The Proud And Arrogant gUO Admits Defeat

All they needed was a lousy $15,000 to file an appeal.

In a typical display of double-talk, the gUO losers essentially surrendered to Fishers annexation. The leaders of Fishers have always been "magnanimous" enough not to tell the rest of our community when they knew gUO had run out of support (money) from the majority of (intelligent) residents. In spite of all of the indignation and false bravado they've displayed in the past couple of years, the gUO decides to tuck tail, cut and run. Of course they'll justify it to themselves by saying that a state mandated property tax cap will make the new municipal taxes palatable but everyone knows the real reason why they had to give up.

So, after all of the nasty personal attacks on the FTC, the crappy parody songs, the whining and crying about this being just like the American revolution, the passionate speeches at their first meeting in the HSE cafeteria and the promises to fight the annexation "all the way to the Supreme Court" the gUO goes out with a whimper. What a waste. But hey, at least we get to say...

HA HA HA HA HA HA

NOW PAY YOUR FAIR SHARE,

gEIST FREELOADERS!!!!!!!

Has It Been 3 Years Already?

Yes, it was March of 2006 when I predicted that the gUO would "implode" before this process was over http://sayyestofishers.blogspot.com/2006/03/guo-geist-untied-operation-meets-for.html and it appears that I was right.

The gUO must now convince something like 36% (and why not 51%?) of the remonstrators to agree to let them negotiate with Fishers on the remonstrators behalf. Judge Nation probably just wants to avoid another SW Clay debacle by assuring himself that the negotiators actually represent the parties involved in the suit. Melle Rashelle Quaid has already gone public with the fact that she would like to take Fishers up on the "three year abatement" deal that Fishers offered them over a year ago. Too bad that deal is no longer on the table. Doh! This had to have frosted the donuts of the "Give Me Liberty or...else" crowd in geist.

Indeed, everything that the gUO has tried to do; 1.) Form their own town(s), 2.) Change state laws or 3.) Negotiate with Fishers has resulted in utter failure. Why would any sane geist resident trust these amateurs to do anything right? Even the atgeistatfishersblog.joke.crap guy suggested negotiation with Fishers a few months ago but was soundly told to "sit down and shut up" since, as we all know, he's not even a Hamilton County resident.

Now I must say that I've thoroughly enjoyed the last 8 months or so, debating with the geist annexation foes on the IndyStar news comments section. The time has come though for me to get this blog moving again. So much has happened that I'm afraid I'll need to address everything piece-by-piece.

"Silver Bullet" Misfires - Sen. Kenley Is FoF

Update 1/30/08: The pandering Senators manged to bring this bill back from the dead. Using "Rule 78(d)" which basically says if a bill fails to win a majority of the Senate votes but the number of Nay votes are less than 25 (there are 50 Senators) then someone from the Nay side can request a vote be reconsidered. Then the favor trading and influence peddling ensues to try and turn Nays into Yeas before the re-vote. It's the legislative equivalent to taking a mulligan. The three Senators who changed their votes are in red below. Governor-to-be, Senator Kenley was NOT among the flip-floppers. The Dems. obviously don't like this bill so it will be interesting to see if it makes it to the House floor.



In the State Senate yesterday, the Town Of Fishers won a quiet victory. A bill sponsored by Sens. Drozda and Gard that would have wrenched the tool of involuntary annexation away from the municipalities of Indiana failed by a 1 vote margin.

Perhaps if the bill had not included the retroactive component (aimed squarely at the geist annexation action by Fishers) it may have passed. Of course the gUO had probably insisted that this component of the bill remain and the pandering politician Sen. Beverly Gard was all too happy to oblige.

Admittedly, the vote was close. The bright spot that I see was the Nay vote by Sen. Luke Kenley (R) - Noblesville. Sen Kenley has my vote to be the next Governor of Indiana. He is smart and like a good business man understands how to finance government. He obviously made a tough choice here and I consider him to be a FoF, "Friend of Fishers". Here are the roll call votes of central Indiana Senators.

Altig (R)-N
Boots (R)-Y
Bray (R)-Y
Breaux (D)-N
Delph (R) Carmel-Y
Drozda (R) Westfield-Y
Errington (D) Muncie-N
Gard (R) Fishers-Y
Hershman (R)-N, Then Y
Howard (D)-DNV
Jackman (R)-N, Then Y
Kenley (R) Noblesville-N
Lawson (R)-Y
Lanane (D) Anderson-N
Lubbers (R)-Y
Merritt (R)-Y
Miller (R)-Y
Simpson (D)-N
Walker (R)-Y
Waltz (R)-N
Waterman (R)-Excused, Then Y
Young (R)-N

I have to chuckle over the fact that only TWO Senate Dems. voted Yea on this bill. This should give everyone pause when they consider a Dem. for any elected office. The lone Dem. that ran for Fishers Town Council campaigned on responsive government, fiscal irresponsibility by the FTC and how the annexation of geist was soooo morally wrong. He was even arrogant enough to say that he would oppose the geist annexation even if a majority of the residents of Fishers were in favor...responsive government? Well, I guess this just means that he is woefully out of touch with his Dem. leadership in the Statehouse.

So, on we go, towards the ultimate destination of the annexation of geist. I'll sure be thinking about the gUO trudging through the cold February weather collecting the petition signatures for their doomed remonstrance. Blowing almost a half-a-million dollars of other peoples money just to save a few thousand a year for themselves...why don't they just GIVE UP?

Poll Results

Thanks to everyone who voted in the polls regarding geist annexation/incorporation. I'll be putting up a new one soon. The results are in:

Unincorporated geist residents were asked to choose from these outcomes (33 responses):

Fight any incorporation attempt (my intent was to mean incorporation by Fishers OR forming the new towns, I didn't word it very well) 18%

Form the new towns 24%

Allow annexation by Fishers 51%

Just go along with the majority (of all unincorporated residents, again not worded too well) 7%

Fishers residents were asked to choose from these (48 responses):

Annex geist 45%

Leave geist alone 20%

Agree with whatever the Town Council wants to do 17%

Let geist decide for themselves 18%

OK, since this was my first attempt at a poll I obviously didn't word the choices very well. Not to mention the fact that these kinds of polls are the LEAST scientific possible. Another thing I did not consider is that every person is actually allowed to vote in both polls but assuming everyone voted the opposite direction in each poll the percentages would remain correct. Still it was kinda fun.

