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.

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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?

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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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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.

A spokesman for the mayor, former Democratic Party Chairman Kevin Knuth, countered that when making large purchases, such as a home or a fire station, individuals mortgage and cities bond. Currently, according to Councilman John Shoaff, for every bonded dollar there is another $.81 in carrying charges, which, compared to a home loan, sounds like a good deal. Total payouts on a home loan can be double or more the amount borrowed. OPM, other people’s money. Borrow at a low rate and invest in projects that will bring a higher return on investment, profit. Don’t we clamor for government to emulate business practices?

Candidate Hughes says that the city is $405 million in debt, long term debt and references page 49 in the City’s 2009 budget. Kevin Knuth believes the figure for the City is closer to $175 with some $20 million expenses incurred due to the construction of the ballpark and the rest associated with the federally mandated separation of our sewers from storm runoff system. Mr. Knuth adds that Mrs. Hughes supported the construction of the ballpark. Her spokesman has not responded in writing to that point.

In an email conversation with City Controller Pat Roller she notes that our community, as differentiated from the Civil City, a specific taxing district of which there are many in Allen County, carries a debt load of some $275 million of which a large portion relates to the annexation of Aboite and the subsequent construction of fire stations and other infrastructure construction required in the annexation agreement. She adds that a large portion of the bond load will slough off in 2013.

Mrs. Roller notes that there is substantial debt attributed to City Utilities, but explains that it is a separate governmental entity and supported by user fees, your water bill check, rather than the general tax rolls. I do not see much of a difference for matters of this discussion as both of my pockets draw from the same checking account. Whether my support is in increase water charges or property taxes or higher prices at a mall (due to TIF taxes, another story within this story) they are all expenses I incur and the differentiation between one source of revenue or another, in the case, is a difference without a distinction. I pay both fees and taxes, so the bonding matters in the aggregate to my bottom line.

So, I respect Mrs. Hughes’ point and the rebuttal of Mr. Knuth and Mrs. Roller’s accounting-ese. All raise appropriate questions that should be answered with clarity by both candidates as the campaign progresses. Mrs. Hughes thinks we should pay as we go, that is pay cash. Mr. Knuth favors a combined system of cash and credit, or bonding. I think there are very few of us, indeed, who have the income or the discipline to buy our cars and our houses with cash.

Perhaps the fairer question is about the proper mix and the proper levels of indebtedness, and a forthright presentation to the community of actual expenses.

Mr. Shoaff raised a good point that the administration often choses to obscure the total cost. In the case of Calhoun Street, the price tag was not the $1.2 million presented to council and the public, but nearly twice that when carrying fees were included. The same could be said of the purchase of the new Harry Baals Government Center. City officials presented one number to council and came back later with a much steeper price tag due to fees and expenses, as a lawyer hustling the deal put it. Councilman Tom Didier seethed when he asked administration officials: “why didn’t you tell us that in the first place.”

So, is the $405 million Mrs. Hughes decries out of line and budget-busting. Probably not. Is it high? Yes. Is it unsustainable? No. Think of it like a mortgage or a line of credit. Is Mr. Knuth telling the truth with his low, low analysis? Certainly, but he is parsing in an effort to shed the best of lights on the situation. We all pay a portion of the total. Mrs. Roller, offering a number somewhere in the middle, as are Mr. Knuth and Ms. Hughes.

The question remains: is the total too high, unsustainable, a drag on City financing options? Yes, no and maybe. It depends on how you look at it. Should we carry a lower debt load? Well, of course. Perhaps council should join Mr. Shoaff and his colleague Councilman Tom Smith, in his pay-as-you-go effort.

But, this accounting question, and the underlying discussion of the proper allocation of precious dollars is a point that should be central to the mayoral debate and we should thank Mrs. Hughes for bringing it up.

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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.

The impetus for the city court came from frustration that the city had piles and piles of unpaid traffic fines, among other unpaid fines, and felt the county was not pursuing them seriously or with alacrity. Given New Haven had successfully instituted a city court and that similar courts were functioning around our beloved state, Clerk Kennedy did her duty.

The city, Sandy Kennedy and others with whom she had chats, saw the city court as taking the bull by the horns and clearing thousands of unpaid bills from her desk, and making a lot of money for the city in the process. (Better scofflaws pay than property owners.) Sandy and her supporters seemed not fully aware of the cut the other governmental entities would take, thereby diminishing the city’s haul and making the establishment of a court less lucrative and, perhaps, not worth the bother. But, then again, New Haven seems to think it is worth the bother.

