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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Council dealt with two interesting matters last night: the combination of 911 call centers and the future of government housing in Fort Wayne. Both showed considerable signs of progress, but with more than a few curves ahead.

The 911 call center merger was approved by council unanimously last night. Police Chief Rusty York and Fire Chief Pete Kelley were at the table in the witness chairs to provide details about the coming integration of county call takers and dispatchers with their city counterparts. There will be the obvious problems of learning and blending methods to arrive at a new approach. Thesis, antithesis, synthesis. Nothing new. For the near term a board of “chiefs” from the city and the county will run the affair with two jobs: getting the place operational and finding an executive director to relieve hem of those duties. It was noted that the city accounts for 70 of the runs and will pay 70 percent of the cost of integration, but will only have 50 of the voice on the oversight council. Chief York did not seem to mind, instead repeated that the body had one goal: to improve service to the public. Integration will go on for about a year (at least) with pay, benefits and workplace issues to be worked out over time; there will be a learning curve for both city and county employees as they learn the different methodologies, terminologies and systems employed by EMS, fire, police, the sheriff and county fire volunteers. Councilman Mitch Harper noted previous coordination problems, perhaps referring to the deadly fire in his district that killed three young women, to which the chief responded again that the goal was fast response and more “accurate” response. York reminded everyone of the lessons of 9/11, when coordination was so lacking and lives were lost, were finally being applied to local 911.

So last night was an evening of taking bows for the 911 merger. Mr. Pape effused credit on Mayor Tom Henry for getting a job done that Mr. Pape noted had been a public goal for at least the ten years he had been on council and well before. A round of applause was offered and politely rendered.

The other major matter on the agenda last night was a report by Tim Pape concerning the co-location task force, the group concerning itself with myriad questions resulting from the city purchase of the building at 200 East Berry. Council last night voted six to two to “speak as one voice” during the discussion this coming Friday. Karen Goldner pushed the question saying that council should go on record favoring a fuller integration of city and county offices. Tim Pape explained a proposal put forward by Paul Moss of the county council. He frequently called the Moss arrangement of offices a “scheme,” a word with pejorative connotations. He, Goldner and Liz Brown all argued that the first priority should be the convenience of the citizens, not problems government managers will confront should they find part of their minions in one building and part in another. General governmental reorganization, was the not so subtle hint.

One council member brought up the question of security and the hassles of fighting one’s way through metal detectors, leaving cell phones elsewhere, etc, us to visit the Board of Health or Economic Development. You could see council members pause in the light of something new to consider. Mr. Pape pushed on, however, noting that having all public safety in one building, on Main Street, would somewhat resolve that issue.

Mrs. Brown again reiterated that final decisions should focus primarily on the public’s convenience. Finally, one member, Mr. Harper, with the nodding agreement of Mr. Pape, note that the process was ongoing, that government is constantly shifting offices, moving departments, erecting new wall, physically and metaphorically. Mr. Pape observed that this would be the last or penultimate meeting before the four participating bodies, city legislative and executive, county executive and legislative, would be called on to decide the question. Mr. Pape made it clear that the city reserves the right to move all of its offices, including safety, to 200 East Berry should the county not meet the mayor’s minimal expectations. It should be added that in the packet passed around last night addressing the issue there were letters from the Chamber of Commerce and a tribe of local business leaders pressing the four bodies to integrate services and offices. Fundamentally, they are right. It is wasteful not to. Builders and contractors will tell you of the frustrations and delays they encounter moving between one office and another, between one often distant building and another, hoping for a bureaucrat to provide that stamp that will allow a project to go ahead, praying the bureaucrat is in, not on break or in Peoria for a week-long conference. The council members at the table are pros at government. They have learned which offices do what, the sometimes arbitrary hours of those departments, how to force a response. There are others, myself included, who have a relatively good grasp of government structure, but are still often frustrated with behavior or policy. Then there are the great unwashed masses who haven’t a clue, but need to get something done. Designing a system that is open and friendly and accommodating, rather than the frequent grouchy, indifferent response one receives at certain government “service” counters should be the goal. I think Mrs. Brown spoke clearly to that last night. Getting officials of government to think of you, rather than themselves, is paramount. One would think they would grasp that, but they don’t and Mrs. Brown should be applauded for her reminder.

