Monday, November 19, 2007

Local Opinion

Letters to the editor
Link (JG)

"Mayor-elect Tom Henry said on election night that he would “risk more than others think is safe” when he’s in office.

I find this to be a poor choice of words and insensitive to the resentment voters are feeling over boondoggles such as Kitty Hawk and now Harrison Square. In both cases, taxpayer money could have been better spent.

It’s safe to say if not for the indictments, Matt Kelty would have been our next mayor over the aforementioned issues.

Mayor-elect Henry should attempt to bring us together instead of dividing us further over these issues by weighing his words carefully in the future."

12 comments:

Unknown said...

BOONDOGGLE!!!

brian spaulding said...

Last week an editorial stated 90% of residents disapprove of Harrison Square.

If Harrison Square and the smoking ban were such polarizing issues, why was voter turnout around 30% ?

The election wasn't about Kelty/Henry differences on Harrison Square. How did Schmidt, a Harrison Square opponent, get upset by a Harrison Square supporter and redevelopment commission member, no less?
Bender and Brown are both on record for Harrison Square support as well.
In addition, Pape, Didier and Hines, whom all voted to approve Harrison Square funding, were reelected.

None of their opponents had indictments.

John B. Kalb said...

Brian - I believe that Don Schmidt was defeated because of his vote on granting a tax abatement to an already-built McDonalds which flew in the face of his conservative fiscal "stand". The low voter turnout is a reflection on the public feeling that local government, like state & national, is becoming so complicated and impossible to understand that they just give up. And, in addition, those in elected offices just do as they please - and there are no longer any controls - as an example, our Redevelopment Department's "interpretation" of Indiana Code which they say gives them complete say on how they operate - contrary to both the state and city code and the opinion of our state Attorney General. When the councilman who looked at proposals with the most critical eye, Dr. Crawford, is releaved of his elected position, something is being said by the voters. I guess you just see things differently than I do. John B. Kalb
And Wendy - My favorite word to describe HS and you put THREE exclimation points behind it - does that mean that you are finally seeing the light? John

Unknown said...

John, I saw the light a long time ago - I support Harrison Square.

Lest there be any misunderstanding, my cohorts in the blogosphere know the word boondoggle makes me laugh so I like to acknowledge its presence when it makes an appearance. Have a boondogglicious day!

Emmett Greider said...

John and Wendy (and Brian)... I love you all!!! ;-) See ya soon...

Anonymous said...

John B. Kalb, I am glad that you have returned from your efforts to assure that Tim Pape and Tom Didier were not re-elected. I see on AWB that you are not focusing your efforts on making sure that Bill Larsen defeats Mark Souder in the primary. Good luck with that John. Please spend all of your free time on the Larsen campaign. That is an effort that is certain to bear a lot of fruit.

Scott Bryson said...

To my understanding, voter turnout for this election was higher than in recent years. Schmidt lost because his district is becoming increasingly Democratic, while the first is the one that is not overwhelmingly Republican.

And isn't Larson the person that is against Social Security? Sounds like a winner to me. Anger the voting block that votes the most. That's intelligent.

Eric White said...

"It’s safe to say if not for the indictments, Matt Kelty would have been our next mayor over the aforementioned issues."

How does one go about uniting a city when we have people like this?

Phil Marx said...

Boondogglicious - that's funny!

I've got one. How about a Boondogalox.

This is when a boondogle actually occurs, but logically you can prove that it's existence is impossible.

It's a boondoggle, it's a paradox - it's a boondogalox!

Unknown said...

Good one, Phil!

John B. Kalb said...

Phil - Your extension to boondoggle sounds like a laxative to me - does that translate to "This too shall pass" ? John B. Kalb

Phil Marx said...

John,

Like you, I was also opposed to Harrison Square. However, I am in agreement with Wendy on "Boondoggle". The word just makes me laugh. It's probably a generational thing.

My modification of the word carries no political message. I'm just having fun.

At this point, there's probably no one left reading this post. But what the heck, I'm going to put this out there anyway.

BOONDOGGALUPA:
A food item that most people don't like, that actually makes many people sick just thinking of it, and that appears on the Taco Bell menu.

Wait a minute, that's their entire menu!