Michiana Quality Of Life

OK, People…..stuff be flying fast and furious right about now…so I'm placing a couple of cyber-lanterns in the bell tower here…(via our good friends at MQL)…to make you aware of a couple of issues-related goings on:
     
- first off, this Tuesday evening, August 21st, will be the night for a meeting down at  LaSalle Square, dealing with the current sad state of tax abatement affairs, and how that relates to the increase we working stiffs will see in our property taxes in the oh-too-near-future….our good friends, the Community Forum folks, will hold  a round table, with Rafael Morton of the St. Joe County Council moderating, on this hot button topic…and input from the public is, for once, encouraged…interested???…you will be once those property tax bills hit the mail.
    
Meanwhile….the efforts of the State and other vested interest groups, working to overturn the efforts of the Community Forum and its many allies, such as the St.Joe County Public Health Department, to establish local regulation of CAFO operations thinking of setting up shop here in our County, are once again afoot…this time they are piggy-backing on the upcoming Agricultural Bill to be considered by the State Senate….their rider would fix it so the costs of cleanup for any faux pas on the part of these factory farms would be on you and me and not on the folks who run the CAFOs…that's right…once again, if some three thousand head cattle operation has a spill and pollutes the groundwater supply for We the People, this little addendum would relieve the CAFO from any fiscal responsibility for such pollution and fasten the burden of cleanup squarely on our oh-too-tax-paying backs….give us something to do with all that dough we'll have lying around after we pay our property taxes…
   
Oh, yeah, and another thing that keeps getting left out of the propaganda…uh,er,….news coverage…of the BP/IDEM partnership and their plan to dump crapola into Lake Michigan….MERCURY …yeah, mercury once again rears its ugly head, though the papers haven't really dropped that little item into their stories much thus far…not drops,pounds of it, in fact, is what would be authorized…when drops is all it takes to do serious, birth-defect-producing damage….so don't be fooled by BP's Fuelishness….clean they are not….dangerous to our health, they most assuredly are….
    
so…Be Careful…read the fine print….the upcoming Farm Bill has more in it than ethanol, my friends…as Dwight D. once said, Eternal Vigilence is the Cost of freedom….sign me…
                                                                        
Smiling Jack
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I was just notified that there will be a caucus on Monday, August 20th at 6PM (town time) at the New Carlisle Fire Station.  The reason for the caucus is that there are 5 people who want to run for the open positions on the Town Council as Democrats, and only 3 are allowed per election rules.  The caucus is for registered Republicans or Democrats, as long as you are willing to sign an affidavit that you will be voting democrat in the next election.  Please tell your friends.

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Our illustrious Governor, as well as his lackies at IDEM, most especially Mr Easterly…heck, even the EPA….have taken steps to assure us that the British Petroleum Refinery Project is within legal bounds….adheres to the Clean Water Act ( ahem )….that 1400 lbs of ammonia  ….plus a couple thousand pounds of a substance called "Not Industrial Waste"….or "Suspended Solids"…..or Assorted Effluvia…or Whatever…..(as long as we realize it contains substances you wouldn't want your children to swim in or anyone you knew to drink from their tap)…..oh, yeah…let's not forget the little ( couple of pounds or so) bit of MERCURY….that BP intends to dump into Lake Michigan because the current de-regulations say it's A-OK……
      
Chicago is up in arms….not liking its Indiana neighbors much about now…..what with Our Man Mitch and his LapDog Mr Easterly pushing to allow a reversal in legislative direction with regards to protecting Lake Michigan as a valued natural resource…..Can We Blame them??

It's time to put out the trash, people.
 
These political hacks have got to go…..every voting American who still holds a hope of playing with their children and grandchildren out -of-doors needs to be Up and Vocal…we can not allow these misguided wannabes to sell our children's birthright….their right to live in a future America where the air and water is not toxic….where the companies involved in producing our food and our medicine are held responsible when they make decisions based on cost effectiveness rather than  benefit to the public…..the legislation is happening here and now…although the rewards for psuhing it past our guard will be reaped later…in Washington …or perhaps Dubai…or some offshore tropical hideaway…..
                                                            
Snooze and Lose, People……only your loss will be passed on to future generations…..
                                                            
Reach out to the folks West of us….Together we are quite a force….
                                                            
Check out The Valley Project and its Dump Easterly campaign…..
( Easterly pushed for Tondu as well…remember that???)

Smiling Jack
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A REMINDER ABOUT THE JULY MEETING OF THE COMMUNITY FORUM FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:Tuesday, July 17, 7 PM, Minority Health Coalition Office, 915 N. Bendix (in LaSalle Square).

Agenda items include:1. A proposal from the Coordinating Committee concerning the structure of the Community Forum.This proposal is attached below.  We need your input.

2. A discussion of the Airport TIF expansion. (See the announcement below.)What statement will we make on Friday?  Where do we go from here?

3. A report on the response of the SB Redevelopment Commission to our letter concerning Redevelopment Commission procedures.