I noticed that soon after I put it up, the atgeistatfishersgeistgaydio.crap.birdcagefloor guy followed suit with his own poll. Since it's almost January, I expect I'll be receiving my DECEMBER issue of his propaganda-laden newsletter. My parakeet can hardly wait.

What Does The DoD Want With Little Ol' Me?

I've been noticing quite a few accesses to my site lately using an IP address originating from the Department of Defense. I wondered why the federal government might be interested in annexation issues around Fishers, IN. After hearing from all of the "parties" who spoke at last Wednesday nights geist annexation hearing I think I may have figured it out.

Apparently more than a few of the members of gUO have served in the armed forces so, it might be one of them. Personally, I don't really see how expounding on ones service in the military is supposed to create some fear-of-God response in anyone. Millions of people in America today have served in the military and unless you're running for some political office or applying for a job where that kind of experience is a qualification, if you have to constantly boast and crow about it, it probably means that you really didn't do much while you were in there. Many have parlayed 20 or more years of military service into a civilian career...no big deal. There is however, a great joke that I want to repeat here for the benefit of one of those guys in particular.

Shit: Through the Eyes of the Military

An Army grunt stands in the rain with a 35-pound pack on his back, 15-lb. weapon in his hand, having marched 12 miles, and says, "This is shit."

An Army Airborne Ranger stands in the rain with a 45-pound pack on his back, weapon in hand, after having jumped from a plane and jogged 18 miles, says with a smile, "This is good shit."

A Navy Seal lies in the mud, 55-pound pack on his back, weapon in hand, after swimming 10 miles to shore, crawling through a swamp, and running 25 miles at night past enemy positions, says with a grin, "This is really great shit."

A Marine, up to his nose in the stinking, bug-infested mud of a swamp with a 65-pound pack on his back and weapons in both hands after jumping from an aircraft at high altitude into the ocean, swimming 12 miles to shore, killing several alligators to enter the swamp, then crawling 30 miles through the brush to assault an enemy camp, says, "I love this shit."

An Air Force Captain sits in an easy chair in an air-conditioned, carpeted office in front of his computer and says, "My e-mail is out? What kind of shit is this?"

At any rate, I forwarded a nice, long log of the DoD accesses to my site on to the Pentagon, Senators Bayh and Lugar, Representative Ike Skelton (D, MO, Chairman-House Armed Services Committee), the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security for them to deal with. I'm sure there's at least one young anxious bureaucrat/investigator out there who would LOVE to make some personal inquiries as to why a Federally owned, taxpayer funded ISP is being used by someone for the purpose of visiting my very non-national-defense-oriented web site. This might be interesting.

The "Big Adventure" Crashes And Burns

The gUO wanted to go on a "big adventure". They all got together over a few beers and margaritas, logged on Legal-Zoom.Com and came up with what they thought looked like some incorporation documents (crockuments). They thought the crockuments looked pretty good, they sent Joe Blow to hondle(sic) the fire department piece and hired a consultant that had worked for Fishers before (Huh!) to do the finances. But, there was a problem. The numbers didn't look quite right. So they omitted, hid or failed to mention the negative information and Voila!. They hoodwinked a whopping 25% of the property owners to sign on to the adventure but, they figured it didn't really matter since the whole purpose of this charade was to try and delay their inevitable annexation. Of course, this was all going on while the FTC was waiting for the results of neighborhood meetings trying to work out some voluntary annexation agreements. Unfortunately for gUO, Fishers was informed of their bad-faith antics and was able to be "first in time" with their annexation ordinances. After the FTC action was upheld in court the gUO big, sneaky adventure looked like this,

Why would anyone in geist give one cent more to these amateurs...?

Two Dog And Pony Shows

On Tuesday October 30, there were two "Dog And Pony Shows" at Fishers High School

Here is how the Town of Fishers show looked.












And here is the gUO version













The gUOs reason for wanting to incorporate? Because we should be allowed to be independent. End of story.

The most compelling part of the Town presentation was the "11 Questions That Must Be Answered" portion. It was fun watching the color drain from all of the faces at the gUO table while the questions were posed to the audience. In my opinion, geist should have a go at incorporation. But, if they can't get their paperwork filed IN TIME and in GOOD ORDER, the residents that they purport to represent had better do their own independent analysis of the critical portions of the fiscal plans. Independence is a worthwhile pursuit but I've heard it said that many geist residents are on fixed incomes and simply cannot afford a spike in their taxes. I have my own opinion as to why the fiscal plans were so poorly developed but will save that hypothesis for later in this post.

So, to that end, here are the "11 Questions". Presented in my own order of importance with my comments in red.

1. What are the tax rates after the petition errors are corrected?

This is critical. Their failure to provide a certified assessed valuation from the Township Assessor, the basic math errors pointed out by the presentation plus other MAJOR problems with the income side of the plan will be the undoing of this delay attempt.

2. How is the Sheriff going to patrol within a municipality?

The County Commissioners will have to see this as a blatant attempt by geist to grab more than their fair share of County resources. I would rather see the Sheriff and his deputies kicking down the doors on meth labs in rural Hamilton County rather than rescuing cats from the trees in geist.

3. What is an East and West (g)eist police department going to cost.

These people have NO CLUE how to hire, compensate and organize a police department, and they know it. Which is why there is very little contemplation of this in the fiscal plan crockuments.

