About: Mike Sylvester

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Get out and vote today!

11/8/11 @ 10:05 am

I hope everyone who reads this blog and is eligible to vote goes out and votes today!  Voting is important and we need Americans to learn more about the myriad of problems that exist in this country and to select the best of the candidates that are available to represent them!

I will be voting this afternoon.

Please let us know what you see when you go to the polls today!

Mike

Filed Under City Council, Featured, Local Politics, National Politics, State Politics | Leave a Comment

Who I am voting for on Tuesday and why

11/7/11 @ 1:07 am

I have decided who I am voting for this coming Tuesday and why I am voting for them.

The race for Fort Wayne Mayor has been negative and dishonest from both major candidates.  In the race for Fort Wayne Mayor I will be voting against Mayor Tom Henry.  His recent onslaught of negative campaign ads has really turned me off, as has the fact that he now wants the City to buy the north river property.  Further he is allowing the Occupy Fort Wayne protesters to use city facilities in violation of the current rules and he is allowing them to stay for free when other groups have to pay. So I will be voting for Paula Hughes.  I predict Henry will win with 50%, Hughes with 48%, and the Independent with 2%.

The race for City Clerk has also been painful to watch.  The Democrat incumbent Sandy Kennedy has been in office for 28 years.  She does not seem to like new technology and she promised to step down from the office four years ago at a public event.  She has recently sent some very negative campaign mailers as well.  On the other side is Zach Bonahoom.  Zach is inexperienced and has made two very ill advised statements.  I will be voting against Sandy Kennedy; she has been in office far too long and we need a fresh face.  I will be voting for Zach Bonahoom.  I think Kennedy will win with 60% of the vote.

The 2nd District Council Race is an easy one to analyze.  I voted for Karen Goldner four years ago because I wanted to see a long term incumbent unseated and because I like Karen Goldner.  Karen is running a negative campaign and that really saddens me.  On the other hand I have met Russ Jehl and I even contributed $100 to his campaign.  I think Russ will do a better job than Karen and I truly think Russ will be a good member of City Council.  I will vote for Russ Jehl.  I predict Russ Jehl will win 53% to 47%.

The at-large race has been painful to watch.  The quality of the candidates is sub-par.  My main desire is to see Marty Bender defeated.  He has proved to be a very poor member of City Council.  He votes on his own pay raises and refuses to recuse himself from votes he clearly should recuse himself from.

My first vote goes to John Shoaff.  He is a good member of City Council and I personally feel that he is one of the best Democrats around.  My second vote goes to John Crawford.  John Crawford is smart and often votes for smaller government.  I was very disappointed with his votes on the smoking ban, Harrison Square, and the Public Safety Academy.  My third vote will go to Friestroffer.  I am voting for him and hoping he can beat Marty Bender.  So I am voting for Shoaff, Crawford, and Friestroffer.  I predict Shoaff, Crawford, and Bender will win this race.

So I am voting for a higher percentage of Republicans this year than last year.  I am voting for five Republicans and one Democrat.

I think turnout will be poor; I predict 36%…  I think the negative campaigning by Hughes and several Democrats will turn some voters off…

Who are you voting for and what are your predictions?

Mike

Filed Under City Council, Featured, Local Politics | 20 Comments

Tom Henry’s most recent excursion into negative campaigning

11/5/11 @ 11:25 pm

I have spent some time researching the three recent mailers I received accusing Paula Hughes of “not paying her taxes.”  These negative ads have made me decide that I am going to vote against Mayor Tom Henry.  I will be voting for Paula Hughes.

The recent ads smearing lying about Paula Hughes were paid for by the Indiana Democratic Party.  That being said the court documents mentioned in the mailer were posted on a website paid for by The Allen County Democratic Party.   Further the Henry campaign has directed people to the aforementioned website via press releases…

To understand this lie you have to know more about Indiana tangible business personal property taxes.  This is the WORST tax in Indiana and I was very disappointed our Republican state Legislature did not repeal this entire tax last year.  Hopefully they will repeal it this year.  I have wrote about this silly tax many times previously on this blog.

This tax is levied on business personal property.  My firm prepared 133 of these returns this year for our business clients.  So this is a topic I am well versed in since I prepared about 50 of them myself this year.

