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Give me liberty…

By PA

Fort Wayne Reader

2007-07-09

Four years ago, the Libertarian Party of Allen County (LPAC) didn’t field a single candidate for local political office. That all changes in 2007.

“We are growing thanks to our incumbents regrettable waste of taxpayer dollars,” says LPAC secretary Doug Horner. “We want to give our neighbors the opportunity to vote for candidates who believe in smaller government, lowering property taxes and protecting our property rights and civil liberties.”

Horner, who is running for Fort Wayne City Council At-Large, is one of eight Libertarians running for local office this November - the largest number of city candidates fielded by an alternative party in decades.

What do the Libertarians stand for? According to the vision statement on LPAC’s website (www.allencountylp.org), Libertarians “believe in governmental fiscal responsibility at all levels. We believe that the citizens of Allen County should be allowed to live their lives with minimal governmental intrusion, so long as the individual is not harming someone else. We believe that small business is the backbone of any community, including Allen County. We hold that governmental intrusion into business practices should be reduced to minimum levels while allowing the free market to guide business practices.”

The list of Libertarian candidates includes:

1st District Fort Wayne City Council:
Byron Peters - owner, downtown’s 412 Club

2nd District Fort Wayne City Council:
Jon Bartles - LPAC vice-chair

3rd District Fort Wayne City Council:
Gloria Diaz - Fort Wayne Reader columnist and author of the blog “Edge of Gloria”

5th District Fort Wayne City Council:
Robert Fuller - service industry employee

6th District Fort Wayne City Council:
Robert Enders - LPAC treasurer, 2006 Libertarian nominee for State Representative (District 80), and author of the local blog “Blog of the Enders”

At-Large Fort Wayne City Council:
Doug Horner - LPAC secretary

Michael Brightbill - IPFW student

William Larsen - former GOP primary candidate for U.S. Representative

LPAC did not field candidates for mayor, city clerk or 4th District Fort Wayne City Council. But Horner says keep watching.

“We will try to run for more positions next time,” Horner declared. “We are here to stay and we will give our neighbors a choice.”

For more information about the Libertarian Party of Allen County, call party chair Jennifer Jeffrey at (260) 418-2750.

NEVERENDING JOURNEY
As FWR went to press, “Matt is cleared!” was the bold declaration on the home page of GOP mayoral candidate Matt Kelty’s campaign website (www.mattkelty.com). Not so fast, Mr. Kelty.

Despite winning his case before the Allen County Election Board on a party line vote (two Republicans for, one Democrat against), Matt Kelty’s campaign finance saga took another turn this week.

Special prosecutor Dan Sigler has asked Allen County Judge Fran Gull to impanel a grand jury to investigate whether Kelty broke any laws in reporting $160,000 in campaign loans. Kelty originally said he loaned the money to his campaign, but when pressed by Republican Party officials, he revealed that campaign supporters Fred Rost and Glenna and Steven Jehl were the actual sources of the money.

The grand jury is expected to begin deliberations in August. If an indictment results, Kelty could face trial on felony charges. Although a conviction could remove him from the ballot, Kelty remains confident he will be vindicated.

"I am more resolute today than I ever have been as the Republican candidate for mayor," Kelty told reporterrs at a news conference.

THE MANY PARENTS OF SUCCESS
In 2006, when Mayor Graham Richard announced plans for nearly 400 homes near-downtown in the Hanna-Creighton area, many people - elected officials, community leaders and even current neighborhood residents - expressed strong doubts that anything would ever happen there.

Apparently, those folks are converts. The recent groundbreaking for Renaissance Pointe lured a seemingly record number of local elected and civic leaders - some of whom had little or nothing to do with the development - to hold shovels and express support. The first of six model homes will be completed by October. Visit www.rpointe.org for details