4. Who is the Castleton Volunteer Fire Department, are they capable of adequately serving (g)eist, and under what terms?

Here the town is exaggerating a little. There is no question that these firefighters are professional and could perform these duties. The failure to include the actual CONTRACT for fire protection services is inept though.

5. What are the terms of this proposed arrangement between the County and the proposed towns for road and street maintenance.

Again, the assertion that County resources are theirs to command and the failure to provide the actual CONTRACT for these services is suspect.

6. What is the impact on sewer service and sewer rates if these towns are incorporated.

It's no secret that Fishers and HSE Utilities have this locked up in the geist area. What's to stop Fishers from enacting an "out of town" rate for sewage treatment? HSE only delivers the sewage to Fishers for treatment. Unless the gUO members are offering their back yards as locations for new treatment facilities, Fishers pretty much has control over this issue. Not to mention the fact that geist will, at some point, need to deal with storm water run off and has alluded to a "user fee" for the residents at some point to provide this service.

7. What about youth sports?

If geist doesn't want to help fund our park system, then their kids should not be allowed to participate in a program that primarily uses the municipal parks of Fishers. Period.

8. What tax rates are necessary to achieve a balanced budget?

9. How will these towns deal with unexpected costs?

10. How much will taxes increase because of inflation?

The expense side of the incorporation crockuments are woefully inadequate. None of these questions are answerable. The only way these can be dealt with is through increased taxation.

11. Who is going to provide fire protection service to the areas served by the proposed fire station until it is built?

This is less of a question and more of a threat. Fishers is just posturing its position as the only current provider of fire protection for the area. We can already assume that Fishers probably will not agree to provide a backup for a geist fire department. I don't really understand why this is on the list.

Besides having a poor fiscal plan, the proposed municipalities have no territory to allow for reasonable growth, they have virtually NO commercial or industrial properties and they cannot show how Fishers would NOT be able to provide services more efficiently.

It's pretty obvious to me that this whole incorporation attempt is just a huge smoke screen to slow down the inevitable annexation process. The crockuments are deficient and amateurish. They were never intended to seriously meet all of the legal requirements and will eventually found to be that way by all of the pertinent government units.

East & West geist Fiscal Plans

According to the fiscal plans (available for download by clicking on "secret gUO web site" link on the left) the projected increase for property tax revenue is 4-5% annually. The COIT (County Option Income Tax-"local" tax on your pay stub) revenue is projected to increase by 10% annually.

The only ways to get property tax revenue to increase are by:
1.Building or improving existing property
This should work for a while but according to their plan, East will be completely out of space after three years and West after one year.

2.Increasing the assessed value
With the current uproar over tax assessments there's a chance that these could be fiddled with. However, Hamilton County has been far ahead on the assessment task and I'm pretty sure that the current values are not going to be able to be changed that much.

3.Increasing the tax rate
When options 1 & 2 are played out this will be the one that will result in much higher tax bills.

The only ways to increase COIT revenue are:
1.Increase the employed population
The only way I can think of to increase the employed population is to build new housing. The problem?...see option 1 above.

2.Increase the earned income of the employed population
This is not controlled by the municipality. My earned income doesn't increase by 10% every year. Maybe these folks are different...but I doubt it.

3.Increase the COIT rate
This is controlled at the County level and though municipalities certainly have input as to what the rates should be the rates can't be raised without justification that the County needs the money.

Everyone that is potentially affected by this needs to consider whether the assumptions made jive with their own personal economic situation. Considering the unknown factors of real estate market changes, trends in wages and interest rates and even Democrats moving in to the White House and Congress the future may not be so bright.

The revenue side of the fiscal plans make some sweeping assumptions that may or may not prove to be accurate. There are also assumptions made on the expense side that while meeting the the legal requirement for the incorporation filing, the gUO is painting a rosier picture than what may actually happen.

The whole thing may be moot if Fishers succeeds in blocking the incorporation effort.

Go here for a laugh...http://geistblogs.com/blog/fishers-filing-suit-at-1030-am-to-stop-incorporation/#comments

Back In The Saddle

So much has happened since February. With the Appellate Court finding in favor of the City of Carmel in the Home Place case today I figured it probably is about time for the geist case to start gaining traction again.

While it is true that I have focused on the geist case here since the begining, I want to make it clear that I have always advocated the annexation of ALL unincorporated areas contiguous to Fishers. Once the geist case is decided, regardless of the outcome, I will be admonishing our Town council to begin to fill in the other "swiss cheese holes" they used as the basis for the geist annexation two years ago.

So, feel free to leave a comment on your favorite topic of discussion. Some of my favorites?,

1. The E & W geist fiscal plans
2. The chances for a successful remonstrance
3. gUO now says it needs "several hundred thousand dollars" to fight the annexation (and I thought that they had saved a bundle using legalzoom.com to do their fiscal plan).

Those or any other subject related to annexation are fair game. I may start new threads if any of the subject comments become voluminous.

Remember that, for ease of use, I DO allow anonymous postings. All comments however must survive moderation by the blog authors. Have Fun!

Coffee Break's Over, Back On Your Heads

Yes, it has been a while. J.Q.F.R. has been on a hiatus since there wasn’t much going on. But now we’re back and we even decided to allow anonymous postings here just so we can show the hysteria and ineptitude of the gUO.

After the events of the last couple weeks, we now know that gUO folks are just as unimportant as the rest of us. At least as far as the Indiana General Assembly is concerned. The gUO must really have been worried about their position in the annexation fight for them to have expended so much energy, so many bad cliche's and possibly the political future of their State Senator in their doomed attempt to change state law. I half expected to see a parade of Libertarians testifying for gUO. I guess doing “everything” to fight forced annexation stops at the statehouse door.

I would have loved to have seen the looks on their faces when the Indiana Senate, Local Government and Elections Committee shot down both of Sen. Gard’s proposed bills. The moratorium amendment was an especially desperate move. The Senator must have seen the handwriting on the wall and decided to shoot the moon.