Why did it hit council table so late? Well, no one clearly answered that question. It may be that Sandy or Joe Bonahoom, the council attorney, learned late that steps would have to be taken this year to have the court in place sooner than later. I have heard the comment about electing a judge would have to occur next year, or the whole thing would have to wait until 2015. Undoubtedly, there is a second route, perhaps appointment of a judge, but I would guess Republicans would be granted that opportunity, given the governor is a Republican, the top state election official is a Republican (perhaps soon to be indicted, but none the less), as are the commissioners. “Hear ye, hear ye, City Court will rise, the Right Honorable Judge John ‘Hang ‘em high’ Popp will take the bench.”

The other theory of tardiness is more sinister: Joe Bonahoom tried to embarrass Sandy. His son, a former DJ on a cruise ship, is running as a Republican against Sandy, ostensibly to get his name out there, and dad is alleged to have thought delaying delivery of the drafted ordinance until too late for the normal month of intros and hearings, would cause just this sort of calamity. Joe, however, is not that devious, he is a very, very nice man and dedicated to his community’s well-bring and to maintaining his family’s exceptional reputation for community service. But Joe is criticized for not devoting enough time to his council work (vis-à-vis his private practice) resulting in paperwork coming down to the table late.

The mayor, I was informed, was volcanic last week when the train-wreck seemed imminent. He belatedly had learned that Tim Pape, his man on council, was floating in an inflatable rubber ducky ring among the other sharks off a Floridian beach. Sharks, Tim can be assured, never attack lawyers: professional courtesy. Mr. Pape and family told everyone long ago that they were heading to Disney World or another Florida playground and would not be there for the pivotal vote, scheduled December 28th at 5:30pm. With the defection of sorts of Comrade Pape Sandy’s idea was near implosion and had now landed in Mayor Henry’s lap. Political types on the ninth floor were on the phone begging the three undocumented Republicans to sign-on to the bill so that a fifth vote would be there for introduction. No one did. I know of one who was asked and he said others were contacted. So, the deputy mayor was dispatched to put get Humpty Dumpty into Redi-Med.

Chats were held with Prosecutor Richards and Judge Fran Gull, two quick critics of the ordinance and a modus vivendi was agreed. They would shelve the bill, as if there was an alternative, and meet again, sometime soon, you have your Blackberry call my Blackberry, and discuss the next step. Perhaps the county will step up enforcement, perhaps there is really nothing that can b e done.

But, back to the question of the original five signatures: Bender, Shoaff, Goldner, Pape and Hines. Seems Sandy has persuaded Marty to sign on, as well as Glynn. I think they were doing her a favor, one from friendship and the other from political courtesy and loyalty. Marty, a law and order man, probably saw the upside of enforcement. She then penciled in the names of the other Democrats, as a good Democrat partisan would. (Nothing wrong with being a political partisan, unless they are of the other party, eh.) She is old-school in that way. One councilman was surprised to see his name on the ordinance, but thought, as he often does, that it merited discussion, so he was game.

That bit of partisanship ticked Tom Didier off. From the dais he rued that he “thought this was a council of nine members, not just five.” When last week, in an effort to pull the rabbit out of the hat Mr. Didier was begged, cajoled, hassled to sign on he did not, for better or worse. The ordinance fails and the idea crawls into a cave to either desiccate or recover and rise anew to threaten our delicate local political eco-system.

So, then comes the bizarre news release and the news conference to which we were not invited, announcing the wonderful opportunity to work more closely with Karen Richards and Fran Gull and to have a fruitful dialog. The news release read like some seventh level Communist hack had written the piece; the meat of the announcement relegated to the last paragraph in the hopes most readers would have fallen asleep before arriving at the exciting climax. Most of the top part of the news release tried to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Seriously, that is exactly how the happy-face bosses in Hungary wrote about the “challenges and opportunities” some bureaucratically caused disaster had wonderfully afforded them. Whoever wrote it has a future in North Korea.

Months ago, during a visit to the Clerk’s office, one my friends there, a hard-working, intelligent and dedicated veteran of local government, told me that the state had made it more difficult and much more expensive to track down traffic fine-evaders by charging the city for online database searches of driver license information. The alternative is much more time-consuming. She then recounted stories of how noble citizens would come in, spin elaborate yarns and ranted and raved about how a traffic ticket was someone else’s fault, never, ever theirs. (Envision meters stealthily trading places one with another to ensnare her!) I happily witnessed one loud mouth, leviathan of a woman ranting in her nearly indistinguishable dialect about how she had been entrapped by a traffic meter. Her flailing butt nearly crushed me against a counter as she gesticulated. You could see the super-human effort of staff and other citizens to stifle smiles.

