Welsh Telethon live at 7 PM tonight

Friends of Barry Welsh and the campaign are going to host a telethon this evening on BlogTalkRadio show "Candidates' Corner", hosted by the new blogmaster of Heading Left, the famous clammyc and his partner David "ThereIsNoSpoon" of Political Nexus.

The telethon, which streams live starting at 7pm EDT, will feature Barry as well as an array of special guests such as Brian Keeler, Jane Hamsher and more guests TBA. We'll also be live blogging the event on DailyKos and on Barry's Blog, the official campaign blog on BarryWelsh.org.

We're going to auction off some Democratic memorabilia and other stuff, we'll be selling the new Barry Welsh campaign T-Shirts, hats, mugs and a line of stuffed animals called Barry's Bears. Jane has also pledged a copy of Charlie Savage's new book Takeover which will be featured this Sunday during the FDL Book Salon and hosted by Glenn Greenwald. We hope you will join us Sunday on Blog Talk Radio at 7pm EDT/4pm PDT!

The call in number is 646-716-9103. Please click here for the direct link to the show, or click the button below to go to the Candidates' Corner main page.

EMAW!

Kansas State - 41
#7 Texas - 21

Every Man A Wildcat!

A Heartbreaking Letter From Burma

From a blogger in Burma:

DEAR MR. GEORGE W. BUSH, MR BAN KI-MOON AND ALL LEADERS OF THE WORLD

I have written this letter in regards to current political situation of Myanmar.

First I would like to thank you on behalves of all brave people of Myanmar for taking your valuable time to read this.

I am sure you have heard and seen most of the stuff that is currently going on in Myanmar so I will not bore you with a long story.

What media is still not telling the world is that people of Myanmar are now in the great hope for your help and the help of UN.

They have no one else to turn to and their own army is killing them brutally.
And since all their leaders were secretly detained without any warrant, people and sangas are leading the very dangerous demonstration by themselves without proper leadership.

That is exactly what that government wants. They are creating fake chaos activities with their own people impersonating as sangas and civilians in order for them to tell the world that they are just controlling the situation.

Please Mr. Bush and the UN, all the starving and abused people of Myanmar are crying for your help now. I’ve been contacted by many kids from the streets of Myanmar to ask United States and UN to take actions to protect their lives.

Please do not look into this manner as a simple foreign political issue.
What Myanmar is going through now is the crime against human rights.
If you can help in the Middle East issues where people are killing each other using guns, you should absolutely help our people with their bare hands, who are being tortured and shot to death on the city streets and in their own homes.

We understand you have sent a few sanctions to Myanmar Juntas before but they always lied as if they would correspond but ignored to the whole world.

Even thou they have began to communicate with UN now, yet they are still giving orders to shoot the peaceful sangas and innocent people on the streets.

Please help us Mr. Bush, Mr. Ban Ki-moon and all leaders of the world,
We have no weapons or protections. Please…..
Give us a right to live freely.

With all due respect

People Of Myanmar

Unfortunately for the citizens of Burma, they have no chance because they are not armed. It's unfortunate that so many citizens around the world learn the hard way that an unarmed citizenry is one waiting to be slaughtered. Next time you're reminded of gun crimes remember that there are certainly costs associated with freedom. But if a people are not willing and able to stand up and defend themselves, and their inalienable rights, then they can never be free.

Democrats for Kelty?

After yesterday's Republicans for Henry rally Matt Kelty made the following comment:

"This is politics, if I wanted to make a big deal out of all the Democrats that we have supporting me, I could have had a rally four times that size, but that's not the point," says Kelty.

This strikes me as an extremely childish statement. It's like a schoolyard kid losing a footrace and then saying "Well I could've ran 4 times as fast as you if I really wanted to." The point is that if Kelty had prominent Democrats publicly breaking away from the party to support him then he would exploit it - that's good politics. The truth is he doesn't. But I suppose this is just a small drop in the bucket that's full of Kelty exaggerations and half-truths.

Republican chairman Steve Shine added the following:

It is the people who are not coming out and showing (sic) boating and that aren't being absorbed in the campaign circus, if you will, that we're counting on to support Matt Kelty.

So you're counting on the silent, non-energized citizenry? Good luck with that...

UPDATE: When I wrote this I hadn't seen a similar post over at Blue Indiana. Thomas, as usual, is right on the money and it's worth a read...

Tom Hayhurst's City Council Comments

Ok, here's the video of Tom Hayhurst's comments at Tuesday's city council meeting that I promised. Let me just say, that contrary to Dr Tom, I don't think it takes a whole lot of restraint to listen to 5 minutes worth of citizen comments twice a month. I also strenuously object to his characterization that somehow he and the other councilmembers are vastly more informed than the rest of us. Also, what is with the town hall complaint? Every citizen has a right to go to the meetings - it's their own fault if they choose not to participate. And just for the record, we understand that you and the other councilmembers talk to numerous constituents. We're not asking for preferential treatment - we're simply taking advantage of an opportunity to spread a message we feel is important. That's the very foundation of the democratic process and should not be met with such contempt.

However, I'm sure others will have a different point of view than myself and I'd like to get your thoughts so tell me what you think in the comments...

Photos From Republicans For Henry Rally

Here's a couple of shots from this afternoon's press conference where Henry highlighted his commitment to work across party lines to make this city a better place for all citizens:

I will be a Mayor who represents all the people, serves the entire community, and champions Fort Wayne every moment of every day. There are no Republican job creation programs, no Democratic streets to be paved, no Libertarian water or sewer lines to be upgraded, no Independent trash to be picked up. There are only first-rate city services to be cost-effectively delivered to all residents of Fort Wayne.

Republicans for Henry Rally

There will be a Tom Henry press conference today that will double as a Republicans for Henry rally:

The Henry for Mayor campaign announced Wednesday night Democratic mayoral candidate Tom Henry will hold a news conference at 4:30 p.m. today at the Allen County Courthouse green, and at least one Republican elected official could be standing with him.

While the media advisory says Henry will discuss “his broad-based community support and his openness to a variety of perspectives,” sources in the Allen County Republican Party have said the news conference will double as a rally of Republicans for Henry, with at least 40 members of the Republican Party standing with Henry in support.

This should be interesting. I'll get there and try to report on who shows up to support Henry. I've seen several Republicans for Henry bumper stickers over the past few days so I think the size of this group may be growing. By the way, I'm not sure what Kelty should have said when asked to comment but probably not this:

“For someone to demonstrate they're winning because some Republicans are voting with a Democratic candidate is returning to the status quo,” Kelty said. “It's a more tired way of thinking that you have to steal votes from the other side to win.”

Note to Kelty - elected Republican officials standing alongside a Democratic candidate is not the status quo; far from it. And shouldn't part of everyone's campaign strategy be to try and win crossover votes? I suppose the fact that you think this is a "tired way of thinking" is part of the reason why recent polls have you behind...

City Council Recap - 9/25/07

The meeting started out with councilman Sam Talarico removing himself from the recently formed Government Reform Committee to which he had been appointed. His reasons for doing so were to spend more time with his kids and because he felt there were too many government insiders already on the committee. He said he wanted to give some of the local business people that are not so closely tied to government a chance to serve. I thought Sam made a great decision on this and he should be commended for trying to get more people involved with the various boards and commissions.

Next the council began voting on budget cuts and the only one that brought any real discussion was the plan to cut a half-time animal control dispatcher. The director of animal care and control, Belinda Lewis, adamantly defended the position and said it was critical to continue to provide necessary services to the city. Councilman Crawford brought up the point that the AC&C budget is going up faster than every other part of the city - it was $990k in 1997 and now it's $2.5 Million this year. Lewis countered by saying that they are dealing with annexation and that they have revenue that can offset the budget increases. She said that if one were to take into account this revenue then their budget probably hasn't increased more than the other departments.

