council meeting was so boring...
3. Warnings of Political Agendas and Posturing By Jim Sack Glynn Hines woke everyone up at the...

There was no meeting of council last night, so members puttered in their various gardens, planting, weeding, dreaming of big harvests.

One such dreamer was council woman Liz Brown at work in a debate with Paula Hughes, former county council president, and Eric Doden, lawyer and businessman, over to whom we should next entrust leadership of the city. Among topics debated was how to use the Light Lease inheritance. In short, Mrs. Hughes wishes to pay off city debt, Mr. Doden wishes to invest it in business development and Mrs. Brown thinks it would be best used as an internal governmental fund to pay for “economic development” projects.

Mrs. Hughes has made debt an issue in her campaign, regardless of whether it is a significant problem, which her opponents argue is not. While the debt is high, over $400 million, the administration hastens to clarify it is split between civil city and city utilities, a distinction without a difference, and that much of the bonded debt comes from the annexation of Aboite neighborhoods and extension of services westward, from purchase of the new Palace of the Comrades, and the Harrison Square development, among other things. The Aboite debt will slough off in the few short years, we are assured, Harrison Square is mostly paying for itself and the rest of the debt is for major infrastructure work, the equivalent of home improvement loans many of us have and pay as we go. In short, our debt is not an albatross.

Mrs. Brown, in using the idiomatic expression, red herring, to criticize Mrs. Hughes proposal for debt reduction suggests that Mrs. Hughes is trying to lead us astray with that proposal. Misnomer. Instead, Mrs. Brown wishes to suggest Mrs. Hughes is offering an argument without merit. Mrs. Brown notes that there are pre-payment penalties involved, should we rush to pay off the debt, thus little real savings would be realized. A red herring refers to a devious diversion, which I don’t think either Mrs. Brown or Mrs. Hughes have in mind.

Mr. Doden interjects that paying off the debt would starve the city of the pool of cash that he would like to use to loan to private individuals and corporations to create jobs in Fort Wayne, or nearby. In the truest spirit of a politician, he has ideas how to use the money on our behalf and wants it all. His would be a revolving loan fund to the private sector. If you don’t mind a few more Kitty Hawks and Micro Standards and, on the more successfully, but even more contentious side, the Harrison Square project, then he is your man.

Mrs. Brown also wants to keep it all, despite her frequent comment on council that she is the champion of the taxpayer. She would like to conserve the money within city coffers to build more roads, more sewer runs, more infrastructure projects of which she has been a champion at council. She would have departments of government compete against her economic development criteria for chunks of the money and then recoup it in some way to replenish the fund, a sort of internal revolving loan fund.

None are suggesting rebating it to you, none are suggesting using it to offset your taxes, none are suggesting using the city utilities money to cut your water bill.

Consider this, give Mayor Tom Henry credit for organizing a rather open process that is giving more people a chance to chime in on how the money should be spent. Tomorrow a large pile of paper proposals and a scad of PDFs will be in the hands of the Gang of 17 for review and recommendation. You may have your disagreements with one or two or three of the members of the committee, but it is broadly based and thousands of citizens have been involved. The meetings have been open and the staff assigned to the task are men and women of honor.

There will be a few hundred ideas on how to spend the inheritance and some may involved loan funds and debt reduction, some may involve trees, trails, parks, sewers, trains, school repairs or statues to great Fort Wayners. You can expect social service agencies to want money for bread, for neighborhood associations to demand curbs and sidewalks, for a church to propose more hymnals in hotel rooms. Who knows what will materialize, but what we have is a truly open process that gives many, many of us a chance to weigh in.

In the end, Mayor Henry will decide from the hundreds of ideas presented to him by the public through the committee headed by Jim Vann and Quinton Dixie. The ideas will have been evaluated by city staff and then will have to pass muster at city council.

You still have time to pencil your idea and carry it to city hall.

In a side-bar, I have been amazed that, to date, no national media have reported on our enviable situation and process. All over the country city halls and state governments are selling assets, cutting staff, reducing services and, in some cases, going into receivership because they are bankrupt. We are in just the opposite situation: we have a handsome reserve, the county has a cup that overfloweth, our services are steady and we are tussling over what to do with a sizable inheritance. One would think FOX or NPR would love to cover the story.

Maybe soon the national spotlight will again turn this way, but then, let’s just hope it is not on late night burlesque.

As for Mrs. Brown, Mrs. Hughes and Mr. Doden, I wonder if they have put their ideas to paper like the rest of us?

Related posts:

1. Four More Years? By Jim Sack There was no council meeting last night....
2. Another Candidate for Mayor? By Jim Sack We understand there is a political poll...
3. Hard to improve upon what you don’t understand By Jim Sack I just read mayoral candidate Eric Doden’s...

It just came out of the blue. One punch after another. Mitch Harper stunned the council and its audience with a a series of angry questions that put an unsuspecting witness on the back of his seat and and an equally surprised audience looking at the floor in embarrassed silence. Because the attack was so un-Mitch-like it was all that more an abrupt reversal to a pleasant council start.

The matter was a janitorial contract for the new city hall, the ill-named Citizen’s Square, itself the subject of more than a few barbs as the night went on.

