Archive for the “Fort Wayne” Category

By Jim Sack

The party-line concerning the elevators went something like this: we had them inspected, were told they were good for three or so more years, moved on to other things, were surprised when people got stuck between floors after move-in, found money that would not require council approval and here we are. Sorry, should have given you a heads up.

It was the inaugural Fifth Tuesday hearing and it was well worth the price of admission. I doubt, however, that anyone left the chambers last night satisfied with either questions or answers.

To set the scene, most months have four Tuesdays when the Common Council of the City of Fort Wayne does its work. Once quarterly a month has a fifth Tuesday and over time this “extra” Tuesday has been taken off by council. They have done that for no real reason such as a prevalence of sun spots on all fifth Tuesdays or a need to fly home to the meet with constituents, it is just boys’ night off. Council, in fact, operates on a three night rotation where a bill is introduced on the first Tuesday, debated or discussed the second Tuesday and then disposed of the third Tuesday. Given there are 52 weeks there is only one Tuesday that would cause confusion, not four, but things being things the fifth Tuesday has become time away from the rigors of talking. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Sack

My friend, Andi Udris, has resigned from the Alliance. I will miss him.

Andi Udris

To be clear, the abrupt resignation, which he did not signal to me when we breakfasted last week, looks more like walking the plank at the point of cutlass.

Perhaps the people who gave him the choice between jumping or being pushed had a good reason, perhaps, as was reported, it was a clash of personalities. I doubt anyone will bother to tell me. People in these positions use silencers.

Andi, to his credit, worked hard for this area and had big dreams for economic development. He clearly had begun to set down roots and bubbled of how much he liked Fort Wayne.

Somebody, apparently, didn’t care much for Andi, his ideas or his personality. You can see the members listed here on their website. They include the high and the mighty in Fort Wayne, as well as a couple who are moving on in life. They include people who are hired guns who will vanish in their own time from the local scene leaving very little, indeed, behind. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Sack

It was a workmanlike meeting at council last night punctuated by joviality and smiles, many smiles. Hardly an eyebrow lifted through the 100-minute session, not even when representatives of the mayor said they would keep politics out of redistricting.

From pre-game to post-meeting analysis members of council found charming things to say about each other, to compliment the clerk and to toss roses to the audience. It is a reflection of the new members on council – Jehl, Paddock and Crawford – all of whom try to find the sunny side of a question. Last year’s cat-fight-of-a-bar-room brawl has unofficially been put to rest and now will become the stuff of humorous comparisons. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Sack

The new council asserted their power early in last night’s meeting with a quick three to six denial of a contract between the administration and a project management company. City Utilities had proposed a two-year contract and a representative gave a long-winded explanation of the project, of the need for a consultant, of the qualifications of that consultant who had worked or the city at one time, and as to why a two-year contract was preferable to a shorter iteration. Both Dr. John Crawford and Tom Didier took mild umbrage at the proposal citing their participation on the Professional Services Committee which is soon to issue new guidelines on how consultants should be hired by the city and by city utilities. The two men led the party-line vote to send the bill back for a rewrite. Simply, they proposed the bill be written for a one year period. Mr. Crawford and Didier, with the support of all the Republicans on council, believed a two-year contract might somehow fail compliance with the new, yet-to-be-minted, guidelines. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Sack

Early in last night’s council meeting, after a bit of early formalities and the shifting in chairs, Council President Tom Smith announced to the assembled dozens of citizens and the multitudes at home via streaming video the presence in the room of the Mayor of the City of Fort Wayne, the Honorable Thomas Henry. The mayor, with his bright smile and friendly manner, strode forward and took a seat at the table. Judging by the surrounding smiles he was most welcome and genuinely well received. His comments were about cooperation, the friendlier tone on council during deliberations, his open door to all council members and a enthusiasm to work with council to confront the challenges our government faces in maintaining Fort Wayne’s position as the envy of every other city and town in the state. Council members all nodded and smiled. They noted steps the administration had already taken to work in harmony.

