Beggars invade Fort Wayne

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

Rothschild Pavilion and Occupy Fort Wayne

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

Occupy Fort Wayne

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:

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.
The Board of Headwaters Park Alliance and its Executive Director should make all decisions regarding their property; not the Fort Wayne Mayor.
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.
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?
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?
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?
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?”
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?
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?
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

Who I am voting for, Fort Wayne City Clerk

In a previous post I discussed the Mayor’s race and the fact that I am voting against Paula Hughes; which means I am voting for Tom Henry.

In the City Clerk’s race I have been planning on voting for Zachary Bonahoom in his race to unseat Sandra Kennedy. Mr. Bonahoom has made a couple of ill advised comments on Twitter and has shown a fair amount of immaturity in this regard. I will be voting for Zachary Bonahoom in the City Clerk’s race; however, the truth of the matter is I am voting against Sandra Kennedy.

Sandra Kennedy needs to be replaced for several reasons:

The first reason is that she has served as the City Clerk for 28 years. It is absurd to have the same person fill this elected position for so long.
The second reason is that she is extremely adverse to any change in her office. She does not seem to understand the new technology that is available and this causes her office to waste taxpayer money.
The third reason is that she has a reputation for being difficult to deal with. Over the years several people have told me stories about how difficult she is to deal with.

I will be voting for Zachary Bonahoom for City Clerk.

Mike Sylvester

Who I am voting for, Mayor of Fort Wayne 2011

Many people vote early. I am generally not one of them. I generally vote on election day.

The top of the ticket race is Mayor. There are three candidates this year:

Paula Hughes, Republican
Tom Henry, Democrat (Incumbent)
D Haley Ahrendt, Independent

This race has been hard for me. I really did initially want to see Tom Henry defeated. I could have easily supported either of the Republicans who were defeated in the primary (Brown and Doden); heck, I would have given Brown $100.

I cannot vote for Ahrendt since he is not running a real campaign and barely even responded to my request for more information about him. What information I did get was too general and tells me little about what he would do as mayor.

I cannot vote for Paula Hughes for several reasons:

I do not care for her negative campaigning
She is a large Government Republican who supports all of the failed downtown projects
I do not think her campaign has been honest
She helped defeat Jon Olinger for School Board and replaced a good small government type with big government liberal Becky Hill

It is truly painful to admit; however, next month I will be voting for Tom Henry for Mayor. Mayor Henry has been an average Mayor at best; however, that looks better than the alternatives.

I think Tom Henry will win this race. My prediction is:

Henry 52%
Hughes 47%
Ahrendt 1%

A year ago if you would have told me I was going to vote for Tom Henry for Mayor I would have laughed really hard…

Mike

Another mailer attacking Mayor Tom Henry

I just got another mailer from the Indiana State Committee attacking Mayor Tom Henry. It is the third I have received…

Basically the mailer makes six points (My thoughts in bold):

“Tom Henry’s nasty campaign can’t cover up his record of failure.” It is hard to believe ANYONE supporting Paula Hughes can accuse Tom Henry of running a nasty campaign. This point is absurd…
“Tom Henry has lost thousands of jobs.” I am not sure how many jobs have been lost in Fort Wayne, however, the economic downturn has certainly caused many jobs to be lost here n Fort Wayne. This is mostly fair.
“Tom Henry has grown our city debt to half a billion dollars.” The exact amount of debt accumulated is debatable; however, there is no doubt the Henry Administration with the backing of our Republican City Council has created too much debt.
“Tom Henry raised our taxes and want to raise more.” This is true.
“Tom Henry pays himself more than the Governor.” This is true.
“Tom Henry wastes tax money on Chicago and Indianapolis consultants.” This is very true as well.

This mailer is much more honest than some of the previous mailers I have received…

Mike

Fort Wayne Tax Abatements

Tax abatements have been a common topic on this blog. They are a good example of what is wrong with our Government. Tax abatements allow companies to have a portion of their taxes on new equipment and property forgiven over a 10 year time period.

When tax abatements were first used they were very controversial and used very rarely. They were used on projects that would CREATE new jobs with wages that were significantly higher than the norm. Now tax abatements are granted for ANYTHING.

I pretty much oppose all tax abatements; however, an argument can be made for tax abatements that meet the following basic criteria:

Actually create new jobs that did not exist before WITHOUT causing the loss of already existing jobs that currently exist.
Create new jobs that pay significantly better than the local median wage.
The tax abatements are then tied to actual performance and the company only gets the tax abatements if it proves that it actually created and maintains the new jobs it promised in its application.

One of the major problems with tax abatements is they only are granted for medium to large sized projects. That is because the approval process takes time and time is money. Also the annual filing of personal property tax returns takes time and money; heck I prepare quite a few of these for my clients each and every year.

My firm handles well over two hundred small local businesses. Not one of them have applied for or received a tax abatement that I can think of off the top of my head. Our firms clients employ about a thousand people locally. Our clients tend to be small and really do not qualify for tax abatements…

I would be far happier if tax abatements were abolished entirely and the tax rates that all business owners paid were lowered. This would prevent the favoritism that tax abatements foster. This would also allow us to eliminate some government employees and would be a far more fair system.

