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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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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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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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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Nicolet recently filed a committee called “Citizens For Nicolet Committee.” The nature of business is listed as “Campaign Funds.” He’s planning a run against 1st district city councilman Tom Smith in the republican primary.

Members of the committee  are listed as Kenneth W. Nicolet, Laura C. Nicolet and Rodney L. Butler.

It might be a hard to sell given he’s worked for Democrat administrations for a decade. But then again, he has a picture of Reagan hanging in his office

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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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What a mess.

The agenda, often with misspellings and other little problems had two big holes in it last night.

First, Tom Smith sort of welcomed a pair of the local high and mighty to the table by saying they were not on the agenda. Huh???? Papers shuffled all over the place. Council members scratched their heads. Eyes darts to and fro. They, the representatives of the Grand Wayne Center, WERE supposed to have been on the agenda, seems somebody had simply failed to add them and their report on the written agenda. Then, much later, at the end of the meeting two representatives of the administration, Matt Gratz and Bobby Kennedy strode to the table to help council conduct a vote on another matter that was missing from the agenda, amendments to the garbage ordinance. Was it the City Clerk’s office that dropped the ball or the legal department of the city. Fingers were pointing in both directions and each was pointing at other. Call it a scrivener’s error. Just move on.

To save the garbage matter City council’s parliamentarian in residence, John Shoaff, adeptly managed a prepared process that required a series of four votes to suspend rules, to bring the matter to the table and to vote it up or down. All the votes were unanimous and done with a bit of humor. Liz Brown pointed out a another scrivener’s error that would have given duplexes a free ride. There were other errors including a zip code that doesn’t exist. Scrivener’s error.

Had the audience been only of the couch potato at home variety, along with the band of reporters and camp-followers who usually show up it would not have been much to talk about, perhaps a few insider chortles. But the glitterati of local government and its appendages were in attendance last night: John Stafford, the director of the Community Research Institute, Dan O’Connell, head of Visit Fort Wayne (the old Convention and Visitor’s Bureau), Ben Campbell, president of Star Financial and a leader of the Grand Wayne Board, Rich Davis, director of the Downtown Improvement District, Bob Lister who runs the Grand Wayne and his board leaders, Al Moll who runs the Parks Department, Scott Glaze, a prominent businessman, a covey of administration leaders, and Jim Anderson from, appropriately enough, the Zoo. He must have felt right at home.

The high points.

Early on, Glynn Hines brought a project to a halt because he said he was tired of being promised one thing and delivered another. He made a number of points about promises developers make only to forget when a project is ready to open. Everybody else on council agreed with him. The project was put on hold until, as he said, the “Is can be dotted and the Ts crossed.”

Mid on, Mitch Harper noted in the discussion with DID leaders that most of the buildings in the Downtown Improvement District are not paying property taxes, and was told that in the core only about a third of properties are on the rolls. Hmmm. A trend nationwide, one leader noted. Mitch thought it a bad trend.

Later, Mike Koester, an engineer, won a prior approval to get work started quickly on a sewer project at Pearl and Ewing so a contractor could avoid laying people off. The project, however, will damage a brick street that the West Central neighborhood is trying to save. City halls knows this. West Central, working with one department on preserving and repairing brick streets, wondered why a lack of communications exists between policy makers and implementers. Phones will be ringing this AM.

Dan O’Connell and Bob Lister, in separate discussions with council, boasted of the rising number of conventions coming to Fort Wayne that might otherwise have gone to Indianapolis or elsewhere. Lister noted with pride that an article in a northwestern Indiana paper called for construction of a new convention center near Gary because Fort Wayne was beating them badly at the convention business. Karen Goldner glowed that the Democratic Party State Convention was coming in 2012 to Fort Wayne and noted how proactive and accommodating Fort Wayne convention planners had been with the Democratic Party site searchers. Lister added that the new hotel will increase convention business dramatically over the coming years. New money into the local economy, he said.

At the end of the meeting Liz Brown, during open mic time, noted that the local economy seems to be improving rapidly and proudly noted how helpful the administration and council have been in supporting local economic development. Isn’t she supposed to be criticizing the administration?

The Low points.

Beside the problems with the agenda, beside the confusion over the garbage contract there were a couple notable low points.

Liz Brown was on the attack again. The violence came during a rejiggering of the city budget. At year’s end departments come in, hat in hand, begging for a few shekels to balance budgets. One such humble beggar was Rick Orr who runs the city Right of Way Department. The matter was a $23,000 shortage in the infamous fire hydrant fund. “You mean to tell me,” she sneared at Rick when he said he had underestimated the cost of maintenance, “that you don’t know the number of fire hydrants in the city! There’s a formula.” He answered her a couple of times before she heard him. The number changes, he said, as maintenance occurs and new water mains are laid. Oh. She dropped it, but not after drawing attention, again, to her testy nature.