4. The revision of the SB Tax Abatement Ordinance.  What's our next step?

5. Reports from other committees and task forces of the Community Forum.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF OTHER IMPORTANT MEETINGS:

Friday, July 20, at 10 am, the South Bend Redevelopment Commission will hold a public meeting and then will vote on Resolution 2348, that amends the boundaries of the Airport Economic Development Area (Airport TIF) by adding the LaSalle Square and Marycrest/Hurwich Areas and by consolidating the Sample-Ewing Development Area into the Airport TIF.  Please try to attend this public meeting and show your support.  The meeting will be held on the 13th floor of the County City BuildingIf it is impossible for you to attend in person, written testimony is also useful.The mailing address is:        South Bend Redevelopment Commission        County-City Building, Room 1308        227 West Jefferson Boulevard        South Bend, Indiana

Tuesday, July 24, at 5:30 PM, in the Dickinson Room of the Main Library (304 S. Main St. SB) - A planning meeting on the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. This issue was discussed at the June meeting.  We've continued to gather information which we will use to evaluate the need for such a fund in St. Joseph County, and the steps needed to put it in place.

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AN UPDATE FROM THE COMMUNITY FORUM FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTCONCERNING THE PROPOSED EXPANSION OF THE AIRPORT TIF

South Bend Redevelopment Commission Resolution 2348 amends the boundaries of the Airport Economic Development Area (Airport TIF) by adding the LaSalle Square and Marycrest/Hurwich Areas and by consolidating the Sample-Ewing Development Area into the Airport TIF.  The first three steps in this process have been completed.On June 19, the Redevelopment Commission passed a Declaratory Resolution and the Area Plan voted its support, as did the Common Council on June 25.

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Like a bad penny, Mitch Daniels refuses to go away…..news of his throwing his hat into the ring with an eye toward another go at Governor didn't do much to lighten my mood….continually rising gas prices and body counts, obscenely profiteering oil execs crying poormouth, a President who was "born on third base and thought  he hit a triple", a country that "abolishes aid to dependent children while legislating aid to dependent corporations" - it's all too much for one poor beleaguered voter to take in…and still remain positive……so here comes Mitch to make my day….says he's going to turn his attentions to the "duplicative" aspects of local forms of gov't…. who needs Town Meetings, when we have the State ?…..why "waste" money on local input, when Those Who Rule know so much better what we really need or deserve?…..

Be very afraid, people……it is local input and local government that prevented some of Mitch and his minions' misguided schemes from turning your neighborhoods into ecological disaster areas….it must be your voice that stops his attempts to eradicate the Democratic system of government from the State of Indiana…. do not be fooled by the barrage of SpinSpeak that will surely flow come Election Time….the "savings" Mitch is touting will, in reality, be the trouble he saves Big Business, by doing away with their legislated necessity to heed the Will of the People….. It was local town meetings and the like that formed the very foundation of this country of ours….the refusal of the Average Joe to quietly acquiesce to those who insisted they were their "betters"……Your right to be heard …this is what is at stake here…..do not go quietly into that dark night, where others do your thinking for you and someone else decides what is best for you……."Think; It ain't Illegal yet", as a songwriter once said……2008 will be a time of choice … do you really want to let someone else think and choose for you?
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THE NEXT MEETING OF THE COMMUNITY FORUM FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTNext Tuesday — May 22 — 7 pm — 

at the office of the Minority Health Coalition (in LaSalle Square)

This important meeting will include:1. Reports from the four workshops at last Saturday's Public Meeting.

• The workshops were lively, exciting, and creative!
• Come hear what has been proposed from each workshop.

2. An update, discussion, and strategy session about two issues from Marty Wolfson's presentation,

• the revision of the SB Tax Abatement Ordinance and
• democracy and accountability of the SB Redevelopment Commission.

If you attended the May 12 forum, please come and share.If you were unable to attend, come and hear about it!See you Tuesday.

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I've got allergies….time was when they respected the calendar year and held their ill effects to those months between May and August…ya bit the bullet, ate some pills and got through it….there was misery but there was also sunshine…..Alas…for too many years now, respect for the calendar is out the window and ate some pills and got through it….there was misery but there was also sunshine…..Alas…for too many years now, respect for the calendar is out the window and misery is available to me and my sinuses eight or more months out  of the year…Happy!Happy! Joy! Joy!…..

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Click this link to see a copy of the CFED program for May 12.
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            DATE:            Saturday, May 12^th, 2007  

            TIME:             2:00 - 5:00 PM EDT (Eastern Time)

            PLACE:          Hudson Lake Mennonite Church in New Carlisle, Indiana

                                    7503 North Walker Road, New Carlisle, Indiana

            SPEAKERS:               Eugene Baughman

                                                Michael Hollcraft

                                                Amy Schrock

1.      What does global sustainability really mean?

2.      Ever wonder why gas prices are so high?

3.      How will energy wars affect our lives?

4.      What kind of world will we leave to our grandchildren?

You are cordially invited to participate in a discussion regarding the most important challenge facing humanity: global sustainability.  This workshop will feature three presentations and a social experiment involving a mock election.  Free to the public.  Light refreshments will be served.

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