The Journal Gazette has a disturbing story that you should read. Per the story a firm is planning a 5.3 million dollar expansion that will create no new jobs. Zip. Zero. Nada. None. Per the story the tax abatement would cause the company to pay $483,252 less in taxes than they would otherwise pay.

You cannot make this stuff up and it shows how absurd the local tax abatement system really is.

Consider that our local tax abatement system is so bad that tax abatements are now granted to firms that create no new jobs, create a single part time job, create jobs that pay minimum wage, etc.

I wonder if this abatement will pass with another 9-0 vote of our supposedly Republican City Council?

Good Grief…

Mike Sylvester

Paula Hughes and the Wheel tax

Based on a disagreement John Kalb and are are having about Paula Hughes and her position on the wheel tax I thought I would post a summary of what I think happened in regards to the Wheel Tax. This all happened a couple of years ago and after some research here is what I think happened:

While Paula Hughes was a member of our County Government:

Allen County decided to stop maintaining the Bridges in Allen County as a way to save some money.
Allen County Government (Paula Hughes herself) went to the Fort Wayne City Council and asked the Fort Wayne City Council to agree to allow Allen County to keep 65% of the revenue generated by the increase in the wheel tax. Fort Wayne would keep the remaining 35%.
The Republican Fort Wayne City Council and the Democratic Mayor agreed to allow 65% of the additional revenue to go to the County.
The Republican Allen County Council in a 4:3 vote then agreed to raise the wheel tax. They likely would NOT have agreed to raise the wheel tax if the County would not have gotten the increased revenue in order to maintain the bridges.
Paula Hughes voted AGAINST raising the wheel tax in this 4:3 vote.

So Paula Hughes is now trying to convince the voters that Mayor Tom Henry championed the increase in the wheel tax?

Seriously?

What really happened is the County needed to save money and so they decided to stop maintaining the bridges UNLESS the City of Fort Wayne agreed to raise the wheel tax and in turn promise the County that the County would get 65% of the increased revenues.

In other words the Republican County Council wanted to raise taxes to meet their budget shortfall.

Paula Hughes was in the middle of this and she specifically told Mitch Harper, on video, that the County wanted to City to promise a large portion of the increased revenues to the County if the County in fact did raise the wheel tax.

In truth when it came up to a vote on County Council Paula Hughes did vote against the increase in the wheel tax.

So she asked the City to raise it and promise the County 65% of the increased revenue. Then after the City did this she voted against the bill to increase the wheel tax.

The position of Paula Hughes on this matter is CONFUSED to say the least.

Now the State Republican Party sent out a direct mail piece stating that:

“Paula Hughes said NO to Tom Henry and the massive Wheel tax scheme in 2009.”

The only reason the wheel tax was increased is because the Republican County Council voted to increase the wheel tax.

John if any of my facts are wrong in this post please let me know… I do not understand your thinking on this at all!

Mike

Paula Hughes, does she think we are all stupid?

The Fort Wayne Mayor’s race has been difficult to watch. On one side we have Democrat Tom Henry. Mayor Henry and his Administration have done a mediocre job. Not a lot of good things; not a lot of bad things. I have always thought of Mayor Henry as a placeholder of sorts. That being said I think he is a good man and I think his heart is in the right place…

Then there is Republican Paula Hughes. She seems almost desperate to win and in my opinion her campaign has been both negative and at times somewhat dishonest.

I am relatively sure at this point that I will either not vote for Mayor or vote for Democrat Tom Henry. Today I am leaning towards voting for Mayor Tom Henry.

I think what has pushed me over the edge is the last mailer I got from the Indiana State Republican Committee. I just do not care for mailers like this. This mailer does not have all of its facts straight. Interestingly enough the mailer quotes its sources…

So here are the four things the mailer says about Tom Henry; my comments are in bold:

“Tom Henry is taking the largest salary of any Mayor in Indiana.” This is true and as such is a legitimate point.
“He has spent over $14 million of our tax dollars to get himself a fancy new office.” I am against Citizens Square and I think this comment is fair.
“He has spent our City into over half a billion in debt.” I do not think this comment is fair. The City of Fort Wayne DOES have too much debt and Tom Henry is responsible for part of it; however, he inherited much of it.
“Now he’s running a NASTY CAMPAIGN against Paula Hughes.” It is true that Mayor Tom Henry has spent done some negative campaigning of his own; however, this comment is absurd since the Paula Hughes Campaign has been FAR MORE negative.

Then the advertisement tells us good things about Paula Hughes:

“Paula Hughes has a proven record of protecting taxpayers.” When I look at Paula Hughes and her past stances I see another big Government Republican who supports wasteful downtown spending and who supported the ABSURD Maplecrest Extension Project and who asked City Council to raise the Wheel tax.
“Paula Hughes LOWERED the proposed tax levy in the 2007 budget.” The 2007 property tax levy actually increased by 1.7 million. It COULD have been increased by 1.8 million.
“Paula Hughes said NO to Tom Henry and the massive Wheel tax scheme in 2009.” We have covered this issue on this blog multiple times since 2009. THIS STATEMENT IS AN OUTRIGHT LIE. THERE IS VIDEO ON THIS BLOG SHOWING HER ASKING CITY COUNCIL TO APPROVE THE TAX INCREASE.
“Paula Hughes proposed a property tax REBATE in 2010.” This one is true…