I found this difficult to believe so I decided to do some math during the meeting to fact-check that statement. Without considering their revenue the AC&C budget has increased by 8.75% per year. According to Lewis their recent revenue offsets were $541k so that would put their revenue-adjusted average budget increase at 6.4% per year. This is likely much higher than other city departments. However, Lewis pointed out that they have already instituted a very effective volunteer program that racks up 900 hours/month and that they haven't added a single employee since 1995. That left me wondering where all the budget increases were going? In the end, Lewis got what she wanted as the council voted 6-3 not to cut the dispatcher position.

The last item discussed was councilmen Crawford and Pape's proposal to freeze the property tax levy next year which would effectively reduce everyone's property tax bill. City controller Pat Roller argued against this proposal saying that it would eliminate money that had already been earmarked to pay down the city's Police and Fire Pension debt. As I wrote a couple of days ago, I fully agree with the controller and I think the council went too far with their tax cut. I think the council did a great job cutting spending - to the tune of $1.3 Million - and I have no problem cutting that exact amount in taxes. But they went above and beyond that and their tax cut will be funded by money that was going to be used to pay down the mountainous amount of debt the city has accumulated. While citizens might be happy to see their tax bill go down even more than it would have, they need to remember that the council simply kicked the can down the road and those debts will have to be paid at some point.

Mike Sylvester brought up a great point about this during public comments. His point was that the city should be placing money that is earmarked to pay off our Police and Fire Pension debt into a separate account and not into the general fund. It's a great idea and I think the council should consider it at the next meeting.

Finally, after several of us said our peace during public comments, councilman Hayhurst uncharacteristically lashed out at the citizens who were at the meeting and voiced their opinion. He reminded us that he speaks with many constituents and takes into account everyone's opinion before deciding how to vote. He said it's very difficult for councilmembers to sit up there and listen to citizens make fringe comments using facts that may or may not be true. He also reminded us that he has all the available information on any given issue and is more knowledgeable about the issues than we are. I'm not sure if Hayhurst simply misspoke or if he really believes that he is vastly more informed than the rest of us lowly citizens. I must say that I was taken aback by his rant and I think it was completely out of line. He came across as someone who has nothing but contempt for the citizens who go to the meetings and voice their opinion. I tivo'd the meeting last night and as long as it didn't run past 9pm (I don't think it did) I will post video of his comments later this evening so readers can view it for themselves...

Matt Kelty On Public Safety

Matt Kelty has issued a press release outlining three public safety initiatives he'd like to roll out. In brief these are:

1. Re-institute the very successful Community Oriented Policing initiatives first established by former Mayor Paul Helmke, which have since atrophied under the current administration.


2. Improving emergency life saving services, specifically a comprehensive re-evaluation of the emergency medical response system and services.


3. Consolidate and streamline City and County Emergency Communications.

Let's start by looking past the fact that Tom Henry has already discussed items 2 and 3 in his press release issued 2 weeks ago. In Kelty's first issue he's insinuating that the Fort Wayne City Police have significantly cut back on their Community Oriented Policing programs and philosophy. I suppose that would be news to Chief Of Police Rusty York considering his most recent annual support says the following:

2005 Goals & Objectives
Police Training Center
Provide public outreach programs to the community and build on the community-oriented policing foundation.
Achieved.

Vice & Narcotics
Maintain a presence in the community and achieve greater interaction with the neighborhood associations.
Achieved.

Now I don't know enough about the inner-workings of the local police to know who's right here. Perhaps a local officer that reads this can pass on more information because I have a hard time believing anything Matt Kelty says these days.

I also find it interesting that Kelty is going to achieve all these initiatives while cutting taxes by 10% and instituting a zero-growth budget. By the way, how is Kelty's red-lining of next year's budget going? Oh you mean, he hasn't pointed out anything from the current budget that he'd cut?

I'm shocked...

Allen County Prosecutor's Office Attacks Victim of Sexual Predator

Readers might remember my recent post about a convicted child molester receiving extremely lenient treatment from the Allen County prosecutor despite allegedly beating, kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman. In the original story, I was outraged that this scumbag might only receive a 5 year sentence but now it's official and he's only getting a 2 year sentence which means he'll likely be out of jail before this time next year. I wish I could say I was surprised but I'm not. This prosecutor refuses to protect this community by continuing to give sexual predators, including child molesters, the most lenient sentences imaginable.

Now, the prosecutor's office has taken to publicly attacking the victims of the very scumbags they continue to put back on our streets:

After the plea agreement was reached this month, the woman wrote to the court and said she was ashamed of the prosecution for offering such a deal to Meyer, Speith said.

But Speith said she is ashamed of someone who would levy such serious charges against another person, leading to that person being arrested and then not participate in the investigation.

Did it ever occur to Ms Speith that perhaps the victim doesn't trust local prosecutors to protect her from future attacks? Did it every occur to her that the victim might have had a legitimate reason for skipping the depositions? Did they even bother to investigate that? I suppose it's easier to just make a deal and get that case file off her desk.

But publicly ridiculing the victim of a convicted child molester? Even I never thought Karen Richards' office would stoop that low...

Time to do What is Right

From day one, every single city councilmember has known Harrison Square to be an unpopular project. The citizenry has watched month after month as city councilmembers have systematically disregarded and even ridiculed the public's input and discontent. We've watched an arrogant administration thumb their nose at the thought of citizen oversight and open government.

You know this project doesn't have a single measurable benchmark attached to it

You know this project won't directly create a single quality job

You know this project's financial projections are a sham

You know this project provides outrageous and unparalleled public subsidies

You know this project has been oversold and under-planned

So my question for the councilmembers is - when will you stand up and represent the interests you were elected to protect? If not you, then who? If not now, then when? Must we go down this path and watch the city council abdicate their responsibility and ignore blatant violations in state law?

No matter how you've voted in the past, it's time to do what is right...

City Controller Channels Baghdad Bob

If you don't remember Baghdad Bob he was the Iraq Information Minister during the 2003 Iraq war. He would give statements of propaganda during press conferences that were so ridiculous people started tuning in just to see what outrageously bogus information he would come up with next. My all-time favorite was a quote describing the mass suicide of US soldiers as they entered Baghdad and saw the unstoppable Iraqi army:

I can say, and I am responsible for what I am saying, that they have started to commit suicide under the walls of Baghdad. We will encourage them to commit more suicides quickly.

Before we get to City Controller Pat Baghdad Roller's response, let's take a look at what the State Board of Accounts audit said about the Redevelopment Commission's purchase of land to be used for Harrison Square. This blogger pointed out back in April that the Redevelopment Commission violated state law by not getting appraisals for the Harrison Square properties before purchasing them. I've stated this numerous times and to date have not seen anyone contradict this. So I was not surprised to see the State Board of Accounts agree with my position:

The Redevelopment Commission purchased the above properties prior to obtaining two independent appraisals to determine the fair market value. The Redevelopment Commission has subsequently obtained two appraisals for the properties. For the residential properties, the purchase price exceeded the average of the two appraisals by a combined total of $1,025,030.

Indiana Code 36-7-14-19(b) states in part: “(b) The redevelopment commission shall first approve and adopt a list of the real property and interests in real property to be acquired and the price to be offered to the owner of each parcel of interest. The prices to be offered may not exceed the average of two (2) independent appraisals of fair market value procured by the commission except that appraisals are not required in transactions with other governmental agencies...”

Clearly the SBA is pointing out that Redevelopment Commission did not follow the proper procedure. Of course that's not how Baghdad Roller sees it. Unbelievably, she concludes that the auditor's statement listed above somehow concurs with her idea that they did nothing wrong: (p12)

"We agree with your audit position that the procedure used by the Redevelopment Commission to purchase land for the Harrison Square Project was appropriate and in conformity with state law."