Ricky Stevenson, Wayne Township Trustee, showed up last night for whatever reason, with his cell phone, apparently, fresh out of the box. Twice during the session music and messages on his phone were clearly audible to the house. Normally, when someone’s cell phone goes off it is unexpected and quickly silenced. Not Ricky. Stevenson just examine his phone as if he’d just found a shiny new quarter. The music, robust and loud, continued. Stevenson just didn’t seem to care.

Finally, Tom Didier took umbrage at being left out of “back room” negotiations that have led to a call for establishment of a city court. Five votes are there to bring the matter to the table, five council members met to start the project. Smith was not included, Didier was not included. I was told by a council member that the cabal was the four Democrats and Marty Bender who are offering the alternative to the county-run system. It is a way to get something done quickly, if time is of the essence, but it smacks of the artificial deadline waved about during the negotiations to buy the new city hall.

An open discussion will be held in council chambers on the 28th of December at 5:30. There are many, many questions to be answered as to cost, value for cost and rationale. If it is just a matter to fill space at the new town hall that is not enough. Has to be some meat on that bone.

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No one as so much as raised an eye brow when Tom Smith read the I&M-City deal into the record in preparation for the final vote, well, penultimate vote, last night. Some eyes darted from colleague to colleague, there was a careful smile, but no objections, no points made, no fingers thrust into the air, no beating of the chest over an arcane principle. Mr. Smith brought the matter to the table then Council President Marty Bender called for ayes and nays. It passed 9 to zero. Tim Haffner, the city corporate counsel sitting in row three, could have stayed at home and watch from his couch. Angela Boerger, the message mother for the city, could have enjoyed another hour of Wagner. Nobody on either side of the shifting aisle of local politics wanted to rock the boat, everybody is happy with this deal. Now, one more step at the state level and then it will be official. In fact, council members, members of the Henry Administration and some citizens are already conjuring up uses for the funds.

Tom Smith has a broad outline of ways he thinks the money could be best spent. John Shoaff will lobby for money for community beautification, among other uses, each member at the table will have a punch list of ideas. You can also bet every department head will have their wish list, as they well should. So should you.

This is a rare moment. The city has a windfall. What is the best use of the money? You are cordially invited -or so it was said at least four times last night at council- to offer your ideas. The invitation is sincere. Do not be shy, otherwise a perfectly good idea might be missed, as was voiced by one councilman last night. Send your ideas to this email address: citycouncil@cityoffortwayne.org You may also write to your council member or at-large representative via the Clerk’s office at One Main Street.

There were a few other matters that prompted discussion. Two citizen volunteers appointed to the Redevelopment Commission, Casey Cox and Tom Obergfell, presented their annual report to council as required by an ordinance conceived and shepherded to law by Councilwoman Liz Brown. They both spoke quite eloquently and thoughtfully about the past year’s work of the RDC and what is ahead of them. A round of laughter was prompted when Mr. Cox said that “some of you may be following the Harrison condo project.” Understatement is a clever form of humor. Mr. Shoaff and others have been “following” the project. Cox suggested that something is abrew. Asked what concerns them most Mr. Obergfell commented on the North River Project and, by way of explaining the Tax Increment Financing system, noted that the city has no money simply to buy the acreage, as Councilman Tim Pape suggested might be prudent. Mr. Pape argued that the land may not be as attractive now to developers as it might were the city actively marketing it. Mr. Obergfell simply said that the TIF that could be used to funnel funds to that project was currently dormant. Given the year of debate over the Harrison Square project and the ongoing concerns for downtown redevelopment it was wise of the City to ask Messrs. Cox and Obergfell to make the presentation, rather than others. They were well received by every member at the table.

During “open chair” time John Reynolds of Allied Mechanical took his turn at the mic. He complained in very respectful terms that a recent contract upon which he had bid might be less expensive to the city if its elements were broken apart. He said his bids on various parts would have saved the city $2,878 and change. Not all that much, he eventually noted, but every bit counts, he added. Council members explained to him that the bill would be back before council in early December and they would look into it then, and added that he should come back to make the same point and hear an explanation, if any is offered. They were most respectful of Mr. Reynolds as was he of them.

During council’s chance to mention odds and ends Bishop Luers and St. Francis football got mentions, as did the coming burial of a young soldier, Sergeant Kevin Pape from Fort Wayne, who was recently killed in combat in Afghanistan and will find his last rest near Colonel Sion Bass and Lieutenant Paul Baer at Lindenwood. His death should remind us that we should invest our newfound wealth with his sacrifice in mind and a dedication to make our community a better place.

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One hour to deal with millions and millions and millions.

Friendliness.

Respect.

Thoughtfulness.

No rancor, no animosity, no moments when one council member snapped a reprimand at another council member. Only one mildly tacky moment.

