Indiana and Michigan dont know where each other are and other news of govenment gone amuck! amuck! amuck?

*PLEASE NOTE: THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED*

Yes you heard correctly loyal readers, according to a recent post over at Indiana Law Blog, sourcing a story from The Associated Press, Michigan told Indiana that after four years it cant figure out where the 104 mile long border is between the two States. They lost most of the wooden survey markers due age and degradation over time. Whom was the idiot, even back in 1827, that decided to mark out the Border of the State with wooden stakes? Especially in this climate, at least use concrete and metal to begin with.

Apparently the only thing signifying where the border is a possible few marker posts and one lone confirmed marker they found in the middle pointe of the border. Here are some statements of interest from the article:

• Michigan in 1900's reset its borders with Wisconsin and Ohio.
  
• Professional surveyors can only recover & confirm originals.
  
• Those that are lost can only be replaced by a joint action of the Indiana and Michigan legislatures or, if those bodies cannot agree on the border's location, the U.S. Supreme Court.
  
• Once that happens, property that for years was believed to lie in one state could turn out to be in another, creating quandaries regarding property and income taxes, police jurisdictions, school districts and numerous other matters.
  
• When the state line is re-established, it could end up moving north or south up to a few hundred feet

Why did Michigan wait until an entire century later to refortify its border with Indiana? Also another statement from the personal interest profile part of the story, The State of Michigan does not charge income tax on disability checks but Indiana does. Isnt that just wrong? The very nature of a disability check is already a. taxpayer money and b. a reduced rate of income so why are we charging people income tax on very little to begin with, they can barely survive on disability income. Yet we say as a State we want some of it back?

Sounds a little hypocritical to me. Then again I am a Libertarian and we dont believe in high taxes or income taxes or government assistance. Which I do disagree with The Party on the last one in most situations. Poor relief doesnt belong primarily in the Churches either because of historical and current ritual abuse and proselytizing. It belongs in the Township level of government but as Citizens never fund it fully, well that is another discussion for later.

Can you spare an extra three thousand dollars a year?

Anyhooch on to more local matters, Fort Wayne City Council approved yesterday the City budget for 2009 in a 7-2 vote which only cut 2.5 million and pretty much left us screwed with a projected 9 million dollar deficit for the year after. So one way or another the City budget will have to be trimmed excessively when it is dropped back on the table next year otherwise the taxpayers will get the rim job of a lifetime in the next five years to come. You can find additional coverage on Around Fort Wayne.

Currently as the budget stands now at just above 130 million dollars, at 250 thousand (men, women, children) that breaks down to about $520 per resident each year. This means the City currently spends $2600 per year for a five person household. In the next five years (as projected) they want to raise it at minimum another 20 million dollars or $80 per resident or $400 per household.

This is ridiculous folks our local government doesnt need to be this bloated. They should be able to operate on half of that amount easily, Im even willing to agree to two thirds, but seriously, $2600 - $3000 for an average family, and they dont even get to spend it! This is what happens when you just choose between the lesser of two evils rather than making a clear choice for limited government and increased personal freedom. Next time you get the chance, vote with liberty in mind. I do have to give mad props to Councilpersons Brown and Harper for standing up to the Henry Administration and the Democrat members of Council on this piss poor budget plan.

I have more to write about in regards to local government. There are few updates on the Harrison Square project and how another necesary component is failing yet again. You can catch up on the Harrison Square stuff via F6's Feeds & Jump Page with the blogs that are linked to in the right column. They have already covered the recent debacles with Harrison Square in detail.

There Is No Rest For The Weary!

Apparently there is also now a law suit brought by three City Police Officers against the Chief for failing to honor compensated time and overtime. On top of it, as reported by other venues, if they win the City not only will have to reimburse them for all the hours denied respite; but also by virtue of their contract, the fine to the City is doubled and the Officers receive a windfall while the City is in the middle of a budget crisis.