How in the world did she draw that conclusion? Never mind, I forgot city attorney Tim Manges is still around for another week so she probably consulted with him on that statement. Maybe Roller should use the following Baghdad Bob quote for her official defense:

"The American press is all about lies! All they tell is lies, lies and more lies!"

Four Word Editorial

Colorado State University's newspaper - the Rocky Mountain Collegian - ran the following editorial:

TASER THIS

FUCK BUSH

H/T: Digby

Tax Cut Proposed by Councilmen Crawford and Pape

Fort Wayne City councilmen John Crawford and Tim Pape are proposing to cut the city's 2008 tax levy by $3.7 Million.

Councilmen John Crawford, R-at large, and Tim Pape, D-5th, proposed cutting the city’s 2008 tax levy – the amount of property taxes collected by the city – by $3.7 million.

As a way to cut spending to finance the tax cut, Crawford proposed eliminating 10 vacant police positions and five vacant firefighter positions next year, which would save more than $900,000. Other proposed cuts equal about $200,000.

This is a welcome sign considering both supported large subsidies for Harrison Square. However, the proposed tax cut is not followed by an equivalent cut in spending and this is a bad idea - they claim that the difference in revenue and spending would be made up from the city's cash reserves. Unfortunately, the city is facing a mountain of debt and the truth is we don't have any reserves once you take into account the unfunded pensions, combined sewage overflow fixes, etc.

Don't get me wrong, Crawford and Pape should be commended for trying to find ways to reduce spending and taxes. But the fiscally prudent decision would be to match the tax cut with appropriate spending cuts. If this is not done then the city will surely find themselves in a more financially precarious situation in the future...

Mitch Harper Wins Support of Former Democratic Opponent

You can barely make out the green blocks on the signs in this photo due to the glare, but rest assured they are Mitch Harper for City Council signs. It's certainly not unusual to see these signs around the Aboite area but I found it quite interesting to find them at this particular location - the residence of Charles Langley.

Langley was the 4th district nominee for the Democratic Party before dropping out of the race. Yet he now obviously supports his former opponent...

2006 Elections Were Truly Historic

I had a debate with local bloggers and a city council candidate about whether or not the Democratic wave during the 2006 election was historic or not. Their argument was that the 2002 midterm election was more historic because it was the first time since 1934 that a sitting President's party gained seats in a first midterm election. However, as I explained to them, the 2006 elections were truly historic because something happened that had never occurred in the history of the United States. So let's compare shall we:

2002

1. Republicans gained 6 House seats and 2 Senate seats

Analysis:"The Republican victory was... much more a consequence of redistricting (in the House) and of the higher turnout among Republican loyalists than of any national shift in public sentiment toward the party... Not least because of structural impediments, Democrats will face an uphill battle for control of Congress for the remainder of the decade."

2006

1. Democrats gained 31 House seats and 6 Senate seats


2. Prior to this election Republicans held a 28-22 gubanatorial advantage - this was reversed in favor of the Democrats


3. Democrats gained power over 4 state legislatures and 300 state legislative seats


4. Prior to the 2006 election Republicans held a 92 seat majority in the New Hampshire house and an 8 seat majority in the senate - Democrats won 81 seats in the house and 5 in the senate

Analysis:"For the first time in the history of the United States, no Republican captured any House, Senate, or Gubernatorial seat previously held by a Democrat."

If Republicans think that somehow 2006 was just an anomaly that isn't likely to happen again they should look at the polls. It's very likely that the Democratic party will once again gain massive numbers of seats in both chambers of congress - wishing against it won't make it so...

Hillary Dominates 2008 Presidential Polls

I had a discussion tonight with local bloggers and city council candidates about the upcoming presidential election. They seemed to disbelieve my comments when I told them that Hillary Clinton would defeat any Republican candidate in the presidential election. I want to issue a caveat here - I'm not a Hillary supporter and I will likely not vote for her in the primary. Unfortunately, the Indiana primary occurs so late in the election cycle that the nominee will will probably already be decided by the time I vote. However, polling data cannot be ignored - despite what the two men sitting next to us at the bar might think. After I reminded them that the polls showed Democrats poised for an epic beatdown of Republicans before the 2006 midterm election they became quite silent with no rebuttal. The moral here is that polls matter.

Let me ask these deniers - which state that Kerry won will Hillary lose? The answer is none. So the question becomes which states that Kerry lost will Hillary win? Here's some of the recent polling data:

Pres '08 (National)
Sep 14 Rasmussen
Clinton (D) 46%, Giuliani (R) 45%
Clinton (D) 48%, Thompson (R) 43%
Sep 11 CNN
Clinton 55% (D) 55%, Thompson (R) 42%
Clinton 50% (D) , Giuliani (R) 46%

FL-Pres
Sep 12 Quinnipiac
Clinton (D) 44%, Giuliani (R) 44%
Clinton (D) 46%, Thompson (R) 40%

VA-Pres
Sep 11 Rasmussen
Clinton (D) 44%, Giuliani (R) 41%
Clinton (D) 46%, Thompson (R) 44%

OH-Pres
Sep 6 Quinnipiac
Clinton 47%, Giuliani 40%
Clinton 49%, Thompson 37%

MO-Pres
Aug 28 Rasmussen
Clinton (D) 46%, Giuliani (R) 43%
Clinton (D) 48%, Thompson (R) 42%

AR-Pres
Aug 17 Rasmussen
Clinton (D) 55%, Giuliani (R) 37%
Clinton (D) 55%, Thompson (R) 36%

IA-Pres
June 18 SurveyUSA
Clinton (D) 47%, Giuliani (R) 41%
Clinton (D) 42%, Giuliani (R) 37%, Bloomberg (I) 11%

NM-Pres
June 18 SurveyUSA
Clinton (D) 50%, Giuliani (R) 44%
Clinton (D) 47%, F. Thompson (R) 37%, Bloomberg (I) 9%

For those of you keeping score at home that's an additional 89 electoral votes and more than enough to send Hillary to the White House. I'm not suggesting that Hillary will be our next President or that the results will necessariely follow these polls, but discounting her candidacy is completely foolish.

To borrow from Matt Kelty's parlance - A Ham Sandwich could beat the Republican party in the upcoming elections...

Let the Cost Overruns Begin for Harrison Square

Downtown Fort Wayne Baseball links to the story in today's News-Sentinel discussing the "crucial" walkway to be built as part of the Harrison Square project:

When the past and future collide, the present can get messy — especially when an expensive and politically charged downtown improvement project hangs in the balance.

Hoping to avoid such unpleasantness, the city may spend hundreds of thousands of dollars more than expected on a $1 million elevated walkway linking the proposed Courtyard by Marriott Hotel with the Embassy Theatre and old Indiana Hotel – a walkway officials say is crucial to the success of the $125 million-to-$160 million Harrison Square development.

The city put themselves in a poor negotiating position and hotel developers took advantage by calling this walkway a "dealbreaker". Give me a break. Of course they'll spend "hundreds of thousands of dollars more". Most of us knew this original estimate was completely bogus. AWB pointed this out in a previous post:

I’m no architect, (but I know one). I doubt it will only be $1 million. Who gave that estimate?

At this point the city has no credibility. Why should we believe ANY of the numbers they've been using after this report? I've been telling people from day 1 that the city's numbers in almost every single aspect of this project were overly optimistic. The walkway is a prime example. Can the city even tell us how much this is going to cost now? Of course not, just "hundreds of thousands" more. So $2 Million, $3 Million? When the cost overruns come pouring in time and again will we still be getting a "good deal"? Obviously the News Sentinel thinks so...

