Downtown Condo’s
The Harrison Square saga has been a textbook example of the government interfering with the private sector and wasting taxpayer dollars. Out of all of the original promises made concerning the project only one positive outcome has occurred; the new downtown baseball stadium is a outstanding facility.
The condominiums we were promised will never be built as we were originally promised. The demand for the condos that we were promised completely failed to materialize. Those companies that we were promised would move into downtown Fort Wayne never materialized. The increases in local property values never materialized. The list goes on and on.
That being said I had a very interesting conversation downtown this evening that surprised me quite a bit.
I finished an MBA class this evening and we gave our final presentation. After class several of us went downtown and had a couple of beers at JK O’Donnells. Eventually there were five of us down there and three of them(The youngest three) started talking about how they would like to live in a downtown condo. All five were MBA students and we ranged in age from 25 - 43; with the average age likely being a little over 30. I was absolutely stunned. We talked about it for awhile and three of the five people present specifically said they would love to live downtown and would buy a condo in downtown if the price were right. I was truly flabbergasted. They all three agreed they would buy a nice condo downtown if they were priced somewhere in the $100,000 - $150,000 price range. They all agreed that the Harrison Square condo’s as originally priced were way over-priced.
I now wonder if the Harrison Square condo’s would have been reasonably priced if they could have sold?
I think the answer is, maybe. That being said they will never be built.
Mike
Gulf Oil Spill
Watching the Gulf Oil Spill unfold has been sad; however, it has also been interesting.
I would think almost any intelligent observer could agree to the following facts:
- The MMS (Federal Regulator) is corrupt and has massively failed in its oversight duties. A large number of people in this organization should be fired for incompetence. (Likely tens if not hundreds)
- At LEAST one of the private companies involved in the accident was negligent at the very least; and likely grossly negligent.
- The Obama Administration’s response had been horrible and should in all fairness be considered at least as bad as President Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina.
These are my observations; what are yours.
Mike Sylvester
FWP @ Republican State Convention
Since the originator of FWP claims to be a Democrat (and he is on an extended sabatical from this blog), I took it upon myself to use my time at the convention (as an elected delegate!) to glean as much useful information from this event - plus represent FWP in a couple of ”Question & Answer” sessions that came up. So here it is -
I am convinced that our state GOP candidates for this November’s election, including those chosen at the primary, the one chosen at last Saturday’s caucus, and the three elected at the convention are all very, very electable in addition to being true fiscal and social conservatives. Richard Mourdock, Charlie White and Fort Wayne raised and educated Tim Berry all fit this category.
The question/answer sessions were held on this afternoon at a post-convention reception sponsered by the Indiana Federation of Young Republicans. (I was admitted, after proving that I had not yet reached the 40th anniversary of my 39th birthday!) About a dozen political bloggers from our state’s conservatives were represented. We questioned Senator-to-be Elected Dan Coats and our own 3rd district Representative-to-be Elected Marlin Stutzman.
Dan was asked “Why” and his answer was that he was concerned about having Evan Bayh serving another 6 years as Indiana’s junior senator and felt that his name-recognition would assure a good chance of swinging the vote to the GOP. And, the unexpected departure of Mr. Bayh made running even more sense. Dan was also questioned if he felt his opponent would be blasting him for the reported ommission of two organizations in the list of his clients in the lobbying group that his has been employed with for the recent past. Dan responded that his group represents many organizations, and that he cannot recall ever working for either of these entities in a lobbying position. Dan was also asked how he stands on the large number of “earmarks” that have been used by our elected Senators and Representatives in the recent years. He indicated that he is in line with the position of Mike Pence on this subject.
Marlin was questioned about how he was going to respond to Dr. Hayhurst’s questions about his working so closely with Mark Souder without knowing what was transpiring in his life. Marlin responded that, as he has said, when he became aware of the rumors about this, he went to Mark directly and Mark lied to him, saying that they were not true. This will continue to be Marlin’s truthful response. Another blogger asked if Marlin might run into questions about his being “an opportunist” - taking the opportunity of Mark Souders resignation to run for another office after finishing second in the primary race for the junior senator election this fall. Marlin responded that he felt that his state-wide contest for the senator’s job would enable him to garner the caucus vote and thereby aid the GOP in the November election against Dr. Hayhurst.
The Young Republican’s are to be thanked for holding this event, giving the New Media a chance to interview conservative candidates. Dan Coats was asked how he viewed the “New Media”. His response was that “it’s the way that we will be conversing in the future” - but, he asked that conservative bloggers allow him to respond to “revelations” prior to there appearing as posts in the public domain.
If anyone wants specific info on the GOP State Convention, just respond as a coment or email me.
My Caucus Predictions
A few days ago I posted my initial caucus predictions. Those predictions have changed a small amount due to several factors. First off Phil Troyer dropped out of the race. Secondly Mark Souder sent a facebook message that seems to attack Stutzman. Third the phone calls I received from candidates. Fourth the direct mail pieces I have received so far.
I was called by the following candidates: Stutzman, Borror, Brown, Elijah, and Morris.
Local Fox TV 55
The local FOX affiliate is polling 125 3rd Congressional District Committeemen concerning the Saturday caucus. They will post their results online tonight at 10 PM and it will be discussed at the 10 PM newscast.