After his formal introduction to the council’s business and a smiling welcome to a group of civics students in the audience Mitch Harper, president of Common Council turned the committee session over to Tom Smith inadvertently misstating his name, a mistake laughed off with a few one-liners and chuckles. He he, he he.

Then Smith’s Finance Committee, of which Councilwoman Liz Brown is the Co-Chair and all members participate as a committee-of-the-whole, brought forth a “prior approval request” between the city and Ciocca Cleaning and Restoration to keep the new city hall spotless. Smith read the item into the record and then turned to Jim Howard, city purchasing director, for an explanation. Howard gave a lengthy overview of how companies were evaluated and why Ciocca had been chosen. Then, Mitch attacked, asking Howard if he were a lawyer (which he is) and if he, Howard, would ask a client to sign a contract that he had not read? He went on with the questions. Bam bam bam. Harper all but call Howard a ugly sap-sucking offspring of a tree-hugging bi-ped. It felt very much like a personal attack. Howard’s jaw set and his smile evaporated. Mitch pressed the questions in the style of a trial lawyer. Howard held his ground, explained when the opportunity presented itself, and remained dignified in the face of the charges.

Mr. Harper has long made it a point that he objected to “prior approvals” for the reasons stated: they are a promise in good faith prior to the execution of a contract. They are not a contract. They are requested when time is of the essence and the normal, more lengthy process, just takes too long. Think of the as emergency appropriations to be followed by the proper legal work, but, as was repeatedly noted, a prior approval does not have the force of law until the ordinance is signed carries.

Mr. Harper has been on record dozens of times objecting to the process over the past three years, so the question is posed: why did he react so abruptly and vociferously at this request. Perhaps it was Mr. Harper’s increased sense of power at the head of the table, perhaps the recent full moon, perhaps something else, but Harper lit into Mr. Howard and, like a recent pit bull I had occasion to witness, clamped down and wouldn’t let go.

Mrs. Brown also jumped on Mr. Howard for noting that the city had screened applicant vendors to make sure they had no illegals working on staff. In comments that were hard to follow by the audience Mrs. Brown rambled her criticisms in and out of the microphone pattern. Later she clarified by saying Mr. Howard had “impugned” Wal-mart in the course of his duties. Mr. Howard had cited Wal-mart as having paid a huge fine for employment of illegal aliens and he, Mr. Howard, said the city was trying hard to avoid that embarrassment and the potential fine. Mr. Harper and Mrs. Brown took turns attacking Howard while other members of council tried to pull them off.

Finally, ambassador pro-tem Tom Smith intervened in the fight, as it was his committee, he took control back from the attackers, and suggested to President Harper that the discussion offered an opportunity to meet with the administration and arrive at an understanding concerning future “prior approvals.” Mr. Harper, still circling around the wounded Howard, did not respond. The question now is whether Harper, who has long taken umbrage at the practice, will eye-to-eye it with the mayor over the matter and, thus, bring benefit to the community, or this was just a “season-of-the-witch” moment, a gratuitous election year mugging and will serve no further constructive purpose.

The prior approval failed, four to four, but was introduced later as a regular ordinance, as a part of normal business. Perhaps by then Mr. Harper will have attempted to come to a resolution without resort to arms. Watch City TV today for your own evaluation. The dust-up occurred some 15 minutes into the session.

Shortly, after the attack subsided, the committee session disbanded and members reconvened as the regular meeting in the south half of the council chambers. In the regular session many new bills were introduced and read into the record, including the contentious janitorial bill. There was hardly a comment as each ordinance was quickly introduced by council members reading in the style of those Gatling-gun-style announcers who whoosh through the disclaimer at the end of a misleading TV commercial.

Then came public comment time. No one spoke. Not one citizen had a comment to make, not one of the five aspiring primary candidates watching from the floor rose to make a self-serving campaign point, no one.

Public time yielded to comments from the common council and they were, for the most part succinct until Councilwoman Brown commented on the naming of the new city hall. Her points were that the process was a mess, as it certainly was, and that the mayor had impugned (her word of the night) the dignity of the community by speaking to the matter on a TV comedy show where some sophomoric comedian attempted to make crude jokes at the city’s expense, which he did in a rather juvenile way. Mayor Henry, for those who haven’t seen the YouTube clip, was the lame straight man to TV buffoon’s cheesy one-liners. Tom Henry, a very nice man with the best interests of the community at heart, should not have been on the program. He did nothing to contradict the labeling of Fort Wayne as America’s Dumbest Town. As we have seen in the past, he is not a skilled comedian and really didn’t impress anyone with his responses, he was just a sheep for the slaughter, a moment of deprecation on national television. He he, he he. Mrs. Brown was right, although her comments were in the normal vitriolic style for which she is known. But, again, the naming was handled ineptly from front to end and the Mayor’s appearance brought no honor to us.

Mercifully, the end to the evening in this season of the giant full moon came with the solemn and respectful retiring of the colors. It was the high point of the evening.

Related posts:

1. Warnings of Political Agendas and Posturing By Jim Sack Glynn Hines woke everyone up at the...
2. Touché By Jim Sack It was like watching a fine fencing...
3. A Fundamental Shift of Powers? By Jim Sack The Marty Factor was in play last...

