Council Should Amend Proposed K-2 Ordinance
The city council is considering regulating the K-2 product (and other similar products) which is described by some as a “synthetic marijuana”. Users of this product allegedly receive a marijuana-like high but will not test positive for marijuana. Currently there is no Indiana state or federal law restricting its distribution or posession.
The ordinance for consideration, sponsored by Mitch Harper and co-sponsored by Tom Didier, would introduce a fine system that would penalize businesses up to $2500 for selling the product and individuals up to $1000. One criticism that has been made about the product is that while it is labeled as something you shouldn’t ingest, it is obviously being smoked by the vast majority of the people who purchase it which is likely the real intent of the manufacturer.
Some might consider this consumer fraud but I would not agree with that position. I think the label was put there partly to avoid future regulations from local governments and law enforcement. But, more likely, the labeling is there to avoid existing regulations regarding food and drink products. I think nearly everyone would agree that those who smoke the product know full well why they are buying it and what the real intent of the manufacturer is. Thus the fraud isn’t on consumers but on what the manufacturers probably believe is an over-bearing government.
Harper has pointed out that his proposed ordinance is relatively modest and will mostly effect younger children who can obtain the product from a local neighborhood store and experiment with a “THC analog” substance. On a wider scale, he recognizes that this ordinance won’t have much of an impact on adult use since those users can easily drive to other cities to purchase the product.
My position is that regulation of this product is unwarranted. There are no credible studies or evidence that I have seen to suggest this substance is dangerous. But even if there were, I do not believe it’s the government’s responsibility to make decisions for people regarding what they want to do to their own body. I do sympathize with trying to protect children but that is the job of parents and not government. As for adults, they are more than capable of deciding if they want to ingest this product.
How is this different than banning trans fats, high fructose corn syrup or any other health-related product? I do not believe that Harper is a Souder-esque drug warrior - I think he’s merely trying to react to community requests that something be done about a product that many think is targeting and harming children. Therefore, I think an appropriate compromise might be to regulate the use such that minors are prohibited from purchasing or possessing the product - the same standard we apply to tobacco purchases. While perhaps not an ideal solution, it would still follow and support what I believe is the true intent of the ordinance - namely to restrict impressionable kids from trying something that might be potentially harmful and addictive.
At the end of the day I believe that in a free society people should be free to make their own decisions - even bad ones. The city council should reject this ordinance or at least amend it in such a way that doesn’t restrict adults from making choices about what they wish to do with their own body…
Local Government Video on Demand
Being a member of the city’s Cable Fund Access Board gives me some insight into what’s going on relative to public access television in our community, and there’s a service being provided by the people at Access Fort Wayne that I should’ve pointed to long ago.
They now have the capability to archive video of local government meetings and stream them over the web. This service is called PEG Central and is provided through a company called Leightronix. So you can now view City Council, County Council, County Commissioners and Plan Commission meetings any time you wish.
This is a great service and the people at Access Fort Wayne should be commended for continuing to improve their service year after year with a limited budget. Go check it out for yourself by clicking the link provided above. Or if you want to surf to it on your own you can go to the main page of the Allen County Public Library and click on the Access Fort Wayne link in the lower left hand corner and from there you’ll see a link to PEG Central.
If you have suggestions about how to improve the service, or what programming you might want to see in the future, then send them to me, any member of CFAB or better yet send them to Access Fort Wayne directly…
A Welcome Change in Transparency
The new deputy mayor, Beth Malloy, seems to have smacked some sense into Mayor Henry when it comes to transparency. Councilman Mitch Harper has been working with Malloy and also crafted an ordinance to require all city spending to be posted online.
the council this month unanimously approved an ordinance requiring the city to post all of its expenses online. The new law only provided an exception for employee compensation and did not mention economic development efforts. Yet unlike the consulting report, the Henry administration supported this effort.
Deputy Mayor Beth Malloy told the council the work can be done at little or no additional cost.
[...]