Suit claims city denies comp time to police
Rebecca S. Green The Journal Gazette
14 November 2008

Three Fort Wayne police officers sued the city in federal court, alleging violations of fair labor laws in how the city handles officers’ overtime. Officers Jeffery Burkholder Sr., Martin Grooms and Sofia Rosales seek overtime pay, liquidated damages and a declaratory judgment for violations that have occurred over the past three years, according to the lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Fort Wayne.

The Fair Labor Standards Act allows police departments to pay employees overtime by granting compensatory time off with full pay instead of paying cash. Under the law, employees have the right to take the compensatory time off whenever they choose, according to court documents. Employers must grant an employee’s request to use the compensatory time within a reasonable time if it will not disrupt the operations of a public agency, according to court documents. “Under the (Fair Labor Standards Act), mere inconvenience to the employer is an insufficient basis for denial of a request to use compensatory time,” the lawsuit reads.

Fort Wayne uses compensatory time to pay its police officers, but the three officers filing the lawsuit allege the city violates the law by imposing arbitrary staffing requirements allowing the “arbitrary approval or non-approval of compensatory time,” according to court documents. “The plaintiffs’ compensatory time requests have been denied because granting the requests would require the payment of overtime to another officer,” according to the lawsuit.

Police Chief Rusty York was surprised by the lawsuit Thursday because the issue had never been mentioned by the police union, the Patrolman’s Benevolence Association, he said. The officers’ interpretation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and how time should be granted are at odds with the way the police department has traditionally handled the issue, York said. “Usually the union would mention it to us or file a grievance before a suit is filed,” York said, adding that there are union elections scheduled for today. Union head Greg Cassel referred questions about the lawsuit to the attorney for the union, Richard E. Beers, who would not comment regarding pending litigation....

I know. I am running behind the times! County Government?

The discussion is what the Commission On Local Government has to say about County Government.

"County governments should be led by a single county executive and a stronger county council, to whom professionally qualified administrators should report and be accountable. Create a clearer, more accountable structure with fewer elected officials. Better coordinate public safety services."

1. Establish a single-person elected county chief executive.

2. Establish a single, unified legislative body for county government. Expand legislative membership to ensure sufficient representation for included rural, suburban and urban populations.

I actually don't have as much of an issue with this as I thought I would. The only problem I could foresee would be making sure that everyone in the county felt represented on the county council and the only way to solve that would be to make the council districts respective to the townships (eg: one seat per township minimum) with certain modifications of a second seat for population counts in certain ones like Wayne, Washington, Aboite, St. Joesph, and Adams Townships (they encompass Fort Wayne and New Haven). In Allen County that would give us a twenty five seat council minimum. Then of course the City government would feel left out and God forbid if we ever fully went to a unigov system because every other city and town would be throwing a temper tantrum about not being heard at all or the fact that they were now part of Fort Wayne.

3. Transfer the responsibility for administering the duties of the county auditor, treasurer, recorder, assessor, surveyor, sheriff and coroner to the county executive. Transfer the varied duties of the clerk to the courts, to the county election board and to the county executive. Establish objective minimum professional qualifications and standards for certain county administrative functions.

Now this is where I am going to clash with this report whole heartedly and as boisterously as Saint Augustine's swine (St Jerome). Certain of these elected positions are not just office positions they are a political checks and balances that were established for a reason and should not be fucked with no matter what may sound efficient and responsible for the future.

How many people are aware that the Coroner is the only one who can arrest and remove from office the Sheriff or County Prosecutor? He is the Chief Medical Officer of the County; much like the charachters of Drs. Leonard Horatio McCoy, Beverly Crusher, Katherine Pulaski, Julian Subatoi Bashir, and The EMH Doctor (ST: OS, TNG(2), DS9, and VYGR,) of the STAR TREK sagas. You knew I would have to throw one reference in somewhere, right?