I&M representatives in the front row and city representatives behind them

So, last night Tom Henry in the person of Tim Haffner brought home the bacon. As Ben Lanka pointed out over the weekend in his excellent piece in the Journal, it was a long and convoluted process that started a century ago with the establishment of City Light around 1909, changed course when we leased the utility to I&M in the mid-70s and seemed headed for a costly divorce when Graham Richard pulled out the pre-nup and challenged I&M’s plans for a seamless takeover. Lanka and Dan Stockman’s piece is worth reading, well worth reading.

Due to Mayor Richard’s higher expectations and to the tough, thoughtful, careful negotiating by Tim Haffner and the team he assembled, I&M has agreed to pay the city, you and me and our children, tens of millions, not a few hundred thousand, for the utility. As Mr. Haffner said last night, this frees up the Light Lease Trust fund, over $30 million, for public use, and wins the city close to $40 million more over time, to better our community.

It was a very polite meeting and the matter cruised through the public hearing and the vote without hardly a negative comment. Only the testifying president of the Chamber of Commerce seemed oblivious to the tone of the evening by mentioning how unseemly all the squabbling had been to an outsider considering Fort Wayne as a site for their business expansion. I guess he would have preferred the city take the initial low ball offer and simply roll over so his job would be a tad easier. One wonders who he cares about?

So, back to the pros at the table. They were literally tripping over each other to move and second the “do-pass.” Tim Pape explained it clearly: the administration had done a very good job of keeping council members informed at every step of the process. Everyone was up to speed by the time the resolution was brought to the table. People may wonder, he said, why we argue for an hour over $11,000, but speed this through. Everyone at the table, simply put, had been part of the process. They could, however, have done a better job of keeping we peasant masses informed.

The only unseemly moment was when Liz Brown noted that she had gotten a phone call from heavy-hitter Keith Busse of Steel Dynamics and a variety of other business organizations and interests, pushing for the community’s pay out to go straight to economic development. Busse, as presented by Mrs. Brown, seemed greedy and pushy. Candidate Brown sounded too anxious to get her teeth into the kill. Tom Smith, in a calming comment, suggested that many, many needs in the community exist and that many, many of them might fall under the economic development rubric. He said there would be time for the community to offer its ideas at a measured pace. No need to fight like hungry hyenas.

So, with a smiling delegation of I&M folk, smiling council members, a smiling corporate attorney, Tim Haffner, a few beaming members of the administration, not to mention a jovial audience the measure got a resounding “do-pass” and the evening was all but over. The Henry administration reassured everyone that plenty of time will be structured for public input, that the ideas we folk offer be taken serious and that the process will be even more transparent as the new body scanners at Baer Field. Keith Busse is welcome to a seat at the table like the rest of us.

Another matter on the agenda last night was a report by Kirk Moriarty, the head of the Enterprise Zone, on the activities of his group. The Enterprise Zone runs along the central railroad tracks and was set up to create jobs in the center city. Liz Brown was sublime in her praise for Mr. Moriarty’s work and that of the organization upon which she sits as a member. The Enterprise Zone was a good idea in the early 80s, Graham Richard made it work then as a private citizen, and remains a good idea now, but sadly, over the years has underachieved. This is candidate Brown’s passion so let us see what her work there and that of Mr. Moriarty can produce that might speak to her management of the city.

As for the rapprochement between the City and I&M, give Mr. Haffner and his team a great deal of credit. They decided to expect more and they got much, much more. Haffner assembled a remarkably talented team and went eye-to-eye with AEP, the parent of one of America’s largest companies…and earned a sizable payout for Fort Wayne.

Haffner, it should be noted, came into the fray with an unfair advantage. His dad had worked as a young man for City Light and then for for the City running the Street Light Department among other offices in our little town. Kenny Haffner was always determined to do the best for his city, raised a remarkable family of public-minded kids and his son’s achievement would have made the tough, compassionate, go-getting elder very proud. It reminds us that this city has been built over two-centuries of tough, hard-nosed, determined work, and more than a bit of healthy public squabbling, despite the ruffled sensitivities of our man at the Chamber. So, before the hyenas start pulling at the kill, remember the little giants who got us here and give a little thanks. Now, back to work.

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Glynn Hines woke everyone up at the end of a moribund council meeting: net year is election year and we may want to move the budget process up.