After the appeal decision comes in the SW Clay case, Fishers will know how best to proceed. Oh yes, regardless of the outcome of the appeal Fishers will proceed with the geist annexation. I can hardly wait…

gUO Doesn't Protest Road Improvements...Huh!

The front page story in the new Fishers Star tabloid this morning described how the Town of Fishers is helping to finance a study of the intersection of 96th St and Fall Creek. Undoubtedly the Town will foot some if not most of the bill to rebuild and improve this intersection (which will directly improve safety) for gUO residents. I was expecting to see the gUO protesting the fact that Fishers would make ANY investment in the infrastructure of the gUO area. It's common knowledge that they don't want or need anything from Fishers. Well they won't try and stop it since it directly benefits them...hypocrites. Fishers money would be much better spent on other projects. For example, widening 126th St between Lantern and Alisonville Roads. Our school buses can barely navigate that stretch now. Not to mention the fact that the people in THAT area actually pay their fair share of taxes.

Oh well, just another bit of Monopoly strategy by the Town. Put a little green house on the property and just wait for the gUO thimble to land there. Ha!

The funny thing is that the leadership of gUO is really demonstrating their lack of facts to oppose the annexation. It just proves that you don't have to be smart to be rich.

Wow, this guy needs to go back to elementary school. I would suggest maybe writing out a little outline before going off ranting and rambling. "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt" Abraham Lincoln. Check it out

Read how desperate gUO has become. They think that they are important enough to get state law changed. They think that somehow all of the annexation cases in the state are directly related to theirs. Can you say self-important? Check it out

Fall Creek Has A Fire Sale And gUO Steals The Money!

Recently the Fall Creek Township board voted to sell a piece of township property (the building and surrounding land that currently houses the fire station at 116th and Brook School Road) to the Town of Fishers. The reason for selling this property was to make up a short fall of funds to pay the current fire contract for the "un-annexed" areas in the township. The proposed purchase price of the property is $916,000.00 and the current outstanding debt to the Town of Fishers for fire protection services is *GASP* a little over $916,000.00! The amount of the bill should be assessed TOTALLY to the un-annexed areas.

Is anyone besides me (a Fall Creek Twp. resident) upset that property belonging to EVERYONE in the township is being sold to pay gUOs fire bill? Just another example of Fishers residents footing the bill for the gUO deadbeats. I also must wonder if the Fall Creek board is stacked in favor of gUO. For a small $100-$200 average per property assessment the township could have paid the bill. Could it be that they didn't want to have to explain to each and every resident why they needed the money? All's well that ends well though. At least now Fishers has the gUO by the short and curlys. Like a little game of Monopoly!, Fishers just built a hotel at 116th and Brooks School and it won't be long until the gUO thimble lands on that space.

When The Facts Fail You - Make It Personal

Certainly I can be accused of a personal affront or two in this blog. But, I am a believer in fighting fire with fire. The gUO has once again demonstrated the weakness of their case against annexation by reveling in the recent blowing of cool by Fishers Town Council president Scott Faultless during a Town Council meeting.

The ironic thing is that the gUO losers completely missed the fact that the entire heated discussion revolved around the previous denial of permission by the Council to a developer asking to build a "little brick strip mall" at the corner of 116th and Hoosier Rd. Wow! The gUO says Fishers is soooooo bad because it allows "uncontrolled development" and "rubber stamps" every project. The Town just can't win.

Heck, why should the atgeistatfishersblog.joke.crap guy care that this project would have resulted in an 89 year lease on sports fields which currently BENEFIT the folks in the proposed annexation areas? He's the one who doesn't "have a dog in this fight"! He isn't even a Hamilton County resident. Oh but wait...if he initiates personal attacks on and promotes negative things about Mr. Faultless he might get more hits on his web site. Which btw has really taken a dive (if that was even possible) since changing to a format that forces everybody wanting to post comments to join his little email marketing list. Just so they can get more spam. Ha!

Fishers Goes On Offense - gUO Cries Fowl

Nothing could wipe the smile off of my face after I read the brochure that appeared in my mailbox last week. It will just be hilarious when gUO presents their measly 1 or 2 thousand signatures to Superior Court while Fishers presents 5 or 10 times that number of signatures in favor. Ironically, the atgeistatfishersblog.joke.crap guy wants Fishers residents to believe that this isn't their concern. This coming from a guy who doesn't even live in the proposed annexation area. He says that we, the Town residents, "don't have a dog in this fight" and that it should stay between geist and the Fishers Town Council. Quite a leap of logic considering that we were the ones who elected the Council to do what's best for Fishers. He can't refute even one sentence of what the brochure says. Just blows smoke. Ha!

Fact is, the annexation of geist will help average Fishers residents to continue to enjoy the lowest municipal tax rate of any other major town or city in the county. Any Fishers resident who doesn't believe that is under the influence of something or someone. Fishers is even using the "soft glove" approach here. They should publicize the number of geist residents whose lives have been saved by quick responding patrol cars equipped with portable defibrillators. They should get an address list from S.P.O.R.T.S. and begin assessing park use fees for "non-residents". How about assessing the township fire departments with the capital costs of buildings and equipment?

Once Fishers gets done reminding some of the gUO folks about the sewer waivers contained in their plats and covenants and after some entire neighborhoods start agreeing to non-remonstrance clauses in their tax abatement agreements with the Town, gUO will start to get a "swiss cheese effect" look of its own.

The average residents in the proposed annexation areas need to face reality and stop letting the millionaires and the little HOA Napoleons tell them what's best for them.

If anyone reading this didn't receive the brochure or wants an electronic version of it simply email your request to say_yes2fishers@hotmail.com Happy to oblige.

Back To The Point

The only reason I retracted the "unconfirmed story" was that it was incorrect. The information was billed as "unconfirmed". A couple of journalists checked the information, found it to be false and decided not to mention it (except Abdul of WXNT, but that's another story...). Obviously I screwed up and will be sure to NEVER do THAT again. The fact that there are those who would start such rumors does strengthen Mike's case that there are those who want to smear him. His pundits are even saying that there was a silver lining with respect to added name recognition. The fact that he IS a public figure and still saw fit to threaten me with legal action over this I thought was a little over the top but he did provide me with an opportunity to retract the "unconfirmed story" and that was kind.

