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…

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It should be noted, (and Pape and Goldner never mention this), the ordinance only appropriates $700K. There is nothing in there that spells out when they have to do anything, or what they have to accomplish. Just give Tom Henry and Beth Malloy $700K to buy more software and contract some of Beth’s friends to provide retraining programs for employees who aren’t very nice to applicants. There are no deadlines, no benchmarks, no nothing. Just cash.

Pape submitted the ordinance, which is laden with errors. He also has no clue who wrote it. Goldner and Pape call it a power grab. Henry says Harper is ignoring the business community.

Harper did this for valid reasons, and rather than show a willingness to work out the kinks in the ordinance, Golder and Pape would rather stand in front of cameras and piss and moan.

Goldner in her press release stated, “Harper unilaterally decided he’d delay the process himself and <sic> add more red tape.” It’s not more red tape. Given the city now wants to give health insurance to city employee’s spouses, Harper is not only questioning the language in the ordinance and the lack of benchmarks, among other things, but whether or not the city can actually afford it.

Goldner continued, “The ordinance is designed to eliminate unnecessary delays in large-scale business investment that creates good paying jobs, and it needs to get done now.” It’s been an ongoing problem for years. What’s two additional weeks to insure it’s done right?

In a release today, GOP Chairman Steve Shine stated the following:

“Vogt and Harper are exercising a spirit of cooperation that has been missing in local government for quite some time,” Shine said.”This action exemplifies what Republican leadership is all about.”

The action of bringing city and county councils for joint deliberations and agreement on benchmarks has been met with much different reactions from fellow council members. The all-Republican Allen County Council reserved discussion on the changes in the permitting process without fanfare. Conversely, Democrat Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry and Councilpersons Karen Goldner and Tim Pape are greatly resisting a full discussion of all stakeholders that are charged to protect the taxpayers in one meeting.

“I am disappointed by the action of city Democrats,” Shine said. “As a taxpayer, I am glad council leadership came together to make sure this expenditure isn’t simply a blank check to the Henry administration.”

Goldner, Pape and Henry just want business as usual when it comes to “their” ordinances. Ram it through, the hell with scrutiny.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Geoff Paddock will have filed for council in the Democrat Party nomination in the 5th district by the time you read this. At this point, with very little time passed, 32 hours or so, since Tim Pape, the 12-year incumbent, announced he would not run, there are no candidates filed to oppose Mr. Paddock and no rumor of a candidate of stature who may file before the deadline in one week, next Friday at noon.

Mr. Paddock, who runs Headwaters Park and has a long, successful history in the city, as well as having been a member of the school board and a veteran of two bruising campaigns, will be the favorite in November against Jim McCoy, the only candidate to date of the Republican Party. A simply preponderance of Democrat registrations in the 5th suggest Mr. Paddock’s will join his friend and mentor, John Shoaff, on council in January.

So, the last major question as filing heads toward its deadline is what Mitch Harper will do. He has not, as of this moment, chosen neither whether to run nor for which office. He has two choices: mayor or council, a roll of the dice or a stroll in the park. He could take the chance and run against a strengthening Tom Henry, or play it safe and run for the seat he holds. Unless Harry Baals comes back from the dead and happens to have a valid registration in the Forth District Mitch is a 100% shot to retain his seat. 100%. Mitch has no skeletons in his closet, his family history is impeccable and his wife is one of the smartest and most upright people you will ever meet. Mitch is simply a remarkable man with unusually strong political skills and excellent governing instincts. There are very, very few people in town who draw a crowd in a supermarket, but Mitch does. People simply love him.

If he is having an unusually adventurous day next Friday, if the coffee is strong and the birds are chirping, he may surprise us all and file to run for mayor.

He would go to the front of the Republican pack immediately. Liz Brown could consider a new career, Eric Doden could return to his successful business career and Paula Hughes could refocus on county matters. I could compare him to each currently-filed candidate, but suffice-it-to-say he is at least as capable in all political regards as the three, he has a stronger base than any of the three, he will be able to raise easily as much money as any of the three, and there are, again, few people in town who who command the general good wishes of the community as does Mitch. Go ahead, stand in an open space with Mitch for an hour and a hundred people will walk over to shake his hand, and he will know them all, and their family histories and their neighborhood and, and, and, and, and, and. He is simply amazing.