Until then the meeting of Fort Wayne Common Council was winging like little martins passed resolutions, over introductions of bills and through a “public” hearing of sorts with hardly a sound. The Committee session had only one item to discuss, but in two forms; a legal public hearing, at which no one, not even the recipients of a proposed tax break, chose to speak. Diversified Marketing Solutions wanted a $640,000 off their tax bill in exchange for creating a handful of jobs. In the jargon of government, an Economic Revitalization Area was created to give structure and justification to the break. Moments later the same measure, now having sailed through the public hearing, was up for discussion. Elissa McGauley, economic development specialist for the city, explain the rationale behind the proposal and wove a story of an old building being revitalized, a corporate headquarters being moved to Fort Wayne and a distribution center soon to open. Tom Smith, who chairs the committee, liked the story she detailed and said as much, with emphasis. Heads nodded, vote taken, unanimous approval. The underlying principle is to help local businesses, usually small businesses, expand. It does. Like any human project it has its strengths and its weaknesses, but it is based on all of us helping entrepreneurs among us get a start or expand. It takes a village.

Then, council members got up, took the pledge to the flag, bowed their heads for a moment of silence and Clerk Sandy Kennedy re-read the roll to open the Regular Session of Common Council. By now, Mitch Harper had joined his colleagues to form a full house. The audience numbered about eleven, including a police officer, two reporters, two bloggers, two citizens who never miss a session, two unidentified individuals, a citizen-politician who loves to lurk on the margins of the room and the camera operator for the City TV channel. No one from the administration, except the gifted Ms. McGauley, was there.

So, in regular session council breezed through 19 ordinances with remarkable speed and consensus. Only one member, Mitch Harper, voted against any of the 19 measures; he did not explain his vote. No one bothered to ask him why. Mitch always has his reasons.

Finally, council invited citizens to amble to the table to express themselves in some way on some item of community interest. No one did. Going once, going twice, going three times, noted the council president, Mr. Bender. He really, really sounded like he hoped someone would come forward to speak.

He then invited council members to speak about whatever matter they might find of pressing consequence. John Shoaff announce two matters, others added a comment or two and then Tom Smith, who had chaired the budget process in November, applauded the group for their good work, gave himself a pat on the back for chairing the perilous process and then tossed a piece of red meat on the table: next year why not require a co-sponsor for any proposed cut. Liz Brown stiffened, her eyes sharpened. She had proposed the most cuts this last go-round, and had lost all of them except one a gift from God in the person of Greg Leatherman who brought laughter and a dose of reality when he tossed her a $5,000 win. She nearly hugged Leatherman. Smith had just opened a wound. Others spoke to the issue and then Ms. Brown retorted that it was her duty to find excess in the budget and propose cuts. Tim Pape then added that council members should first speak with department heads where they, council members, proposed to make cuts. Ms. Brown again bristled and on both counts she was right. It is her duty to make proposed cuts and she will not have to fill out a “mother-may-I” form to show she has duly parleyed with someone in the street-light warehouse, although it might help her a bit to understand the rational behind departmental budgeting, perhaps the point that Mr. Pape was trying to make. John Shoaff came to the rescue by suggesting that any proposed cut should have a second to be introduced for discussion, a la Robert’s Rules of Order, the bible for such bodies and one that seemingly only Shoaff and Harper at table have read. Mr. Shoaff made it clear that he would second some motions just to facilitate discussion.

Then Hines, quiet most of the night, reminded everyone that next year is the city election and they might want to move the budget process up a bit to avoid a hearing on election night. Someone muttered warnings of political agendas and posturing.

At the table was one member who is all but announced for mayor: “I am keeping my options open,” said Liz Brown to a reporter. More than a few people would support her, and more than a few would support Mitch Harper, at the other end of the table, who is also interested in the job, although reservedly so. Tim Pape and Karen Goldner strongly support the administration for their good reasons. Tom Henry is likely to run again. Others at the table like Paula Hughes. As we grown closer to the election, to the rising tempers and louder voices, each vote will gain significance and be a platform for posturing. Perhaps in those numerous “no” votes Mitch Harper is building a record; perhaps in his criticism of Councilwoman Brown Mr. Pape is previewing spring skirmishes, perhaps in all of her lonely votes Mrs. Brown is trying to out-conservative her brethren. Glynn Hines reminded us all that there will be a nice break for the various holidays and then the battle will be on to determine whose priorities guide the city for the coming four years.

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Fire Hydrants? $2,9 million? Well, that’s what Mitch Harper wanted to cut last night from the city budget and it passed, to almost everybody’s surprise, even for Mitch a bit.

More than four hours after a rejuvenated Marty Bender gaveled down the meeting and turned the budget hearings and process over to Finance Chairman Tom Smith the process of cutting the mayor’s budget was still ambling along. Council members, the media, guests, citizens, employees were all a bit slap happy when it came to the matter of Fire Hydrants. It was one of 24 proposed budget cuts voted on in last night’s Marathon session.