However, the only answer to the question of the emails sent out to promote the golf tournament was something like "everyone does that". Now, my hit counter (and Mr Kole's) has shown access initiated from co.hamilton.in dozens of times over the last few months. Granted, usually after 4:30 PM (we all know that most government employees are not "on the clock" after about 4) but not always. I'm a bit surprised that no one (not even the media) sought to investigate that information. Maybe everyone does do it. Since we are a nation of laws and in Indiana we have a law to specifically deter it I am personally disgruntled that it goes unenforced. All I can hope is that the "Delete" keys and buttons have gotten a good workout up in Noblesville.

Crow Tastes Bad

I hereby retract any statement(s) I've made alleging that Mike Kole or Robert Thompson were fired from county government employment for any reason.

I repeated unsubstantiated rumors to certain media outlets and I deeply regret doing so.

J.Q.F.R.

Golf News-Mickelson & Thompson Both Blow It!

A bid to influence a controversial annexation by the Town of Fishers might land a Hamilton County employee in the unemployment line, or worse. Email messages, traced back through information contained in the header to the Hamilton County Surveyors Office, were sent last month promoting a benefit golf tournament to be held June 19th at Ironwood Golf Course. The emails were signed by county employee Robert Thompson and if the investigation shows he sent them through his county office he might be guilty of a class D felony. Indiana's "ghost employment" law states "IC 35-44-2-4(d) A person employed by a governmental entity who knowingly or intentionally accepts property from the entity for the performance of duties not related to the operation of the entity commits ghost employment, a Class D felony.". Subsection (f) describes circumstances under which using county computers, email addresses and internet access is acceptable but since the purpose of gUO IS intended "to influence legislation or governmental policy" and gUO IS NOT a 501(c)(3) then he would have had to been given permission IN WRITING from the County Surveyor (his boss) to use government owned property to solicit participants and donations for the gUO's fund-raiser golf event. Someone needs to ask him whether or not he can produce this written permission. Thompson also ran an unsuccessful campaign for Fall Creek Township Board with opposition to the geist annexation as his platform.

I hope all of the news media whom I have alerted to this discovery will pursue an investigation. It's a shame when emotions get the best of people. Yet it is only the first example here of that which my hero Ben Franklin predicted, "Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame". It's ironic that this is the same guy who claimed to be "checking on" the identity of an individual interviewed by TV stations after the gUO pep rally at HSE High School last February. At the time of his posting on atgeist.joke, putting your cursor on his name provided an email link to his address at the Surveyors office. So we can assume he might also have been using county resources to do his "checking on". You can read the full story I posted back in March under the headline "Things That Make You Go Hmmmm..." (be sure to read the comments too!). Btw Rich, the poor soul who was the subject of Bob's government-sponsored, private investigation has been allowed to debate the gUO losers on atfishersblog.crap and has done a great job. http://atfishers.com/viewpost.php?post_id=136

What goes around, comes around.

I Know Why The Caged Birds (And Puppies) Of Fishers Sing!

My favorite pigeon litter, atgeist.birdcagefloor, one of those crappy little Money-Mailer clone magazines loaded with useless public domain articles and worthless coupons from places you'll never go to, will be joined by a new and equally crappy publication atfishers.puppytrainer. Ironically, both publications are owned by the same creepy, little guy who, even though he is a resident of Marion county, for some reason sees himself as a leader in the fight against the annexation of geist by Fishers. He isn't directly affected by the annexation so why would he try and assist the remonstrance? One reason, hit counts. He is using the controversy to drive traffic to his web site so that he can charge more for advertising on it. Now we ask, why would he try to do the same thing in Fishers? A community he seems to have so much disdain for. Same basic reason. He wins no matter who loses. And it is now revealed that it is in his best interest to keep the two communities separated. I hope the folks of geist will realize soon that he is only throwing in with you to build his business. Another thing about this guy, he doesn't post anywhere but his own sites. Guess he's afraid.

It's the same with politicians from soon-to-be-minority political parties who only want to hang their hats on your good name and notoriety to further their personal political aspirations. Are you sincerely ready to actually VOTE for a party that supports reproductive choice, legalized drugs and same sex civil unions???

Town Offers Tax Abatements And More, gUO On Defense

The Town of Fishers has begun to open negotiations with residents in the proposed annexation areas. Residents began receiving letters inviting them to closed door meetings with representatives of the Fishers Town Council. The gUO of course is rallying to keep residents away from these meetings. Using the recent decision against Carmel in the SW Clay case as the basis for its argument is not an intelligent strategy. The properties involved there were few and so far from the city that the argument that the city would not be able to service those areas made sense. The case with geist is completely different. Fishers Police are already making 1000+ runs per year into the geist area and geist residents readily admit that they are using Fishers parks through the SPORTS program.

I hope that owners of the average value homes in the annexation area will see this as an opportunity to catch a break with regard to the increase in taxes and a chance to be rid of their antique septic systems. To those residents I say; the geist millionaires would have you believe that this is your fight. They're the ones who will have to fork over the big dollars once they are annexed. If you allow them to intimidate you into fighting this you had better start preparing now financially. Take the abatement now while it's on the table.

Another Election Day Mandate!

I must say, the quality and number of visitors to this blog amazes me. One astute visitor has just pointed out another example of voters in the last primary election coming out in favor of the annexation.

This time we refer to the wasted-ink-and-paper version of atgeist.joke which I shall call atgeist.birdcagefloor (mailed to you and I by the same little guy who publishes the gUO propaganda on his amateurishly administered web site) which I received the month before the election. In it was an "article" by rachel (refered to in the previous post). The essay (she skipped those journalism classes too!) theorized that the primary election might attract more voters this year due to the "hotly contested" geist annexation. She claimed to have conducted a telephone interview with each of the eight candidates for Fall Creek Township Board (of which the top three would be elected) during which she inquired as to where they stood on the issue of the annexation: for, against or neutral.