One of the reasons I so enjoy observing city council in person is the high drama, even on an evening of low energy as was last night.

Again, as usual, Councilwoman Liz Brown, representative at-large and a candidate for the Republican nomination for mayor, played one of the lead dramatic roles, but the other was offered by a duo from the community, Central Labor Council President Tom Lewandowski, and labor researcher Cheryl Hitzemann. They were there to put council, the administration and businesses on notice, in a gentle, low-energy sort of way, concerning tax abatements.

Mr. Lewandowski, himself a former city councilman of multiple terms in New Haven, told council that his organization, representing the “unemployed and anxiously underemployed” had begun a study of the tax abatement program offered by the city of Fort Wayne to local businesses to encourage expansion and job creation. They have just started with files from 2005 and intend to review every file to prepare a report that should tell us whether companies are in compliance with what they promised in exchange for lower taxes. So far, they have found non-compliance in just under 10 percent of the cases examine.

We, on this page, have brought up this matter in the past. Do the companies create jobs and benefit the community with higher wages and with the sort of expansion that contributes to the growth of other companies, or do they simply take advantage of a system to shift taxes from themselves to you and I? Lewandowski and Ms. Hitzeman intend to go through each page of every application and analyze what was promised and whether it was delivered. We should applaud their work.

To the left of the witness chairs, not applauding, awaiting her turn to speak to another proposed abatement application, was Elissa McGauley, the city’s administrator of the program. She listened intently. It is a tough job and most on council praise her work. Mr. Lewandowski and Ms. Hitzemann should be embraced by Mrs. McGauley.

According to Mr. Lewandowski his organization is using an equivalent of the Freedom of Information Act to obtain complete documents to scrutinize. He complimented Mrs. McGauley for both her helpfulness and the fact that so very little information on the information provided had been redacted, that is, little had been blacked out for purposes of protecting the privacy of the companies who applied and are benefiting from abatements.

The program philosophy is simple: let’s all pitch in a bit to help local businesses, our friends and neighbors, expand, create new jobs, raise wage levels and benefit our economy. After a few years, usually ten, the abatement sluffs off and the enhanced business pays even greater taxes to the community. In practice it is a bit of a gamble that the company will hold up their end of the bargain and will not fold. The labor leaders plan to review the files to determine what return we taxpayers have gotten on our investment and, it seems, Mrs. McGauley welcomes their involvement.

The key matter on the rather thin agenda last night was the final vote on five labor contracts. They sailed through with only one no vote, that of Councilwoman Brown. Give her credit, she is consistent and brave. She has time and again voted against pay raises for city workers; she has questioned the timing of pay raises, she has challenged the details. She does that frequently on other bills, as well, but in this she is also showing more than a bit of bravery, or perhaps a lack of political acumen. She is taking on the very front line of the people she wishes to lead. Should she be elected mayor her first most important constituency will be her employees, the ones upon whom she will have to depend to carry out her policies and serve the rest of us. Repeatedly, Controller Pat Roller and others from the top of the pecking order have praised the employees for doing more with less in a city that has grown physically by leaps and bounds. In other words, those city employees are using their creative juices to find efficiencies that solve our problems, but do not raise taxes. Reward them, she pleads. Mrs. Brown is the only one who has not, at least in part, bought that argument.

You can understand her points: tax revenues are expected to be significantly down this year and, perhaps, next year, thus, less revenue with which to balance a tight budget. Inflation, so far in check, may well explode, if you believe some economists and the laws of nature. Gas prices could even reach $4 a gallon (later today?) further pressing the City of Sprawl to meet its maintenance demands. The City of Cars is repaired by a grand fleet of trucks, each a guzzler. There are more concerns she has voiced, including, fairness. When so many are unemployed, when there is “anxiousness” among the underemployed, not to mention so many fully employed, it seems a bit selfish to give raises to public sector employees. She could go on, many of us could sing the chorus to her lead solo. One could argue that the raises will come at the cost of someone’s job when the next round of belt tightening is required, or when gas prices reach $5.

So, she was the lone voice against the paltry one percent increases, deserved or not, fair or not, prudent or not. She will not win the employee vote in May.

Two other notes. Mr. Council President Mitch Harper runs a tight ship. After getting his sea-legs following a rough January launch his meetings have become a model of decorum and efficiency. Perhaps it is merely the symptom of an election year with the quadrennial spike in smile-quotient, or perhaps it is just his savvy management, but the meetings have lost most of their appealing Mexican Soap Opera drama of 2010. Additionally, the peanut gallery is increasingly populated by aspirants. For many months Zack Bonahoom, candidate to take Sandy Kennedy’s office, has attended council observing, taking notes, practicing his lines. Recently, Charles Eberhard, candidate for mayor, has attended and spoken to issues. Additionally, Russ Jehl and Kurt Gutman, Karen Goldner’s challengers, share a row on the observation deck. Mr. Jehl has been attending many meetings, but for the longest time there was confusion whether it was him in row two or Congressman Marlin Stutzman with whom Jehl shares are remarkable resemblance. So far, however, no sign of the other mayoral aspirants or most of the councilmatic challengers. Perhaps, they are taking notes at home, but there is so much more to be learned in person.