So Far, So Good for Jill Long Thompson

Blue Indiana brings us recent polling data from WISH-TV showing that Long Thompson has a substantial early lead over the other two Democratic candidates in the Gubernatorial primary race.

Research 2000 -- (9/10 - 9/14)
Margin: +/- 3.5%
If the 2008 Democratic Primary for Governor were held today, which of the following candidates would you vote for?

Jill Long Thompson: 41%
Richard Young: 16%
Jim Schellinger: 10%
Undecided: 33%

There's no guarantee that these early numbers will hold as we get closer to primary day, but I would certainly rather be in Long Thompson's position at this point. Some discounted her candidacy because of her late entry into the race but I was very impressed with her message when she came through Fort Wayne to announce her candidacy:

I think she's going to be a good candidate as it sounds like she's going to run a populist campaign based around reforming our state tax structure and protecting Indiana jobs.

I know she's behind in the money-race but I wouldn't count her out as a populist message can be very powerful in this state...

I stand by that statement and I think we're going to have quite a primary race to determine who our next governor is...

Meet The City Election Candidates Tonight

Tonight is the Northwest Area Partnership candidate forum.

Time: 6 p.m. for meet & greet the candidates, 6:30 p.m. for forum

Place: Northridge Baptist Church, 1300 East Cook Road (remember, the bridge @ Clinton/Old Auburn/Cook is closed for recontruction)

You will hear from the candidates for Mayor, At-Large Council, and the 2nd and 3rd district Council.

Thanks to 2nd District candidate Karen Goldner for the heads up...

More Republican Obstructionism

There were two important votes in the Senate yesterday that were not covered in today's JG. The first was a bill to restore Habeas Corpus for all US detainees and was filibustered by Senate Republicans. I still cannot believe that the Republican Party has embraced such fascist positions. Who would've thought that the Republican Party would become a party that does not support a person's right to challenge their detention in a court of law? Would we want our own citizens to be detained in other countries with no recourse? Shameful.

The second was the Webb amendment that would require active duty troops to have one day at home for every day they are deployed. This was a very simple common-sense amendment. Our troops continue to have their deployments extended (up to 15 months) while receiving less time at home to spend with their friends and families. Once again the Republicans filibustered the amendment. We see time and again that the Republicans talk about supporting the troops while the Democrats actually do it.

These two filibusters are yet another example of how out-of-touch the Republican party has become. Just for those keeping score, the Republicans in congress are on pace to use the filibuster 3 times more than any other time in history. They are, once again, going to get crushed in the next election. It amazes me that more and more of them continue to follow this president past the political event horizon. I think when it's all said and done we'll likely find that no President has done more to destroy his own party than President Bush.

Indiana Republican Chairman Buries His Head in the Sand

It takes quite a sycophant to take all of the poor economic data and news that citizens of this state see every day and sell that as an "economic hot streak". Nay, it takes a morally bankrupt individual to perform such an act - akin to hocking costume jewelry on QVC to senior citizens. Readers of this blog, I give you Murray Clark, Chairman of the Indiana Republican Party:

As Gov. Mitch Daniels returns from his latest economic development mission, let’s take a moment to examine the tremendous jobs record compiled by our governor during the past three years. Simply put, it is another sterling example of promises made and promises kept.

While traveling around Indiana as both candidate and governor, Daniels pledged to go anywhere and talk to anyone about bringing jobs to our state. He has worked tirelessly to make Indiana more attractive to businesses, build a homegrown life science industry and use the tools of state government to partner with companies that want to do business in the Hoosier State.

There is no doubt that Daniels’ leadership has had a powerful effect on Indiana’s economy. Our nearly unprecedented job growth is the natural result of the common-sense economic blueprint implemented by the governor and his team starting in 2005.

The numbers don’t lie.

No Murray, the numbers don't lie. Let's review shall we?

1. Indiana was one of only three states to report a decline in employment for the past year, shedding 12,700 jobs.


2. The number of people with jobs fell by 27,500 during the past year.


3. In total, we had 49,200 fewer people in the Indiana labor force in May 2007 than a year earlier.


4. Indiana's median household income was an estimated $45,394 last year, lower than the $50,298 earned in 1999, when adjusted for inflation. Only Michigan, Ohio and North Carolina had greater percentage declines.


5. Statewide the poverty rate went from 9 percent to an estimated 13 percent between 2000 and 2006.


6. While home prices rose 41 percent nationally over the 2000-2006 time frame, housing prices in Indiana went up only 11 percent


7. The state’s foreclosure rate is 50th among the states and the District of Columbia and 48th in the rate of subprime loans


8. Small-business ownership and microenterprise ownership rates at or near the bottom (51st and 50th, respectively), and fewer small businesses receiving support in the form of private loans (48th).

I'm not sure how much more of this "economic hot streak" we can take. My message for Murray Clark - have some dignity...

H/T: Blue Indiana for consistently linking to stories countering the "hot streak" meme

Kelty = Lawyers, Henry = Issues

I was going to make a post about Matt Kelty hiring more lawyers and pushing his trial beyond the election but Thomas over at Blue Indiana hit the nail on the head so I'll just link to him:

Those of you who were hoping to see some resolution in the ongoing Matt Kelty trial will be disappointed to read this morning that Kelty has requested that his trial date be moved to after the November elections.

There's nothing like asking people to vote for you without being able to guarantee that you will be able to serve out your full term due to felony charges. I think Kelty's campaign could use a few less lawyers and a lot more positive ideas, but I guess that's the reality of being an indicted candidate.

On the other hand, Democratic candidate Tom Henry is set to take to the air with television advertisements that will run from now until election day.

This really is the gist of your choice. Vote for a man that has tried to bamboozle the media and the public every step of the way and could very well end up in jail or the honest guy talking about the issues and trying to get more citizens involved in government.

Easy choice for me...

JG Editorial Misleads Readers About TIF Districts

There are a couple of points I want to quibble with in the JG's editorial about TIF districts. First they tell readers that TIF districts are not going to cause less money to go into the city's general fund:

Q. Does that result in less money going to the city’s general fund, schools and other uses?

A. No. Kelty suggested as much, saying, “We don’t have enough money to refurbish our schools, but we have enough money to build a duplicate baseball stadium.” Actually, taxpayers could have chosen to provide the money to refurbish Fort Wayne Community Schools and declined.

This is wrong. Of course TIF districts cause less money to flow into the general fund. By definition they sequester all the money from improvements within the district and use it on projects related to the district. The only way one can argue the JG's position is if they believe that development would have never occurred over the life of the TIF - 30 years. That is highly unlikely.

Kelty seemed to be criticizing this point but also described them as a “valuable economic development tool.”

They are. Say a new factory wants to move into the city. The government can create a TIF district, borrow money to build a road to serve the factory, then repay the bond from the taxes the TIF district generates. Only the factory, not all property owners, pays for the road. And keep in mind that without the road the TIF district made possible, the factory might build elsewhere, so there would be no new factory to generate new taxes.

Fort Wayne TIF districts account for about 3 percent of the city’s taxable property value, generating about $8.5 million in tax revenue – all of it going for projects that other property owners do not have to finance.

Using TIF districts in the scenario presented here might be a nice use but that's not what we have with Harrison Square. There is absolutely no data to suggest that any significant number of quality jobs will be created due to this project. It's been a hand-waving argument from the beginning - somehow building a baseball stadium, hotel and a national chain restaurant will cure our economic development woes. Again, highly unlikely.

Also, the 3% number the JG uses is pre-Harrison Square. The JG says that TIFs should not be overused but what constitutes overuse? Much of the city's recent significant development has been done using TIFs. As I told the city council if we continue down this path we're going to have all these nice revitalized sections of the city with nobody left to pay for basic services...