She identified three candidates as being against: Robert Thompson, Victor Wenning and John Zerbo. What a surprise! Not a single one of those three were elected!

I must say though I'm in a quandry. To say that the people of Fall Creek Township were actually influenced by this essay would be to admit that intelligent, registered voters actually do read atgeist.birdcagefloor. I can only hope that these three losers did some additional campaigning on the issue.

Fact vs Opinion or News vs Crap

It has never ceased to amaze me how many times I read "news" that should be billed as opinion. It happens every day.

Take for example our good buddies over at atgeist.joke. Remember this joke web site is run by a guy who doesn't even live in Hamilton county but has thrown in with the gUO group to help his business. He supposedly "broke the story about the illegalities surrounding the annexation of Fishers Town Council President Scott Faultless’ property in the Valleys at geist". Now I'm sure the atgeist.joke guy hasn't had even one journalism class or he would know that a responsible journalist would not make statements about legalities unless the allegations had already been proven in court or by admission. Neither of those things have occurred. Not that it matters but truthfully someone in the gUO actually "broke" the story much earlier by stumbling on to the Faultless information while researching the defense for their doomed remonstrance against annexation. This .joke guy is disguising his little on-line rag as a news source when all it really is is an animated version of Money Mailer.

He is also a frequent poster on another jewel of a web site. This one, fishersblog.crap is supposedly:

"a public journal for the Town of Fishers. You can discuss the local news, events, and other topics we present, or create your own topic for others to talk about. You are free to discuss and write about anything
Fishers, nearby communities, local happenings, neighbors, town gossip, the new restaraunt(sic ed.), Troop 199, your cat, your grandson, the town drunk. . .
It’s up to you!"

Sounds like a place that would be open and fair (probably not to the town drunk) by allowing public comment and discourse on the issues of the day. The stories I had read there were sometimes kinda funny and off-beat but after the annexation storm started brewing the allegiance of the web site owner (who goes nameless-like myself) began to show. I wanted to respond to this bit of libelous drivel:

rachel Says:
February 3rd, 2006 at 9:48 pm
Scott Faultless is…

a. ARROGANT- by believing there is no single person in Fishers as competent as himself to run the Fishers Town Council- which resulted in Scott having to annex his Geist property to save the people of Fishers from governing their town without him

b. SNEAKY- by trying to pull off the ridiculous annexation of his property

c. STUPID-for thinking he could get away with his annexation scheme with nobody being the wiser

d. ALL OF THE ABOVE

After posting an equally mean and childish response to "rachel", probably the gUO treasurer, fishersblog.crap didn't allow the post. They censored me. When I wrote to ask why my post had not passed moderation I was informed that "after reviewing your website it was apparent that the blog was created for reasons other than the annexation issue. FishersBlog.com does not want to get involved."

OK, I don't get it. Fishersblog.crap doesn't want to get involved well it looks like to me that they are already involved! The truth is they just aren't interested in allowing both sides of the argument on to their crappy little web site. So much for their claim of "You are free to discuss and write about anything". The tidy little statement of the site's purpose doesn't mention anything about a commentators web site being OK. I even wrote back and told them to leave the web site link off of my post but there was no response, real classy. Maybe they should add the disclaimer "as long as it is approved by the Reichminister Of Propaganda". They should just stick to restaurant (this is how the word is spelled) reviews, whiny little diatribes about the way people drive and park in Fishers or fish stories and leave the tough issues for those with a little integrity. If you're going to take a stand on an issue then take it. Don't pretend to be some fair-to-both-sides, gossip-about-the-town-drunk news source and then renege when the stakes get too high. And what is up with all of the gUO people posting to a fishersblog.crap? I thought those people wanted nothing to do with Fishers. It would be interesting to know who is behind this site. My guess is it's some underemployed Fishers housewife trying to impress her geist friends.

Area 3 Votes In Favor Of Annexation!

The results of the first and ONLY poll taken of residents in the proposed annexation area reveal a startling truth (NOT!). The person pictured to the left (no, not Tootsie although the similarity is too funny!) on the campaign flyer unwittingly conducted the poll by having ONLY one plank in her platform, her opposition to "geist annexation".

She lost. Was it close? No, she lost 35% to 65%. (What the heck can a Precinct Committeeperson do about annexation anyway???)

Granted the turnout was low, and precinct 11 is an area that has some subdivisions already annexed in to Fishers. But, it is the FIRST and ONLY poll conducted in the area. The gUO is only hiding its head in the sand. Many residents in the annexation areas want it!

Before dropping over $100,000 of other peoples money down the outhouse hole, gUO should do the responsible thing and identify which of the four annexation areas do not have a prayer of obtaining the super-majority necessary to oppose their respective annexations.

At Last! Someone From gUO Displays Some Character

I received this very well articulated message in my email say_yes2fishers@hotmail.com

I've removed the first part since it was part of an exchange and it wasn't really on point.

"Simply put, the lack of planning, lack of vision, lack of
honesty, and the choice of ego over public concerns have brought us to where
we are. Fishers has rubber stamped every development that has come along,
and hasn't even bothered to follow up on the changes made to some of these
developments after approval, or the damage done to the county, particularly,
traffic flow and increased numbers of school students. Faultless and the
rest will never atone for, or try to correct the bad decisions that have
been made. Fishers has gotten itself upside down with the tax revenue
needed by allowing too much residential and not enough commercial
development, and they won't admit, or correct that. I have nothing against
Fishers. But I do have a problem with paying more for what I already have.
In some cases, LESS than what I have. We want the truth. I guess the one
bright spot in all of this is that regardless of the annexation outcome,
Faultless is serving his last term in office. HIS motivation and character
has already been revealed."