So, what next? Beth Malloy will meet a few times with Karen and Fran and ask them to push a bit harder to bring scofflaws to task. Maybe they will write a memo or two, push a bit, and then everyone will return to business as usual, meaning good people will pay their traffic tickets and the ones with the jacked up cars with the silly rims will blow them off.

So, the problem is remains. People flaunt the laws and the courts, for whatever reason, toss most of the cases. That is a matter to examine. Sandy tried to do something about it, did not pull it off well, at all, and it lands in Tom Henry’s lap like a bag of ripe Limburger cheese. It then is seen as his sneaky effort to create a new bureaucracy and steal a political march on the Republican dominated county offices. Whether there was any political stealth remains to be seen. I kinda doubt it. Clumsiness, bad timing (Noel, oh Noel, Happy New Year) and political insensibilities are more likely the culprits.

Sandy goofed.

Mr. Didier was very upset, ticked, angry, frustrated, for a variety of good reasons.

Tom Henry was handed a bag of poop for Christmas.

Will Beth and Karen’s eyes meet? Will a political solution be found? Will city and county finally find love in that new cozy cottage on Berry Street? Stay tuned in October to see if this drama become an issue in the forthcoming election. Liz Brown has already tried to turn it to her advantage. Perhaps Sandy Kennedy will turn it back to her advantage in brochure, speeches and ads. I can see the campaign lines now: ‘It is a matter of Justice: A thousand cases were filed and only four resolved.” Point those fingers at the prosecutor for sleeping at the wheel. I can hardly wait for the sequel.

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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?

We have a line up. Tom Henry is already running and only a calamity will keep him from leading the Democratic ballot, while on the Republican side a yawner shaping up: Paula Hughes is fading, Liz Brown has made her splash with little follow up, Mitch Harper is…well, Mitch Harper is very hard to read, and Eric Doden is treading water. No excitement. None.

A year ago Tom Henry looked very vulnerable. Little seemed to be going right for him, but a cautionary note was sounded by a Republican councilman: “if he gets a big payout on the I&M deal he will look golden.” He did and he does. The city is not in the throes of layoffs, the administration is not closing parks, just the opposite, new ideas are presented to council each week for their consideration. For most of us Fort Wayne is in fine shape. The city, like Scrooge McDuck, is wallowing in a $100 million surplus, what more needs to be said. While famed financial analysts are predicting a quickening pace of governmental collapse and default due to dwindling revenues Fort Wayne has the luxury of calmly contemplating how to invest in our future. Tom Henry (thanks to Graham Richard, Ivan Lebamoff, Tim Haffner, Pat Roller, etc), will have a hundred lines for his campaign brochures ranging from “I cut your taxes” to “It’s a Sunny Day in Fort Wayne.” He closed the deal.

Henry already has a sizable campaign war chest and should be most concerned that the line of contractors bellying up to pay to play doesn’t get him in trouble. Need I mention Matt Kelty? The campaign finance reports will make interesting reading.

Paula Hughes wants to run Fort Wayne but announced in New Haven. As president of council council she was already seen as an outsider, so the announcement cemented that “barbarians at the gates” image, or just the suggestion that many more mistakes would follow under the Hughes Administration. The one word that is repeated by politicos when referring to Paula’s campaign is “uninspiring.” On her web page and in her announcement she spoke of jobs and economic development. Everybody speaks of economic development. It is part of the mantra, it is the call from pulpit that is expected to illicit response from the congregation. It is becoming a cliche, meaningless, a slogan empty of substance. Give me a specific or two or three or four. What do you mean by economic development? Show me specifics!

Same with Councilwoman Liz Brown. She announced recently her intentions to take over city government. More economic development, more attention to business development, more services for neighborhoods…and, and, lower taxes. That’s novel. Two telling votes were against neighborhood wishes so they are not moved, the city already is on knee pads to help business relocate or expand, and economic development is a throw-away phrase. Mrs. Brown may have a warm and reassuring personality, but it does not come through at council where she is very aggressive with her fellow council members and with most people who testify at the table. She has not won may friends, and that is the essence of being a mayor, consensus building. It is one thing to be the one in an eight to one vote, to wave the finger in the air and make an arcane point, but in leading a city a higher level of team-building is essential. She who torches common ground will have a very hard time reaping a harvest.

