A Historical View Of The County’s Bridge Financing Failure
The county council and commissioners would have you believe that the current financial crisis involving bridges was somehow unforeseen or unavoidable. The truth is everyone knew it was a poor decision to eliminate the county’s cumulative bridge fund - the county’s own highway director Mike Fitch even told them as much.
So just keep in mind that when commissioner Nelson Peters tells the public that the county has enough cash reserves to maintain bridges in the county it’s because they created that reserve on the back of bridge maintenance.
$750k per year used to go to maintenance but in 2002 they decided to send it to the general fund instead. They simply started playing a shell game hoping the problem would go away. So let’s a take a brief historical tour into what actually happened and shed some light on the current problem:
Huntington Republicans Drop Campaign Challenge
In a shocking display of democratic idealism the Republican Huntington county chairwoman, Pam Updike, has pulled her election board challenge in regards to Gary Snyder’s county council candidacy. If you want the background on her frivolous challenge then you can read my previous post on the topic.
While this decision should be applauded, a previous ethical lapse from Updike should still be noted. Updike sent a scathing letter to Snyder chastising him for his behavior at a Republican event but the problem was she sent it from her official city e-mail address - clearly a no-no.
While it does show poor judgment it may technically not be illegal. Federal employees are prevented from such behavior via the Hatch Act and state employees via the Political Activity Rule. However, I didn’t find a specific ordinance governing local officials…
Tier 1 Races For Indiana State Legislature
I’ve analyzed the upcoming Indiana State Legislature races and I’ve identified what I’ll call the Tier 1 races. These races are ones that I expect will either be close or have a good possibility of flipping to a different party. The bad news for Republicans, I don’t see a single race that would qualify as a solid pick up opportunity for them but there are 7 such opportunities for Democrats.
There are a couple of Republican possibilities that I might put into the Tier 2 category but that’ll be a post for another day. For now let’s look at the top 7 races:
I Hate To Say I Told You So But…
A few weeks ago I said that I doubted the Canyon Cliffs developers would sell their land to ACRES even for market value. Here was my rationale at the time:
This project isn’t about Canyon Cliffs - it’s about all the future development that will inevitably follow. The developer knows this and they know it will be difficult to get the next big payday project if a compromise is reached with ACRES
Here’s the outcome of the negotiations between the developer and ACRES as reported in today’s JG:
Oakmont Development did offer nearly eight acres along Cedar Creek to ACRES Land Trust as a gift, but the group could not accept because of the developer’s conditions, ACRES President David Van Gilder said. ACRES, which owns nature preserves adjoining the subdivision site, would have had to agree not to challenge the subdivision proposal, among other conditions.
See they won’t sell to ACRES; they are however willing to give them a little payola to go away. Kudos to ACRES for staying stong. Mike Thomas and his band of developers don’t care about the land up there - they see money, period. And if they sell that land to ACRES then how will they ever get to pillage the rest of the area?
Unfortunately the plan commission deck is stacked with developers and their sympathizers so I wouldn’t expect a favorable outcome…
Jon Olinger Forms Re-Election Committee
Full disclosure, Mike Sylvester and I are on Jon Olinger’s campaign committee. Jon is running for re-election to the 3rd District FWCS board seat. He will soon have his own campaign website and blog but you can probably still expect to see a good deal of information about the various school board races right here at FWP.
Jon Olinger Forms FWCS Board Re-Election Committee
FORT WAYNE – Today Jon Olinger announced the formation of a campaign
committee dedicated to supporting his re-election bid for the 3rd District
Fort Wayne Community Schools Board of Trustees.
The formation of this committee is the first step in Olinger’s plans to
continue his service to Fort Wayne Community Schools, and the district’s
taxpayers. Olinger said “I have worked hard to try and improve academic and
fiscal accountability within FWCS and I will humbly ask the voters of my
district to allow me to continue this work-in-progress.”
Olinger has served on the board for 12 years and understands the nuances and
challenges that the county’s largest school district faces. He was proud to
stand with the Code Blue remonstrators during last year’s facility project
petition drive and cast the board’s lone vote against the $500 million tax
increase. “There is no doubt that our schools need work, but the community
simply could not afford, and would not tolerate, a $500 million project. I
will do everything I can to make sure the next project is targeted,
prioritized and fiscally responsible.”
Olinger understands that student achievement is the primary focus and that
student success is directly linked to the future of our community. “We must
continue to support the administrators, teachers and staff to ensure that
our students are well prepared for the challenges of the 21st century.”
“As a district, we need to produce an increase in student achievement across
all content areas for all student populations. If ultimately re-elected to
the board I will continue to support policies that will further this goal
while maintaining fiscal responsibility.”
Welcome Aboard Gary Snyder!
Former Huntington Republican State House candidate Gary Snyder has switched parties and decided to run as a Democrat for Huntington county council this fall. He detailed his reasons for doing so in a recent Herald-Press article:
“I’m a social conservative, but I’m pro-working class, pro-middle class on fiscal issues,” Snyder said. “That was a message that did not sit will with the Republican Party, at least in Huntington County.”
Huntington County Democrats, on the other hand, were accepting of his social issues “and my stance on financial issues rang true with them,” he said.
That obviously didn’t sit well with Republican chairwoman, and the mayor’s wife, Pam Updike.
“I guess if you can switch parties that quickly, you are not a very good party-faithful person,” Updike said when asked about Snyder’s crossover move.
“If he has not filed all the paperwork, it’s not fair to my candidates, as Republicans, who have done the proper things,” Updike said. “I do not feel he has done all the property paperwork and I will challenge that if it’s found to be the case.”
So much like the Allen County Republicans, the Huntington Republicans would rather try and game the system and complain about technicalities than allow the voters to make their choice.