And that spirit of cooperation was most evident as deliberations ensured on a stack of ordinances, hearings and resolutions tackled by council in their committee session and the following regular session. Of the forty-one votes taken last night all but two, passed 9 to 0. Consensus, unanimity, cooperation. Just what the mayor was hoping for, the goal of council after four tedious and testy years of rancor. Of the two bills that failed to pass unanimously one measure was kicked back to the administration, “held” unanimously, 9-0, while the other suffered only an abstention due to a potential conflict of interest: Russ Jehl abstained on a development matter. Wise. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Sack

Tom Smith is the new city council president and he set the tone of the new council with a smile and kind words for all. His six pages of opening comments were generous in their praise for all members of council, for the mayor, for the rest of us in the community who depend upon council to invest our taxes wisely and constructively.

After the chores of naming committee assignments, reappointment of staff and appointments to boards, Mr. Smith asked the members of council for their thoughts. Each member, starting with senior councilman Glynn Hines and working to the youthfulness of Russ Jehl spoke of a desire to cooperative, to rise serve the community without rancor and to find common ground. Only Councilman-at-Large John Shoaff chose to throw down a gauntlet, but even that was so carefully veiled as to be esoterica to all but the sharpest of ears. He less threw it down than placed it gently on the table. Read the rest of this entry »

Funny how this story did not break until after the elections. According to a report issued by Sandy Kennedy’s office, they are two years behind in collecting unpaid parking tickets; 14,400 of them. Kennedy is blaming the county courts. However, according to Judge Fran Gull, not only is Kennedy’s office not filing them with the courts, they’ve yet to contact her to discuss a solution.

Imagine if this was another city or county department. If Allen County Recorder were two years behind, could McGauley blame the city? Or, what if the Allen County Building department was two years behind in issuing building permits? Who would they blame?

Now, due to Kennedy’s maladroit way of running her office, she’ll have to go to the city for $80,000 to balance her budget. We’re paying Kennedy $73,451 per year.  Maybe she should go without her salary for one year to make up the difference.

By Jim Sack

Two citizen appointees to the Redevelopment Commission gave a studied, thoughtful and well documented overview of the efforts of that controversial body to council last night. The nice thing was that council, often the scene of playground fights, acted like grown adults for the duration of the presentation and through the rest of the meeting.

They were first on the agenda, lawyer Casey Cox and banker Tom Obergfell, both councilmatic appointees, both highly respected for their work and their even-handed approach to the powerful Commission’s challenges. Cox began with a moderately long monologue chronicling the ups and downs of the Harrison project, essentially bringing the outgoing council up to date, reassuring most that the project is finally underway and headed toward success. The fly in the ointment remains the sale of the tax credits, but neither Cox nor Obergfell could speak to that process, except to say that it is the most significant condition of further participation by lenders. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Sack

The nasty relationship between Councilwomen Brown and Goldner came to a head last night with the former snarling invective toward Ms. Goldner and the later walking out in disgust, in the company of Councilmen Glynn Hines and Tim Pape. The enabler was Council President Mitch Harper who so frequently speaks of proper decorum and process at council but let last night’s anger boil over into an embarrassment and distraction from the business of council.

The tirade came at the end of the meeting, during the increasingly testy comment period where citizens can approach the high and mighty with their meager thoughts. Citizens are tolerated as a preface to the high and mighty pontificating about their pet issue, glibly announcing a concert at the Foellinger or a 5k Run, or lashing out at the “enemy.” The later was the role Mrs. Brown chose last night.

Brandon Seifert, a township trustee from out around Arcola, started the fight with his call to roust the “squatters,” the Occupy Wall Street group from Freimann Square. He related a list of ills, including a fire, an arrest, filth, scum, the decay of the American system of government and all but linked the handful of woeful demonstrators to the Russian mafia. Within a few seconds another citizen, Phil Marx, rose to refute part of what Mr. Seyfert, who apparently was speaking based on hearsay, had charged. Mr. Marx pointed out a few mistakes, as well as a misunderstanding, offered no great philosophical points, he just questioned a few charges.

