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Oh well…

By Jim Sack

Fort Wayne Reader

2015-09-17

Public Property, Private Profit

The Henry Administration proposes to give away expensive public property to a fellow politician. The land, prime acreage next to the ballpark, will be given to Eric Doden, former candidate for mayor, a Pence appointee who formerly headed the Indiana Department of Economic Development, and now heads Greater Fort Wayne, Inc., a public subsidized organization that replaced the Chamber. Expect the Henry Administration to follow this giveaway with substantial tax cuts for Doden’s projects. Doden makes a whopping profit, Mayor Henry gets a partner, and you pay the tab. It seems the very definition of crony capitalism. So, why are we giving away public land? Other places lease public land.


Tightening Up Access to the Legacy

To most, city council’s rejection of a funding proposal unanimously recommended by its own Legacy Committee came as a surprise. Parkview Hospital and a collection of universities wanted $1 million for a higher-ed program. To dip into the Legacy requires six votes, they got five. Russ Jehl was missing, Dr. John Crawford abstained due to business ties with Parkview, and Mitch Harper joined Marty Bender in voting no. A few locals think the Legacy has been too easily tapped by the Henry Administration for dubious projects, such as snow removal and a roundabout. But, council had previously given $3 million to help St. Francis University relocate programs downtown to the old Scottish Rite Auditorium, so perhaps this, too, fit. Nope. Candidate Harper cited fuzzy Administration supplied numbers predicting the Legacy will last ad infinitum regardless of spending. Harper thinks the Legacy should be truly catalytic and transformational, and last decades. Others, including neighborhood leader Karl Dietsch, believes the City is burning through the money. He proposed three changes to allocating the fund, including, depending on circumstances, in some cases loaning the money, rather than granting it, something Russ Jehl floated earlier this year. (Perhaps, the idea that would be useful in the tax abatement process, as well.) An independent candidate for mayor, Bob Bastian, asked why Parkview needed any public money when they seem to have oodles in the bank? Good question. Expect council to revisit Legacy spending guidelines.


P.S. on the Parkview Proposal

Word is the administration didn’t push the failed Parkview proposal. A councilman notes that the timing was also ill-thought. It had been sitting around for months before introduction, but the administration chose to send it down for action over a long weekend when one winnable vote was on vacation. If the administration really wanted Legacy money for the project they also would have twisted a couple of arms. So, the question is whether they are inept, or indifferent and were afraid to offend Parkview, or they wanted opponent Harper to take the blame?

Boo

Mayor Henry was booed at the Annual Labor Day picnic in Headwaters Park. Labor just doesn’t see the mayor as their friend anymore. On his first run for mayor eight years ago Labor turned out big for Tom, with money, people and enthusiasm. But the Henry Administration has been seen as anti-union from nearly day one. When council took away collective bargaining rights from city workers, union leaders felt the mayor did next to nothing to protect their hard won rights. They felt his veto of the bill was only a meaningless gesture, or worse. Council easily overrode his veto. So Labor booed Henry when he showed up at the Labor Day Picnic. It is not a good sign for the mayor. In a city where Republican strongly outnumber Democrats Mayor Henry cannot afford to alienate his base. Labor, though, is not likely to go over to challenger Mitch Harper’s side. They are more likely just to skip that button on the machine.

Truck Hub

Seems County Government has the same tin ear as the mayor. They, apparently, didn’t bother to bring residents into the discussion early concerning an 87-acre truck hub on Lower Huntington Road. They mayor, you may remember, endorsed a development on Rudisill Boulevard without checking with the neighborhoods surrounding the ill-fated development. Government, both county and city, are too enraptured by big money developers and indifferent to the neighborhoods.


The Downtown Arena

Could the great Larry Bird’s visit to town be the precursor to announcing plans to construct a downtown arena, a public-private partnership? Could it be that the Pacers will call on the good people of Allen County to give them a sweetheart deal similar to the one the Richard Administration handed Atlanta’s Hardball Capital where the vast majority of the expenses are born by taxpayers and the profits flow to corporations? Construction cost subsidies, abatements, TIFs, perhaps more?