But, Tom Henry is also beloved by many, many people in the community. Despite a rocky start to his administration, he has lately shown leadership on a wide range of matters and has gotten his employees to recite at every occasion the administration mantra that his administration is doing much more for many, many more with less. It is a believable chorus sung from controller to street sweepers. Can’t beat the theme song in this conservative city.

Mayor Henry will be quite formidable to beat if Mr. Harper chooses to challenge him. Regardless of Mitch’s strengths Mayor Henry, at the moment, has the inside track and he is running very well. He will not want for money, he will have an organization that will get every Democrat to the polls, and he will present himself to the community as a beloved native son who has done a great job. Tom’s smile is as radiant as Mitch’s.

Both have a bully pulpit from which to express their worthiness so as to conserve advertising and get-out-the-vote dollars. That same pulpit, however, could snap shut like a rusty old trap if either missteps at council or on the 9th floor.

What Mitch has going for him are two things: through annexation the city has a larger number of Republican voters than Democrats (go ahead, Republicans, curse the name of Paul Helmke for that…); and, secondly, Mitch is currently a better debater. Debates have an impact in a community with a small voter base, such as Fort Wayne. And, given that birds come home to roost, that Demos and Repubs, when push-comes-to-shove, come home to their party, the battle will be for independents who listen to every word in a debate and remember what they heard and felt. (I am being kind to some independents who simply can’t make up their minds without a dart.)

So, the balance of voters is in Mr. Harper’s column. Money is in Tom Henry’s column. Not changing horses in mid-stream is in the mayor’s column. The ground game is in the mayor’s column. Good will is equally split with a slight advantage to Mayor Henry. Unless there is a major faux-pas on the 9th floor the mayor looks like he wins a very narrow re-election, should Mr. Harper chose to go for the jackpot.

That is my analysis today with eight months, the proverbial political lifetime, to go. Mitch, however, has only a week to place his bet.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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I can only imagine the frustration Mitch Harper must have felt as the shiny new president of Fort Wayne city council struggled in his car plowing through snow, slowed by the grey-hairs in their rear-wheel-drive Buicks, to get to the meeting he was to chair, a meeting in which eight other council members were patiently (to degrees) waiting, where the city clerk had laid out the table as if for Thanksgiving dinner, where two “real” reporters, a couple scruffy bloggers, an intern, a police officer, the new fire-fighters union chief, a few administration representatives, two men from City TV and a couple of aspiring candidates patiently checked their watches in the hope that by staring at the second hand the president would magically appear.

Over seven long minutes the wishful thinking turned slowly to frustration.

Karen Golder showed her cold-induced-ire by moving to start the meeting without President Harper. A rather confused discussion followed and Vice President Shoaff eventually took the president’s chair to get the show going. “Oh,” a coup d’etat” smiled the senior eminence among the two real reporters. About then, President Harper, flushed, flecks of snow on his overcoat, hair blown slightly askew with a framed picture under his arm strode forcefully into the Chamber using the “secret” passage from the men’s room to council chambers.

Meanwhile, Otto, the tall, laconic camera operator for City TV resumed his countdown to air yet another time. Three-two-one. The camera’s red light came on. Without missing a beat, Mr. Harper gave the welcoming intro, quipping about the weather, made a self-effacing joke and quickly shifted attention by holding up the portrait of our recently deceased mayor and offering a rememberance to Paul “Mike” Burns, a Democrat, who would have lit into the tardy council president like a thoroughly pissed off hornet for being late.

Too bad you could not have seen this at home. There really should have been a camera in the car beside Mr. Harper, one mounted on a following car to show him swerving in and out of traffic, and a camera overhead in a helicopter to show his breakneck progress. I am sure he drove like the perfect gentleman he is, but there must have been beads of sweat on his temple and a dryness in his mouth.