John Good is the New Official Campaign Blogger For Barry Welsh

Since John may not want to toot his own horn I thought I would post the press release for him. For those that don't know Barry Welsh is running against Mike "Baghdad is like Indiana" Pence. In my opinion Barry is by far the best Indiana Democratic candidate running for Congress. For those of you that want to follow the campaign blog you can find it here and it's also listed in our blogroll. Congrats to John and good luck...

Official Campaign Blogger
September 17th, 2007 | by Joh Padgett |

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to John Good as the official campaign blogger for the Barry Welsh For Congress campaign. John is best known for his work at his own blog, Left In Aboite, as well as at Fort Wayne Left and Blue Indiana. John has agreed to join the campaign as lead blogger and blog team coordinator, or "coach" as we are calling him.

John is a great fit for our team ideologically and is a fantastic writer whose style is both thought provoking and entertaining to read. He lives with his family in the Ft. Wayne suburb of Aboite where he operates a small business logistics operation. He has worked on several Democratic campaigns as a volunteer and recently worked on the Tom Hayhurst for Congress campaign, so he does bring Congressional campaign experience to the table as well.

I look forward to his postings which will appear on our main blog at http://blog.barrywelsh.org, but he will also be posting to other group blogs such as Blue Indiana, DailyKos, MyDD, Open Left and Booman Tribune regularly as well. Be sure to check out his first post on the official campaign blog, and please take time to leave a comment to welcome John to the Barry Welsh For Congress campaign!

Free Advice for Kelty Campaign

While you might disagree with the current mayor on specific issues, attacking him is probably not a good strategy. Despite the unpopularity of Harrison Square this mayor still enjoys a high job approval rating and, in general, has done a good job. It is doubly unwise to attack him over his lack of support for the FWCS facilities project when Kelty himself never took a stand on the issue or signed either the yellow or blue petition. From today's Political Notebook section of the JG:

Kelty attacked Richard for not offering more vocal support for the Fort Wayne Community Schools’ $500 million bond issue, which was later killed through remonstrance. Kelty said the mayor should have been out front but only sent a letter of support.

“It’s time for real leadership,” Kelty said.

Of course, the issue Kelty chose is somewhat perplexing – he didn’t sign either petition for the bond issue and has never publicly said which side he supported.

Surely I'm not the only person that sees the irony in our "smaller government" candidate not speaking out against what was going to be a massive and unnecessary tax increase levied by FWCS. Why is that by the way? Oh yea, Kelty wants to reduce public spending unless it could benefit him personally.

So my advice would be to stop the hypocritical attacks against a popular sitting mayor. No charge...

Fairfield's Loss Is South Wayne's Gain

Kelly Soderlund had a nice front page story today about last year's ISTEP improvement at Fairfield elementary and how South Wayne is facing a similar task. Now of course I'm biased because my wife works at Fairfield and I see firsthand how much hard work she and the other teachers there put into their job. The story focuses on South Wayne's new principal, Tim Bobay, who was the assistant principal at Fairfield last year. I've had the opportunity to meet Tim and it comes as no surprise to me that he was sought after to turn around South Wayne. Tim was very respected at Fairfield and will be missed - I fully expect to see South Wayne's ISTEP scores to start improving under his leadership.

JG Editorial Incorrectly Labels Clinton's Comments as an Attack

In today's Futhermore section the JG editorial board continues the meme that somehow Hillary Clinton attacked the integrity of General Petreus. Go ahead and do a search to see if you can find her actual comments (copying them from below is cheating). Wanna bet that nobody at the JG actually read them before they penned their editorial? Here's what the JG wrote:

With Clinton attacking the integrity of a respected general and Giuliani suggesting the First Amendment doesn’t apply to Clinton – she had “no right to disagree with his integrity” – one cannot help thinking that if these are their respective party’s presidential nominees, it’s going to be a very long campaign.

The JG is once again using the storyline that other traditional media outlets have glommed on to. I've posted Clinton's actual remarks below and I hardly see how it's an "attack" against General Petaeus' integrity:

The reports that you provide to us really require the willing suspension of disbelief.

A vicious "attack" to be sure...

City Attorney Tim Manges To Leave at the End of September

Good Riddance.

Only in Allen County

I'm sure many of you have heard the story of the high school kid that was shot and killed while trying to rob a video store.

Willie H. Winder III, of Fort Wayne, was shot by a clerk at VIP Video, 7404 S. Anthony Blvd., shortly before 5 p.m. after he entered the store, pulled a handgun and demanded cash, police said.

The clerk, whose identity has not been released by police, has not been charged with a crime, and police said it’s unknown whether he will be.

If the facts that have been presented are true then why in the world would we even consider charging the clerk for defending himself? Are our prosecutors that mixed up? Stupid question. They let a man only serve 6 months for shooting two unarmed men in the Hobby Lobby parking lot, they allow sexual predators to routinely serve the most lenient sentences imaginable, but a man being robbed at gunpoint defends himself and that is the guy they are considering incarcerating?

Only in Allen County...

Goldner Calls for Consolidation

Saying that the time has come to act, 2nd District City Council candidate Karen Goldner today called for the City and County’s land use management departments to be combined:

"It is no secret that local businesses get frustrated with our land use and zoning functions," said Goldner. "Slow progress has been made, but we can wait no longer for further improvements. We need a dramatic change. We need to say to entrepreneurs that Fort Wayne and Allen County want their investment. We need to say that our community means business."

Goldner called for the combined City-County staff to continue to report to the Mayor of Fort Wayne and the Allen County Commissioners. "This is not uni-gov, but it will provide everyone who wants to invest anywhere in our community with a consistent set of principles and procedures that implement what was outlined in the recently adopted Plan-It Allen comprehensive plan. Plan-It Allen is a good start but we cannot afford to wait years for more progress to occur," said Goldner.

"Fort Wayne has lagged behind the nation in wages since the early 1980’s," she said. "Some of this is due to global or national circumstances beyond our control. But that is no excuse to ignore the fact that we have a land use management and zoning system that is confusing, discouraging, and too often viewed as arbitrary. A large part of these problems come from having two separate systems. We operate in a highly competitive world. Whether the business is new to Fort Wayne or one that is home grown, when we put up bureaucratic impediments to growth, we encourage that business to go elsewhere and to take its jobs, too. That must stop."

While calling for an immediate merger of the departments, Goldner also stated that the City and County should move toward further consolidation of their land use regulatory activities by creating a single Area Plan Commission. In the meantime, the separate City and County Plan Commissions would remain. "We cannot wait," said Goldner. "Government is getting in the way of business, and when that happens our city loses. Merging staffs is just common sense, and I am committed to get it done."

Muncie City Council Bans Two Candidates From Future Meetings

Recently two city council candidates were banned from the Muncie city council meeting for statements made at a public hearing. Let me start by saying that this case is in no way similar the complaint I filed against the Fort Wayne City Council and City Clerk when they locked me out of a city council meeting. However, the very fact that local government officials think they can ban citizens from future meetings for something they said is a scary thought and should be a wake up call to everyone.

MUNCIE -- Two candidates for Muncie City Council have been banned from future city council meetings after one used what some perceived to be racial phrase and the other suggested tarring and feathering some current council members.

Both comments came late in Monday's City Council meeting as the men at separate times stood at a lectern in front of the council.

Jerry Fowler, who is white, addressed councilman Monte Murphy, an African American firefighter, as "black bat" when Murphy volunteered to answer Fowler's question about a firefighter retirement plan.

Fowler is an independent challenger to the District 1 seat, currently occupied by Democrat Sam Marshall.

"I've experienced this before," Murphy told The Star Press on Tuesday. "It's something you just deal with."

On Tuesday, City Council President Bill Shroyer, a Democrat, announced that Fowler and Basil Davis Sr., who suggested some members be tarred and feathered, would be banned from city council meetings for as long as Shroyer is president.

