The Burgess Report: Why you should vote against the proposed restructuring of Allen County government

The restructuring of Allen County government, known as HB 1346, will be a referendum question posed to voters this November. Should you vote for or against it? While I personally like the idea of restructuring county government, I have to advocate against the proposal being offered due to current local political conditions.

WHY ARE LEGISLATORS OUTSIDE OF ALLEN COUNTY WRITING LEGISLATION THAT PERTAINS ONLY TO ALLEN COUNTY?

HB1346 affects only Allen County. [1] It was originally authored by Republican State Representative Dan Leonard, who primarily represents Huntington and Wells Counties and only the southwest part of Fort Wayne/Allen County. [2] Leonard started this process on January 14, 2014 and two weeks later, Republican State Representative Dick Hamm joined Leonard as a co-author of the bill. [3] Hamm has no affiliation to Allen County. He is a representative from Wayne County. [4] For me, personally, right there waves a red flag. Why would folks outside of Allen County have an interest in the structuring/restructuring of Allen County Government? What’s in it for them?

Now, in the two weeks since Leonard authored the bill, a flurry of activity took place. Hamm became a co-author as discussed above. Later, local representative Republican Bob Morris was added as a co-author. Indiana Senator Phil Boots, of Fountain, Montgomery, Parke, Vermillion, Warren and a portion of Boone County [5], and Senator Dennis Kruse, of Portions of Allen and DeKalb counties, [6] were added as sponsors. Both of these Senators are Republicans and both serve on committees necessary for passage of this legislation. Boots serves on the Committee for Local Government; Kruse serves on the Committee of Rules and Legislative Procedure.

Besides being Republicans, there is something else all of these guys have in common. They are all supported financially, directly or indirectly, by the Indiana Republican Party, the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, and/or Steel Dynamics, or subsidiaries, associates or affiliates thereof. [7] This cozy “affiliation” is a little too coincidental for my tastes and sends up another red flag. (Folks, remember, the Ash Brokerage projects and most of the so-called “economic development” projects all use structural steel, as manufactured by Steel Dynamics.)

WHY IS THIS REPUBLICAN INITIATIVE BEING SUPPORTED BY DEMOCRATS?

Now, please understand that this is not only being supported by Republicans. Democrat State Representative Phil GiaQuinta became a co-author as of March 10, 2014. [8] His district is in Allen County. [9] At first, GiaQuinta’s involvement may seem peculiar. The Republicans have a super majority in the Indiana Statehouse. These Republicans don’t “need” a Democrat, particularly this one, to push through their agenda. But then, wait….GiaQuinta also supported by the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, and/or Steel Dynamics, or subsidiaries, associates or affiliates thereof. [10] (Mr. GiaQuinta is also responsible for another interesting piece of legislation that created the Fort Wayne-Allen County Capital Improvements Board and allows “excess” money that Allen County receives from the Food & Beverage Tax to be redirected/funneled into the CIB. Alas, THAT is a topic for another day.)

You see, having a “token Democrat” allows these Republicans to pass the bill off to the general public as having “bi-partisan” support. In reality, these Republicans and Democrat are not acting in good faith of the general public, their constituents, but rather are working on behalf of their financiers and campaign supporters—-the people who put them into office. This means that as it gets closer to November, we are all going to start hearing both Democrats and Republicans promote the passage of HB 1346.

WHAT ARE REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS WHO ARE IN FAVOR OF HB 1346 SAYING ABOUT ALLEN COUNTY GOVERNMENT RESTRUCTURING?

To make sure all these talking heads are using the same talking points, a website has been created. This website is dedicated to the passage of HB 1346, called Advance Allen. (http://www.advanceallen.com) The website was developed as of June 30^th, 2014 by Asher Agency, who does a LOT of work for the Allen County Republican Party as well as the Indiana Republican Party. [11] This information by itself is insignificant until you take into account how much money Asher Agency normally charges and then come to the realization that local media isn’t really giving much exposure to the subject of county government restructuring. Why pay money to fund a one-sided publicity battle? Because its real purpose isn’t to educate the public, but rather to keep the message consistent with both the Republican and Democratic talking heads…uh, erh….”public servants.”

