My SYLVESTER!!!! response

I realize that I've been quiet all day (multi hop flights are terrible to plan), and I've received personal messages saying "CFW, are you going to take that?", "MAN, you were just knocked down for the count", "I saw Mike at lunch today and trash talking CFW.", "Are you going to get the daily Reuben special?" Ok, the last one is real, but Mike did post his ideas on my and is talking libertarian smack about me on his blog - so I take that like he just smacked me with a leather glove. Get ready to duel Mikey.


Mike proposes -

1. I think we should build a casino in Downtown Fort Wayne. That will draw people from at least a 60 mile radius. Have you ever been to a casino, besides ones in Las Vegas? Take the one from Detroit for example. Sure it looks great - busy, people gambling, commerce seems to be taking place right? WRONG, that is a superficial view of what is exactly going on. Look closer, you see people that do not need to be there - you see addicts, people spending their rent money, and you see what is usually reserved for the corner of Coliseum and Goshen. You think a FW, a place that is at 80% of the national income level should offer more than lottery tickets? More over, you claim the 60 mile radius - so are we trying to build a tourist attraction? You reaffirm my statement that the discussion of downtown development has gone way off track - we are no longer talking about young professionals and improvement of the city. I'll give you an example, my friends from detroit - the outskirts - Birmingham, Bloomfield, Rochester - They never go to the casinos. You are talking about extremely affluent young professionals that I had to beg to go check out the casino. Scale that back to FW, there is less affluent people that reside here, do we really need them pouring money down the drain. You are talking about a city that is complaining about $25 a month tax increase on average for the FWCS fix, when I lost more than that is one hand of blackjack. It will just create a baaaaaaaaaaaad environment.

2. I think we should stop building strip malls at the edges of Fort Wayne. Everytime we build a new strip mall new businesses move into the new strip mall from their old locations. Fort Wayne has way too much commerical property and can only support so much retail space. I am actually looking to buy or build commercial property in Fort Wayne. We have thousands of commercial locations available; yet, we are still building more and building them on the edges of the City. I actually couldn't agree with you more. I believe it was the movie "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" that said, "There is urban area and rural areas, everything else is a waste land." Did I actually just quote that movie? Sorry - there are so many HBOs I get lost in what I'm watching. BUT, IF, and every other transition - economics point that if it weren't profitable, it wouldn't happen. I agree we need to stop approving variances, building permits, and everything else on the skirts of FW and fill in. I also believe if we focus on development of the core, it will happen naturally, once we hit development in Angola and we bring businesses downtown - no one will want to be an hour away from work. Also, may I suggest that you look into buying commercial property downtown, there are some fire sales going on right now.

3. I think Fort Wayne should have done more to prevent Parkview from moving north of Fort Wayne. I would guess that as many as 80% of the medical businesses surrounding Parkview on State will move north in the next few years. Imagine what is going to happen to that part of town. I tend to believe their promise of what they are going to do, and I do not think that the private practices and other medical businesses will move. But also look whats happening at St. Joeseph's.

4. I think Fort Wayne should meet with every local college and univeristy in this area and should attempt to convince them to offer more advanced degrees in Fort Wayne. There are several advanced degrees that are offered by multiple colleges in the Fort Wayne area. Possibly we could "plan" and offer more different advanced degrees. Mike, have you spoken to any of the universities or looked to see if they offer programs? Well, they do and they are trying to bring more, but its hard to get them approved by the main campuses, I speak of IPFW. The advanced degrees are trying to come, but it may not be possible, due to WL and Bloomington holding dearly onto their programs. Also, you're a money guy Mike you should understand this one - the DEMAND has to be there. The programs need to be based off of the local residents that have created the demand for a certain degree, then hopefully the program is reputable enough to draw people in from other regions. I know of at least one failed/stalled advanced program at IPFW because of the lack of interest (brain drain). Also, how about IPFW, Indiana Tech, Indiana Wesleyan, and Saint Francis all have graduate studies programs?

5. I would like to see Fort Wayne do more to help small business owners succeed in Fort Wayne. I think that Personal Property Taxes should be eliminated for small business owners entirely. OK, this is Mike SYLVESTER!!!! small business owner and libertarian speaking. So - if I start CFW, LLC and buy a couple of properties, I shouldn't have to pay property tax? Or how about those businesses that don't own? I agree that FW should help attract new business and possibly have more special loans for small business start ups. There are avenues for business owners and startups to take - you have to do the looking though - they aren't going to bang on your door asking you to start a business. Its not like the city is going to buy a sympathy burrito from my taco stand if I run a bad restaurant, right?

6. I think the Sheriff should be located Downtown. I believe you mean the sheriff department right? I agree it shouldn't be move to New Haven, or where ever the crazy location they are moving it to, but I think they should provide a good reason of why they are doing what they are doing. This also goes to different agencies too. I believe downtown is a governmental area as well. I've been told about the SSA moving so far from downtown that they are no longer even within the Federal Guidelines, which could cost tax payers a possible $100k+ every year.