"I'm outraged at their behavior," Shroyer said.

Shroyer lost his bid for re-election in the May Democratic primary, and his last meeting will be Jan. 7.

Davis is a Republican candidate for one of three at-large City Council seats this November and is a veteran tax remonstrator who has attended hundreds of local government meetings since 1983.

City Council attorney Joe Hunter said Tuesday he would research whether Shroyer had the legal authority to keep Fowler and Davis from the meetings.

Research? Are you kidding me?!? YOU CANNOT BAN CITIZENS FROM MEETINGS! Where do these guys come up with stuff? Of course don't expect any help from the Public Access Counselor as she doesn't seem to be too interested in advocating for open government. Maybe they can bring Fort Wayne City Attorney Tim Manges on as a consultant to distort the facts for them. This is why we need advocates for open government - this blatant violation of state law cannot and should not be tolerated.

Government at all levels has not adjusted to the information age. They're used to being able to operate in semi-secrecy where only a few non-apathetic voters were there to challenge them. That day is over and if you don't like it then you had better get out of government. In the meantime I would suggest these two men in Muncie become members (as I am) of the Indiana Coalition for Open Government. The more people we rally for the cause the more likely we are to make a difference...

H/T: Mitch Harper

City Council Should Not Enact Property Tax Reform

I spoke at last night's city council meeting about why enacting any of the property tax reform options before the council would be a bad idea because I was worried that this topic was beginning to fall off the radar. However, today's JG covered the meeting between county and city officials where they discussed the various options available to them to shift some of the property tax burden onto income taxes. While some readers may think this sounds like a good idea let me remind you that you should be careful what you wish for. Nearly all working homeowners would pay an increase in overall taxes under these plans. Thankfully Commissioner Nelson Peters and deputy auditor Tera Klutz seem to understand this:

County officials do not want to increase the local income tax this year because that would negatively affect the majority of Allen County residents who are working homeowners, Commissioner Nelson Peters said.

Even a small increase in the income tax would mean workers would pay more taxes overall, despite a lower property tax bill, Deputy Auditor Tera Klutz said.

In a related editorial in today's JG, it sounds like Commissioner Bill Brown favors the option that would provide "relief" to all property owners:

Q. County Commissioner Bill Brown suggested any tax break should go to all property owners, including businesses. Is that a good idea?

A. Only if City Council members consciously decide to move some of the tax burden now paid by businesses to wage earners. And that move will offer the least relief for property owners, many of whom will face higher overall taxes.

This issue illustrates a fact Hoosiers must keep in mind. Overall, each county would raise the same amount of money from workers and property owners; changes would shift who pays what. Workers who don’t own property would likely pay more.

The JG needs to make a more forceful statement here. Not only is it a certainty that workers who don't own property will pay more, but it's also true that any family or individual making over $24,000/yr will pay more. Does anyone think it's a good idea to decrease the take home pay and increase the overall tax burden for workers that are already significantly below the national median wage? Obviously Bill Brown does. Also, the JG should stop referring to a flat income tax as "progressive" - it is not.

The bad news is taxes are what they are - they will not be going down no matter what the city council decides. It's a zero sum game - for everyone that experiences tax "relief" somebody will see a tax increase. The problem is that under the options being considered by the city council working class people will be the ones to shoulder more of the burden.

If city and county officials want to do something then they should look at ways other states have restricted future property tax increases - namely they should look at levy caps that tie government spending increases to inflation and economic growth. Alas, that is another post for another day...

A Challenge For Matt Kelty

So I'm sure you've all heard how Matt Kelty is going to reduce taxes by 10%. Of course once he realized that wasn't realistic he changed his plan to have zero growth in the city budget.

Well guess what, the city budget is out and available for everyone to scrutinize. So c'mon Matt, break out that red pen and show us what parts of the budget you would nix to meet your goals. You see this is where the rubber (and rhetoric) meets the road when it comes to government. Anybody can stand in front of a microphone and make empty promises but now is you chance to show us your leadership.

Tell us which parts of the city budget you're going to slash. We've heard soundbites, slogans and platitudes but no substance. So here's your chance - carpe diem...

Damn it, Jim! I'm an architect, NOT an actor!!

In his News-Sentinel column today, Kevin Leininger discussed the matter of Matt Kelty's arrest and the questions surrounding it. Was Kelty "made an example of" by local law enforcement? Did he actually play up the arrest and his handcuffing to solicit empathy?:

It might turn out to be the most memorable and compelling image of this year's mayoral campaign: Republican Matt Kelty, incongruously wearing a dark suit and handcuffs, being led to a waiting police cruiser after his indictment on nine counts of perjury and campaign-finance irregularities.

But was Kelty's well-publicized Aug. 14 “perp (perpetrator) walk” an example of selective and overzealous law enforcement, as some have suggested? Or did Kelty himself choreograph the event in order to outrage or energize his supporters, as others suspect?

You can peruse the full column here, but let's cut to the heart of Kevin's article:

But here's where the ambiguity creeps in - and not just because, according to Keesler, Kelty refused a police offer to place a jacket over his wrists to hide the handcuffs .

If this issue were only a matter of idle speculation by political junkies and partisan bloggers, it would be little more than an intriguing irrelevancy. But Kelty's “perp walk” and his interaction with the judicial system are important - because the candidate himself has chosen to make them so.

In an interview with The News-Sentinel's Kathleen Quilligan that published Aug. 17, Kelty talked about how his sixth-grade son had “watched the news with me in handcuffs and said, ‘Daddy, I'm scared.' I said, ‘They are treating Daddy as they would anyone . . . It's important to deal with adversity with strength and confidence.'”

A few days later, in an interview with WANE-TV's Mark Mellinger, Kelty talked about how being handcuffed had been traumatic for his children. He displayed the band placed around his wrist at the jail, and said it would remain there until his children cut it off following his acquittal.

And just this month, Kelty posted a video on the Internet implying he's been targeted because he challenged the “status quo.”

Kevin's having none of that, and brings it home:

Nonsense. Like Kelty and many of his supporters, I'm pro-life, conservative, religious and skeptical of big government. But I don't for a moment think he was indicted because of his beliefs or because he dared to challenge Allen County's entrenched power structure. He was indicted because a jury of his peers found sufficient evidence to charge him with lying under oath and violating campaign-finance laws - and his guilt or innocence will be decided in a court of law, not the court of public opinion.

In other words, Kelty is no martyr - and should he try to portray himself as one, otherwise sympathetic people will be more likely to question his character, judgment and ability to lead this city.

So, Matt, for your own good: Take that bracelet off. Now.

Ouch. When a good conservative such as Leininger, throws that at you as the party's standard-bearer, what's left to say? Matt. . .here's your fork.

Henry On Public Safety

The following is an excerpt from a press release issued by the Henry for Mayor campaign. Yet again Tom Henry is discussing issues while Matt Kelty is either silent or trying to convince voters that he's not a crook...

Fort Wayne, Indiana – On this day of solemn remembrance, Mayoral candidate Tom Henry reinforced his steadfast support for Fort Wayne’s first responders and urged enhancement of their public safety capabilities to better serve all citizens. While visiting the new Public Safety Academy of Northeast Indiana, he defined ways in which his administration will work to make Fort Wayne a safer city through cross training of personnel, communications’ upgrades, new partnerships and better preparedness.

“The highest honor a mayor can pay to those who lost their lives on September 11 and to their families is to ensure that every day on the home front we are working to make our neighborhoods and our city more secure, and to better prepare our emergency responders,” declared Henry. “Protecting each citizen is a mayor’s first responsibility. Our families depend on it. Our employers rely upon it. The freedom of our great nation is built upon it.”