Councilman Mitch Harper, R-4th, wrote the online expense bill for the city and said he was glad to see the support from the administration. He said it appears Malloy, who replaced Purcell last month, has been given the authority to take control of the city’s transparency efforts, which should make them professional.“She seems to represent something of a change,” he said.
Harper is being diplomatic here but I don’t think there’s any doubt that previous deputy mayor, Greg Purcell, was not a major advocate of open government provisions. He was an old-school bureaucrat who didn’t understand how technology has shortened the news cycle and that any effort at information control was futile and ultimately counterproductive.
While I don’t support the idea of a deputy mayor in general, it does appear that Malloy might be the person who can finally start giving mayor Henry some much-need good advice…
A Quick Thought on Derek Pillie’s Announcement
I realize Mark Souder is not the most popular guy these days but it seems like bad form to me to add his successes to your official bio without ever mentioning the guy’s name. Afterall, Souder did give Pillie a nice job, and the only reason Pillie has the name recognition he does is through his link to former Congressman Souder. This willful omission makes the bio an awkward read…
Derek A. Pillie, 34 (born June 9, 1976), has worked on behalf of the citizens of northern Indiana for nearly a decade. Since 2000, Derek has served on the staff of Indiana’s Third Congressional District, most recently as District Director. In that role, he oversees Indiana operations of the office, including constituent outreach and helping taxpayers solve problems with federal agencies. He also worked on crucial economic development projects including the preservation of hundreds of jobs at magnet wire facilities in Fort Wayne, protecting veterans’ access to local inpatient care and ensuring the long-term survival of the Air National Guard presence at Fort Wayne International Airport.
[...]
A Local Newspaper’s Quote of the Day
From their editorial supporting Mayor Henry’s proposal to create a task force which would look at changing what city contracts require city council approval:
After a bit of saber-rattling and defensiveness over City Council criticism of consultant contracts, Mayor Tom Henry proposed a common-sense, fair method of addressing the issue.
Henry created a panel that includes Council President Marty Bender and two other council members. In a move that was both practical and politically savvy, Henry asked Bender to appoint critics of the contracts from each party, Republican Liz Brown and Democrat Glynn Hines. The panel will also give Henry a voice by including new Deputy Mayor Beth Malloy and have a somewhat neutral member, City Clerk Sandy Kennedy, whose office serves as the council’s secretary and record-keeper.
Neutral? Are they kidding? There’s nothing wrong with Kennedy being a choice for the panel but let’s not pretend that she would be neutral. That is disingenuous. Of course the whole idea of a panel is ridiculous in the first place. We elect members of city council to legislate and we don’t need a special panel to help them do that.
Olinger for 84th District Caucus
Obviously I don’t have a vote in the upcoming GOP caucus to fill the seat being vacated by State Representative Randy Borror but that won’t prevent me from opining. It looks as if the list of candidates will continue to grow but I’m fairly confident that, regardless of how many people join, my support will go to Jon Olinger.
I worked with Jon during his FWCS campaign, and while we may not agree on everything, I can assure you that he is a solid conservative candidate. And most important to me, and the future of this state, is that he has consistently championed fiscal responsibility. He was the sole voice of sanity on an FWCS board run amok with financial foolishness that is now paying for their previous largess. Of course this was also a major reason he was targeted and defeated during the FWCS race.
I have nothing ill to say towards the other candidates but I do know that if Jon is selected he will be an excellent representative of the 84th district…
Note: I am not affiliated with any campaign Olinger may currently be running
Union Suicide
I’ve been away tending to matters related to the day job (blogging doesn’t pay too well) and there have been several stories that I’ve wanted to comment on but haven’t had the time. I’m hoping to address those in the next few days and I suppose I’ll start with the outsourcing of the FWCS janitorial positions.
During the FWCS budget debate I supported the outsourcing of these positions for the simple fact that if the choice comes down to janitors or teachers then I’ll choose the teachers and I assume most people feel the same way. But the philosophy behind the outsourcing is more general than just “this position vs that position.” In the private sector employers have something referred to as “core competencies” - these are positions that add to the business bottom line. For example, if you run an accounting firm then accounting would be one of the core competencies.