And last night the confusion over relocation and co-location of government offices sorted itself out a bit. Mr. Shoaff was one who voted against the Goldner proposal, along with Councilman Harper. He said that council should wait to learn more facts, especially in light of a report to be offered Friday by two architects on costs that will be associated with two competing “schemes” to meld local government. What was evident last night is the process of integrating government has been brought to a head, although a bit clumsily, by Mayor Tom Henry. He should be given credit for forcing the issue. It is also an ancient dream of many in this area. But, the competing pressure is to “drill down,” the cliché of the hour, to get the more complete picture on cost and organizational challenges. It is both a prudent approach and a rear-guard action by turf protecting obstructionist, if I may. There will be hidden costs, there will be palms smacking foreheads, there will be egg on some faces as the blender does its work. Expect estimates and projections and plans to break down and to be restructured as the process proceeds. Essentially, that is what Harper and Pape reminded us. And tempers will flare, documents will be lost, coffee spilled and resignations will be tendered as set ways are challenged, responsibilities reassigned or fought over. Expect many officials, as we have seen so vividly so often, protect their turf as if it were the beaches at Anzio. “Fight on brave lads, give not a paper clip more!” So, let there be more time given to “drilling down,” but let the public pressure intensify on elected officials to redesign a government that has better customer, is more streamlined, is more open and supportive.

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King Henry spoke whined at the Downtown Rotary Club yesterday and used the event as a bully pulpit to moan about the city and county sharing the City-County Building and Renaissance Square.

In his speech to the Rotarians, Henry threatened to move the entire city operations into Renaissance Square if the county doesn’t pony up more money. In other words, pay-to-play in his sandbox, or he’s taking his toys and leaving.

It’s interesting to see how the MSM mouthpiece of the Henry administration writes about this in their journalistic flotsam called the Journal Gazette.

The city bought the Renaissance Square building for $7.3 million. It has about $8.6 million budgeted for renovations. The city has committed to not spending more than that on the building, although early engineering studies said it could cost more than $11 million to renovate.

Come on Benji, where’s the beef? On the high side, you’re at $18.3 million. It’s going to cost a hell of a lot more than that. How about telling the truth? How about the now projected cost of $23 million?

Times are good, what’s another $5 million dollars?

On another note, (and my apologies to Leo Morris), we’re going to block Fort Wayne Newspapers from accessing this site for a while. Lanka and Warner will have to wait until they get home, or find another way to get here for a while. We only wish we knew Pat White’s IP address as well.

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It was reported late last week that the cost of using the old Wolf & Dessauer building as the new city hall has gone up, again. Well, it has gone up this time like a rocket, over 50%, from $7 million to $11 million in round figures.

Why?

Well, the fellows who presented the estimates to the task force of government officials trying to find a way out of this mess said to the task force of government officials trying to find a way out of this mess that they were too rushed initially by the city officials who got us into this mess. It should be added that some of the people who got us into this mess are sitting on the task force of government officials trying to find a way out of this mess.

You may remember the mayor wanted to buy the old W&Ds, now known as the Renaissance Building. He felt he had to act fast because the police department needed a new HQ and because he could get a really good deal on the long vacant building. You might remember that city council was pushed hard to agree to the purchase, the mayor telling them that the deal faced a tight deadline imposed by the seller and a lease holder. So, with only three members voting against, Council agreed to buy the building. The cost was quoted then as $7 million or so for the building, then another $7 million or so for renovation and moving expenses. A few weeks later, a purchase agreement was sent down to council and the numbers had grown by some $4 million in closing costs and lawyer fees. Council member Tom Didier, you might remember, was angry. “Why didn’t just tell us up front?” he asked a mayoral lawyer. He voted for it anyway. “Customary costs,” the lawyers explained to council. The implication was the council should have known that the initial cost estimate was just an estimate…for the purpose of getting the deal done. As one 9th floor lawyer left the table that night he rolled his eyes to his friends in an expression of great relief. It could have been much worse. Now, it is.

Seems the architects were hustled, too. They said they didn’t have adequate time to fully estimate the costs of transforming the building. They are now gently pointing the finger at the administration. The mayor was in a big hurry. Now, he is asking us to pay a bit more, an additional $4 million, for his haste.