Each year businesses like mine pay this tax on desks, computers, phone systems, machinery, etc.  We pay sales tax when we buy the item; then we pay this stupid tax every year as well.  Even worse this tax is assessed one year in arrears.  Earlier this year we filed 2010 tangible business personal property tax returns for our clients.  They were due by May 15th, 2011.  Then the clients will get bills in early 2012 and will pay this tax in 2012…  So in 2012 they are paying the personal property tax on the equipment they owned in 2010.

I spent some time researching this and to the best of my knowledge here is what happened:

  1. On 9/7/2007 Fiess & Hughes Management LLC was formed with the Indiana Secretary of State. This company used the law office of Carson Boxberger (1400 One Summit Square) as their registered agent address; specifically an attorney named M. Randall Spencer.  It is likely that M. Randall Spencer prepared the paperwork necessary to create the LLC.  M. Randall Spencer has helped many local businesses setup a business in Indiana.  I have seen this name listed under many new business listings in the Greater Fort Wayne Business Newspaper.  They have a section listing new businesses…
  2. The name and address of an Indiana companies registered agent is important.  Each Indiana company is required to have a registered agent and an Indiana address.  This address is used by The Indiana Secretary of State for various items and by the state of Indiana in certain circumstances.  I advise a lot of clients when they start a new business and I do not recommend that a company that is based in Indiana use a 3rd party as a registered agent.  I prefer they use themselves and their own address if they live in Indiana (You will see why as you read this post).
  3. I have not been able to verify the exact ownership of the company.  The Hughes Campaign told me it was 10%.  Without having a company of additional paperwork I have been unable to confirm this.
  4. After the business closed the Allen County Assessor would have mailed them a notice telling them to file a personal property tax return.  This notice would have been sent to the address on the LLC formation paperwork; likely the address listed by the majority owner (Fiess); it may instead have been sent to the lawyers address depending on how he filled out the LLC formation paperwork.
  5. Eventually after not hearing back from the company the Allen County Assessor would create an estimate of what they think they company owed.  This estimate is always high in an effort to “convince” business owners to respond…
  6. Then after not hearing back concerning these notices the matter is turned over to the Court system.  A tax lien is generated.  In this case the tax lien was sent to the Carson Boxberger office attention M. Randall Spencer.  This is clearly noted in the court documents.
  7. Somehow Paula Hughes found out about the outstanding amount due and she paid it in full.
  8. In July of 2011 the registered agent address was changed to Amanda Fiess so future notices would go to an address on Landmark Drive per the Indiana Secretary of State website.

I am not an attorney and I do not play one on this blog.  I do not think that Paula Hughes, as a minority owner of a business, would in any way be responsible to pay this outstanding tax bill for a company that is closed.  Once again I am not an attorney and you would have to ask an attorney well versed in these matters to be certain.

This ad is despicable and I am very disappointed in Mayor Tom Henry.

There are several lies in these ads:

  1. In multiple ads it was stated the business in question went bankrupt.  That is a lie.  I cannot find any record of a bankruptcy filing.
  2. One ad says “She was taken to court for unpaid taxes on $15,800 of equipment after two years of refusing to pay her taxes.”  First off you can look at the court documents yourself. The court documents do not mention Paula Hughes, they instead mention a company that I believe she owned 10% of.  Secondly she did not refuse to pay these taxes; the notices were never sent to Paula Hughes and that is easily shown at the Business Services Division of the Indiana Secretary of State and the court documents previously linked to.
  3. My personal favorite is this lie “And Hughes didn’t pay her back taxes until after she decided to run for Mayor.”  This is the dumbest lie in the ad.  This lie refers to the court documents posted on the website paid for by the Indiana Democratic Party.  Per those posted documents a Certified Letter was sent to M. Randall Spencer at 1400 Summit Square and was received by Jenna Peters on 7/19/11 at 1400 Summit Square.  Then the lawyer representing the Court acknowledged the matter was closed on August 11th, 2011.  So per the court documents referenced in the ad and posted online by the Allen County Democratic Party the taxes were paid sometime between 7/19/11 and 8/11/11.  This is long after Paula Hughes won the primary and is a really dumb lie.

Tom Henry must be getting some very bad political advice…  I wonder of Mayor Henry can sleep at night?

Mike Sylvester, CPA

Filed Under Featured, Local Politics | 14 Comments

I will be voting for Paula Hughes for Mayor next Tuesday

11/4/11 @ 5:48 pm

John Kalb will be happy that I am voting for Paula Hughes.  The truth of the matter is I am not voting for Paula Hughes; I am voting against Mayor Henry.