Fire hydrant rental! Fire hydrant rental was the big item. Glazed eyes opened when Mr. Harper began his soliloquy. Many, many residents in newly annexed Aboite pay maintenance on fire hydrants through both their property taxes, which are quite high in that tony township, and through their water bills. Mitch wanted a break for his constituents from double billing, so he asked and council agreed to strike it from the city budget. Surprise as the fifth and deciding vote went Mr. Harper’s way. Confusion among city employees. The cost of maintaining hydrants will now shift from property tax rolls to water rate payers. Pat Roller was perplexed and said it will take three months or more to resolve the matter with the Indiana Utilities Rate Commission, but that’s what councils wants, John Shoaff calling it a more rational approach. Some $2.9 was shaved from the city budget, a seemingly grand victory for smaller government folk, but it amounts to a shift in where and how maintenance will be paid, and by whom. The implications of who will save and who will groan when some future water bill is opened is unclear.

There were two clear cuts, however, in the budget, both deductions in funding for the mayor’s office, one for a legislative/business liaison for $67,000 and the second for a 311 Call Center Manager for $76,444. In both cases Beth Malloy, deputy mayor for the city, defended the expenses and in both cases she was grilled by Liz Brown as if she were an enemy prisoner.

Bernie Beier, the director of the Public Safety Academy, also suffered before council as amendments were offered to cut up to $550,000 from his budget. All of the five cuts failed, but Bernie must now clearly know that council is most unhappy with how the PSA has developed. Old sores were reopened, the public was reminded that Mayor Richard had over-sold the academy, that Mayor Henry had negatively affected its board in his first months in office and that the PSA Foundation, which promised last year to raise $100,000 had only managed to scrounge about $1,000.

Council is in the “rock and hard place” conundrum here. If they cut more the place will fail and cost the community for years to come without providing a return on the investment. Currently, it is a great drain on the tax rolls. To add more staff, to aggressively market the facility is not politically acceptable to the angry mob of voters that stand on the horizon. So, what to do? There was no heart in cutting more from the budget. The white salt stain on Bernie’s shoes show that he shovels the snow on the walks while concurrently serving as county “civil defense” director, currently titled Homeland Security Director. There is precious little left to cut at the PSA

Karen Goldner and most of the council members were gentle, but firm with Bernie, who is by all counts considered capable and very hardworking. Goldner virtually held his hand as she explained something significant has to change. Her approach is a study in contrasts to Mrs. Brown.

John Shoaff tried to halve the budget of the Redevelopment Commission who he holds, in part, responsible for the debacle with Harrison Square. While most of his fellow council members agree that the project has not been well handled they did not agree with his plan to gut the Commission. He was the lone vote in favor of his motion, 1-8.

The room was crowded until the matter of the 1% salary increase came to a vote. When it passed, narrowly, a cadre of fire fighters, police officers and other employees drifted away.

In all, the administration won the majority of last night’s battles. Beth Malloy did a good job of defending various lines various council members questioned. Carol Taylor, the city attorney, also defended herself and her department for Liz Brown. Bobby Kennedy defended small items from other Brown attacks.

Fourteen of the 24 cuts were proposed by Mrs. Brown. She lost almost all of them. She frequently found herself either in a 1-8 loss or teamed with Mitch Harper at 2-7. She became increasingly frustration, angry, testy, combative as the night wore on. She sniped at Karen Golder and Tim Pape, who shot right back at her, and she was rebuffed by the normally reserved John Shoaff, and she challenged by Karen Goldner who asked how she had arrived at a certain number concerning a certain proposed cut. She admitted she had no rationale, apparently the number was pulled from thin air as a negotiating ploy.

Her lonesome victory was handed to her by a magnanimous Greg Leatherman, director of the Redevelopment Commission. Greg, having survived the Shoaff cut, probably feeling a bit giddy, was challenged by Mrs. Brown concerning a line in his budget for legal expense. Leatherman calmly and effectively answered why it was needed and helpful for the community and then tossed her a fish, sure, we can cut that line in half, he said. Laughter erupted, Mrs. Brown was all smiles and nearly embraced Leatherman as a life preserver in a turbulent sea. If she runs for mayor she will need all the Leathermans she can find as the seas become increasingly choppy.

Their was another moment suggesting the coming mayoral campaign has clicked up a notch. Mitch Harper, in debate over whether to cut a state house lobbyist from the mayor’s budget, raised his voice. Mitch is more comfortable with a dirk than a broadsword. His comments at the table are usually calmly delivered, concise, incisive and subdued. But, unexpectedly he bellowed his anger toward the mayor’s failed and clumsy effort to bring a casino to downtown Fort Wayne. “Unity starts here,” he roared. He explained that the legislature expects the community to speak with one voice when it presents to the legislature a proposal for funding or a shift in law. He said the mayor showed misunderstanding of the way state government worked by not bring council on board with his initiative, essentially going behind council’s back to bring casino gambling to the City of Churches. His denunciation was one part indignation, one part lecture, and one full measure campaign rhetoric.