To increase cooperation and cost savings, Henry outlined several recommendations for strengthening public safety at all levels. As part of his innovative agenda, Henry will:

- Promote cross training of firefighters to expand the number of certified paramedics in the ranks of the local fire service. Emergency medical runs represent more than 75 percent of all firefighter dispatches. Encouraging public safety professionals to acquire additional skills will better leverage scarce public resources, and will bring a higher level of expertise more quickly to those in need. All Fort Wayne firefighters are already certified as Emergency Medical Technicians;

- Champion the new Regional Public Safety Academy and all its resources, and help it to realize its extraordinary potential. The facility’s combination of exceptional academic partners, top-notch trainers and world-class facilities and technology will put local public safety personnel on the leading edge, ensure access to best practices and make Fort Wayne a national model and the anchor for training in the region;

- Maximize the use of Fort Wayne’s state-of-the-art broadband capacity in fire stations and at the new Public Safety Academy to reduce costs, improve outreach and make services more accessible;

- Investigate equipping firefighters and police officers with Global Positioning System receivers on their gear or vehicles to heighten on-the-job safety and responsiveness. The technology would speed rescue efforts if personnel were to become injured during the difficult and often disorienting conditions that are part of many incidents. The technology also would route assistance to the public more rapidly by hastening police response times and honing operational efficiencies;

- Press for a full consolidation of the Allen County and City of Fort Wayne public safety communications functions. Henry is committed to building consensus and finding a resolution to this life-threatening situation symbolized by the glass wall that separates both dispatch centers;

- Make the application of proven, cost-effective technologies a guiding principle and priority goal throughout all public safety departments;

- Endorse the continuation of the take-home police car program to keep officers visible in neighborhoods and closer to the people they serve;

- Implement the Safe House program, a network of designated, short-term safe haven locations for children in troubling situations, across the city; and

- Work with education officials to develop and implement programs that encourage and prepare the next generation of students for training at the Public Safety Academy, and guarantee expertly qualified first responders to fill these crucial community positions.

Where is Matt Kelty on the Issues?

I keep hearing that Tom Henry isn't talking about the issues but the truth is he's the only candidate talking about issues (sorry, Karen Goldner is too). What is Matt Kelty talking about? Seriously, his only issue so far has been to "cut property taxes, cap them and make them permanent". While this makes for a nice soundbite it simply isn't based in fiscal reality. Kelty hasn't explained how this is going to be possible - hell he hasn't discussed a single detail of this "plan".

The truth is that the traditional media has bought into the nonsense that somehow Henry isn't discussing issues while Kelty is. This is a typical example of the media picking up a storyline and running it into the ground without actually doing any real reporting. Matt Kelty has spent the bulk of his time trying to defend himself from his indefensible lies. His latest YouTube video is a prime example as it has absolutely nothing to do with any of the issues.

At some point Matt Kelty is going to have address the issues that are important to the voters of this community - to date he has certainly not done this. Tom Henry is making an effort to articulate his position on various issues while Kelty continues to lie about his party, his upbringing, his campaign loans and his opponent.

At some point Kelty is going to have to talk about something with at least a semblance of substance...

Why Elections Matter

Friday gave us yet another example of how elections have consequences. After years of subsidies to private lenders at the expense of students, the Democratic Congress passed legislation that will help make a college education more affordable. Of course Indiana's three worst congressmen (Dan Burton, Mike Pence, Mark Souder) voted against the legislation which passed by overwhelming numbers. So let's take a look at what these three voted against.

1. Increase in Pell Grants from $4310 to $5400 per year
2. Cut interest rates from in half on Stafford Loans from 6.8% to 3.4%
3. Loan forgiveness for those who work 10 years in a public service job
4. Provides scholarships for students that commit to teaching science and math in the schools that need the most help

I could go on and on. And let us not forget that this legislation will be payed for not by an increase in taxes but by removing $20 Billion in subsidies going to private lenders. Money these lenders have used to bribe university officials to help their bottom line while simultaneously eroding middle class income.

It is absolutely shameful that congressmen from Indiana of all places would vote against legislation that will send more people to college. A state where median income and job growth has become some of the worst in the country. Our government has systematically dismantled the economy of this state by promoting trade policies that have undermined the American worker time and again. The "free trade" talking point has always been that we need to embrace the new economy and that workers need to become more educated.

Yet when presented a bill that would do exactly that - help more Hoosiers afford college - these three once again show that they would rather protect their business buddies than help the citizens of this state. Shameful...

"Low Key" vs "Low Responsibility"

Benjamin Lanka's column in today's Journal Gazette stated:

Being low-key and quiet isn’t necessarily a bad personality trait, but political candidates likely wouldn’t want those terms associated with their campaigns.

Yet that is how many in the community view the campaign waged to date by Democratic mayoral nominee Tom Henry.

While his opponent, Republican Matt Kelty, campaigns under the cloud of felony indictments, Henry has been unable to grab the spotlight, partly because he refuses to make Kelty’s legal problems an issue.

Tom Henry once again clarified at yesterday's rally that he WOULD NOT go negative against Matt Kelty, as easy as that would be to do. I respect Tom for that stance and I think that most of my fellow residents of the Summit City do as well. While scandal certainly does sell, candidates who "go for the jugular" generally tend to be individuals who have no substance of their own to run upon. Tom, on the other hand, HAS presented no less than six proposals for change that his administration will bring to our city:

• A community task force to examine how to use the city’s trust fund.

• Asking the General Assembly to go into a special session to provide more property tax relief and local tax options.

• A team to examine the benefits of area rivers.

• A safe-house program for children.

• An economic development coordinating council to increase communication among development agencies.

• Collective purchasing for local governments.

Matt Kelty, on the other hand, is using his time left before the election to produce audio and You Tube spots which portray him as a "victim of (Choose One:) 1.- Andy Downs, 2.- Kevin Knuth, 3.-Nelson Peter's supporters, 4.- Cathy Hawks, 5.- Steve Shine, 6.- Other". It's with great pleasure that I offer the following advice to the Republican candidate for mayor of Fort Wayne:

"Suck it up, pull yourself up by your boot straps, and be responsible for your own decisions and actions".

I actually enjoyed that for a second or two, but only because of the hypocrisy involved. . .


NO hypocrisy THERE! Hat Tip to Andrew Kaduk for the above graphic!

Tom Henry packs the house

A huge crowd turned out this afternoon to spend time with Tom Henry, other local candidates, and elected officials:



I've never seen such a turnout at Democratic Headquarters. Cars were parked clear out to Bluffton Road. Henry's supporters are energized, enthusiastic, and ready to fight clear to the finish line in November. It doesn't show in these two shots, but many more people were in the back room due to the size of the crowd.

Tom Henry Unveils Purchasing Plan

Tom Henry released his plan for saving the city money by forming a collaborative purchasing network. An excerpt is shown below or you can read the whole thing here.

HENRY’S PROVEN BUSINESS SKILLS TO BOOST SAVINGS FOR PUBLIC, CITY PURCHASING, AREA PARTNERS

Collaborative Purchasing Plan Leads Mayoral Candidate’s Idea List for Getting the Most Bang Out of Every Taxpayer Buck

Fort Wayne, Indiana – Demonstrating his commitment to taxpayer savings, improved government effectiveness and enhanced cooperation, Mayoral candidate Tom Henry today rolled out his plan for a northeast Indiana collaborative purchasing network. The public-sector membership group would bid for commonly used products and services en masse creating economies of scale and a greater return on public expenditures.

“Higher value, better services, lower costs,” stated Henry. “These three simple tests have been my decision-making benchmarks. As a former hospital administrator, I helped start a group purchasing network that gave buying power to area hospitals and cut costs for patients. It saved, on average, 8 percent to 10 percent for our members every year. I’ll bring that same cost-efficient, customer-friendly thinking, experience and action into the Mayor’s Office. The citizens of Fort Wayne deserve to get the best deal, too.”