I personally feel that Paula Hughes started the negative campaigning in this race.  That being said in the last week the Henry campaign has sank to new lows which I will discuss in a future post.

The Mayor’s race has been disgusting and I am very disappointed in both campaigns…

As the readers of this blog know I am a CPA.  I own 1/3 of a Fort Wayne Public Accounting Firm that specializes in small businesses.  The Indiana Democratic Party sent three mailers to my house that are far worse than a negative campaign ad.  These ads are outright lies and are truly despicable…  Worse yet they were timed to come out so late that Paula Hughes could not respond with mailers setting the record straight…

I always thought Mark Souder was the most prolific negative campaigner in this area.  Several local Democratic candidates are running nasty and negative campaigns this cycle as is at least one Republican (Paula Hughes).  Mayor Henry has reached a new low in negative campaigning and should be ashamed of himself.  He has destroyed his reputation in the last three weeks…

Mike

Filed Under Featured, Local Politics | 10 Comments

What is Mayor Tom Henry thinking?

11/3/11 @ 4:17 pm

Earlier this week the Mayoral candidates had a televised debate.

In this debate Mayor Henry said he would support the City buying the North River Property (Where Omni Source used to) along the St. Mary’s river.  He said he did not want the City to develop the property; however, he wanted the city to own and control the property.

What is going on in the mind of Mayor Tom Henry?

Graham Richard the prior Democratic Mayor of Fort Wayne spent wasted $25,000 on an option that would have allowed the city to purchase the property for the inflated price of 4.3 million dollars. Mayor Tom Henry took office in January of 2008 and let the option expire in June of 2008.  There is no doubt that Mayor Graham Richard wanted the City of Fort Wayne to purchase the property; that is why he wasted $25,000 on the option.

There is a lot of speculation that there are environmental issues at the North River Property.  The City had an environmental study done and will not disclose the results so the public does not know the results.

Mayor Henry could have tried to purchase the property before the option expired in June of 2008. Further he could have tried to purchase it anytime since then.  Further any private buyer could have purchased the property as well.  No one has purchased the property.

As I have previously stated on this blog I was glad that Mayor Henry let the option expire and did not pursue purchasing this property.

So why has he changed his mind and announced it in a televised debate in the middle of a heated Mayoral race?

This makes no sense…

I swear that Mayor Henry is doing what he can to make me vote for Paula Hughes…

Mike Sylvester

Filed Under Featured, Local Politics | 4 Comments

Fort Wayne Mayor’s race, update

11/1/11 @ 3:36 pm

In a previous post I discussed the Fort Wayne Mayor’s race.  In my previous post I predicted Henry would beat Hughes by a margin of 52/47/1.  John Kalb and I have bet dinner on the outcome of this race.  I pay if Hughes wins, he pays if Henry wins.

In my previous post I said I was planning on voting against Paula Hughes; meaning I would vote for Tom Henry.

I have received several very negative adds from Mayor Henry attacking Paula Hughes in the last two weeks.  Some of his points are fair and some are not fair.

Neither candidate is willing to discuss the issues and both are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars attacking each other.  This race has been painful to watch and helps demonstrate why the majority of Americans are sick of both politics and politicians.

Mayor Henry has done two things in the last two weeks that have made me change my mind.  I now currently plan on not voting for ANY Mayoral candidate.  I just cannot support any of them…

The first reason that I have now decided to not vote in this race is that the Henry campaign has recently ran a very negative campaign.  I just hate negative campaigns and I actually thought Mayor Henry was a better person then that.  The Hughes and Henry campaigns are as negative as ANY campaign that Mark Souder ever ran.  That is certainly not a compliment.

The second reason is Mayor Henry’s unreasonable decisions involving Occupy Fort Wayne.  He does have the authority to allow the protesters to violate the normal rules at the Rothschild Pavilion; however, he has trampled on the Headwaters Group Alliance Board and he has set a terrible precedent. By allowing the protesters to use the facilities for free he has set a dangerous precedent and his decision will cost the City of Fort Wayne money since the City of Fort Wayne will have to pay Headwaters Park for the expenses incurred by Occupy Fort Wayne.  Over time these expenses could become significant.

Over the winter if one of the Occupy Fort Wayne Protesters is injured that could really cost Fort Wayne taxpayers…

So on next Tuesday I will not be voting for any Mayoral candidate.