Tonight I will also be updating my predictions for the Saturday Caucus. Several things have changed and I will change my predictions accordingly.
Mitch Harper over at Fort Wayne Observed has decided to endorse a candidate around 4:30 PM today. It will be interesting to see who he endorses; however, I would be willing to bet you that he will endorse Marlin Stutzman. That being said; I have no idea who he will endorse; I am just making a wild and uneducated guess.
Updated at 4:38 PM. Well I completely missed the direction of the Fort Wayne Observed endorsement and I should have known better. You should check it out.
Mike
The actual Souder Facebook message
This post contains the actual email sent to three media sources on 6/7/10 at 3:07 PM and it contains the actual facebook message that former Congressman Souder sent. There are no editorial comments in this post; it is provided so that you can see it as is.
First the email:
From: Steven Clouse [
mailto:stclouse@gmail.com]
Sent: Mon 6/7/2010 3:07 PM
To: jeffn@indianasnewscenter.com; Niki Kelly; mattg@kpcnews.net; bhowey2@gmail.com
Subject: Congressional caucus - message from Souder
Last night at 8:03 PM I received the attached personal message from former
Congressman Mark Souder. This repreents the only communication I have had
with Mr. Souder since his resigation from office last month. I do not know,
nor do I care to speculate, as to his motives for sending the message, via
Facebook, to me last night. According to the header of the message, the
message was sent to myself, and Randall Kirkpatrick, chariman of the Noble
County Republican party. After much deiberation with Mr. Kirkpatrick, it
was our decision to release the statement so that the voters on Saturday
have as much information before them as possible. At the time I am sending
this to you, Mr. Kirkpatrick will soon distribute the message to his fellow
county chairmen, as well as to the Noble County precinct officials.
As far as the ethicacy of releasing a message that appears to have been
intended to be a private message, let me state that given the subject matter
at hand, to not share this message would be as reckless as the acts that
drove Mr. Souder from office. Mr. Kirkpatrick did attempt to contact Mr.
Souder for an explanation this morning, but was not successful in reaching
him.
Sincrely,
Steven Clouse
New 3rd District Poll Open
The last poll had Stutzman winning easily. I’ve eliminated some people and am interested in seeing how this might change the vote. Other interesting issues:
- Will the recent Souder facebook message have a negative impact on “Souder insiders”?
- Is Elijah really coming on strong?
- Can Thomas use the latest anti-Souder sentiment as leverage for his outsider status?
- Can Brown rally enough Allen County support to pull it out
Lot of jockying left to go. Go ahead and vote in the new poll over in the far sidebar…
Souder Facebook message concerning Stutzman
The press is reporting that former Congressman Mark Souder sent a lengthy email to The Noble County Republican Chair and the Noble County Prosecutor.
The Howey Political report has a lot more on the story.
Angry White Boy (Fort Wayne Blog) has his own spin on the story that is well worth your reading. The comments on this post at Angry White Boy are also well worth your time.
I have a lot to say about this; however, I am trying to secure a copy of the supposed email. I currently have two copies; however, there are some subtle differences between them; hence I am not sure which is accurate.
I have reached out to several sources and hope to get a copy to review and post in the next 24 hours or so.
If you have a copy of this email please send it to me. I feel that it should be posted in its entirety. Currently several news sources have the document and are just printing parts of it and then commenting on it. Just email it to me at sylvester@fortwaynepolitics.com.
It will be interesting to see how the usual “Souder apologists” try to spin this.
Former Congressman Souder needs to get entirely out of politics and stop trying to play “kingmaker.” He needs to focus on fixing his life and his marriage and stop trying to be involved in politics.
Pat Miller discussed this on WOWO today and was “spot on.”
Mike Sylvester
Phil Troyer drops out of 3rd District Congressional Caucus
Instead he is now running for the Indiana seat to be vacated by Matt Bell…
Troyer dropping out will change the caucus somewhat and I feel that his dropping out will help Stutzman in the early rounds.
Mike Sylvester
Helping Our Resident GOP Caucus Voter Make Up His Mind
FWP’s very own Mike Sylvester has a vote in the upcoming 3rd District caucus to select former congressman Mark Souder’s replacement. Here are a couple statements from Mike regarding his feelings towards the field of candidates (original posts here and here).
I still have not decided who I will support at the upcoming caucus; however, I am certainly considering Randy Borror and I have to admit that before tonight I was not considering Mr. Borror.
[...]
For the record I do not know who I am going to vote for at this point. There are a lot of good candidates. I am currently leaning towards Borror, Brown, Stutzman, or Troyer.
Well, hopefully this post will help Mike narrow down his choices by eliminating Randy Borror as an option. And the persuasive evidence I will present is Mike’s own words regarding the legislation that made the “temporary” food and beverage tax permanent:
The state Legislature, with broad support from local Democrats and Republicans in the Indiana Legislature passed a bill at the state level that will make our local tax permenant. They have 100% discounted the will of the people when the tax was passed and they have changed what the tax will be used for; all without consulting the taxpayers.
I will never vote for any of the politicians who voted in favor of this bill.
Randy Borror not only voted for this bill, but also sponsored it and was in charge of the conference committee that finalized all the details.
I realize that time heals all wounds and people change their minds for a variety of reasons. Mike is certainly not bound by something he wrote here over a year ago but I thought he might enjoy the friendly reminder!