There were a couple more items in an evening filled with fine points, gaffes, humor, asides and grist for federally funded studies in group behavior. Marty Bender returned last night in, what looked to be, the peak of health. Kudos to Lutheran for reinvigorating him. He underplayed his illness, which at times sounded very dire. “Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated,” to quote Twain. He then went on to vote for his own pay increase, but did unabashedly note to the house that he understood it to be a conflict of interest. Oh well.

The budget wars are over for another year. This council in its current form will don its gladiatorial garb again next year for the same purpose. Credit this year to Mr. Smith for managing a smooth, if lengthy hearing process. The budget discussions were much more transparent and informative, thanks to him and other members of council. It yielded insights and some savings. The administration made repeatedly the point that they have cut until there is very little opportunity to cut more from existing expenses. They have also made the point, aptly, that our employees are driving innovation and, as a result, cost cutting. Bobby Kennedy, chair of the Board of Works, offered one impressive statistic after another, as did other administration representatives. Questions from council were often easily parried as if a council member, one in particular, had not bothered to do her homework before proposing a cut. The administration also hammered home the point that fewer employees are serving an expanded city. Of course, not everything is roses in Fort Wayne, but we are not Bell, California, and we are not Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Fort Wayne is relatively well managed, open to citizen input and participation and has suffered none of the budget disasters of many other cities around the country.

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Last nights extraordinary city council meeting stated on a somber note: City Clerk Sandy Kennedy, tears in her eyes, told a few of us before the meeting that Marty Bender, council president, had suffered a seizure during dinner with his daughter and was hospitalized. She was quite distraught.

A subdued Mitch Harper, council vice president, eased into the president’s chair and quietly started the meeting with comments on Mr. Bender’s situation and his wishes that President Bender would quickly recover. He then gaveled open the rare Thursday session to resume oversight of the mayor’s proposed budget, focusing last night on use of CEDIT dollars, the County Economic Development Income Tax, a $19 million stream of revenue for the city. Controller Pat Roller parsed the pile of money: some goes to maintenance of the parks, much to debt service, some to the Board of Works and over $4 million to Economic Development, the department chaired by John Urbahns who was on hand last night, passing out notepaper to one forgetful reporter and cough lozenges to a coughing writer as he awaited his turn at the table. Nice guy.

But first, Bernie Beier, the director of Homeland Security for Fort Wayne, and the general manager of the Public Safety Academy located behind the Wal-Mart where Southtown Mall once stood. Holding his hand at the table was Controller Pat Roller who noted that the Academy, which was sold to the community as self-supporting, was back for another infusion of “emergency” funds, only this year and for years to come the Academy will be a regular part of the city’s budget. Emergency becomes subsidy.

Bernie, a prince of a guy, started with a canned speech that was filled with laughable phrases such as “we have met tomorrow head on and never looked back.” The speech marched on, banners aloft and proudly heralding the glorious future, as if some veteran of Soviet times had written the text for Brezhnev. You could see Tom Smith, chairing the budget session, mentally reaching for his shepherd’s crook.

In turn, each of the council members, in subdued and respectful tones, expressed frustration, dismay and disappointment with the academy and with the management of the facility. Very gently, very sincerely, like a good friend, Karen Goldner told Bernie that he was a great Homeland Security director, but not a fund-raiser, nor a facility manager. Tim Pape, in a rare break with the party line, said the building may have been a bad investment.

There was a discussion of how to eliminate the now institutionalized $550,000 of additional support the city gives to the academy. Beier mentioned a possibility that the legislature might levy an additional tax on all Hoosiers of $1 per vehicle license transaction. Repeated questions led to Ms. Roller saying that the matter would be on the city’s legislative agenda and that the Deputy Mayor, Beth Malloy, would be in talks with Council on that topic. Heads nodded in appreciation. It is, however, tax shifting; you will pay more, it is just a band-aid on a flawed initial plan and subsequent failed management.

Liz Brown, also very gently, asked if the place should not be closed and the previous system, a much cheaper system of training fire, police and other responders, not be reinvigorated.

The city, unfortunately, still owes many millions on the new building, and closing the place would cancel a deal with the state for millions annually in subsidies. Council, unfortunately, is in a no-win situation concerning the building and Ms. Goldner’s comments should put the city on notice that merely cutting expenses at the facility to the bone will not help, in fact dooms the place; a professional marketing plan, a development plan are badly needed. One council member questioned whether Mr. Beier had a vision for the facility. His response was as banal as his opening remarks. Ms. Goldner’s comments put him and the administration on notice that a new manager is needed. She delivered it with respect and admiration for the dedication Mr. Beier shows to the community. Exit a chagrined Bernie Beier.