And after scouring through the documents Updike thinks she’s found an error - the following quote speaks for itself:
Updike, who served two terms as County Clerk, has spent the last few weeks investigating how the caucus was conducted.
“I talked to my executive committee and the members of County Council about this issue and I spent a lot of time reviewing the papers from the Clerk’s office to make sure that something was not done properly,” she said.
So now Updike’s filed an official complaint with the election board - held 2-1 by Republicans - to try and get Snyder’s candidacy vacated. You can read all about this over at Snyder’s blog, including a scathing e-mail Updike sent him when he has the audacity to challenge a Republican incumbent during the primary.
Also, he has a BBQ Dinner kickoff fundraiser coming up next Saturday:
Saturday, July 19, 2008
5101 W. 1000 N.
Huntington, IN. 46750
6:00 pm
Maria Parra Responds To Tracy Warner’s Column
In his Tuesday column Tracy Warner took a shot at Maria Parra, Democratic nominee for Allen County Treasurer, by calling her recent dust-up at the Wayne Township Advisory Board “amateurish”:
Dems did field a candidate for treasurer, but Maria Parra has angered fellow party members she desperately needs with her inexplicably amateurish actions as a Wayne Township Advisory Board member
Parra has posted a response on her blog, also sent as a letter to the JG, that challenges Warner’s opinion and lays out the case for her actions:
For those who cross the “establishment” or “inner circle”, they are penalized by being ridiculed or discredited in the public forum. Sound familiar?
[...]
I believe the taxpayers deserve a thorough analysis of the Trustee’s expenditures before asking them to sacrifice more of their hard earned money to taxes. It is my responsibility as a board member and chair of the Finance Committee to ask that budget line items be broken down by expenditures. I believe we can do better so more money can go to the poor and less property taxes paid by residents of Wayne Township. This can only be done when government executives are open, transparent, and accountable to the taxpayers via the Advisory Boards or Councils so a win-win strategy can be developed. Stonewalling of information accomplishes nothing and furthers the perception among the public that government spends and spends without benefiting the people it serves.
Warner’s column is yet another example of establishment bias in the local media. The sole reason for calling Parra’s actions “amateurish” is because the party establishment was upset by them. Parra’s job as a board member is not to be a party hack - that would be amateurish. She was elected to serve the people of Wayne Township and she is clearly doing so by giving the township’s finances a thorough review - even if the establishment doesn’t want her to do so…
Nelson Peters Strikes Back
Commissioner Nelson Peters angrily responded to mayor Henry’s letter rejecting the county’s bridge proposal calling it “Bush League”. I will agree with Peters on this sole point - the city should’ve given the letter to the county before it released it to the media. The city had to know that if they mailed it on Wednesday the commissioners wouldn’t get it until Thursday afternoon but the media release went out Thursday morning.
And why the heck are they mailing it in the first place? The commissioners’ office is located on the 2nd floor of the city-county building. Could they not have walked it down to them? Having said that, the rest of Peters’ response was over the top:
This set intergovernmental cooperation back 15 years.
15 years? A letter? Give me a break.
Peters cannot avoid the truth and the truth is that it is the county’s own shortsightedness that has put them in the position they are in. They eliminated the fund that paid for bridge maintenance - what did they think would happen? Now they are asking everyone else to help bail them out but everybody else has their own set of problems. Peters has publicly suggested that there’s plenty of fat to cut in the city budget but when it comes to the county’s finances he simply wants to raise taxes.
That’s the difference between the city and county right now - Henry and the city council are looking to cut spending while Peters and the county council are looking for ways to raise taxes. The county’s fiscal irresponsibility is coming back to haunt them and trying to strong arm other local government entities isn’t going to solve that problem…
Democrats Must Embrace Elimination of Gasoline Sales Tax - Part 2: A Political Perspective
In Part 1 I covered the basic idea of suspending the gasoline tax and how it would not only benefit consumers but also remain revenue neutral to the state. Now I’ll outline how Democrats can use this issue as a political tool to gain traction against Governor Mitch Daniels.
Let’s just start by being completely honest - Daniels won the property tax debate in a major way. One can argue the merits of his plan but right now it’s popular with homeowners and will likely continue to be so through the November elections as more and more people open their new property tax bills. Daniels will continue to push the message that he’s the governor that tackles the big problems while putting money back into taxpayers’ pockets.
So the problem facing Democrats is how can they change that narrative? Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jill Long-Thompson’s plan to suspend the sales tax on gasoline provides that opportunity if they craft the correct message.
Mark GiaQuinta’s Behavior Labeled “Unprofessional” & “Slanderous”
Sunday the JG had a piece on outgoing FWCS board member Carol Coen’s career. At the end there was a quote from board president Mark GiaQuinta that made me chuckle:
“Seven Mark GiaQuintas on the Fort Wayne Community Schools board would be a recipe for disaster,” GiaQuinta said.
Hey, he said it. Soon after, I read Democratic county treasurer nominee, and Wayne Township Advisory Board member, Maria Parra’s (via FWoB) post on GiaQuinta’s unprofessional behavior at the last meeting:
The denigrating comments from Mark Giaquinta were unprofessional, uncalled for and slanderous. He is attempting to intimidate me and paint me as incompetent to discredit any financial analysis conducted by me to inform the board and ultimately the taxpayers of Wayne Township. What is the Trustee and Mark Giaquinta hiding that would require browbeating a woman trying to do her job?
The denigrating comments from Mark Giaquinta were unprofessional, uncalled for and slanderous. He is attempting to intimidate me and paint me as incompetent to discredit any financial analysis conducted by me to inform the board and ultimately the taxpayers of Wayne Township. What is the Trustee and Mark Giaquinta hiding that would require browbeating a woman trying to do her job?
Hey, she said it…