Related posts:

1. John Crawford for City Council, er Mayor, er….? By Jim Sack Well, John Crawford. He offered his support...
2. Better than a Soap Opera, Your City Council! City council is more interesting to me than any movie,...
3. Finger Pointing, confusion and Ricky’s Cellphone at city council By Jim Sack What a mess. The agenda, often with...

I just read mayoral candidate Eric Doden’s news release from a new conference held last week. If I may, here are a few thoughts.

First, Mr. Doden wrote: “As Mayor, all my actions will be focused toward implementing policies that retain, create and attract good-paying jobs to Fort Wayne, but that’s not enough,” Well, sure. In the early ’80s there was an economic development office in the city that busied itself answering business inquiries and sending out brochures. It was a start. Later, various entities, including the city and the Chamber of Commerce, decided to consolidate and expand that effort. Now, the Alliance and the Regional partnership compete aggressively, as they say, to present the best face possible for Fort Wayne, to prepare the ground, literally and figuratively, for new business and when a prospect is identified to create a package of incentives to bring that company to Fort Wayne. In short, what Mr. Doden proposes is already well underway with a long history.

In addition, his competitor, Councilwoman Liz Brown, has aggressively pushed both the Alliance and the Regional Partnership to more clearly show what they have done and not only their failures, as well as their few victories. “Wins,” they call them. But, to be sure, they are working away at it and well ahead of the above call to action. She long ago staked out the economic development ground as hers.

Mr. Doden adds: “In today’s global economy, a mayor must also be an aggressive advocate for the city to potential job creators around the globe.” True. As I remember, Tom Henry has been on one or two foreign trips for that very purpose. We also have sister cities in Japan, Germany and Poland that were, in part, designed to facilitate trade between Fort Wayne and those vibrant economies. Tom Henry has been a strong supporter of exactly that. Nothing new here in Mr. Doden’s call to action. The cavalry charged out long ago.

A lot of fluff follows in the news release about a “great place to do business,” and putting a sign on our front door that “Fort Wayne is open for business.” Do I hear an echo? Isn’t that about what everybody spouts off in an election years? It is nothing new.

Then, he adds that he will “create a one stop shipping experience for employers looking to relocate” here. I remember that was a campaign theme of Graham Richard in his 1980 gubernatorial bid and every candidate and mayor since. Certainly, Win Moses and Paul Helmke made that their themes and Graham was one of the first to so advocate. Nothing new here. I would add that is exactly what the Alliance is supposed to do and is funded to do: once a company has been identified as ready to expand here the Alliance is to “hold their hand” through the maze of county offices that manage business expansion, including the Building Department with its indifferent attitude toward customer service. Mr. Doden is simply well behind the curve here, as well.

Then, he writes, “If elected, I’ll ensure area economic development organizations will have a full and proactive partner in the Mayor’s office.” Specifically, Mr. Doden will work with local economic development organizations to implement a strategy of “identifying weak suppliers of established long-term companies who could be purchased by Fort Wayne investors and moved to Fort Wayne.” Huh? A little government intrusion into the market place, a merger and acquisitions department in city government? Sounds like more employees and a bigger city budget, and it sounds daffy. Private business purchasing departments shop every day for suppliers and supplies and if one company can’t deliver they go instantaneously somewhere else. In an economy that is hungry there are plenty of suppliers searching for buyers. Sounds just a tad like the sort of ‘socialism’ he would otherwise rail against, only a sort of corporate government style of socialism. There is a term for it.

Finally, he calls for reform of the city’s permitting process. Aaaargh. Currently, there is a task force well underway, chaired by the deputy mayor (not a fourth level bureaucrat) and involving city council members and private sector folk, to do just that. It has been underway for months. The deputy mayor calls it one of her priorities. I would add that much of the current permitting process is a collaboration of city and county and it is designed to protect the public through public hearings and timely notifications. Certainly, some businesses would prefer simply to waltz in, say “trust me” and saunter out with a permit, but it doesn’t work that way. Most of us want to know if someone else’s best intentions may cut our property value in half. But, there is room for reform and simplification and that is what the mayor’s task force is currently assessing. Catch up time for Mr. Doden.

Throughout the news release there are plenty of fine sounding phrases about being the city’s “Chief Marketing Officer,” and business will have a “proactive partner in the Mayor’s office,” but there is little specific about it and hardly anything that is not already being done.

It goes back to my basic complaint concerning the Doden candidacy: he is so new to the scene that he apparently is not aware of what is already being done. I would add that is hard to improve upon something you don’t understand.

Related posts:

1. Four More Years? By Jim Sack There was no council meeting last night....
2. The Legacy Fund Battle By Jim Sack There was no meeting of council last...
3. Another Candidate for Mayor? By Jim Sack We understand there is a political poll...

