Sunday, October 28, 2007

Local Opinion

Letters to the editor
Link

Taxes pay for worthy services


Taxes are always an issue, but for the most part, we are getting our money’s worth of services for what we pay.

County taxes support our sheriff’s department and keep our bridges in good repair; city taxes support our police and fire departments, pave and plow our streets and pick up our leaves; we pay a library tax for one of the finest library systems in the country; although we no longer have children in school, we welcome the chance to support the schools; and how fortunate we are to have city officials who see the quality of life that our parks system adds to our community.

I’m 79 years old. When our younger councilmen like Sam Talarico Jr. and Tim Pape find the Harrison Square project to be exciting and envision the good things that can come from it, why should we old codgers stand in the way of this kind of progress?

Tom Henry’s 20 years of experience on the City Council gives him a realistic sense of what it takes to make our government work. His opponent makes it sound like, without experience, he can be our “savior” by waving a magic wand that will correct the terrible shape in which he sees Fort Wayne. I disagree with him. A vote for Henry is a vote for experience, honesty and integrity in government.

City doesn’t need more liberal politics

If you want another decade or two of politicians running roughshod over our city taxing and spending, doing what they want downtown instead of what the public wants, then vote for Tom Henry – he is a part of the problem. We had Henry for five terms, and we’ve had enough of liberal politics. Nobody wants that baseball stadium, but Henry is determined to run it down our throats before his term expires. The very fact that the liberal media and the seasoned politicians are so opposed to Matt Kelty is endorsement enough for me.

Pay for roads, not ballpark

In my opinion, $50 million would be better spent on roads and infrastructure to spur development rather than another ballpark. I can’t imagine any company would decide to locate here because of a new ballpark. The politicians represent special interests, not taxpayers. Count me as an independent.

Kelty challenges entrenched ideas

Matt Kelty is a decent and honorable man. His optimism, good sense and strong values are infectious and refreshing. For all of us he seeks less taxes and government regulation combined with a can-do commitment to job creation. He has challenged entrenched political interests who have orchestrated forced annexations, presided over skyrocketing property tax increases and will now spend tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to build an empty downtown baseball stadium next to a soon-to-be-vacant new hotel.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

wow...lotta pessimism in some of those letters. Typical Fort Wayners I guess.

Anonymous said...

It's easy to mistake realism for pessimism.

The ONLY point Sam Talarico has made about the whole project is that they didn't do a good enough job selling it to the residents of Fort Wayne. Well, when you are smarter than and know more than anybody else, and the people just wouldn't get it anyway, informing and asking the people of Fort Wayne for input before making such a huge decision would have been a waste of time.

The state of Indiana invested $24 million to secure a Honda automobile manufacturing plant. Fort Wayne invested $30 million in hopes that people from outside Fort Wayne will like us. "Build it and they will come."

The money's spent, so now we have to "go the distance."

I'm sure that eventually, if Hardball Capital remains committed to Fort Wayne, and if we have good leadership, not dictatorship*, Harrison Square might be successful. Overall, it is not a bad concept. But those of us who work and live outside of downtown struggle to see it as the right decision for right now.

c'est la vie

*(I never had an opportunity to vote for current city leadership. They were appointed as my representatives after annexation and they made a decision on my behalf, then most of them quit before we could hold them accountable at the voting booth. When you conscript people's money through taxation and annexation and don't allow them a voice in the process of spending it, that is pretty much a dictatorship.

For me, Graham Richard - Mayor, Tom Hayhurst - Councilman 4th district, and Sam Talarico - Councilman at large, John Crawford - Councilman at large, and John Shoaff - Councilman at large, are dictators until the next election. They should not have been allowed to make non-essential government decisions, or at least have had the decency to wait, until the electorate had a say.

John Crawford and John Shoaff have stayed to face the consequences. To most of us, it looks like the others have cut and run.)