These positions are suppose to be the publics way of achieving a balance of power within the County by putting people of trust and honor in "lesser" positions in order to watch over the public interest as a whole and keep the main players in balance. Plus the last thing we need is to reverse that law that was already established to limit a Sheriff's term in office to twice consecutive terms. If the position is appointed someone could retain the office for decades. Second as it is the Sheriff's Constitutional Authority to confine and enforce and serve the courts the Sheriff is also the one who balances overzealous County Prosecutors and Legislatures by ordering the non enforcement of incorrect laws or burying of warrants until they can be mediated.

Certain positions like Surveyor, Auditor, Recorder, and Treasurer I can see being made Executive appointments; however the Assessor's position, should still be a retained elected Executive Office holder.

By appointing any of these main positions rather than allowing the voter to choose you are making government no longer either we, by, or for the people, and in essence allowing one person to bring in whom ever they choose that isn't executive it is dictatorial. If this part of the plan is ramrodded threw the General Assembly, like Governor Daniels likes to do, it should at least be modified so that the modified per Township County Council has to approve by Major Majority all appointments and require only a Minor Majority to impeach either the single County Commissioner and his appointments or all other elected and appointed positions within the County proper.

Leave the Clerk of Courts alone (*channeling Chris Crocker, not really*). Most County Election Boards are either overwhelmed or incompetent and sometimes both.

4. Retain a local government role for property tax assessment under a county assessor who is required to meet professional qualifications and appointed by the county executive.

The Assessor's position, should still be a retained elected Executive Office holder who is then responsible for all appointed (jointly with the County Commissioner) Township Assessors. The County Assessors are responsible for how much each of us pay in property taxes and there needs to be someone at the top of local government that the people choose. Again it goes back to a checks and balance both politically and for the people. The County Assessor should also be the Chair of the County Tax Levy Board in my honest opinion.

5. Create a county wide body to oversee the provision of all public safety services.

This one could get just a little tricky because that also encompasses fire safety which falls under Township jurisdiction not just city government. And I think I will make a separate post about this because the young men and women whom volunteer with fire, medical, and first responder services are very dear to my heart. I have not a problem with having a County Board on oversight, general administration, and purchasing power improvements; but services and the ability for an average citizen to still be able to serve, needs to be considered above any generalized or definitive improvement towards administration. The city departments need to bring back volunteers and first responders. The State needs to give permission for all VFF, EMT, and FR the permission to burn both red and blue or red and green as well as the use of sirens.

(*Insert silently homosexual innuendos*)

6. Consolidate emergency public safety dispatch by county or multi-county region. Require that new, local emergency communications systems be compatible with the Project Hoosier SAFE-T statewide 800 MHz communications system.

DUH!!! Should have been done already *edits slurs* IDIOTS!!!

7. Transfer the responsibility for all funding of the state’s trial court system to the state, including public defenders and probation.

The Libertarian Party of Allen County's Secretary, Douglas Horner, is a Fugitive Recovery Agent and a licensed Bail Bondsman in the State has some interesting thoughts on that so I will defer with conjunction to his comments if he ever writes them out. One of the biggest issues I have is that the crime equity is not balanced across the State and there should be a level list of fines and responsibilities for each particular offense of the penal code that applies across the board. Also judges and prosecutors need to stop with frivolous fines and judgments and quit screwing people up the ass without the benefit of lube or a reach around for a simple mistake, temporary moments of stupidity, or just bad luck. The courts have lost a personal touch and need to be smacked around a little, like having their slush fund taken out from underneath.

One major additional note that I have been bitching on about for years which recently has received some more press and scrutiny: Judges or anybody else in the "judicial system" and their immediate family should be banned from having ownership in any company (AADP?) that provides services to the citizens by court order. That is a major conflict of interest and a violation of unreasonable sentencing which also borders on cruel and unusual punishment (sometimes before even a conviction in the case of juveniles), all in the name of a profit margin, that is WRONG!!! *!!!blows!!!steam!!!out!!!of!!!ears!!!* It is time for this callous blister in Fort Wayne to be shut down once and for all and never used ever again.
Further information: (JG article) (Website)(MySpace)(You Tube)

8. Move the funding of child welfare from counties to the state.

Well since they are already planning on doing a privatization plan anyway and taking away the local offices and mount the corruption of services provided to the hilt, you might as well take over the financing as well. While you are at it, please remove the policy in the Code which allows for illegal immigrants to file for benefits without being documented and forwarded to the Bureau of Citizenship Immigration and Naturalization for review. They should be taken into custody and processed for becoming citizens, not given benefits without legal standing!