The drowsy end of the two-hour meeting might have been the most interesting. Charles Eberhart from somewhere in Waynedale lumbered to the open mic. A few weeks back he had affably pushed Pickle Ball, a downsized version of tennis for geezers like me…and foggies like him. Last night he called into question, in an equally affable manner, that the city and the county had both hired the same guy to represent them in matters concerning co-location in the old and new city halls. Eberhart wondered how either entity could trust the negotiator to have their interests foremost. He noted that Ken Neumeister was that man and then quipped that Neumeister had boasted about how he had already saved the county more in the deal than the substantial amount they are paying him. Hmmm? At whose expense. Eberhart, a retired union man, added that such an arrangement would have been unthinkable in management-labor negotiations of his era. You could see eyes on council narrow as they considered the implications.

Neumeister is already known or playing both sides, perhaps against the middle. He raises money for Democrats and Republicans, helps the sheriff with his fund raising, bought land that he sold to the county at a nice profit and has thrown his weight behind Democrat Mayor Henry for re-election and behind Republican Ken Nicolet, a city employee, who is running against incumbent Republican Tom Smith in the primary. Call it bi-partisan government or Machiavellian self-interest, when Eberhart raised the question you could tell some council members were not comfortable with the implication of conflict of interest.

Mr. Eberhart’s comments called into question the wisdom of Mayor Tom Henry in hiring Neumeister at taxpayer expense to represent the city while also representing the county in the matter.

Otherwise, it was Tim Pape’s night. He made closing arguments on two matters before council and was on the winning side in both votes: adding a management position to the 311 Call Center for $75,000 including benefits; and in releasing some $3 million for city utility maintenance that Council President Mitch Harper had managed to tie up. In both cases Mr. Pape listened to the arguments on both sides of the matters, held his comments until the end and then clearly and succinctly summed the situation, enunciated the potential downsides and stated his rationale for his position and action. He may well have moved a vote or two with his clear analysis, maybe not. Council members often come to the table prepared, often have already made up their minds and are indifferent to the arguments either side of them. But, Mr. Pape can be the most eloquent of the members of council, speaking in a “everyman” way that is easy for everyone to understand and would have made Perry Mason take note. Last night he burnished his image.

Oh, about the call center, 311. The city made the point that the system can do vastly more than simply take calls and route them to departments for response. Additionally, the system can develop methods by which statistics gathered in the calls provide government officials with trends that can help foretell problems so preventive maintenance or “preventive” policies can be implemented. Without leadership it is achieving only a small measure of its potential payback to the community. A stitch in time saves nine.

That was also the theme of Mike Kiester’s presentation to council concerning sewers and lining work that will be soon undertaken by the city. Kiester was asking for a million dollars to line 31,000 linear feet of aging sewers. He gave a very, very strong presentation to council and got their unanimous approval. He said TV checks had identified the areas most in need of lining and that by doing the work now it would cost the city much, much less than inevitable emergency repairs. “We are trying to get ahead of the problem.” A stitch in time saves nine.

There were a number of appointments on the docket last night: Lockwood Marine, a reader of this page, a friend of John Shoaff and a champion of honest government, was reappointed to the Metro Human Relations Committee. You might remember that there was a previous vote that ended tied. Tim Pape was not present at that meeting, but was for round two. Last night Mr. Pape cast his vote with John Shoaff’s nominee. Councilwoman Brown has nominated another capable fellow. At the previous meeting when called upon for his vote Mitch Harper had passed, but eventually had to vote and chose to cast his chit in favor of Mrs. Brown’s nominee. Mitch frequently holds his vote until the end, perhaps to see which way the wind is blowing. In this matter his vote in that first round was crucial and one could see a bit of chagrin flash across his face at being on the spot: vote for friend John Shoaff or Republican candidate Liz Brown’s nominee. His vote made the matter a tie that was broken last night by Mr. Pape.

There was also a bit of cat fight at the beginning of council last night. Again, you may remember on his second night as council president, early in January on a very snowy night, the record snowfall for that night in Fort Wayne history as Mr. Harper later pointed out in his defense, the newly elected president was late to gavel down his own meeting. Very, very unusual. Last night, before the cameras came on Mr. Harper quipped humorously about being late and then snickered that Councilwoman Goldner might again take umbrage if the meeting got off to a slow start. She was not amused in the slightest. She shot back quickly by repeating her criticism of that snowy January night that it was “rude” to make council, members of the media and a half dozen visitors wait. (He had called ahead to have the meeting held.) He retorted something toward Ms. Goldner that was lost under the surprised sounds of other council members. He just should have left that one drop.

And, there were two public hearings at the beginning of the meeting. En toto they involved over $4 million of public money. Committee chairman Tom Smith called once, twice then a third time for public input. No one came to the mic at his first call, nor the second nor his third. And, when the mic was open to publicly make a comment about anything concerning the city of Fort Wayne from sewers to the ninth floor only Charles Eberhart bothered to make a comment.

For all the gnashing of teeth, for all of the anger and angst, few people bother to take the time to come to council and say what is on their mind. Very few, indeed.

Related posts:

1. Mr. Didier Asks for Openness There was little of significance on the agenda last night...
2. A night of good cheer It was almost a jolly city council meeting last night....
3. My Kingdom for a Camera Blow for blow, topic for topic, insult for insult, last...

We understand there is a political poll underway in Fort Wayne. Judging by the questions it is to determine if a fourth candidate would stand a chance in the current field and whether he would have a shot at beating the mayor come November.