And, there was a new seating chart last night. Seating matters and is dictated by el presidente. While they all have microphones and use them for emphasis, position counts. Relationships develop. Liz Brown now sits out of striking distance from the witness chair with the result that her piercing stare does not bring any witnesses to tears last night, as it has. Councilmen Bender and Hines dwarf her from either side like bodyguards or, simple, guards. Mr. Shoaff, the new VP, sits now next to the City Council Attorney Joe Bonahoom whose son Zach is running against City Clerk Sandy Kennedy who sits at the left hand of the president. In truth and in Biblical parlance the president rather sits at the right hand of Clerk Kennedy Almighty, maker of agendas and rules.

Tim Pape has been exiled to the end of the table, where Mrs. Brown once so menacingly scowled. Tim smiles more, sometimes like a full Venus Fly-trap, but his questioning disassembles spin in a more disarming way. Councilman Smith is next to Karen Goldner and may be feeling the first effects of the cold she brought to the table last night.

On the matter of the recycling bins, Valery Ahr, the deputy controller, came to the table to explain the new financing. Mrs. Brown listened and then asked a few key questions, in a most polite way, that revealed that the new financing package will amortize over seven years, rather than ten, and result in greater payments in each of those years. Consequently, payments will be $120,000 higher each year than budgeted. Where will the extra money come from, asked a patient Mrs. Brown? The deputy controller haltingly said that City Utilities would cut spending here or there to find it. Mrs. Brown asked the question in different forms again and again until it was clear that there would be consequences. Hmmmm. Two questions: why did the administration not check with the banks in the first place to ascertain rates and terms so they could properly budget for the loan figures, and is City Utilities rolling in enough extra money that they have $120,000 pocket money laying around? Or, are they robbing Petre to pay Paolo? What budget line or service will suffer because of the forced change?

The dumpster ordinance was tabled on a motion from Tim Pape (yup, after all that…) because the winning lender is in Arizona and he wanted to know how far apart the winner was from number two, PNC, with branches conveniently located all over Fort Wayne, as if a drive through might help. Okay, there are PNC branches here, but will the loan be serviced by workers in Waynedale or those in Pittsburgh. (The hold is a result of the Buy Indiana legislation that Karen Goldner sold to council. Indiana firms, say in Evansville, get preference, points, ahead of out-of-state firms, say in Antwerp, Ohio, in contracts with the city. You can easily see how that will benefit us all.) Delaying the vote has consequences, in this case, possibly pushing the final vote out beyond the “lock-in date of the low, low, really low interest rates Valarie won for us all. Low rate expires, a higher rate is offered and we all pay more… Oh. Council, in a sort of muddled cacophony of thoughts tried to find a parliamentary way of speeding the process after Mr. Pape received his answer, and came up with a Rube Goldberg four or five step process. Clerk Kennedy, experienced at these things over the decades, offered a solution that will simplify the process to two steps with a final vote in well under the wire. (Young Mr. Bonahoom, her challenger, was hopefully taking notes.)

Otherwise, Mr. Harper ran a civil and congenial meeting that was a testimony to his Robert’s Rules skills and his legislative experience. It will be interested to see whether future meetings are an Alice in Wonderland journey through the Robert’s looking glass or whether he and parliamentary side-kick John Shoaff use Roberts to speed meetings, contain the outbursts and dot every “i.”

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It came as a bit of a surprise to John Shoaff when he was nominated for vice president of Common Council. But, it underscores how non-partisan, at times, our council can be. Shoaff, despite being of the minority party, was moved, seconded and unanimously approved by all five Republicans and the three other Democrats in about seven seconds. Electing Mitch Harper to the presidency a scant minute and a half before, by comparison, took well over 30 seconds. Shoaff looked mildly bewildered. But these things are worked out before the meeting, which saved everyone time. Someone, however, might have warned him.

That was one of the themes at last nights council meeting, saving time. Mitch Harper led off by saying that as president he would play a subdued role as president and focus on quietly managing the process for maximum efficiency. He did, however, involve himself in most of the discussions last night and probably, in one evening, said more from the president’s chair than did former council president, now merely Councilman, Marty Bender in all of last year.