Eric Doden. Hmmm. Comes from a wealthy background. Ambassador Steel. Father made a million. Just moved to town. Now, he wants to take over our city. I value John McGauley’s judgement greatly. Mr. McGauley might make a fine mayor someday, so when John says that I would really enjoy Eric I believe him. I would expect Eric however, a la Liz Brown, to serve a term on council to learn the ropes. She, to her great credit, has jumped in to government head first, sometime feet first. She is in the process of becoming an expert on city government and it be to our detriment to lose her on council. Doden should do the same. Learn the departments, learn the budget, learn the players, gain some “cred.” It is always nice to have new blood, new ideas, new energy, but Eric has not learned the basics, let alone the nuances that determine success or failure of a city. Why do some city’s rise while some fall…Chicago, Detroit, Gary, Pittsburgh. Leadership.

The wild card is Mitch Harper. Mitch knows almost every living thing in Allen County. He has a thousand stories to tell on any given topic. He knows where the bones are buried, literally. So, will he run? There are plenty of people -friends, relatives, blogs, passers by, barmaids, politicos and the rank and file- who would love to see him run. He is one of the smartest politicians in Indiana, bar none. He is as nice to little old ladies as one could ever expect. He is nice to everyone. Beside the personality to be mayor he has the experience, he also is very, very politically savvy and would probably not hire a lobbyist to push gambling while telling the rest of us of his neutrality.

Harper, in short, would make a superb mayor. Mr. Harper, however, is taking a long time to decide. Targets do not stand still forever.

Regardless of who runs the numbers, the raw numbers favor Republican candidates. With the annexation of Aboite Township neighborhoods the balance of power shifted to the Republican column. Matt Kelty would be mayor today, but his campaign was as inept as one could ever imagine. Tom Henry, then outside politics, holding now power base, a former councilman who had been tossed overboard by his neighbors, was able to rise from the dead and become mayor.

Public sentiment is not for a law-and-order type, not for a dynamic reformer, not for a moral imperative, at the moment, a steady hand at the helm is valued. November of 2011 could however, call for another sort of candidate and personality.

Right now, Tom Henry is odds on to win. He is a steady hand. Money, reputation, personality and respect all favor him. Only Mitch Harper can match or exceed him on those points, and Mitch seems to have retreated to the side lines.

So, unless Tom Henry does something untoward, unless Liz Brown comes up with a hot and defining issue, there will be no reason to change.

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

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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.

The one significant gap in the discussions I have seen so far has been a focus on customer service. Today, a business owner who wants to build a building in Allen County must navigate a bureaucratic labyrinth of offices scattered over several square miles of downtown and near-north Fort Wayne. There are 14 offices to visit and receive approval from and no help for the weary traveler who just wants to build or expand a business and hire local residents. In frustration many give up and go elsewhere.

It’s time that we started TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS in Fort Wayne. Today we can reverse this sad state of affairs; today we can start the process to light up our welcome sign and say to the business world, “We are open, we are ready and we want you!”

It is mandatory that all 14 offices in the routing process be located or represented in routing order on the first floor of the new Renaissance Square location. I propose that there be priority parking in front – let employees and elected officials park in the back of the lot – with big welcome signs and directions on how to get “down to business” in Fort Wayne and Allen County. I propose that the first person you see when you walk into the first floor isn’t security but a friendly greeter who directs you to where you need to go. If Wal-Mart can do it, so can we! If you are building or expanding a business, you will be directed to our Business Concierge Service. We will have a single point of contact to guide you through our self-imposed bureaucratic maze. We will make it easy to locate, build and hire here in Allen County. We can do this today, we can reverse the sins of the past and we can make a real difference by simply using common sense and being polite.

We can do this for business and we should. Our customer service attitude doesn’t have to stop there. Currently, our neighborhood advocates are hidden away in ninth floor offices. We need to send a definitive message to our neighborhoods today. They are wanted, they are needed and they are the lifeblood of our city. Move neighborhood advocates to the first floor, open the process of communication and prioritize them now.

We must look at the services that our city provides, and we must look at how we can do so in the most convenient, cost effective and friendly way. Let’s consider what is good for the people who pay for the buildings, the salaries and the services. Let’s consider the needs of our customers, not the next election. Let’s consider how we look to our neighbors and to the world by taking care of businesses, working with our citizens and making our interaction easy and pleasant.