The questions are relatively straight-forward: Do you plan to vote in the Fall, what is your opinion of Mayor Tom Henry, what is your opinion of city council? Hmmm. That question prompts consideration of who is paying for and who is behind this poll.

The poll taker droned on, we are told. with a nearly flat, perfectly unobtrusive cadence. In your opinion is the city going in the right direction or the wrong direction? What are the issues that effect the city of Fort Wayne? A list was presented, including other. The bland questioner ticked four or five.

Then the questioner got to the heart of the matter: What is your opinion of the following names, favorable or unfavorable; Eric Doden, Liz Brown , Paula Hughes, Mitch Harper… Hmmm! Our respondent, in order to set up his own control, responded favorable to two names, including that of Mr. Harper.

The dronner asked another question or two and then got to the central matter, in a head-to-head match up would you vote for Mr. Henry or Mr. Harper. The question was not subsequently posed for Mr. Henry vs the other Republican candidate given favorable marks, or the two given unfavorable mention, only whether City Council President Mitch Harper, would get the respondent’s vote against Mr. Henry.

Ah, the speculation.

First, it is merely an assumption that this poll was conducted at the instigation of the Councilman from the West, Mr. Harper, although it could be something much less obvious. But, if it were not a poll commissioned by the Forces of Mitch Harper, Possible Candidate for Mayor, why would he be the only one matched directly against the mayor? Why not the other candidate favorably mentioned, why not the candidates who received unfavorable mention?

Something less obvious, perhaps? Maybe Mayor Henry, neck deep in cash, might wish to find out the lay of the land. Maybe the calculating hand of party elders, one side or the other, are moving the pawns about. I would guess that if the Republican Party were conducting and paying for the survey, that they would want to know which of their candidates stands the best chance of claiming the mayor’s office. But, Party Chairman Steve Shine often says that he stays out of primary contests.
Some people believe him. And, as for the Democrat Party leadership, well, leadership and DP are mutually exclusive terms.

Why would there be a question about whether council is seen favorably? Well, two members mentioned in the survey are members of city council, Mrs. Liz Brown and Mr. Harper. Mr. Doden, you may recall, has no experience what-so-ever in any government office or on any boards, commissions or any other offices, elected or otherwise, in Fort Wayne; and Paula Hughes is a member of county, not city council. The poll gauges whether there is hostility or antipathy toward council which Mr. Harper currently directs and upon which Liz Brown is a forceful member and, by her behavior, a lightning rod on council who would be most effected should there be great antipathy measured in the poll toward council.

So, with all of the questions, all of the options, it suggests that someone in the mists of political soothsaying is trying to determine if Mitch Harper has a chance to beat Mayor Henry in the fall.

I think he could for a couple of reasons: the city is numerically more Republican than Democrat, and Mr. Harper is every bit as well liked as Mayor Tom Henry. They are both respectable and trustworthy men who, undoubtedly, have the best interests of our community at heart. Other factors come into play, certainly, but the sheer numerical strength of the Republicans, especially in heavily voting Aboite Township, represented by Mr. Harper, should give pause to any Democrat.

I would add a third reason: the Republicans and their overlapping Tea Party friends are motivated. They want to win and have some momentum.

As for Mr. Harper, he may well be the most politically astute office holder in the realm. He is exceptionally bright, knows the city like his living room and has experience in every detail of government. He would make a very strong candidate, should he decide to run. I would guess he would make the strongest of candidates the Republicans could find, if he would take the chance.

Therein lies the question, or questions. Mr. Harper may be as oblivious to this survey as my Labrador. Or he may be bankrolling it and testing, once again, the waters. Mr. Harper is a very shrewd and calculating politician as witnessed by the many unusual votes he casts at council, either building a carefully crafted record or passing when first called to vote so as to maximize the impact of his vote, or minimize the damage. His comments are measured and thoughtful, and he recently shaved his beard. Now if he could learn to tie a Windsor.

Would he be a good mayor? Probably. He knows government so well that he would have little trouble moving the leviathan forward the very first moment in the chair. Would he drive Fort Wayne forward, would he improve the community, can he see the future and guide the city past the shoals and rocks to prosperity? Certainly.

But, Mitch does not host folly. He is not an “over the top” sort of a guy who risks all on chance. (That is a WWI reference…not a suggestion he is a party-animal.) If the results of the poll come back and tell him his better days ahead are on council he will not squander his opportunity to continue to contribute at the council table.

Were he, however, to put his name in nomination it would be a thoroughly thought-provoking, intelligent and worthy campaign.

Related posts:

1. John Crawford for City Council, er Mayor, er….? By Jim Sack Well, John Crawford. He offered his support...
2. The Mayor Makes Sausage Having seen the intergovernmental task force on co-location today I...
3. Four More Years? By Jim Sack There was no council meeting last night....

The Mitch Harper era has begun.

Last night’s council meeting was blandly civil, exasperatingly cordial, and smoothly managed, front to back. Hardly a hair was out of place, matters came up, matters were politely discussed, hands where reservedly raised to vote with little pinkies extended.

Mitch was fully and completely in control last night and it was a bore.