Tim Pape saved the most time. He said nothing. Zero. Not a single public comment. He voted, he offered whispered asides to Councilman Tom Smith to his left, but Tim, usually argumentative, often the voice of the mayor from the table, sometimes the orator, said nothing. He was followed closely in brevity by the still stunned Councilman Shoaff, the ever taciturn Marty Bender, Mr. Smith and Glynn Hines.

Hines saved bundles of time by bundling numerous ordinances up for discussion into one neat bundle, the first sign of the “consent agenda” that President Harper has lovingly spoken. That style of agenda would reduce the number of items for on an agenda to just those about which council members would wish to hold discussion or debate. Hines noted that a group of ordinances from Water Filtration were each about the purchase of a given supply, activated carbon, pebble lime, sodium chlorite and others, each within its own ordinance. So, he asked consent to lump them together. So given.

Jim Howard, the animated city purchasing director, effused from the witness microphone that he and the administration had tried something new, a reverse, internet auction, to get the best prices on all the various and sundry chemicals that are used to treat our water. He explained that the city, in cooperation with a firm specializing in arranging such auctions, set up a system that graded vendors on quality and price. Bidding was blind with the dozens of companies seeking to sell to us seeing only their position in the bidding. The number two company, for instance, would then feel compelled to lower their bid a bit, in this reverse auction, to leap-frog to number one position. Mr. Howard gave statistics to show that the process had saved us quite a bit over last year. In one instance a starting bid was $704 for a product while the final bid dropped to $613, one assumes, per ton. Mr. Howard was very proud of the process and the results. Council also seemed pleased. The process saved money, according to Howard, and will, over time, save…time.

Fire hydrants. We have over 9,000 fire hydrants in Fort Wayne. Maintenance of those hydrants was another topic of discussion. Scores each year are damaged by sloppy driving, among other threats to hydrants. Annually, the city tries to rebuild, replace or repair half of the hydrants so that when a fire truck races to a halt, the firefighters rush to the hydrant and expectantly turn the valve that water actually comes out. Unfortunately, there have been disappointments from frozen or malfunction units in the past. The Fire Department and Water Maintenance are working much more closely together, it was stated, to keep them all in tip top shape. (One would have thought they would have been working together on that matter since Heinrich Hildebrecht was chief…) It was noted that that the oldest hydrant is dated 1916 and that models from the 50s through the 70s do not have the quality of previous or current products. 1916. They just don’t make them like they use to…

There were humorous moments last night. City Clerk Kennedy, in her annual role as president pro tem between outgoing and incoming presidents, jumped the gun, and the gavel. There is a floor manager who for years has given a count down to the council president so that the live “airing” of council via cable’s City TV opens precisely on time. Sandy, who certainly has seen this process play out over the last decade and more, called the meeting to order only to be waved off by the floor manager. “Thirty seconds,” he said. Laughter.

Mayor Henry addresses city council

Mayor Henry descended to speak to council. He offered prepared remarks last night near the beginning of the meeting in a conversational style that sounded every bit like a speech that had been painstakingly crafted to present the administration’s very best side. He started with the I&M settlement, added the co-location win, added 911 consolidation, added the facade grant program, add the completion of the downtown Marriott, added, added, added. It was an impressive list and a strong presentation. Then he tried humor. It was a jab at Liz Brown, his possible opponent in the Fall. He said sometime to the effect that when he came to work he found someone was parking in his mayoral parking spot. He repeated the line for emphasis and then delivered the punch line about Liz Brown already trying to move in. The laughter that followed ranged from enjoyment to mild groans. At least one, “oh jeez” was heard. In effect, the Mayor had given stature to his opponent, he had lowered himself to her level and elevated her to his level through his try at humor. He opened himself to a reposte which she quickly delivered but was drown out by the din. The mayor’s strong delivery of accomplishment after accomplishment after accomplishment was diminished by the attempt at humor. Tom would do better to remain, as one councilman later said, in the Rose Garden, Mayoral, above the petty fray.

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