Student Elections: Your (Informed) Vote Matters

Would you trust a group of college students with over a million dollars?

Between April 11th and 15th, IPFW held its student body elections. And allocating over a million dollars in student fees is one of their responsibilities.

Student government may be considered just a popularity contest, but it shouldn't be. With this much money at stake, accountable leaders, or watchdogs, are needed to make sure the spending of this money is responsible and transparent. In addition, these leaders need to follow the guidelines and rules of student government so that it upholds its legitimacy.

While the Indiana University - Purdue University Student Government Association website offers information about the officers, Constitution, manuals, and forms to request funding, it fails to provide any information about how student fees are allocated. Student government is meant to instill community involvement and civic duty in students, though this lack of transparency does not seem to reflect the real world. In local, state, and federal governments it is easier to find how tax dollars are being used and allocated.

We'll investigate the transparency of this year's student government, factors influencing how students vote, and discuss who will be the executives of the 2011-2012 year.

Casinos - Boon or Bust?

Yesterday, eight of the 11 Fort Wayne mayoral candidates attended a debate at Concordia Lutheran High School.

The event was sponsored by Allen County Right to Life, the Indiana Family Institute, and the Coalition for a Better Fort Wayne, all of which are groups who consider themselves as pro-traditional family values. As expected, questions regarding abortion and gambling were raised. The three leading Republican candidates said they would oppose putting a casino in Fort Wayne.

Although the Indiana House killed a bill in February 2009 that would allow residents to vote on Indiana licensing a casino in Fort Wayne, the conversation is still ongoing.

Although it has been insinuated to me in the past that I am very anti-family values, I am a bit conflicted on this issue. It has been proven to be an economic boon for some towns, but is it really a wise investment?

I have been to casinos in Vegas and around the Midwest, but my friends and I didn't really get a whole lot of these experiences. They are kind of gross and depress me. And as much as Fort Wayne and its elected officials tout the area's "family values" I can't really perceive a casino doing well here. Aside from Las Vegas, I didn't get the impression that a casino added any character to a city. It just made it kind of sketchier.

Should we reevaluate casinos in Fort Wayne? Or should we look into something else that will bring in more tourism?

Bulldoze or Beautify?

Last Week, Detroit revealed a plan in which they will donate ten homes for police officers who move to the city, demolish 100 abandoned houses and open two service centers to help residents at risk of foreclosure keep their homes.

Detroit’s population has decreased by 25% since 2000 and isn’t showing any immediate signs of picking up again. They are picking up on initiatives to “right-size” their city and try to attract more people living on the outskirts of the city and live downtown.

Cities across America are faced with the issue vacant and abandoned properties, especially in the downturn of the current economic climate. These structures are unattractive in a neighborhood and bring down property values, are a detriment to public health, and can become havens for squatters, crime, and other illegal activities. A study in Philadelphia showed that properties within a 150 foot radius of a vacant and abandoned property experienced a net loss of over $7,600 in value. Without any kind of intervention, this ripple effect can take hold of an entire city as it has in Detroit.

A neighborhood in which there are several vacant and abandoned properties could be turned into an area for redevelopment or affordable housing. Fort Wayne had success last year in this, in which they were given nearly $5 million from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program to invest in 32 vacant or foreclosed homes in a targeted area.

Nevertheless, vacant and abandoned properties are still a problem in Fort Wayne. There are about 12,000 vacant homes in the city, mostly due to foreclosure, Allen County Recorder John McGauley said to the Journal Gazette. Each vacant home has a conservatively estimated $40,000 cost to the community in terms of lowered property values and other costs, McGauley also stated.

Should we scale-down and knock down these houses like in Detroit, or should we rehabilitate them and put them to good use?

Photo credit News-Sentinel

Pancake Lounge

On Saturday, March 19th, the first annual “Pancake Lounge” was held at Westwood Lanes.
Organized by Alysen Wade, 25, the event featured a live band, DJ, dancing, and of course, a pancake buffet. You can read more about the event
here.

Approximately 70 people were in attendance.

Westwood Lanes is a bowling alley has always given me the impression that that it was just hanging by a thread. And quite frankly, the area has been a little on the scary side. It is safe to say that this area would not be a place a 22-year-old girl would want to be late on a Saturday night. To the left of Westwood are a gas station and a strip club called Shangrila. To the right is a large vacant lot.

However forsaken this part of town appears, it seems as though it is beginning to show signs of life. Sweetcars, a car dealership located in front of Westwood, opened its doors last year and is selling low-mile performance, exotic and luxury cars. The owner of Sweetcars could not be reached for comment, but it's curious as to why they decided to open such a business on this lot.

Why shouldn't this area be revitalized? It is a gateway to downtown, and let’s face it, a strip club and a gas station aren’t going to be attracting anyone.

It will be interesting to see if Westwood, or this area in general, will be having a revival. After Pancake Lounge ended, the owner of the lounge was so enthusiastic about the success of the event, she asked Wade to help coordinate future events at the lounge. The bulk of people in attendance were those in their twenties, which was a clientele Westwood was not so successful at attracting previously. Could other businesses follow suit and set up on this block too? We'll just have to wait and see.

Now if only Westwood and Sweetcars could just get along...

Photo courtesy of News-Sentinel.

Fort Wayne is okay.

Fort Wayne is okay. It’s not as bad as I thought it would be. It’s safe.

This is how two employees at a major corporation in Fort Wayne responded when asked about what they thought of the city. These employees were in their late twenties and recently moved to Fort Wayne to work at this company. One is from Boston, while the other is from Dayton, Ohio.

While these comments are not necessarily negative, they don’t exactly portray Fort Wayne as innovative, intriguing, or interesting in general.

So why does this matter?

Because these employees are contracted workers, meaning that their job is temporary and has no security. When asked if they planned on staying in Fort Wayne after their jobs ended, neither said they were even considering it. When young talent moves to a city, they bring with them new ideas and can help shape the character and identity of an area.

Everybody wants “millennials” – those born between 1980 and 2000- to live in their city. To its benefit, Fort Wayne has frequently appeared on lists ranking the “Best Places to Raise a Family.” But what about those who aren’t at that stage yet, or don’t want that lifestyle? My recent job searches for twenty-somethings yield temporary or part-time jobs with little prospect of climbing the ladder to real leadership positions. What incentive is that? The focus of this blog is to encourage discussion, or debate, about ways that would make Fort Wayne more appealing to a recent college graduate or young professional.

So, what are some ways Fort Wayne can reclaim innovative talent and its image?

-New industries that would be beneficial to the local community and employment of young people
-Highlight young entrepreneurs
-Adopt more environmentally sustainable routines, like making streets more biker-friendly, having more mass-transit options, more recycling, and urban gardening.
-Improve overall aesthetics – roads, parks, etc.
-More recreational activities.

These are among some of the topics that will be discussed in this blog. Ideally,
this blog will find both strengths and weaknesses of the city. Hopefully, there is potential for Fort Wayne to be more than just “okay.”