Even Councilwoman Liz Brown was generally polite, except for one little snarky moment, but generally, every vote was unanimous. And, be it known that large amounts of money and large projects were read, discussed and voted. Perhaps Councilman Pape’s absence contributed in some way to the rather un-Fort Wayne-like evening.

The single highlight of the evening was when Councilman Tom Smith put everybody in the economic development community on notice: he held a copy of the Journal Gazette up, to the delight of Ben Lanka, and explained to everyone the circumstances surrounding a failed deal between Trine University in Angola and Steuben County government. He had highlight paragraphs in green. A $28 million dollar deal to create high-tech, high-quality investment had fallen through because the county government up north could not come up with their match. Here is a link to the JG story…

Smith called loudly on the local job hustlers to get to Trine by sun-up, if not sooner (if they hadn’t already been circling around the carcass) and pitch that the project be brought down here. As the deal has fallen through in Steuben it would not be poaching, Smith noted, but rather a matter of saving a valuable project for the area and for Mother Indiana. (Certainly, there are ec dev types in Toledo who can also read…and they would be poachers.)

So, Smith put the local quasi-governmental “job-creators” on notice that they better pitch this one immediately, will be under pressure to win it, and better have a report on the table by noon, perhaps the Mayor could include the successful deal during today’s State of the City address. One could imagine that Smith and others at the table were thinking I&M money as seed to build new industries, not just jobs, but lines of businesses, in Fort Wayne. Ring the bell, document the salivation. Perhaps a convoy formed this morning for the trek up with walkie-talkies to report back from the front.

That was it. Smith rang the bell. The rest of the meeting was rather staid, which is, I believe, how Mitch prefers it. Taking the House of Commons and transforming it to the House of Lords. Here, here. Pip pip.

There was a light moment last night, Charles Eberhard humored the group during “public mic time” with a call for more Pickleball Courts in Fort Wayne. A matter of some general concern, certainly. Pickleball is tennis for foggies and geezers like myself. He explained it is played on half of a tennis court and involves much less stress and strain. He called on John Shoaff to be his doubles partner in Over 70s competition. I think someone suggested the two might rise to represent Fort Wayne at the World Cup or Olympic levels.

So ended the meeting. Pip pip.

Related posts:

1. Council Sets the Stage… By Jim Sack It was a fresh start last night,...
2. Here’s Tommy…. (With apologies to Ed McMahon) By Jim Sack It came as a bit of a...
3. No Objections to the City-I&M Deal By Jim Sack No one as so much as raised...

Mitch Harper was on time, in plenty of time, but is still getting his sea-legs.

Marty Bender was mercifully silent.

Sampson and Udris were stellar.

Mrs. Brown had her attack collar on again.

Mr. Howard clarified with a smile.

Mrs. McGauley went on and on and on.

And the smell or a rat was detected.

The meeting gaveled down perfectly on time with seven, not nine members present. Two Democrats, Mr. Pape and Mr. Shoaff, were both absent. Mr. Pape eventually arrived. Housekeeping was quickly taken care of and Glynn Hines, sixth district councilman, moved two bills through with perfect diction and decorum. Hines gave President Harper exactly the sort of civil and unembellished committee leadership Mr. Harper has been looking for. Hines needed five minutes at the very most. Polite and efficient. City Utilities Committee yielded to Finance and the meeting began to bog down like the German Army at Stalingrad.

Tom Smith’s committee was all about infrastructure last night. City Engineer David Ross came to the table to explain an Auburn Road project. Widening, sidewalks, new signals, all to aid traffic flow. Ross went on about the cost, some 80% of which will come from other sources, not your property taxes. Ross referred repeatedly to a digest sheet he had provided to council in their two-inch thick packets of materials for the night’s meeting.

Two city employees then came to the table to explain a sewer design project. One of the two witnesses was very, very nervous and was treated with kid gloves by everyone at the table, especially the normally acerbic Councilwoman Liz Brown. The young woman had trouble explaining the project and then learned from a councilman that an important sheet had been left out of the packet and the vote would have to be tabled. They were mildly chided. The two employees went on to explain they were trying to save the city money and time by conducting the study in 2011 for projects scheduled for 2022 and 2025. Because the project proposed is very large creating the design now will show other area projects where not to dig in the coming years so that costly relocation of utilities will not have to be redone in ten years. Very smart. Very nervous. One piece of paper missing.

The Lake Avenue Road Diet was next up and the discussion and the reminiscences and the personal stories of young councilmen daring to pass on the unusually narrow stretch of Lake from Anthony to Coliseum. Council members just could not keep from telling stories or near misses, all except Marty Bender who uttered not one sound all night, mercifully, except “here” and “aye.” The traffic engineer explained that Lake will emulate Rudisill’s configuration without the bike lanes. Two travel lanes and a center turn lane will reduce travel time and the number of accidents, he said. It made sense and council members generally agreed. Again, most of the money will come from federal and state sources, not local property taxes. They smiled at that. Progress on someone else’s dime.

Next, a bill to add a travel lane to Dupont. Again mostly federal dollars at work. The $10 million project will cost we local taxpayers $1.2 million. After much discussion leading to the vote Tim Pape quipped that everybody sure wants to cut federal spending, unless it is for their project. It passed unanimously.

