Posts Tagged “Tom Henry”

Last year we reported this.

Henry hired Palermo Galindo as Fort Wayne’s Hispanic-immigrant liaison back in June. Palermo Galindo operates Centro De Dinero, one of those high-priced check cashing services whose target audience is the Hispanic market, and undoubtedly Fort Wayne’s illegal alien population.

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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

As one local government official said, “there was conflict between Pat Roller and Greg Purcell and Tom (Henry) chose her.”

Greg Purcell is returning to Michigan to care for ailing family members. Maybe that is the case, but it sounds as lame a reason to leave the high-paying job as Mike Pence saying he prefers the life of a Congressman to that of a Senator. Something is not right.

Purcell, is seems, did speak truth to power, was critical of the way matters such as the casino issue and the I&M fight were handled and eventually lost favor with the mayor. You might remember the mayor said he was neutral on the issue of bringing a casino to Fort Wayne and then was seen lobbying hard in the legislature for just that outcome. In the matter of the I&M lease of City Light property the matter was and remains poorly explained to the public, has become entwined in legal machinations and has not been the win for the community and himself that the mayor expected.

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By Jim Sack

Fort Wayne will miss Greg Purcell. He is a capable administrator, a relatively skilled politician and a nice guy, really.

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Karen Goldner, one of Tom Henry’s lapdogs is picking up where Henry failed in 2001 by introducing a change to Chapter 93 of the Fort Wayne city code.

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If anyone outside of Fort Wayne is following the story on Tom Henry and the Fort Wayne folly called Renaissance Square, they must be getting a chuckle as Henry whips out his mojo.

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One thing is becoming clear.

Engineering firms have a high level of interest in Fort Wayne’s “Combined Sewer Overflow” project, which is estimated in today’s dollars to cost upwards of 1/4 billion dollars.

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First an amusing side note. Ben Lanka stayed up until 3:00 this morning, scurrying around to get a story out after we beat him by 7 hours. He even found his way to steal our lead-in.

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Over the next week, we’ll be digesting local campaign finance reports. We’re starting off the with the examination of Mayor King Tom Henry’s report for 2009.

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By Jim Sack

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?

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In a report forced on King Henry’s administration due to a bill authored by city councilwoman Liz Brown, the city reported spending $90 an hour, or a total of $50,000 in the 4th quarter of last year to provide “specialized marketing communications services” for the city.

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

Click below to continue reading.

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