The website touts the talking points in favor of county government restructuring, as follows:

MORE EFFICIENT: Decision-making will be streamlined AND there will be a single point of contact for economic development. (Phase I promotion)

MORE EFFECTIVE: Allen County will be able to compete better nationally in attracting businesses and jobs AND better, more direct representation. (Phase II promotion)

MORE ACCOUNTABLE: The public will know exactly where the buck stops – who the ultimate decision maker is in county government AND will create a better system of checks and balances. (Phase III promotion, if needed)

Think I’m making this up? Let’s review part of an op-ed piece that Republican Allen County Commissioner Nelson Peters, published on July 28, 2014 in The Journal Gazette: “On Nov. 4, vote to make Allen County government more efficient, more accountable and more effective. Vote yes on the single county executive referendum.” [12] More efficient. More accountable. More effective. Yep, all three talking points are here. (shaking head) (Interestingly and not surprisingly, Nelson Peters is a member of the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership and was a member in 2013 and in 2012, his campaign was financed by the Bruce Dye, Ronda Hanning, Bill Bean and other associates and affiliates of Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, and/or Steel Dynamics, or subsidiaries. You may also remember Ronda Hanning, who has an active role in the Downtown Development Trust/Downtown Improvement District, and her husband, Bill Bean, who is a local real estate developer---from the Ash Bokerage/Hanning & Bean project. Hey, you need land to construct buildings that require steel structural rails. What some of you may find surprising is that Peters was also financed by Midwest Pipe, which is a Henry family-owned business. ‘Cause when you build buildings, you need to have restrooms with pipes for water and sewage.)

WHAT ARE REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS WHO ARE IN FAVOR OF HB 1346 NOT SAYING ABOUT ALLEN COUNTY GOVERNMENT RESTRUCTURING? (AND WHY I AM IN FAVOR OF NIXING HB 1346)

The November ballot will read: “"Shall the county government of (insert the name of the county) County be reorganized to place all executive powers in a single county executive and to place all legislative and fiscal powers in the county council?"” To which voters will answer Yes or No. [13]

However, the devil is in the details and its in what is not being said that residents and voters alike need to be made aware of.

First, please understand that this referendum is asking County residents (which includes the residents of all cities and towns, like Fort Wayne, New Haven, Huntertown, Woodburn, Leo, Grabill, Monroeville, Hoagland, Zanesville, Arcola, etc) if local county government should be restructured. Generally, I am for the restructuring of County Government. Most residents don’t understand how county government operates and that lack of understanding makes it easier for the County to engage in willy nilly practices for which the electorate has a difficult time holding anyone in County government accountable. If County government operated like City government, accountability would increase. In theory, anyways. Note that this means, I am in agreement with many of the talking points listed above.

Having said that, however, I am vehemently opposed to HB 1346 and here are the main reasons I would nix HB 1346:

(1) Representation at the county level would be imbalanced as there would be an overrepresentation of Fort Wayne and New Haven and an underrepresentation of everyone else in the County. (See images below)

(2) There would be an increase in cost as the single County Executive would likely receive a salary increase (similar to the Mayor of Fort Wayne) and County Council would also likely receive a salary increase (similar to members of Fort Wayne’s City Council), all under the guise of an increased workload. This means that the nearly $140,000 “saved” by eliminating two commissions would evaporate with a pay raise to the remaining County Executive and the increased membership of County Council. Matter of fact, it would actually cause an estimated annual increase of about $9,000 to $10,000. [14] [15]

(3) With more members on County Council comes more “pet projects”---usually so-called “economic development” projects that usually offer very little, if anything, in the way of true economic development but cost the taxpayers more and more each year…..so much so that last year, the County and Fort Wayne City Council worked together to create the LOIT (Local Option Income Tax), by way of the Allen County Income Tax Council, and then increased it. [16] [17] [18]