Now finally something we can sink our teeth in to! The "rubber stamping" of developments is, I believe, an accurate observation. I'm venturing to say that even though I have attended a few more Fishers Town Council meetings than your average geist resident and I have personally witnessed the alleged "rubber stamping" I still have a problem with this observation.
Who are we to fault an owner of say 80 acres of farmland who while getting on in age with no children or grandchildren interested in farming decides to sell it to a developer for enough cash to retire comfortably? The developer doing what a developer is supposed to do...DEVELOPS. Lo and behold, a large number of people interested in what the area offers namely, good schools, recreation and low crime start buying lots and building houses. Sounds a lot like a textbook case of pure capitalism. Why should a town council see fit to stop this?
The "hasn't even bothered to follow up on the changes made to some of these developments after approval" I also think has some merit but squarely falls on the Fishers Department of Development who I think would argue that a lack of resources is responsible. That would mean that Fishers Council could possibly be accused of growing the size of its government. They would never want to be responsible for that! On the other hand, do we as business owners really want a "gestapo" like Carmel and Zionsville has that scrutinizes every nut and bolt of your building?
As to the rest, I don't believe that Fishers is "upside down with the tax revenue
needed" (someone point me towards some documentation, please!). The only traffic flow problem I see is on an interstate highway (not in Fishers bailiwick). The schools have done a marvelous job of coping with the influx of new students. Indeed the developments that have received the most remonstrance of late are the "commercial" ones. As to this being Scott's last term in office, I hadn't heard that before. It is to me though, a great opportunity to put some new blood in to the council. A part of our system of government that makes this a great country. Too bad no one from geist has enough hootspa to want to go for it.

Poor John Mellencamp!

Yes folks, the guy who wrote "The Authority Song" (I fought authority, authority always wins...) has had his small town life anthem "Pink Houses" usurped by a couple of hacks and we all get a horrible parody complete with bad rhymes and zero humor. In that vein I've re-written the parody to reflect my views. No plans to EVER put it to music. (It's just as bad as theirs...my apologies to John)

Big Fancy Outhouses
(apologies to John Mellencamp)


There’s some rich folk in their big houses livin in the geist neighborhoods
They got ski’n boats and beemers parked in their yards
You know they thought they had it so good
And there’s a geist woman, who’s heard of a kitchen but it’s just somethin' her maid keeps clean
Her man looks at her and says “Hey honey, quick, go get your boobs, nose and veins done, I tee off at 8:15

CHORUS
Oh but ain’t those geist people so childish and mean
And those geist people act so snooty and clean
But see they don’t use the sewers you see
Big fancy outhouses and sometimes the trees – ooo yeah

Then their neighbors, up in Fishers
Said “Hey come on and join our town”
“We’ve got things to give and more to be”
“Together we’ll have an easier road to go down”
But they jumped up and down and had fits
Said “We don’t want any part of your slum!”
But they forgot that the things that they like here
Had attracted many others to come

CHORUS
Oh those geist people they want it their way
And oh those geist people say they don’t have to pay
We’re not like you po’ Fishers folks over there
You just go ahead and pay our way, we don’t care

Well geist people are just people
Nothin’ special no no no
Go to work, church and the baseball park
Why should just Fishers have to pay for those roads!
Ooh Yeah
And these losers think they’re winners
But it’s an unfair deal
‘Cause the Fishers man has been payin’ their bills, they’re thrilled but the thrill is about to be killed

CHORUS
Oh please you geist people, watch your HOA
Cause most of geist people say “Hey, it’s OK”
But there’s a lot at stake for these guys
Don’t try to take the power from these emperors in disguise

"Facts" and "Truth", What Am I Missing?

So what is an idiot? Dictionary definition is "a person of subnormal intelligence"

"If you ever wish to talk about FACTS, or the TRUTH, feel free to send me
mail. Until then, you have become nothing more than a Useful Idiot. Keep
up the good work. You're helping our cause immensely."

So writes one of the many people who DID NOT take the atgeist.joke guy's advice to ignore me. Well I'm certainly no genius but they tell me that my SAT scores would qualify me for membership in Mensa sooooo I don't think I fit that description. Let's look at a few more...

"It is obvious that you are a clueless person-whoever you are."

Since this is all that this person saw fit to write I guess they really didn't have anything else constructive to add.

"moron"

Moron:*Originally a scientific term, coined by psychologist Henry Goddard from a Greek word meaning "foolish", and used to describe a person with a genetically determined mental age between 8 and 12 on the Binet scale. It was also once applied to people with an IQ of 51-70 and was a step up from "imbecile" (IQ of 26-50) and two steps up from "idiot" (IQ of 0-25)... (Wow I moved up two steps from idiot!!!)

"And what is YOUR motivation to stand on the side of the interlopers, Fishers? Are you proposing that anytime a two bit Township needs more tax base to 'tax and spend', they should be allowed the freedom to just make a land grab? Huh?

Perhaps, you don't want to understand that the Geist folks just want to be left alone. They already have all the services they want/need, Thank You. Anything wrong with that?"

Hey an actual response that wasn't just some derogatory flaming! This person obviously hasn't read the heading above or the previous writings here about MY motivation. Too bad the legal argument has nothing to do with providing additional services to these folks. I never did understand why "tax and spend" is such a bad thing. Personally, I'd really be more upset if the taxes I paid were NOT spent. More emotional, stolen-from-rush-limbaugh drivel.

"Wow!!! Good luck with your blog. You'd think that the Geist folks are being annexed into a ghetto by the way they are flapping their gums ... it's nice to see another viewpoint!"

This one speaks for itself. I hope more current Fishers residents will come by here and echo these sentiments.

