Before putting the issue to rest, let’s set the record straight on the Harry Baals debate.
Mayor Tom Henry is getting undeserved criticism over his naming the new local government building Citizens Square instead of a name honoring Baals, the former mayor. Specifically:
•Neither Henry nor any other city official said that an Internet “vote” would determine the name. City officials were quite clear they wanted the public to offer ideas and to otherwise take part but never suggested that votes on a website would be the deciding factor.
•The results of “voting” on the city website may be fun to talk about, but whether they reflect the opinion of a majority of city residents is anyone’s guess. People could “vote” multiple times; and there was no way of knowing how many came from local residents.
•Proving that they will criticize the mayor for practically anything, City Council members Mitch Harper and Liz Brown took time in last week’s council meeting to give Henry some flak about the whole matter. Remember that Henry did not bring up the Baals name. Consider that many – probably most – of the advocates for the ex-mayor were far more interested in the Baals name as a juvenile prank than to actually honor the deeds of a former mayor. Knowing that comedians were having a field day with the name, Henry struck an appropriate balance of good-natured fun and seriousness, scoring points for the city.
The ultimate lesson for Henry, who simply wanted to get community ideas: No good deed goes unpunished.
Brown strikes back
After taking some verbal punches from GOP mayoral primary opponent Paula Hughes, Liz Brown fired back Monday – but did not mention Hughes by name.
Instead, Brown criticized county government in general and the County Council – on which Hughes served from 2003 to 2010 – specifically. Brown noted that county officials asked the city for money “to cover their legal responsibility: the maintenance of all bridges in the county area, including the city.”
The county hiked the wheel tax to pay for bridges, despite having a rainy day fund of $12 million, Brown said.
“There are few things worse than tax-and-spend liberals, but one is a raise-taxes-and-don’t-spend conservative,” Brown said, an apparent jab at Hughes.
Social issues?
Don’t expect to hear much about how the candidates would perform as mayor in Thursday’s forum on social issues.
Co-sponsors include Allen County Right to Life and the Indiana Family Council. The forum is likely to be little more than a chance for the more conservative candidates to try to one-up one another on how much they oppose abortion and gay marriage – matters that have nothing to do with the mayor’s office.
