The Difference Between Me & “Them”
Posted by Jeff Pruitt - 8/25/09 @ 9:06 pm - Filed Under City Council, Featured
Citizens are no doubt celebrating all over the city as the council approved by a vote of 6-3 to purchase the Renaissance Square building. The dissenting votes, as usual, were Shoaff, Smith and Harper.
As I was listening to the speakers during the public hearing, who were 2-1 in favor of the ordinance, I had a moment of clarity that I guess I already knew about but it was really solidified this evening. The difference between me and “them” is that I believe government has too much money and should let me do the economic development by allowing me to have more of my money to spend. “They” do not think that government is over-funded and in fact “they” think the government needs to provide more services, requires more space and in general needs to spend more money every year.
I guess the apex of this moment of clarity came when I realized that I was in the minority and probably by such a margin that it’s almost unrealistic to think the system can change…
Comments
23 Responses to “The Difference Between Me & “Them””
Leave a Reply
Jeff,
I did not feel strongly on this issue either way. However, I am one of “them” that “think the government needs to provide more services, requires more space and in general needs to spend more money every year.”
Having said that, I do appreciate the passion and arguments you bring to these issues. Don’t give up- realize that if you believe in it, it is worth fighting for. Win or lose you will sleep better knowing you at least tried. I did not chair the local Democratic party for 4 years because it was easy- I did it because I believed in it. And I sleep pretty good most nights!
Kind of depressing isn’t it Jeff? Now extrapolate that debacle to a national level and you’ll be as depressed (and concerned) as I am.
A very big “Thank You” to Pruitt, Harper, Shoaff & Smith for their steadfast defense of the taxpayers. Ditto for Lockwood Marine and Shawn Collantine. Jeff, you hit the nail on the head. Not too long ago I realized: “People WANT to be told what to do.” Just as it’s true that one doesn’t say to a child “Don’t do that!” or “Stop that!”, one needs to say “Quit pulling your sister’s hair, go put your Lincoln Logs in the box”, or “Turn off the TV and go tell your brother it’s supper time”.
Obama, for one, knows this. Who doesn’t want all their wants and needs taken care of, after all?
To tell the truth, this Renaisance Square thing doesn’t bother me nearly as much as the Calhoun Street and the Harrison Square things, both of which were clearly very unpopular, and which votes just screamed “We know what’s good for you even if you don’t!”. The arrogance of those decisions was unabashed. Somebody important once said “People get the government they deserve”. So, we’ve got it.
Jeff,
I am sorry I could not make it to testify against it; however, my testimony would have obviously made no difference.
Mike
I apparently did not read what I wrote last night- I though I added a paragraph in between- it said something like this:
Well, maybe not that “spend more money every year part”. But I do like the services that government provides and I know that those services cost money (from taxes), require space, and people to carry out the work.
From the July 26, 2009 JG Editorial:
“By 2011, property tax credits countywide are estimated to reach $29 million – a figure too great to make up with simple budget trims. Local government officials will ultimately have to look at either raising other taxes to bridge the shortfall or slash public services – or both.”
The laid-off city workers in 2011 (including public safety workers) are going to enjoy seeing this shrine being built.
Kevin,
Fair enough. I too think I should clarify that I am not anti-government nor do I believe government is always poor at what they do. I also believe there are a lot of smart and capable people involved in government.
I simply think government tries to do too much and that the citizenry would ultimately be better served if they narrowed their focus. A significant reduction in their funding would force this prioritization and creative solutions would flourish…
I was disappointed at the low public turnout for the vote. As I expected, most of the people speaking in favor had a vested interest in the project, and despite the protestations of some of the council members I believe their minds were
already made up.
As far as the merits of this project, I don’t have a strong opinion except that with the behind the scenes manipulations we will overpay for the building by a few million. But that bothers me mainly because of the million or so they just pissed away on Calhoun Street.
I took a nap in the afternoon in order to be able to have enough energy to go and that was not enough. What I have seen before and saw again this time was downtown business people support any spending for downtown. The buying of the building removes a large amount of office space from commercial use (less competition).
Fewer people go to hearings because they have the defeatist attitude. I guess if you get slammed enough times you walk away. I attempted to speak, but the medication I had taken made me sleepy and slowed my thinking to a crawl. Will city council do things differently next time by providing more information, no? Will they develop a criteria that is not so precise as to rule out every property except the one they want, no? Will they look at future revenues realistically in terms of CEDIT, property tax revenues and falling commercial property values, no?
We were told they did an in depth evaluation with criteria, yet I have yet to see the criteria used or any other options looked at. When I approached the woman who seemed to have chaired the committee to analyze the project, the first question I asked she could not answer, what were current and future utility costs? If you have 50% too large a building, you will spend a lot more per sqft for utilities,insurance and maintenance.
The most abrasiveness was the attitude of city council. We need to do something, tell us what to do? The current building may be overcrowded, yet would it actually hurt to wait one year? Will the Renaissance Square building be sold, not likely and if it is put up for sale, it will cost far less than $7 million. The Lincoln Life lease keeps the building from being sold cleanly; it is an obstacle to any sale. In addition, the Lincoln Life lease is also a negotiating tactic: what would Lincoln Life pay to get out of the lease?