You might remember the Council members Tom Smith, John Shoaff and Mitch Harper voted against the purchase. Councilwoman Liz Brown and current council president Marty Bender, who works for the mayor, voted for it, as did council members Tim Pape, Karen Goldner, Tom Didier and Glynn Hines. Mr. Didier likes to style himself a fiscal conservative. He did not bother to review the purchase agreement upon which the vote was taken. Nor did the others. They left it up to the mayor, who was in a big hurry to “more forward.”

Ah, but the mistake amounts to only $4 million more. Chump change these days. Hmmm. Actually, it is a 57% mistake when considered only within the context of the renovations. In the total cost of the building, which was first proposed at $14 million, it is only a 28% mistake. When you throw in the hidden lawyer fees, $4 million, the additional $4 million mistake, oversight, oops, sorry,whatever, is only a 22% “readjustment.” Heck, a few more such mistakes and surprised and the $4 million cost over-run will hardly amount to anything in the scheme of things, just chump change.

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Or as City Controller Pat Roller called it, a “fill-in public information officer.”

Click below to continue reading.

From a local rag:

“We, at the time, were without a public information officer, and we’re currently without a public information officer, so she has helped us out on many things,” Roller said. “As in the case of Renaissance Square, which is a big, ongoing … thing, we’ll use her for specific, strategic projects.”

Boerger, who is paid $90 an hour through her $50,000 contract fee, performs general duties of a public information officer, including working with the media and managing city projects to assist the city in staying “committed to open, ongoing, interactive communication with the public as an inherent principle of good government…,” as the contract reads.

No, we’re not without a PIO. Mike Joyner replaced Vince Robinson. Mike’s a nice guy, too nice. The propaganda machine needs an aggressive and finely tuned propagandist.

Henry must have studied Dr Joseph Goebbels’ art of influencing the attitude of the servile constituency. Goebbels main job was to to ensure the citizens of Germany would not read or see anything that was hostile or damaging to the Nazi Party. To make sure everyone was on the right page, Goebbels set up the Reich Chamber of Commerce. Henry has the office of the Public Information Officer.

Goebbels Chamber of Commerce decided if you had the right credentials to receive and publish information from the party, not unlike King Henry’s office of the Public Information Officer. Under Goebbels oversight you could only read and hear what the Nazis wanted you to read and hear. They thought that if you believed what you were told, opposition to their rule would be minuscule at best. Sound familiar?

Henry said that buying and renovating Renaissance Square would cost $14.5 million. He also stated:

“With a new city hall, we are charting a new course for Fort Wayne,” said Mayor Henry. “In these difficult economic times, I am doubly committed to getting the most out of every taxpayer dollar and ensuring the delivery of high-quality, cost-effective services to every citizen. This is a decision that will help us do both, now and long into the future. Consolidating operations will save money and increase efficiencies. It will also foster new opportunities for cooperation with our county partner, something I am determined to pursue on behalf of all taxpayers.”

“We explored all the options,” observed Henry. “Our space needs demand action. 200 East Berry Street represents a unique and inclusive solution, a one-of-a-kind opportunity that will allow us to bring together all city departments and make the best use of our resources. The time is right. The price is right. And the long-term benefits for both the city and county are outstanding.”

Conveniently, the King Henry administration left out $4 million and slipped it in at the last moment.

Mr. Didier is learning not to trust the administration. His comment concerning the rising cost of buying Renaissance was an indication of his progress: “why didn’t you just tell us,” about the other costs as he faced three lawyers from the ninth floor. The other costs added $4 million to the $14 million. One of the lawyers tried to wave off Didier’s comment by saying these are normal and customary, but Didier added that he just wanted to know the bottom line, not be repeatedly surprised. “Why didn’t you just tell us?” Mr. Didier will be a tougher sell on the next frenzied deal Mayor Henry brings to council.

Henry later formed a task force to explore the options “before” the actual purchase. But King Henry avoided a checkmate and closed on the purchase before the group met, leaking it to a select group of media members that would insure a proper and extensive written discourse that favored the crown. The king’s plans for a new palace would not be interrupted by some silly task force.

“The essence of propaganda consists in winning people over to an idea so sincerely, so vitally, that in the end they succumb to it utterly and can never escape from it.” Goebbels.

And so it rolls.

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