Rants
Culver Vision Workshop
Culver’s Vision needs a strong prescription!
Last night was the Vision Workshop for the Culver Comprehensive Plan. I’ve been calling this effort 20/20 vision for Culver for a while now. Unfortunately with the poor turn out last night, our vision may require a stronger prescription! Less than 30 people turned out for last night’s meeting. That’s pretty dismal. There were three Plan Commission members there, but only one Redevelopment Commission member and no Town Council members. The overall poor attendance is probably due to poor advertising, but it’s unfortunate that our community leaders aren’t getting involved. I’m not in tune with all of the local groups, but I was disappointed that only one Chamber board member was there who was also the only Second Century Committee board member. That was particularly disappointing considering the leadership role SCC took in the previous Comprehensive Plan. I couldn’t identify any of the Lions Club Board, Kiwanis Board, Boys & Girls Club Board, etc. Maybe that apathy in and of itself says a lot about Culver’s future…
Meeting with Jackie Walorski
Representative Jackie Walorski
On Tuesday April 30 I was invited to a meeting with Jackie Walorski at the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce. There was some interesting discussion (more than what was printed in the paper) but I was disappointed in the participation. I know that invitations were sent to the other Community Chambers and there were no other representatives there. Of those in attendance only three of us brought up issues for the congresswoman’s consideration, despite her obvious willingness to answer questions and work on issues. This was a follow up on a meeting she held at the Plymouth Chamber in January which I attended, and I have to say I was impressed that not only did she remember me, but she came back with answers to some of the questions I posed then.
There were only about four of us that put questions in front of the congresswoman and because of lulls where no one else asked anything, I actually put three in front of her. She was receptive and honest, when she didn’t know she said she would find out and get back to us. I don’t think we can ask for any more than that.
As much as I am disappointed in the goings on in Washington, I felt that the interest from Congresswoman Walorski was refreshing and was a counterpoint to the disinterest from those that bothered to come.
Who should lead?
I was invited to attend a work session of the Culver Town Council last night. The work session was the result of the efforts of MCEDC to energize Marshall County communities to plan and prepare for growth. Unfortunately last night’s meeting degenerated into random complaints from various attendees about some Culver boards and commissions with very little positive discussion or resolution. I had invited Jay Bahr, MCEDC‘s new Executive Director, to attend this meeting and was somewhat embarrassed. It wasn’t exactly what I would have liked him to see with his first introduction to Culver’s leaders.
In February, MCEDC held our first County-wide economic development summit with attendees representing all of the communities in Marshall County. As a result of that meeting I had met with several Culver Town Council Members to see what action steps could be taken. My thoughts on this involved encouraging the Town Council to be the pointy head of the spear. In other words, set an agenda for growth and improvement and pass that mandate down to the boards and commissions that serve beneath them. Theoretically, the Town Council is the elected body that represents the people and through them the citizen’s will should be enacted by the appointed boards and commissions. Without a cohesive plan of action to implement, the boards and commissions either proceed on their own agendas or in some cases are rudderless and accomplish no agenda.
There has been some progress. Retention meetings have been held with Elkay and discussions have been had regarding how to make Culver more accessible to business. All positive steps, but ones without a cohesive goal.
The Comprehensive Plan will fill part of this need, but it needs the will of the citizens and their elected officials, the Town Council, to be reflected in that. Even though completion of the Comprehensive Plan is as much as a year away, the Town Council needs to be gearing up towards implementation and as I’ve tried to express to them, the Comprehensive Plan process can’t be an excuse for doing nothing now.
Last night’s meeting showed a lack of respect for the Town Council’s position of authority in the Town. It was a good step towards leadership, but it’s clear that they are going to need to TAKE their leadership back. There will be no shortage of complaints, but complaints don’t fill the leadership void. Culver’s unofficial motto has always been “Change is bad even when it’s change for the better”. The Town Council needs to ignore that and be the instigator of change. Change for the better…
Tax Freedom Day
I know that National Tax Freedom Day is somewhat randomly calculated, but I think it’s a good exercise to remind us of the cost of government. Unfortunately, I didn’t hear much about its passing yesterday. Are we getting immune to it? According to the Heritage Foundation it was five days later this year due to the fiscal cliff negotiations. The Tax Foundation breaks the number of days to pay each tax into calendar days. That’s a bit sobering too. Hit the “read more” button to see their chart.
As Hoosiers, we can take heart in the fact that we’re only the 25th most taxed State, so our Tax Freedom Day was actually April 13th according to the Star Press. It was hard to celebrate this Saturday when I was still finalizing my 2012 taxes to mail out on the 15th…
I Hate DST (Daylight Saving Time)
I am one of the groggy people you met on the road this morning. My internal clock is harder to reset than the digital clock on my oven. I grumbled yesterday resetting my watch and various clocks, but the fact that my alarm clock and cell phone reset automatically was almost as annoying! How dare they make it seem so easy!
If you want to commiserate with me, maybe we could meet for brunch sometime. By then it will be light out and I will be more civil…