To the table came John Urbahns, director of Economic Development. As he moved forward Joe Fox, the public information director, distributed a page of CEDIT numbers to the audience and media. It was a 2010 – 2011 comparison of how Community Development spends its allocation of CEDIT dollars. In 2010 CD received $5,080,000, in the 2011 budget that allocation will shrink to $4,070,000 with a carry over of over a million dollars that will be applied to 2011 expenses. Advocates of reduced government spending should take note.

Urbahns explained line by line the allocations and answered questions. All inquiries were polite and thoughtful. The responses were usually direct and clear. Council members in turn challenged one spending item or another, but no barbs were thrown, there was no posturing, no flaring of tempers. It was a very professional tete a tete that would have pleased accountants or clerics, it was a presentation by Mr. Urbahns that Mr. Smith characterized as very, very helpful.

The session ended an efficient two hours after it began. Everyone left with ongoing concern for Marty Bender and hopes that his recovery will be swift, but…there is a likelihood that President Bender will be in the hospital and in convalescence into the coming year, or longer. All hope that he will be back next Tuesday in the fullest trim of health. But… council is likely to be eight members for a while and chaired by Vice President Mitch Harper. That changes the dynamics of council and means each vote has greater weight.

Two other notes: Councilman Tom Didier was still away last night, meaning council was smaller by two chairs. Through the power of Verizon an ever vigilant Mr. Didier was aware of President Bender’s misfortune and texted his concern from a Mexican beach. Mr. Didier will be back next week. His vote, too, now magnified. Council members also want the contract to renovate the new city hall to proceed and are in talks with Controller Pat Roller to find a way out of the the impasse over the confused bidding process. The vote this last Tuesday ended four to four, Mr. Didier absent. Mr. Bender had changed his vote to facilitate his introduction of a motion to reconsider the vote, but he can not offer that from Lutheran, so either Mr. Shoaff, Smith or Harper will have to move to reconsider. I bet on Mr. Smith. Given their remarkable parliamentary skills, however, Mr. Shoaff or Mr. Harper could find another way to move the measure forward. It is a foregone conclusion that the building will be renovated and occupied, it is a question of proper procedure.

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Jam packed with interesting moments was last night’s council meeting and it will only continue Thursday night when budget hearings resume.

Last night there was an embarrassing absence, a prominent citizen blasted the administration during the barely announced public hearing, the renovation of the new city hall was put on hold, the park director sided with a strong critic of the administration, Sandy Kennedy and Liz Brown spared, and Tim Pape added to his credentials as the administration’s only true and dear friend on council, and volleys fired from table toward the Journal Gazette.

First up, the barely publicized public hearing on the city’s budget. One person showed up. Apparently, there were some stabs at informing the public that their comment was welcome, but barely, certainly not with any reverence to the concept of public comment. Just one person spoke, Julie Donnell, President of Friends of the Parks, twenty or more years involved with park matters and married to a former member of the park commission and current councilman, John Shoaff, railed with a certain restrained anger at how the Park Commissioners, chaired by Tim Pape’s law partner Rick Samek, had not allowed public comment when constructing their budget. She spoke of the value of the parks, but how the administration is cutting the department’s budget in critical areas. Her comments followed on a guest editorial she had written that was published very recently in the Journal-Gazette. She had not pleased the administration.

Perhaps the City Clerk and the president of council should think seriously about their attitude toward public input.

Back to regular committee business. A $2.2 million prior approval was on the agenda in City Utilities Committee. For a prior approval to get spending started ahead of formal approval it is expected an administration official will come to the table to explain the need for urgency. Glynn Hines called for the administration witness. No response. A second and third call. Silence as eyes at the table searched for a witness. Irritated, Hines tabled the measure for two weeks so that the administration could find someone who could explain the need for speed…. that had been squandered. Somebody in City Hall this morning is getting an earful from a superior. Somebody screwed up.

Another of those proliferating economic revitalization area requests ended the committee session with a pass vote. President Marty Bender then closed the committee session and convened the regular session without leaving his chair. Pledge recited, moment of silence observed and an ordinance read into the record for $2.7 million worth of garbage cans as a part of the new garbage contract.

Glynn Hines, chair of the City Utilities Committee in which the garbage ordinance was discussed, puffed with exaggerated indignance because his name was left off the agenda sheet in the space where his committee chairmanship should have been displayed. He was making a not-so-subtle point. Frequently, too frequently, there are scribner errors on the agenda or in documents on the council agenda prepared by the Clerk’s office.

Mitch Harper was the sole councilman to vote against an ordinance. No bid sheet was attached, as would normally be the case. He wanted to compare all bids before giving his stamp of approval to spending your money. Smart. One wonders if the clerk took note.

Hines and Harper pointed the sloppiness out in their own ways. Donnell pointed out the greater agenda error in her way. Council can be a rather loosely run ship at times.