Mike Sylvester

Filed Under Featured, Local Politics | 16 Comments

Beggars invade Fort Wayne

10/29/11 @ 10:59 pm

I have previously posted about beggars I have seen in Fort Wayne.

I have seen several well dressed beggars who appear able to work and in good health begging in the last couple of months.  Some of these beggars I have seen on and off for the last three months.

I have seen several people stop and give these beggars money.

I have seen more beggars in Fort Wayne in the last six months that I saw in Fort Wayne in the prior eleven years…

Maybe Tom Henry and Paula Hughes should stop spending hundreds of thousand dollars lying about each other and give their money to these beggars?

Mike

Filed Under Featured, Local Politics | 6 Comments

Rothschild Pavilion and Occupy Fort Wayne

10/25/11 @ 12:54 pm

I wrote about this yesterday in another post.  This post will just serve as an update to my earlier, more detailed post…

The Fort Wayne Public Information Officer (Frank Suarez) did return my call after about 24 hours.  We talked and then he went to do some research and quickly called me back.  Mr. Suarez was very professional and answered my questions quickly and promptly.  Mr. Suarez did a good job!

According to Mr. Suarez Headwaters Park is a City Park.  He further said that the management of the park is leased to the Headwaters Park Alliance.   

Mr. Suarez told me on the phone that City Code allows the Mayor power over the Rothschild Pavilion.  He said that back in the 90’s City Council inserted a provision to give the Mayor some leeway involving the operation of Headwaters Park.  I will likely go and read this section of City Code and put a post up about it. 

I asked Mr. Suarez what would happen if a protester broke their arm this winter; whose insurance would cover this?  He then told me that Headwaters Park and the Rothschild Pavilion are a City Park and so would be covered by city insurance… 

I pointed out that in order to use Headwaters Park you have to get one million in liability insurance.  He pointed out that was a rule put into place by The Headwaters Park Alliance and that you can rent and use other pavillions in other City Parks without insurance.

So this begs the question:

Why does the Headwaters Park Alliance REQUIRE people who use the Pavilion to get one million dollars of private insurance in order to hold an event at the Pavilion?  Is it because there is sometimes alcohol involved?

I emailed some questions to Mr. Paddock a few minutes ago.  After I read through his answers I will put a 3rd post up; likely tomorrow if he gets back to me today or tomorrow. 

Mike Sylvester

Filed Under Featured, Local Politics | 19 Comments

Occupy Fort Wayne

10/24/11 @ 11:39 pm

Kevin Leininger has an article you really should read in its entirety.  It discusses how the City of Fort Wayne is bending over backwards to help the Occupy Fort Wayne movement.  I spent some time on the phone today with Geoff Paddock because I wanted to confirm Kevin Leininger’s article.  I also left a message for Frank Suarez the Fort Wayne Public Information Officer at noon today.  I let him know that I might rent the Rothschild Pavilion myself for a tax protest in the next week or two. In my message I mentioned I might like to hold a protest for the 53% of Americans who pay Federal Income taxes……  So far he has not taken the time to call me back…  If I do not hear from him tomorrow I will get back on the phone…

Geoff Paddock was very helpful and professional in our conversation; he provided me with all of the information I asked for in a timely manner.  In short, I was impressed with Mr. Paddock.

I went down to the Rothschild Pavilion around lunch time today.  I spent some time talking to two of the “Occupiers.”  I have absolutely no problem with people who peacefully protest and who follow the rules.  To date I certainly feel that Occupy Fort Wayne has done both and should be allowed to continue their peaceful protest; just not from the Rothschild Pavilion.  I will put up another post about Occupy Fort Wayne in the near future.  While I was down at the Pavilion City Employees were winterizing the bathrooms…

I have several thoughts about the mistakes the Henry Administration has made by allowing the Occupy Fort Wayne Protesters to “Occupy” the Rothschild Pavilion:

  1. First off the Pavilion is in Headwaters Park.  Headwaters Park is run by the Headwaters Park Alliance.  This is a not for profit group that raised private and public money to accomplish their goals.  This not for profit is controlled by a Board of Directors and Geoff Paddock is the Executive Director. Mayor Henry has no authority over The Headwaters Park Alliance to my knowledge.  I am not sure if it was legal for him to impose his new rules on the Rothschild Pavilion.
  2. The Board of Headwaters Park Alliance and its Executive Director should make all decisions regarding their property; not the Fort Wayne Mayor.
  3. There is a set of written rules that apply to all events at the Rothschild Pavilion.  The list is specific and posted.  Mayor Henry has arbitrarily decided that the Occupy Fort Wayne protesters can ignore all of the rules including:  The $500 per day fee that has been charged to all other groups, the fact that overnight camping is not allowed at the Pavilion, the fact that the other groups using the Pavilion have all been required to carry one million dollars of liability insurance, and the fact that the other groups using the Pavilion have had to pay for their own utilities.  Mayor Henry has arbitrarily created a new set of rules that seem to apply only to this one special group.
  4. I think Mayor Henry has put the taxpayers at risk.  What will happen if this winter one of the “occupiers” falls down on the ice and breaks their leg?  I would expect them to potentially sue The Headwaters Park Alliance, its Board of Directors, Mayor Henry, and the City of Fort Wayne. Was the City Attorney consulted on this matter?
  5. I think Mayor Henry has set an awful precedent.  I think that ANY peaceful protest group can at this point use the Pavilion for free as well.  Further I do not think they will need insurance or to pay for utilities and they should also be allowed to camp overnight.  Maybe the pro life movement would like to stage a protest there?  Maybe the pro choice movement would like to stage a protest there?  Maybe the American Nazi Party would like to stage a protest there?
  6. My kids are both in scouting.  What will happen if the boy scouts or girl scouts want to hold a camp out in Headwaters Park?  Should they not be allowed to camp there overnight?  Should it not be free for them?  Should they not be required to have insurance?
  7. The City employees were winterizing the bathrooms at the Pavilion today.  They are turning off the water which renders the public bathrooms inoperable for the winter.  I think they will likely be locking the doors as well since they do not want anyone to use the bathrooms with the water off.  So now the Occupy Fort Wayne people will not have access to a bathroom.  Will they bring in a portable bathroom?  Who will pay for it?  Who will clean it?  How many will they need?  Will people decide to “pee in the park?”
  8. If the protesters do spend the winter in the Pavilion is there any doubt that Headwaters Park will sustain some damage over a several month time period?  Will the park smell due to the sanitation facilities?
  9. What do the people who paid the fees, obtained the insurance, and followed the rules think of this?  Should they all get their money back?  Will this make it harder to rent the facilities in the future?
  10. I wonder what our current nine members of city Council think about this?
I will find out more tomorrow and make another post tomorrow night…
Mayor Tom Henry and his administration have not thought this through…
I may end up contacting the Board members of the Headwaters Park Alliance and see what they think of the Mayor trampling their authority!
Mike Sylvester
Filed Under Featured, Local Politics | 7 Comments

US involvement in Libya

10/22/11 @ 6:47 am

For the last 30-40 years Presidents have been abusing their power and have sent the US military overseas into various conflicts without the proper Congressional approval.  Both Parties are too blame for this and neither Party in Congress seems to have any problem with it.

There is no doubt that President Obama should have obtained Congressional approval in order to use US Military forces in a civil war in a country that the Obama Administration specifically says is not important to the security interests of the United States.  There is no doubt the Republican House and Democratic Senate allowed him to abuse his power with barely a whimper.

Anyone who believes that NATO and the United States were merely enforcing a no fly zone to protect civilians needs to “have their head examined.”  NATO and the US have been using air power to specifically target and destroy the forces loyal to the forces in the civil war that we wanted defeated. Heck yesterday NATO launched numerous airstrikes on loyalist forces who were trying to escape from the one part of the country they could still operate in.  These airstrikes in no way protected ANY civilians.

President Obama should be forced to return his Nobel Peace Prize.  He is just as much of a war monger as President Bush…

I have some predictions to make concerning Libya:

  1. On March 18th President Obama told members of Congress we would be in Libya for days not weeks.  He absolutely lied because we were dropping bombs on Libya through at least October 21st, 2011…
  2. The rebels have almost certainly already committed atrocities against loyalist forces.  I predict that these will continue and there will be International outrage about the crimes the rebels commit against innocent civilians who supported the Loyalist forces.  NATO and President Obama will play dumb and express outrage and shock about these atrocities…
  3. The United States will be involved in Libya for years, not days like the President promised.

Mike Sylvester

Filed Under Featured, National Politics | Leave a Comment

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