Then, the stars of the evening, John Sampson and Andi Udris had their turns at the table. Sampson, whose leg bobbed up and down like he was working an old sewing machine explained his organization, the Northeast Indiana Regional Marketing Partnership, a non-profit construct of local government and business, to council. He was blunt, to the point, clear spoken and passionate about his work. They are, essentially, outside sales for Fort Wayne. They call on companies and “site selectors” to get leads or make first contact with companies that may wish to relocate to Fort Wayne. Mr. Harper, it seems a past critic of Sampson, lauded the presentation, to Mr. Sampson’s obvious surprise and relief. Mr. Harper delivered the praise in such a way that Sampson was leaning back in his chair preparing for a verbal blow when, instead, the doggie biscuit was presented. Council approved Mr. Sampson’s request for funds.

Andi Udris, our big Latvian director of the Alliance, another non-profit economic development “engine,” then took the seat. The Alliance, he explained to a council that already knew, are the “closers” for Fort Wayne. Once Samspon finds and qualifies a lead Udris and his team then close the deal by helping the relocating company through the various permitting and other processes needed to start a business here.

Sampson and Udris were both given the funding from council they requested and some council members suggested, Tim Pape, in particular, that they should get more because the jobs they do are so critical to the community.

A story was told about a contest, literally a contest between Fort Wayne and Kansas City for a manufacturing planning to expand. Came down to a meeting in KC where the company explained to the mayor about a million dollar problem in the way of moving to Kansas City. The mayor, it was retold, excused himself and came back in only a few minutes with a commitment to allocate the needed $1 million.

Udris and Sampson both painted a picture in which cities fight one another today to lure companies to their industrial parks. Companies with jobs in this recession are king and they go where cities chip in the most…

They both suggested that a large chunk of the I&M lease money be spent on economic development tools to help them bring more jobs to Fort Wayne. Their presentations were sobering and very informative. If it wasn’t clear before it should be now that Louisville or Aachen or Tsingxang would love to lure ITT or any other local industry away from Fort Wayne, and they are happy to pay whatever the price. And, with the ease of moving capital, the speed of equipment obsolescence and the increasing computerization of everything, almost any company can move…quickly.

There followed a humorous discourse between President Harper, Clerk Sandy Kennedy, Councilwoman Brown and Councilwoman Goldner over a proposal by Mr. Harper to make council records more easily “searchable” on the city web site. I recommend you watch on City TV the exchanges where Mr. Harper would explain city policy and Mrs. Kennedy would say it wasn’t so. Mrs. Brown and Ms. Goldner both go into the semantics mess.

Among the shortest lines on the agenda last night and the biggest drain of time was a Special Ordinance establishing new Economic Development Target Areas. Elyssa McGauley ably runs that program for the city that ties many abatement and incentive programs together to benefit existing local businesses wishing to expand or improve their systems. Council members had received her comprehensive packet with a neat description of each newly proposed zone well before the meeting. To illustrate, she displayed a large map with each new and existing zone colored and outlined. She then proceeded to read what was before each council member, as if a witness at a congressional inquiry with a dozen lawyers following line by line. It was unnecessary and long, long, long. Council members love economic development, but they, too, tired of hearing what they had already studied. When Mrs. McGauley finally left the table she looked completely drained of energy and emotion.

Mr. Harper, with his promise to move meetings along more efficiently, could suggest to administration witnesses to be brief and not go over material included in council packets.

Finally….the matter of garbage cans and their financing. You may remember last week Tim Pape put on hold the question of financing the recycling carts. An Arizona firm and a Pennsylvania company with offices in Fort Wayne, PNC Bank, were the finalists. $33k was the difference in favor of the Arizona bankers. Mr. Pape questioned whether the deal would fall within Buy Indiana parameters, thus giving “points” to PNC because of their “local presence.” The tabled discussion resumed. Val Ahr, the deputy controller, came to the table and was almost immediately under attack by Mrs. Brown. Ahr said she “shopped” the deal between Arizona and PA to see if they could come down on their prices. Both made adjustments. The cost to the rate payers dropped and the difference between PNC and Arizona narrowed to $17,000, still favoring the Arizona company. But, “under the bus” for political considerations. Jim Howard, purchasing director, then quickly came to the table, sorted things out, gave reasoned and clear advice and the matter passed with two votes opposed, Brown and Mr. Harper.

A nasty end to an unnecessarily long meeting. Mrs. Brown, who had been gentle with witnesses most of the evening took an unnecessary shot at the Alliance in the form of a condescending barb about their website, and then growled at Mrs. Ahr who had reopened bidding and saved the city considerable money.

The rat? One has to wonder why PNC was given special treatment. These things come and go at the table with dizzying speed. So, why should PNC get a “second look?” Perhaps it is less about garbage can financing, less about Buy Indiana legislation and more about a pending downtown development.

Related posts:

1. Warnings of Political Agendas and Posturing By Jim Sack Glynn Hines woke everyone up at the...
2. The Pointed Comments of Liz Brown By Jim Sack There is just something about the way...
3. Budgets and Badgers By Jim Sack Budget time again, that annual process of...