Councilman Tim Pape then chimed in with a long-winded defense of the protesters, or “hippie-scum,” if you prefer, as taking part in the long tradition of American free speech. He closed by saying the problem would resolve itself in the name of winter. Tom Smith said laws are laws and recounted a story of a constituent who was afraid to expose her tender grandchildren to that sort of rabble, something Smith suggested would ruin the cheery lighting celebrations in the downtown for hundreds of families. He imagined clashes between the heavily armed demonstrators and espadrille-clad pottery shoppers at Three Rivers some nine months away. Glynn Hines avoided the issue, instead reminding citizens about a hearing surrounding a major project where Anthony and Wayne Trace intersect. Mitch Harper passed. John Shoaff likened the gaggle of young protesters to those who the Hyde Park soap-box crowd in London and add, this, too, shall pass, that we will lose more through confrontation than accommodation. Karen Goldner then picked up on Mr. Smith’s hand-wringing and noted that his constituent was voicing fear of those who are different. Councilman Bender noted echoed much of what Mr. Marx had said and added that he disagreed with the Henry Administration’s policy in the matter. (“I’ve won political capital and I intend to spend it…”) Mr. Harper then spoke of the rule of law, breaking no ground, but tossing in a quote or two to underscore his points. The community, as shown by council, is divided on the issue, but as Mr. Pape said, January will have its effect.

Then came Mrs. Brown. It was as if all of the anger and pent-up frustrations of the past four years spewed from her like yesterday’s spoiled eggs. She attacked Goldner for unnecessary and inappropriate comments in the Sunday Journal concerning the firing of Purchasing Director Jim Howard. She called Ms. Goldner a “mouth-piece” for the administration as if expressing a view other than that of Mrs. Brown was by definition illegitimate. She railed about the lack of transparency in the Henry Administration. About half-way through her purge Tim Pape stood up and left. Glynn Hines then noisily rose and made the floor resound with his disapproval. He was followed by Ms. Goldner who showed a great deal of hurt on her face.

Through this all not once did either the council president, Mr. Harper, or the steward of council dignity, John Shoaff, rise to cool the emotions. They both could have, should have and did not.

Mrs. Brown and Ms. Goldner will both give up their seats in six weeks. There will be three more meetings during which they will have to sit near or next to each other. For the last full sessions it would be best if Ms. Goldner were to change seats with Mr. Smith or Mr. Hines. Distance has its rewards.

And, your taxes went up a bit last night. Lincoln National came in for a tax abatement for just under a million, and the good people who are to profit through the refurbishing of the Anthony Wayne Bank building were at the trough for a $10 million abatement. There was a third smaller abatement also on the agenda, all of which were quickly moved forward without the first comment or question. Tax abatements are essentially a bit of wealth transferal from you to investors. The county estimated a few years back that you pay $40 per $100,000 of assessed valuation on your property taxes which, you might remember, were supposed to be capped at one percent. The pace of abatements have accelerated so you are probably paying a bit more than that now. It is a method of shifting cumulative tax burden from corporations to individuals. The Lincoln said they would retain nearly two thousand jobs in exchange for the abatement, as if the loss of the abatement would cause them to move the rest of the operation to Philadelphia. The AWB project will create a score of jobs, so at least they are showing good intent. Sadly, the reporting system is so badly flawed that we will never know if they created the first job in exchange for raising your taxes.

Kudos were heaped last night on city staff for winning national recognition for “green” projects, namely the recycling success and the greening of our vehicle fleet. It should be noted that award for improving the efficiencies and reducing the waste in our vehicle fleet was won in competition with the likes of Coke, UPS and other majors with significantly higher budgets, legions of PR people and the exaggerated values of business-like competition. Nice win. Most of us know about the win-win-win of the recycling program, even those who could care less about “waste-not, want-not” lessons of every day life. Rates went down because of the recycling program and are predicted to go down again next year.