My parents taught me that using common sense and being polite are two of the most basic building blocks of success. It is time we apply these two principles in local government and in this process of co-location. This will be my mission as we move forward. I ask my friends and colleagues to get behind the concepts of common sense and being polite by locating our routing on the first floor, providing easy access for neighbors and greeting every citizen with a welcoming smile.

Paula Hughes

President, Allen County Council

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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.

Now the motion, to co-mingle county and government functions, “for the good of citizens,” as Paula Hughes reminded everyone, moves to county council for its approval and to city council for a report. City council has already approved the funding, the mayor is on board, as are the county commissioners. Paul Moss, Roy Buskirk and Paula Hughes voted in favor, so unless the other members of county council manage to over-rule them the matter, for the moment, is done.

From the 30,000 foot level, as another councilman put it, the decision has been made. Now to the trenches.

During the negotiations the mayor promised a million dollars to help the county see his point of view. The question one councilman, John Shoaff, asked is where will that money come from? Whatever the source, and you know how tight, tight, tight the administration use to say their budgets were, the Mayor will have to send any appropriation down to council for approval. I will guess that Councilmen Harper, Shoaff and Smith will not make it easy. Tom Smith has already stated he will not appropriate a dollar more. It is also possible that a fourth and a fifth member of council may put themselves in play to trade a vote on the million for something they might hold dear, say a critical appointment to a sensitive board, for example.

You can also bet that in the not to distant future there will be a parking garage near 200 Berry.

You can also bet that unforeseen expenses will crop up. They always, always do. So, the mayor will have to come and ask again and again for a few hundred thousand or so to make things work. It is inevitable. But the inertia is now on the mayor’s side and it will be increasingly easy to find the money despite the tight, tight, tight budget, despite a year or two of dramatically reduced revenues on the horizon.

Mitch Harper may have set the tone. He said that the city county building has been a work in progress since it was opened with walls constantly moving to accommodate different office configurations. It will continue that way at a greater speed now that there is a “second” city hall in downtown. The money will be there.

On first blush, the new layout with the police/sheriff ensconced between the Meeks Center and the Court House makes sense. Having the leadership and the development team on Berry also seems to make sense. It will save some people many steps. It should make for better communications between departments and lead to greater efficiencies. It should. Expect revisions to be made a number of times before the moving vans, which were not budgeted for, arrive. Should you care to know the mayor will have the prime offices on the forth floor. The commissioners will be down the hall. Council, both city and county, will be on the first floor…

So, the meeting ended with a round of applause for Cory Miller and Ron Dick, the two architects, from two competing firms, who collaborated to drag this concept of combining governments through the political minefield to safety, or near safety. There should also have been a strong round of applause for John Stafford who moderated, cajoled, negotiated, prodded, schmoozed and escorted the concept to fruition.

For the rest of us it is now our job to remind the politicians they are doing this to streamline local government, to make it more efficient and more user-friendly. You and I are the users. This should not be left to them, alone. The city’s web site has the full report.

But, we should appreciate what the have done. It has been a sloppy, awkward process, a bit of village democracy. Nelson Peters laughed at the end of the meeting, after the self congratulations had subsided, and said, “now on the healthcare.”

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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.)

The seating chart demanded and got confrontation: in one corner, the city, on the other side the country, and the leadership stuck in the middle like so many puny referees, only Tom Henry decided to wade right into the middle.

Disrespectful can describe Mr. Pape, Mr. Moss, and Mr. Buskirk Mr. Pape started it by laughing at a comment by one of the County representatives. Moss took any number of personal shots at Mr. Pape. Mr. Buskirk gestured his applause when Mr. Pape said he was about to wrap up one of his many interminable soliloquies. Pape retaliated a number of times in Mr. Moss’ direction, by name. Disrespectful in all cases. Mr. Pape, wearing red, and Mr. Moss, dressed in various shades of mafia black, sparred for most of the two-hour marathon.

Befuddled is what comes to mind when describing the mayor. He could not seem to grasp a point early in the meeting that was presented and remade to him by three different people, each version an attempt to simplify the point so the mayor might final grasp it. He finally furled his brow and buried his nose in his notes. He never seemed to catch up. Later in meeting, when Councilman Mitch Harper offered the mayor a chance to show a measure of leadership the mayor fulminated into a tantrum about being dissed by others at the table. He verbally folded his arms over his chest and pouted, calling instead for postponement so tempers could cool. (His was the temper most frayed.) Then, trying to recover his leadership mantle again he threw the meeting into further confusion while thinking out loud whether he could spare a few thousand dollars after having offered millions at various stages of the meeting. The mayor, who should have been the biggest guy at the table looked more often like the smallest person in the group. During a vote on a key question only the mayor voted no, eight to one against him. He was clearly out of step with the group he had created.