The property also generates $225K in property tax revenues. The owners unless they find someone to sell it to or lease to pays this, plus insurance, utilities and maintenance. The buyer is in control, not the seller.
Once again the taxpayer was sold a bill of goods by people who clearly have no business budgeting and spending money. They are very good at spending our money. I wonder how well they manage their own finances?
Given the recent attendance at public hearings, maybe the council should, instead of officially calling for a public hearing, just say “hey, before we vote, lets see what Kalb, Pruit, Marx, Marine, Sylvester, Larsen and Dowdell think”.
I watched the public hearing on Ft Wayne access TV last night.
Anthony gave the best reason for supporting this. He said there was alot of crime in the downtown and we needed police walking up and down the sidewalks to catch the criminals. He did confuse the purchase of this buidling with Harrison Square but his heart was in the right place.
Another gentleman who made alot of sense was the man who said we needed more prayer. He also talked about seeing a car with one headlight come down the street and the Ft. Wayne police did nothing about it. He shared another story about a cop not knowing where State Street was. He looked very intense and slightly confused on why he was there. He would have went on and on about more happenings but Liz Brown had the foresight to cut him off.
The hearing wasn’t as good as the public hearing on the smoking ban which lasted alot longer and featured alot more animated and pissed off people.
I wonder if Larsen took a nap to have the energy to write that long ass post.
For all of you guys who are so down on local government, I have 4 words for you that should make you feel a little more optimistic about things… “Worman Again in 2010!” (If you dont believe me, just check out Fort Wayne Observed).
It may be bad now, but times they are a changin!
Good stuff Mr. G.J. considering you are an anon… Those damn real people! lol
Mr. G J-Do I sense a lingering guilty conscience over your support for the Harrison boondoggle? At least a few of us have the balls to state our opinions and not hide behind an alias!! When the Council stops taking their orders from the mayor and the “suits” perhaps I will no longer address them. Our Council has done the lousiest job in the past 3 years of anytime since I moved here in 1967 and I for one am d…ed tired of seeing them p..s away my tax money.
As long as I spend my total time and effort serving the citizens of Ft. Wayne and paying more than my share of taxes I will speak up whenever I disagree with the corrupt politicians. If you don’t like it -you know where you can go !!
Keith “I wonder if Larsen took a nap to have the energy to write that long ass post?” Yes Keith, I did. It took three separate file openings to write it.
For a person who used to swim 3 to 5 miles daily, ride nearly 100 miles a day and run, I feel like a turtle. When my wife and I walk, she now looks behind her to see where I am. I sleep about 14 hours a day now. It is no fun, but there is not much that can be done. The VA doctors say I am between a rock and a hard place.
Right now I feel like the frog being swallowed by the pelican with the frogs “hands” strangling the pelican with the caption “Never give up!”
No brainer: Sheriff and Police in the City County Building—the rest of County and City Administrative offices in the Berry Street Building. Okay, it took me all of a 1/2 of a second to figure that one out. Now I will let you guys figure out why that won’t happen.
Put the city offices in the newly purchased building with the city police. Put the county offices in the vacated offices of the city-county building including the county police.
Then we can stop wasting anymore time on this decades long discussion about combining city and county offices.
Mr. Green Jean,
“hey, before we vote, lets see what Kalb, Pruit, Marx, Marine, Sylvester, Larsen and Dowdell think”.
LOL
Some of the folks that are sitting on city and council seats are not the best informed. It would be wise for some of those folks to discuss issues with folks they supposedly represent.
Most folks do not attend public hearing, because members of the body are unwilling to listen to mroe than 3 minutes of a citizen concern. It was former City Council person Crawford, who uttered the statement of not caring how many folks spoke his mind was already made up in reference to some issue.
Others, like myself loves to question the reasoning of city council members. I like see how many justify doing some of the stuff they know little to nothing about.
As far as the Renaissance Square, the polices are needed downtown to protect the investment of Harrison Square. Police presence is a selling point for the condos. How could not feel safe with the police only a stone throw away.
I don’t know who owns the Renaissance Square. I don’t know how much tax dollars will be lost by the City using the building. But, I can bet that it will not save jobs.
Credo!!
Wheres have you been? I loves that you are back commenting!
Well, Honest Abe, GReen Jean and old so many ANon
I’ve been in and out of the city. But reading the local blogs. I thought it was cute that Green Jean mentioned me since I have been out of city po;itical goin on for almost 2 years and mentioned me by name !!!
It only a few bloggers who use my real name and I can count them on two fingers.
don’t forget to go read my blogspot.
Could someone please translate this into English?
Credo;
First of all, a lot more than two people actually know your real name. But we all hesitate to use it becase we would be the third, and no one wants to see THAT finger go up. :)
Regarding Grean Jean’s city council idea, I suggest we just throw all the local blogger’s names in a hat and randomly draw nine names. That would provide a far more lively discussion of the issues than we currently have.