As required by state law (brought to the forefront by Mitch Harper) Ed Rousseau and Paul Shaffer are off the Fort Wayne-Allen County Convention and Tourism Authority board. State law requires members to be residents within the county but outside the city limits and both Shaffer and Rousseau do not meet this requirement.
Now the county commissioners need to replace them and I believe local blogger, and CPA, Mike Sylvester would make an excellent choice. I must apologize to Mike as he has no idea I'm writing this and I'm not sure if he even wants to be on the board. Mike is a fiscal conservative with a strong belief in open government. This particular board needs people with that ideology. In an editorial, the JG explains the importance of this particular board:
The county commissioners need to replace them with the best possible appointees – and do it as quickly as responsibly possible. The authority must soon decide on the city’s request to allocate $250,000 a year for 10 years to the Harrison Square project.
The convention and tourism authority’s most visible community role is in operating Grand Wayne Center. But the authority also serves as the local capital improvements board and, if a number of local officials have their way, could someday wield significant new power in approving and financing capital projects.
As a CPA Mike Sylvester is clearly qualified for this position. Mike should throw his hat in the ring and the County Commissioners should nominate him to serve this community...