7. I think that the City Planning Department needs to stop allowing developers to build anything they want on the edges of Fort Wayne. I think that The City Planning Department should limit development at the edges of Fort Wayne, this would ensure that developers spend more time "in-filling" our core. Refer to #2, I believe that this is practically the same statement. I'd extend it to residential as well. Does Beazer even exist anymore? It simply does not build communities. I also believe that government should help lagging economically developing areas (downtown, southtown) - this will create more of a demand for developers build around the government subsidized developed areas (does that sentence even make sense?).

8. I think the City should consider offering small public subsidies to build new projects Downtown. I do not want to see the City put up 50% of the project costs; however, I would support the City subsidizing some of the following projects Downtown: This is where the state failed us - we had to take an agreement over the CREED money. I believe the original offer in CREED districts was 20% of development costs. This was taken away from the city and we were given a timeline to spend the money. Which also creates some of the urgency of HS.

a. An olympic swimming pool. Not standing alone, or did we get an affiliated team of Olympic divers and I didn't know about it. I think along with the new ball diamond, and possibly something like what Miami of Ohio has (Goggin Center), the pool would be an excellent addition to downtown. The thing I don't understand is that people thing that downtown development is ONE project. Why not more? If I was a developer and wanted to develop downtown, I would be more likely to develop after or in conjunction with HS. You think the city would turn down a developer's offer to build something? I'm more likely to believe that the city would try to make it work if the developer was willing to deal like Harball.

b. A pedestrian bar and restaurant district. What do you call the retail that is coming along HS? I wouldn't say district either - I'd say "I'd like to see more bars and restaurants downtown."

c. There are many other projects that might work. (BUZZER SOUND!! Thats not an idea)


9. I think that we need to encourage small businesses to relocate Downtown. We currently subsidize a large number of small businesses at the NIIC center. I would like to see Fort Wayne stop giving so much in subsidies to large businesses and start to funnel a lot more of it to small businesses. This could be done by helping small businesses locate property Downtown and by streamlining the permit process. Cheap land creates cheap business sites. Fact: Large businesses create more taxes for the city, thus more of an incentive to give them subsidies. Also, Fort Wayne isn't that of an attractive place. Look at what Dave C. says - its hard enough to hire people to come work for him. FW could offer all the government subsidies in the world and let small businesses work here for free, but unless the business can attract people to come work there - it doesn't make business sense.

10. I think we need to eliminate wasteful Government spending and lower the taxes on both business owners and residents. This will leave residents and business owners with more money that will be spent in the local economy. I'm a republican - I'm all for lower taxes and small government. But lets face it, we have a CHEEP cost of living here. I'd say that instead of people dumping more money into the local economy (which is laughable - we have all chain stores, nearly all of that money goes else where, but if you want - we could all go dump our money at the local Do It Best stores, but we'd still be sending our money to New Haven), I'd say we need the government to invest in us.

11. Fort Wayne Government needs to stop hiring outside consultants for every little thing. We have plenty of competant people in Fort Wayne and we need to keep our money in this area. Imagine how good it would be for local businesses if Fort Wayne gave a preference to local businesses! I agree we have competent people in FW, but when FW has a long streak of doing the status quo, the adequate, and the same-o-same-0 we need fresh ideas. We give locals preference all the time, and look how we treat outsiders (Hardball). I'd love for a local to come up with something completely innovative and something great for the community. I'd welcome it in a heart beat, but no one is ponying up to the table.

To quote Arrested Development, "I'm an Ideas man, Michael." I have been positive throughout this whole process, and I will support HS and any other development after that. Any money that is being dumped into FW is welcome money in my book. I remind you, I spent a year and a half looking for a suitable condo to live in downtown. I looked into buying a building and converting it into livable units. I'm looking into starting my own restaurant. There's plenty of things on my table. What I am most positive about is that FW is finally caring about whats going on. Especially the younger generation, I hope everyone gets involved in one way or another.

A couple of observations about you Mikey:

Question: Did tax preparation get in the way of your tax protest?

Question: Prostitution? Seriously? You are for small government, but you guys suggested a to keep track of people that have STDs. A little Orwell/Huxley-esque.

I just noticed over on your blog you asked me to post some of my ideas.
1. Build HS
2. Take option on Omni Source land
3. Look into optioning parking lot on Cindy's
4. Look into optioning more land south of Jefferson and along Jefferson.
5. Do build the parking garage - Lincoln, Marriott, the wizards, shops, condos, future developments, convention center traffic, and embassy use - believe it or not may have a couple of people going there.
6. Eat an ice cream sandwich
7. Strategically plan and offer land to developers for Omni Source Land
8. Look BIG for the cindy's diner lot - after the ice cream sandwich and time passes, we may need another instigator for excitement for downtown (hopefully this will automatically happen)
7. Option land along West Superior
8. Probably not legal or constitutional, but institute a fee or fine for unused square footage that isn't for sale or lease downtown.


I'm Done, send this one to press.