Folks, the reality is that so-called “economic development” projects are really taxpayer-backed government subsidies given to businesses. Here in Allen County, all of these subsidies can be directly tied to corporate cronyism, with the most recent Ash Brokerage/Hanning & Bean project being a gem of an example. Local subsidies lead to state subsidies, which are dependent on “substantial local investment” and/or “local municipalities have offered significant incentives.” [19]

The Indiana Economic Development Commission, as created by Governor Mike Pence (who is also funded by the same entities listed above) and is headed up by former Fort Wayne Republican mayoral candidate Eric Doden (also funded by the same entities listed above), is hoping Indiana cities and regions…..emphasis on REGIONS (i.e. Northeast Indiana REGIONAL Partnership) can do “to transform themselves into national economic powerhouses.” [20] Hhhmmm…..tranform??? Now, where have we heard that term before?? Oh, yeah, the Legacy Fund seeks transformational projects. [21] And the Ash Brokerage/Hanning & Bean project is a multimillion dollar “transformational” project. [22] And nearly $5 million is comimg from the IEDC. [23] (There is more here, but alas, that topic is best discussed another day.)

The truth is that the more “efficient” and more “effective” county government supposedly is, the easier it will be to rubber-stamp corporate cronyism projects---especially those benefitting the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, and/or Steel Dynamics, or subsidiaries, associates or affiliates thereof. [24]

(4) Lastly, even if I were for this referendum, it has one huge flaw that simply cannot be overlooked. Voters are being asked to vote blindly for a new County Council make-up without knowing exactly how they will be represented by council, geographically. This information needs to be presented to the voters BEFORE they vote, so they know what exactly it is they are voting for. To ask residents to cast a vote for the referendum before all facts are made available is just bad public policy. (See images below)

Currently, residents have 1 councilman representing their district plus 3 at-large councilmen.

Most voters believe that if County Government is restructured, that 9 county council districts will be created, equally based on geography like they are now. What these voters don't realize is that the new districts will be based on population.

The City of Fort Wayne and the City of New Haven make up about 66% percent of all Allen County residents, with Fort Wayne consisting of about 52%. This means that these two neighboring municipalities will get the lion's share of representation. Urban areas will be over-represented and rural areas will be under-represented. Ironically, both urban and rural areas will likely be over-taxed due to "pet" economic development projects discussed above.

This could be one option for the Fort Wayne-New Haven metroplex. It is unknown how the remainder of the county will be divided up. This option makes it more difficult for economic development projects to continue in Downtown Fort Wayne.

This could be one option for the Fort Wayne-New Haven metroplex. It is unknown how the remainder of the county will be divided up. This option makes it less difficult for economic development projects to continue in Downtown Fort Wayne.

This is the best option for giving unlimited access for so-called economic development projects in Downtown Fort Wayne, maximizing the benefit to the associates, affiliates, and subsidiaries of the Northeast Regional Partnership, Steel Dynamics and others discussed above. It is unknown how the remainder of the county will be divided up.

Special Note: The above images are representative only and not drawn to any scale.

______

SOURCES:

[1] http://www.advanceallen.com/

[2] http://www.in.gov/legislative/house_republicans/homepages/r50/aboutdistrict.html

[3] http://legiscan.com/IN/bill/HB1346/2014

[4] http://www.in.gov/legislative/house_republicans/homepages/r56/district.html

[5] http://www.indianasenaterepublicans.com/senators/general/phil-boots/?back=senators

[6] http://www.indianasenaterepublicans.com/senators/general/dennis-kruse/?back=senators

[7] http://campaignfinance.in.gov/PublicSite/SearchPages/CandidateSearch.aspx

[8] http://legiscan.com/IN/bill/HB1346/2014

[9] http://giaquinta.indianahousedemocrats.org/