[Editor's Note:]

This is just the beginning of my ramblings. I need to take a moment and give Charles M. Langley a nod for providing the AADP commentary on his blog AD FONTES. There will be further updates to this post as I continue to read the report from the COLG and develop further ideas and thoughts on these very complex issues and recommendations. Stay Tuned.

Another way the State of Indiana wastes our money

(Lafayette, Indiana - AP) Cameras at six Indiana attractions will soon give online viewers a glimpse of fall color. The state's "leaf cam" Web site updates images of the six locations every 15 minutes.

Cheri Daniels, the wife of Gov. Mitch Daniels, says the leaf cams might help Hoosiers decide where they might want to go for a day trip to see vibrant leaves.

So far, though, the leaves are mostly green. Leaf Cams are at the Lafayette Municipal Golf Course, Hilltop Cabins in Brown County, Conner Prairie in Hamilton County, Spring Mill State Park in Mitchell, Fort Harrison State Park in Indianapolis and the French Lick Resort Casino.

Check out the Leaf Cam by clicking here.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
All Rights Reserved.

Story from News Channel Fifteen
Hat Tip to the Fort Wayne Uniblogger
Photo credit FlipFlopsBoy

Specialty Plates

I don't know if this is for real or not but it would be a nice alternative to the "IN GOD WE TRUST" plates (which I still believe is not constitutional), but what annoys me even further is we still cant get a GLBT "PRIDE/EQUALITY" specialty plate.

And now from what I have been hearing is that the "IN GOD WE TRUST" is now the official default plate. So for those of us whom despise the religious rhetoric and the particular legislators that gave us this monstrosity, I say, "BOOT 'EM OUT!".

There is no reason why "IN GOD WE TRUST" should be issued by the State as the limited fee issue plate. It is not a saying of Indiana, it is not a tourism motto, it is not an organizational sponsored plate. The plates should not be something that would cause offense based upon religion. What about all the Pagans and Atheist or non theists like Buddhists? Then there is also the issue of, "Which version of, "God" (read: Jewish~Christian) you do in fact "Trust In"?".

People should not be forced to choose a specialty plate in order to keep from being offended every time they look at their own car. We are the "Crossroads of America", this smacks in the face our well known "Hoosier Hospitality", and I never thought that after "Wander"ing around the "Amber Waves Of Grain", I wouldn't want to come "Back Home Again" to "Indiana".

"INDIANA" is going to be the new issue plate in 2009. Come on people. Why must we go back to the dark ages of license plates? We have such a strong tradition now of beautiful works of Hoosier Artist (and specifically up and coming artist) that just makes this===> a travesty and a disgrace to the historical application of identifying vehicles on the road.

I don't know about you but on road trips one of the things my family, friends, and fellow boy scout troop members used to do was play 'guess the county' (and way back when) you could also guess the city/town of origin, based on the letters and numbers displayed. Oh well, I am just being nostalgic, I guess.

And btw, two other things, before I forget: 1.) issue front bumper license plates as well, so that way I am not harassed in other states (Ohio and Missouri); 2.) and put the "www.in.gov" back on the plate. It is beneficial for getting out of parking (I don't speed!) tickets and other stuff, since other jurisdictions think they are government property signifying plates! What the clergy decal or cassock and collar doesn't solve the current license plates do, lol.

Hey I wonder if we could get a specialty plate for "CLERGY"? That way I no longer have to post the decals on three places of my car. Oh wait, that would violate the principle of Separation of Church and State. And "IN GOD WE TRUST" doesn't?

TRF plate picture borrowed without permission from: Fetchy's Bantering