Finally, (but early in on the agenda) the meeting featured a presentation by the Citilink president and GM. They spoke of increased ridership, their new transit center and other successes. Efficiency was touted. Greater service, less cost, significant potential for growth. In response to a complainant of a couple weeks back who was angered at having to stand for lack of a seat during a trip, they offered no real answer. They should cheered about the complaint, instead of wringing hands. They should have been praised for having built ridership to the point where more buses, the fifty-percent more efficient buses they are now using, are needed, not that someone had to stand on a crowded bus! The shortcoming of the bus system is its infrequency of service and short hours. I would suggest the angry rider try a transit in Munchen, Berlin, Gera, or any of a few hundred cities where standing is nothing unusual and the buses come every 10 to 15 minutes and offer a truly valuable transit service. Our system has a long, long way to go.

Back to Mrs. Brown and Ms. Goldner. Their personal anger toward each other impedes the work that council is to undertake on our behalf. John Crawford was in the audience last night and one can certainly expect that the personalization of issues and vilification of the opposition will end as he and Russ Jehl replace Mrs. Brown and Ms. Goldner. It seems that Mr. Smith is in line to wield the president’s gavel next year, so lets hope he is more successful at keeping the vitriol in check than Mr. Harper.

On the way home I noticed a tent in Freimann. It was one small tent, drenched with cold rain, swaying in the wind.

In an article by Christian Sheckler in the News Sentinel today, Goldner is quoted as follows:

City Councilwoman Karen Goldner, D-2nd, said Howard “screwed up” by failing to get council approval for numerous insurance contracts since he became purchasing director. Earlier this year, city officials learned of a 1992 ordinance, requiring council’s approval of new policies, that had been ignored for years.

“As far as I’m concerned … the insurance policies weren’t handled properly. Typically, when you find one problem, there are other problems,” she said. But she said she didn’t know of other mistakes.

Screwed up? Ahem. Wrong. Liz Brown uncovered this. And, Pat Roller and Valerie Ahr were aware of it, and took no action. Howard had no oversight on the insurance contracts. What a crock of you know what. Pat Roller screwed the pooch on this one and covered it up, then tossed Howard under the bus.

Goldner will apparently say anything to move her agenda forward, which as of now seems to be getting a real job.

Now that Henry has won reelection, yesterday, Deputy Mayor The Princess of Doom, Beth Malloy starting cleaning house, as she said she would.

Yesterday Jim Howard, Fort Wayne’s Director of Purchasing was called to a conference room with Controller Pat Roller, City Attorney Carol Helton, a couple of Police Detectives (for carrying him out) and Human Resources Director Mike Esselburn.   Howard was informed he’s an at-will employee, political appointment, and that the City is taking a new direction. In other words, “you’re fired.”

Jim Howard has served as Fort Wayne’s Director of Purchasing for 8 years, and by all accounts has done a more than effective job.

Some of Howard’s accomplishments include hedging fuel prices for both 2011 and 2012, which is now at 2.80 per gallon, bundled fleet bidding and achieving prices lower than the State of Indiana pricing, and, the City of Indianapolis pricing for 6 consecutive years. Howard also orchestrated the consortium of Fort Wayne Schools, Allen County, Airport Authority to bid out and buy office supplies, salt and uniforms to achieve historically lower pricing. He oversaw all procurement activity associated with the buildup of Citizens Square. Put together a 5 million multiyear fire truck purchase and saved the City close to 2 million dollars. He also created standardized Service Agreements throughout the city where there were none.

In this writer’s opinion, that change in direction means eliminate anyone that is vocal supporter or member of the republican party. They’ve already kicked Ozzie Mitson to the curb, and rid themselves of Ken Nicolet. Maybe Elissa McGauley, who works for John Urbahns, Director of Community Development, and Ken Neumeister who does who knows what, should start polishing their resumes. After all, you cant have any of those pesky republicans working in city hall.

Howard is also an attorney, and graduated from the Regent University School of Law. His LinkedIn profile is here. If you know of any job leads, drop him a message.