The big moment of the evening came when the vote was called for renovation of the new City Hall. It had come to the table with a do pass vote from committee, but in the regular session Mitch Harper switched his vote to “no” and Tom Didier was absent, thus a four to four vote and the measure failed. Administration officials in the audience looked as if the blood had drained to their feet. The angst all centered on the bid process and the poor explanation given last week by Controller Pat Roller to a series of questions. “That’s the way we have always done it.” Not what certain council members wanted to hear. They questioned the decision to award the multi-million dollar bid to one company based upon a low base bid, but whose amended bid was higher than other comparable bids. The city wanted to accept the amended bid based upon the base bid price. Apples and oranges. It seemed shady and a way for the “low” bidder to make up their underbid losses on subsequent change orders and those “amendments.” Harper, Smith, Shoaff and Liz Brown, who had initially and deftly called the matter into question, smelled a rat.

Tom Didier, vacationing on a Mexican beach, will now have the pressure of all nature directed at him to cast his vote for the administration. He should stay there a extra few days to compound the pressure. He, therefore, has the chance to force the administration to clean up the bid and their processes. The ordinance will come up for reconsideration at a subsequent meeting because Marty Bender switched his vote so he could, according to Robert’s Rules of Order, call for reconsideration of the administration’s failed effort. Deputy Mayor Beth Malloy, her face the color of ash, will have many questions to ask and to answer this morning. Tom Henry is probably also very confused.

The regular session ended.

The budget hearings commence with a short powdering-of-the-nose break.

To be brief, the Clerk’s Office, Redevelopment, Community Development and Parks were departments on agenda to defend their budgets to council.

Clerk Sandy Kennedy and Liz Brown got into it over minutiae. Liz lost. Sandy’s only serious contribution, however, was to recommend a travel budget for council. They need to get out to conferences, to visit our sister cities, to see best practices in other places. It is very short sighted not to have a travel budget. She was right. We can get set in our ways.

John Urbahns, the director of Community Development, and Greg Leatherman, the embattled head of Redevelopment, were next up. Urbahns presented a PowerPoint that put everyone to sleep in its length and litany of generalities. A few questions were posed, Urbahns sidestepped the failure of the administration to stop the distruction of the historic Freight House across from Lawton Park. Other questions were asked about CD’s failure to reduce sprawl. Urbahns said that he and Bobby Kennedy, director of the Board of Works had begun consulting one another on that matter. Heads were scratched at the table over that revelation. Both have been in place for years and they are just now getting around to a chat on sprawl. But mostly council members wished for the agony of the presentation to end. Tom Smith, chairing the budget hearings gave Urbahns subtle signals to that effect, but Urbahns sputtered on. Finally, Smith just told him to stop. Urbahns, a frog in his throat, coughed on for a couple minutes more. Then, Leatherman, to Urbahns’ right, joked about his current pariah status because of the failed Harrison Condo project, saying something about not getting too close to Urbahns. Polite laughter from council. Then Tim Pape leaned back and recited his own tiresome litany of great accomplishments of the CD and administration.

John Shoaff was waiting for Park Director Al Moll who was up next. He is one of the most respected and liked members of the administration, and a long-time public servant. Trees and capital improvements. Shoaff followed on Julie Donnell’s comments. Shoaff noted a critical budget line had dropped from $250,000 to $25,00 and said “I simple can’t see how that is sustainable.” Moll responded, “Councilman, I have to agree with you. Deputy Mayor Malloy’s face went from ashen to white. Shoaff and his wife have been staunch supporters of the parks and relentless defenders, tree-huggers, if you will, of the benefits parks bring to the community. Countless administrations have tried to undercut the independence of the Park Commissions, the Park Foundation and the Friends of the Parks, and Headwaters Park. Shoaff, Donnell and other have been the voice of the parks. In his reply Moll simply, clearly sided with Shoaff and Donnell, with Tom Henry’s opponents. Certainly, he will be in consultation today, too.

All in all, the administration will spend the morning licking its wounds. Something unwound last night.

Oh, other Park Department notes. Resevoir Park will soon be renamed Lebamoff Park, in honor of former Mayor Ivan Lebamoff. Mr. Moll also alluded to the eventual closure of the McMillan Ice Area so other uses could be made there to better serve that neighborhood, as he nodded to Glynn Hines. Molls PowerPoint was also shorter and more succinct.

One last note: Tom Smith, Glynn Hines and Tim Pape told the Journal Gazette to its face last night that the paper’s characterization of talks between council and the mayor’s office over CEDIT funds as a power grab was completely wrong. Nothing of the sort, Smith said, Hines chortled they failed to understand the governmental process, and Pape noted that there had long been “exquisite oversight” by council of the mayor’s uses of CEDIT (income tax) dollars. Ben Lanke, the Journal reporter took the deer-in-the-headlights pose.

Budget hearings reconvene Thursday.

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