An overview of Henry’s collaborative purchasing network includes the following elements:
- Open membership to area cities, counties, towns, school corporations and other jurisdictions with taxing authority;
- Membership fees to support basic operations;
- Monthly meetings of purchasing directors or staff responsible for that function;
- Assessment of common purchasing needs and the sharing of best practices;
- Joint negotiation of the best deal on targeted products, supplies and services;
- Evaluation of budget cycles to identify and synchronize opportunities;
- Application of software-driven technology to increase performance; and
- Use of just-in-time delivery and existing warehouse facilities to keep costs in check.

Allen County Prosecutor Karen Richards is a Disgrace

AWB has a post linking to a story about a convicted child molester that is being given a slap on the wrist despite allegedly beating, kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman:

Prosecutors dropped two counts of criminal deviate conduct, a count of attempted rape, a felony count of battery, a count of criminal confinement and a count of being a repeat sexual offender. The reason wasn't immediately clear.

Meyer could now spend up to five years in prison, a fraction of the up to 81 years he originally faced. Police arrested Meyer because a woman claimed he hit her at an undisclosed home and told her “Your boyfriend gave me permission to do what I want,” according to court records. The woman told police Meyer then sexually assaulted her, threatened to kill her, beat her, tried to rape her and held her captive for nearly an hour and a half, according to court documents.

“I thought I was going to die,” the woman had told police.

The Allen County Prosecutor, Karen Richards, is ultimately responsible for this lack of justice. This is just another example of our criminal justice system not taking care of these scumbags. Now this guy will be free in two a half years to continue to torment the people of this community. When will the sheeple demand justice? Is there ANY crime that this crop of prosecutors won't give the most lenient sentence to?

Disgraceful...

McGruff House Update

A few weeks ago Tom Henry released his plan to implement a version of the McGruff House program here in Fort Wayne. The program is designed to provide safe houses throughout the community that children can use if they feel threatened. However, AWB linked to some stories about cities that had discontinued the program citing its ineffectiveness.

I decided to do my own research and contact the national McGruff House director and a few of the cities that were listed as having large McGruff House programs. The following is representative of what I sent to everyone:

There are some in my community (Ft Wayne, IN) that are pushing for local leaders to implement the McGruff House program. However, there are others that claim the program is ineffective and they cite a few cities that have recently did away with the program as an example.

I was hoping you could give me some insight/data on the effectiveness of the program in your community that I could share with everyone in my community.

Thank You

Unfortunately after 3 weeks I have only received one response and it is does not speak well to the program's effectiveness:

Mr. Pruitt,

I conducted research in our state on the program last year and can advise you that we have found it to be ineffective under our guidelines. Most of the jurisdictions that did have the program have either discontinued it or had it die of its own. Some of the issues were that the officers could not educates students about the program as before due to required Standards of Learning training requirements taking all time set aside for the program. I found that most of the programs did not comply with reporting requirements to the state. Most had not inspected the homes and rechecked the homes on a continuing basis and so on. Few of the houses had received any use as the program was designed for. A final issue was the background check and cost thereof. We have had jurisdictions create their own "Safehouse" program but I do not know how that is going.

Hope this helps,
Rick Arrington
Virginia Criminal Justice Program Analyst

I think it's a very troubling sign that the national director didn't even bother to respond to my request for information. Without any evidence to the contrary, I have no choice but to concur with Arrington's research/opinion that the program is ineffective and thus should not be implemented here in Fort Wayne...

It Always Comes Back to the Nazis

A letter appeared in today's JG that left me baffled:

Suppose Kelty hid loan from unacceptable person

Once again, people are missing the point of what Matt Kelty did.

He lied about where the money he used in his campaign came from. I just wonder whether those people who are rushing to support him would be doing so if it had been a representative of the American Nazi Party who loaned him the money.

Does the JG editorial staff print these letters just to get a good laugh? Seriously, what is the point the author is trying to make here? Of course Kelty supporters wouldn't support him if the loan had come from the Nazi Party because his supporters don't support Nazis.

I need to start an archive of the dumbest letters written to the editor...

Big Surprise - GAO Finds Iraq Benchmarks Are Not Being Met

The Government Accountability Office has released their report on the status of the 18 benchmarks that the Iraqi government was supposed to meet as part of the troop surge. The results ain't pretty:

The January 2007 U.S. strategy seeks to provide the Iraqi government with the time and space needed to help Iraqi society reconcile. Our analysis of the 18 legislative, security and economic benchmarks shows that as of August 30, 2007, the Iraqi government met 3, partially met 4, and did not meet 11 of its 18 benchmarks.

So which 3 did they meet?

1. Establish supporting political, media, economic, and services committees in support of the Baghdad security plan.
2. Establish all the of the planned joint security stations in neighborhoods across Baghdad
3. Ensure that the rights of minority political parties in the Iraqi legislature are protected.

And which ones have not been met? Well, basically all of the most important ones:

1. Enacting and implementing legislation on de-Ba'athification
2. Enacting and implementing legislation to ensure the equitable distribution of hydrocarbon resources
3. Enacting and implementing legislation establishing a strong militia disarmament program to ensure that such security forces are accountable only to the central government and loyal to the Constitution of Iraq
4. Ensuring that Iraqi security forces are providing even-handed enforcement of the law
5. Reducing the level of sectarian violence in Iraq and eliminating militia control of local security

You get the point.

Mission Accomplished...

Knuth to Step Down in 2009?

Say it ain't so Kevin. I think most people would agree that Knuth has done a good job as the Democratic party chairman and I was surprised to read that he will not seek another term:

I can’t think of too many good reasons to want to be chair,” he said.

In fact, Knuth said he won’t be seeking re-election after his term expires at the end of 2009. Knuth said he is the fifth Democratic chair to serve during Shine’s tenure.

So fill us in Kevin. Why the plans to step down?

Kelty Campaign Goes Negative

On last week's impact segment Matt Kelty accused "a sitting city council member" of buying up property and then "calling the mayor's office everyday" until the city agreed to buy the land for the Aboite fire station. Frankly I was somewhat surprised to see Kelty start throwing dirt around - especially on such an old story.

Now Kelty is attacking Tom Henry for, of all things, his experience in city government:

If I have an edge it is because I'm a fresh voice. I haven't served as a City Councilman for 20 years, already being trained what I can't accomplish.

Good point Matt. You haven't served as anything for the last 20 years. And perhaps somebody should've trained you not to lie to the media and the general public. Most people find honesty a desirable trait in their mayor...

UPDATE: The comment about the "sitting city council member" seems to have sparked some confusion. I'm not going to do Matt's dirty work for him but suffice to say that the person he's referring to is not and was not a sitting city council member...

Another Quick Thought On Alberto Gonzales

I didn't have much to say about this Constitutional menace, and all-around scoundrel, when he resigned. However I would feel remiss if I didn't link to the comments of Bartleby over at The Chestnut Tree Cafe - one of my daily reads in the Fort Wayne blogosphere:

Well, Gonzo's gone. In keeping with the prevailing ethos in the Bush regime, it's all about him:

“Even my worst days as attorney general have been better than my father’s best days,” Mr. Gonzales said. “I have lived the American dream.”

Yes, he's a lying buffoon, and has served as a quasi-legal mouthpiece for as stinking a group of war criminals and third-rate tyrants as can be imagined. But he seems to imagine that what I need to know is that he's been having a fine time, and that la familia Gonzales is movin' on up. Yeah, whatever. If there were any justice, there'd be a Saddam-style noose waiting for him, right beside the one for his weasel chickenhawk boss.