Winners? Nelson Peters was very calm and offered humor. Paula Hughes tried to find common ground, even though her earlier quotes concerning mayoral offers were obviously hurtful to the mayor and part of the reason he was so testy. Linda Bloom barely spoke, but did add a few facts to clarify discussions. Silence was constructive.

And, oh yes, there were two architects who were there to explain co-location options to the assembled “leaders” and propose a way forward. Their comments were soon lost in the din.

So, finally, after two hours of snipes, hurt feelings, pouting and recriminations (Must See TV as one observer put it) the task force came to a decision: to pay the architects another $70,000 to “drill down” to a finer set of figures on moving various departments of city and county government to 200 East Berry/W&D’s/the Renaissance Building. And, they decided to find out exactly why the sheriff is not all that keen on being closer to the FWPD. (Drill Down. I hope I never again hear that overworked phrase.)

It was a mess. They barely, these leaders of our community, could arrive at decisions. The mayor almost took is ball and went home, just, just as consensus seemed to have been achieved. Pout. Aaaargh. Cooler heads prevailed.

Part of the blame goes to the format. The mayor and commissioners should be above all this petty bickering. Deputy Mayor Greg Purcell (oooops) and a chief of staff from the Commissioner, and reps from either council, should have hammered out the project. Sitting at the table the mayor should have leaned back in his chair and listened, instead he muddled things and embarrassed himself. One representative, other than Mr. Moss, would have been enough from the county, same from the city council. Just too many cooks and seated in a way that spelled, shouted, announced confrontation. Whoever designed the format, and I hope it was not the good and capable Mr. Stafford, should be sent to a group dynamics class.

I left the meeting and quickly went for a bratwurst and a beer, a Kostritzer from sister city Gera.

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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.

But Brandon, young, supported by his wife and delivering an unpolished speech to the Conservative Breakfast Club Monday morning, spurred quiet a raging debate among the 25 or so politicians gathered on the 13th floor of One Summit Square.

Liz Brown was there. So was candidate for mayor Paula Hughes and council members Mitch Harper and Liz Brown. Roy Buskirk, a sage member of County Council, was also there, as well as Jim Banks, a Whitley County councilman and candidate for State Senate, and Mike Obergfell who is running against Win Moses for a State Representative seat.

Do we really need the township trustees? That was one of the first questions and a main point of debate. There was no consensus, but many at the table felt that citizens get a great deal of service from trustees who are occasionally volunteers, usually underpaid, and often work evenings, weekends and holidays when their neighbors are in need. Others at the table took the position that we have too many elected officials and that the trustee system is archaic, going back to the 1790s. Getting rid of the trustees would cut taxes and reduce the size of government. One attendee smiled that Indiana has more elected officials than California or Japan. Cute line, but not necessarily explanatory of anything. The snickers subsided and the debate resumed and turned toward efficiencies and service. Most agreed that trustees offer considerable service at discount rates. They are closest to the people, one fellow explained, easiest to reach, not somewhere in Indianapolis with five layers of bureaucrats between you and an answer. When someone brought up perceived excesses at the Wayne Township office the debate turned to questions of inefficiency and waste. All agreed that the current leadership in the Wayne Township office spends much too much on administration and too little on services.

It was also generally agreed that more oversight of township budgets and expenditures was in order.

The discussion/debate turned to other efficiencies, and to appointed boards and commissions that have taxing powers, but do not answer quite as directly to the public as do elected officials. Case in point, the library board. Some members were highly critical of the library for spending so much on new construction, while others praised the benefits of the library and the remarkable services it provides to the community and said they felt quite comfortable paying that portion of their taxes. Bang for the buck. Return on Investment.

All in all it was the most interesting and most spirited political debate on issues that I have heard in years. There were moments of bland comment purporting to offer the true conservative position, but in general the discussion was without platitudes, was a debate of competing ideas and suggestions for better government.

One member suggested privatizing the township system, but Paula Hughes quickly retorted and drew plenty of laughter when she snorted about how well privatization had worked with Indiana’s welfare management. Her point was well taken, ideology and dogma usually do not solve problems, but experience, cooperation and creativity does. The Conservative Breakfast Club should change its name to the Thoughtful Breakfast Club. It is a fine debating society offering good ideas for Allen County’s future.

As for Brandon Seifert, he deserves your vote if you live out there in Lake Township.

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