Posts Tagged “Paula Hughes”

By Jim Sack

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. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Sack

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. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Sack

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. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Sack

Accounting.

Mayoral Candidate Paula Hughes has chosen to pick a fight with the Henry Administration over accounting.

A few days back Paula issued a news release saying essentially that the City of Fort Wayne, not the “city,” was leaning too heavily on the equivalent of lines of credit, mortgages and credit cards to finance projects. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Sack

Here’s what I have learned from sources high and low.

The benefits and problems of instituting a local city court had been researched by City Clerk Sandy Kennedy for months before its introduction. Fort Wayne had such a beast in the past, and before which I once had to pay my dues to society. $49 and costs.

The five “signators” to the introduced ordinance included as least one member of council who was surprised to see he had “signed” on. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Sack

There was no council meeting last night. Given the break, given the pause from passage of one tax break after another, cross examination of administration witnesses, presentations by sewer and insurance experts a few matters are worthy of contemplation.

Who will be the next mayor? Read the rest of this entry »

Sources tell us republican Fort Wayne City Councilwoman Liz Brown will announce her intentions to run for Mayor of Fort Wayne within the next 2 weeks.

Allen County Council woman Paula Hughes will make her run for mayor official next Tuesday, September 28.

This does not necessarily represent the opinion of this blog.

City/County Co-location: Taking Care of Business

The issue of co-location has been on the minds of most everyone these days. City and county councils are concerned about the cost benefits of such a move. The Mayor and the Commissioners have concerns about functionality. The media has asked for more transparency in the process. The members of the task force struggled through personal and policy confrontations, as well as individual priorities to reach a common goal. Business leaders became frustrated with a protracted and contentious process that they felt reflected negatively on our communities’ ability to attract jobs. Through all this, the citizens of Fort Wayne and Allen County watched and wondered, not just about the end result of these discussions, but about how it will affect them in terms of taxes, ease of interaction with local government and pride in our community.

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By Jim Sack

It was nearly a love-fest at the co-location summit yesterday. First, Sheriff Ken Fries and Police Chief Rusty York all but held hands as they sang the praises of the other and endorsed the idea of co-location. Then the architects gave their upbeat overview of numbers concerning the final two options, Scheme A or Scheme B, surprisingly with not many dollars separating one from the other. Then the elected officials from Roy Buskirk to Paula Hughes voiced their approvals. In the end, co-location a la Scheme A, was agreed to: public safety in One Main and development and administration in 200 Berry. Unanimous! Only Paul Moss, who had served as devil’s advocate and more during the months of haggling, sounded like he wanted to vote “no.” Three county commissioners, one mayor, three members of city council and three members of county council all clasped hands and sang, as one cynic noted, Kumbaya. Paul had no option.

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Having seen the intergovernmental task force on co-location today I much prefer sausage making.

At least with sausage making you can drink a nice German beer, say a Kostritzer from Gera, to dull the pain. There was no such option today. The meeting was comical at times, disappointing most of the time, disrespectful, inarticulate, confused, and oh yes, a mess.

The highly respected John Stafford chairs the task force and even as capable and articulate as he is the meeting got away from him quickly. The seating chart should have been a giveaway. One the left (literally, not figuratively) were Councilmen Tom Smith, Tim Pape and Mitch Harper. On the right (literally and figuratively) were County Council members Roy Buskirk, Paula Hughes and Paul Moss. In the middle (to their misfortune) were commissioners Linda Bloom and Nelson Peters, moderator Stafford and placed uncomfortably near Councilman Moss our fuming Mayor Tom Henry. (Bill Brown fortuitously had scheduled something else moons ago so he was spared the confusion and confrontation and pettiness.)

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By Jim Sack

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

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