Allen County Democratic Party

Happy New Year!

Here's a nice backstage look at the Democratic National Convention.

Enjoy!

MERRY CHRISTMAS..HOW MANY DAYS UNTIL THE INAUGURATION??

First of all, Merry Christmas to All!   I survived five days without power and then a trip yesterday to the fog-laden Indy airport (My son's flight to NJ was only delayed FIVE  hours),,,

So, now I am ready and eager to look forward to Jan. 20!    Many of you have asked...so here is the answer:  Yes!  The ACDP is planning 'something' that will provide an opportunity for Dems to get together here in FW and experience Barak Obama's Inauguration.    There are already a few evening, fancy dinners and events being held by other organizations and we do not plan to compete with those.  But,  we would like to have an informal get-together during the swearing in and morning ceremonies.   

If you are interested or have suggestions, please respond here or call me (Deb) at HQ--478-8239.  If you would like to help plan the event even BETTER!

Watch for more details!!

 

Everybody loves a year-end contest

Let me start by saying that the overwhelming majority of politicians are honest and hardworking, and that is true for both all sides of the aisle.

Still, who can resist Talking Point Memo's annual "Golden Duke" awards?  Here are the nominees for a variety of misbehaviors by politicians of all stripes:

More opportunities for healthcare input

If you aren't able to make the December 29 session (or even if you are), there is another opportunity for you to provide your thoughts on healthcare reform to the Obama administration.  On Tuesday, December 30, the Black Women's Healthcare Imperative will hold a discussion at the Downtown Library, 6 - 7:30 p.m., Meeting Room B.  Please RSVP to Judy Harris:  judy.harris (at) ppin.org.

What happened?

Here is a great piece by Andrew Sullivan.

"Looking back over the past twelve months, as one is wont to do this time of year, I note one thing: readers saw this election more clearly, more presciently than most pundits. Here's an email from January 2 last year, which basically saw it all before a single vote was cast:

The national media and pollsters don't live where I do (Carroll, Iowa). When the story is told on Thursday night, the narrative will be a remarkable one: Obama will cobble together western Iowa counties with ivory towered college towns and eastern cities within the shadow of his Illinois. What's more, while he is running a tight race with U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton and former U.S. Sen. John Edwards with traditional voters, Obama will pull ahead with new people, not just the young, but the never-before caucus-goers. I see their faces in the crowds. They are the woman I went to high school with who stunned me by appearing, waving a Barack Obama sign, no less, at one of his events in Carroll. Surely, she must have an "American Idol" re-run to watch, I thought. No, she's caucusing for Obama.

It turned out that we were the ones we'd been waiting for. Thanks for being a part of an amazing year."

Yes, but if everyone had listened to your friend from Iowa, Andrew, what would the talking heads on cable news and the typing fingers in the blogosphere had to do during the past year?

Pets to be accomodated at the Red Cross Coliseum Shelter

From Mayor Henry's Public Information Office:

"After identifying all local hotels that accept pets and boarding kennels are full, the City’s Animal Care & Control department is opening a dog and cat shelter at 10 tonight at the Memorial Coliseum.

"We’ve gotten calls from residents without power who don’t want to leave a beloved dog or cat but didn’t have a place for their pet. This co-sheltering option will provide heat and safety for both owner and pets,” Mayor Tom Henry said. “If you have a cat or a dog and are in a house without heat, please go to the Coliseum tonight. You will be providing the best possible shelter for your dog or cat and yourself."

Any dog or cat owners sheltering pets at the Coliseum will need to stay at the Red Cross’s Coliseum shelter too to provide intermittent care. Animal Care & Control employees and volunteers are staffing the temporary shelter that will be open through 10 p.m. Tuesday.

People with pets registering at the Coliseum should leave the animal in the car and register first at the expo center. They should let the Red Cross staff know they have a pet, and they will be directed to the appropriate entrance to drop off the dog or cat. Pet owners should bring the following items for their animal:

• Crate or kennel
• Food and any medications
• Secure collar and leash
• Blanket for sleeping
• Favorite toy

In this animal emergency, Belinda Lewis, Animal Care & Control director, is asking for the public’s help with some items of need. The shelter, 3020 Hillegas Road, will be open until midnight to accept the following donations:

• Temporary donations of crates and airline kennels; the items will be clearly marked with the owner’s name and returned after the emergency
• Paper towels
• Buckets
• Plastic grocery bags to be used as pooper scoopers

The remaining space at the Animal Care & Control shelter is reserved for public safety or animal emergencies.

Thanks to our city and utility employees

Having just returned to her home from a 24-hour relocation to a relative's house, your humble correspondent would like to say THANK YOU to all of the hard-working employees of the City of Fort Wayne.  Driving back through town it was apparent that many streets had been cleared of trees, and the main streets were free of ice.  With as widespread a storm as we had, and the additional challenge of power outages, our city employees are doing a great job.

And thanks to the employees of AEP and its contractors for getting power turned back on as soon as possible under very, very unpleasant (to say the least) conditions.

No, it's not all cleared up yet and I am very sympathetic to everyone who either cannot read this yet, or who is reading it from somewhere other than their own home due to lack of power, but I wanted to give an 'atta boy and 'atta girl to the folks who are working hard to get things back to normal.

Breaking News- County Council force Commissioners to Part-Time status

Today the Allen County Council voted to make the three Allen County Commissioner positions part-time effective July 1, 2010.

This will be a story that dominates the local political news for a few weeks.

Initial reports seem to indicate that the commissioners did not know this was going to happen and that they are not too happy about it.

UPDATE- County Councilman Paul Moss was on WOWO this afternoon (around 4:35pm) and he said this move was done primarily because commissioners had an "inability to get things moving forward".  Councilman Moss specifically mentioned the lack of progress on combining the 911 call center with the city.

Another example of why change is needed at the county level

Allen County government is screwed up.  I guess that is not news to anyone who lives here.  Here is another example:

Recently you may have read about a proposed pay increase for certain county employees and elected officials.  Whether or not you agree with this is not the issue I want to discuss- I want to focus on the mechanism that was used to determine the proposed raises.

As I understand it, the County paid for at least one study (possibly two) before deciding to have their own HR department come up with a plan.  This plan was "based" on data from other counties.  And that is where the problem is- there is no consistency.

Our Voter Registration Board members (one Democrat and one Republican) were showed to be the "most underpaid" employees of the county in the first study.  The current HR study decided to compare the wages of these positions against those in Lake County.  The problem with that is that the Lake County board members do not have the same responsibilities.  The counties that do pay their voter registration board members more.

Oh, here is the kicker- if you want to use Lake County as the model- they have a higher population than Allen County does- then why did HR propose paying ELECTED officials MORE than Lake County?

In Lake County the Auditor, Assessor, Clerk, Recorder, Treasurer Surveyor and Coroner all make $53,381.  Under the Allen County plan they will make between $57,435 and $77,896.

Will someone tell me what is fair about that??

Healthcare discussion coming up

President-Elect Barack Obama has asked Americans to come together and discuss the best ways to achieve affordable healthcare for all.

The Northeast Indiana Chapter of Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan will host the Health Care Community Discussion on Monday, December 29, 2008 at 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Meetinghouse, 5310 Old Mill Road in Fort Wayne.

This is open to everyone in the community – please bring your ideas for change.  Light refreshments will be served.

A collection for Community Harvest Food Bank will be taken that evening, so please bring a non-perishable food item if you are able.