Funny, the mention of "facts" and "truth" since the gUO group fails to share all the facts nor the whole truth with those they purport to represent. I'm not asking for a dissertation but why can't they repudiate even ONE thing I've said. The FACT is, they ARE contiguous to the town and they should rightfully be annexed (As should a hundred other properties bounded by the corporation). The Town of Fishers only has to prove that it is capable of providing town services to this area in order to defeat the remonstrance. Since the town is already in great financial shape and receives awards on a regular basis for its accuracy in accounting that should be easy. It's really too bad that the owners of the average value homes are caught between the town and the geist millionaires.

Fishers (Oops I Mean...Fissures) Developing in gUO

The Indianapolis Star, Hamilton County section reported today that Fishers Town Attorney Doug Church was quoted as saying "People have approached us about agreements...". Obviously there is dissent in the ranks of the annexation areas. It was kinda funny how this quote was left out by the alleged "reporter" who wrote the news brief for atgeist.joke. I wouldn't expect any less from the Reichsminister for Propaganda. It really makes me wonder why the folks of geist are allowing him to be their voice. He is not even a Hamilton County resident, thus not directly affected by the annexation. He really is only in it to increase controversey getting the hit counts (like TV Nielson ratings) on his web site up which will allow him to charge more for advertising. The only other reason could be that he and his cronies in the HOAs are desperately trying to keep their choke-hold on the area.

People in geist need to start getting smart about what is really going on here.

100 Out Of 2000 Households Does Not A Majority Make

I had to laugh at the varying estimates of the number folks who attended the gUO (geist Untied Operation sic) "love in" at HSEHS on 2/21/06. By my quick count, subtracting the Hamilton county officials and their entourages, the press and the (come to find out) MARION county residents and the morbidly curious (like me) in attendance; allowing for the couples present I would estimate only about 100 households were represented.

It is absolutely irresponsible for this vocal minority to begin whipping people into an emotional frenzy over this thing before conducting a census or at minimum a scientific poll of the affected residents to determine if a 65% majority even exists. 100% of the residents of the area that I am acquainted with support it. If the HOAs of geist REALLY had the best interests of their residents at heart they would have each pooled a couple hundred dollars and commissioned this poll.

Has anyone asked the question, "What happens if 3 out of 4 of the annexation areas fail to obtain the 65%?" Why of course all of the money will be returned to the original donors and the 4th area will fall in with the majority...right? Doubtful...So much for being "united". And why didn't anyone at the meeting question the statement by the self-appointed "historian(comedian)" concerning the "talks" that had gone on before the involuntary annexation was announced. Is there a possibility that Fishers was offering abatements or reduced sewer hookups as incentives? We may never know...

Things That Make You Go Hmmmm...

The Fishers Topics article from March 2, 2006 was enlightening. The fund-raising chairwoman (of the gUO - geist Untied Operation sic group) "declined to provide a total amount" of money collected by the opposition group. Was this an effort to not tip their hand or a reluctance to admit that they are woefully short of the amount of money needed?

The article also states that "each of the approximately(?) 27 neighborhoods in the area have a neighborhood coordinator". Unfortunately the list posted on the atgeist.joke web site (btw, operated by a MARION county resident not affected by the annexation"Hmmm how can I use this to get higher hit counts on my web site?) only lists 9. Not exactly a groundswell.

Speaking of this web site there are posts concerning the young man interviewed by the TV news after the meeting who spoke in favor of the annexation, trying to assertain his identity. A follow-up post by a gentleman stated that he was "researching that one Fishers/Geist resident" and that he couldn't verify the young man as a "resident of Fall Creek township". It is interesting that when I did some researching on the identity of the guy doing the "researching" it turns out that he is an employee of the Hamilton County Surveyors Office (Hey! Isn't that the county department that signed off on the Faultless property annexation?). It's no wonder that people are afraid to come forward with their support for the annexation when their comments are censored by the alleged community web site and people are being researched by a department of the county government after giving their opinion. And how much county employee time (tax dollars) is being spent on this little "researching" project?

Home Owners Associations and the motivation to oppose annexation

I began to wonder why individuals who were not even residents of Hamilton County thus not affected by the annexation, would come out so strongly opposed to it. Realizing that some of these individuals were members of an HOA board in the area it started to become clearer.

In the absence of municipal services the HOAs effectively fill the void by providing a communal entity to more efficiently deliver the essentials like police, snow, common area maintenance, etc. They are also, in effect taxing authorities by way of their dues structures. EXCEPT they are not subject to nearly the oversight and public disclosure that municipalities are. The neighborhoods are governed by the "volunteers" who are elected by the small percentage of homeowners who attend the meetings (the general membership is invited only once annually, for the elections). I've attended some of these "annual" meetings and if a resident dares to question expenses by the HOA they are soundly beaten down by the board who really doesn't appreciate anyone questioning the wisdom of their decisions. They are, after all, the elected government of their little part of the world.

The HOA leaders are fighting this annexation tooth and nail to protect their power (and possible perks from vendors to the HOA). Heaven forbid that it would make sense for some of the neighborhoods to LOWER their dues and take advantage of the municipal services offered by Fishers. Sure the snow wouldn't move quite as fast but the HOAs are not giving residents the whole picture since they aren't required to disclose just how many tens of thousands of dollars of spending they control to "provide" services that are possibly being provided through rigged or no-bid contracts. At a minimum the annexation discussions should include the current real costs of these services (broken down on a per household basis, just as the Town Of Fishers is being required to do) to present a truly accurate picture of the situation. If the residents were to become as emotionally involved in their HOA as they are in this fight they would see that these HOA leaders can be meglomanic big spenders just as any mayor or town council can be.

Yes, the homeowners choose which neighborhood they want to live in and whether or not they agree to pay dues under an HOA contract. I would submit though that the choice of which community or area you want to live also comes with a "caveat emptor" in that if you choose to live in an unicorporated area, at some time you will become part of the corporation. It's the same thing as if you lived next to an undeveloped parcel of land it's likely that at some point your view will be spoiled by the development of housing or a cell phone tower or a gas station. I do agree that forced annexation carries a negative connotation but it certainly is not "wrong, period". Not in this case. The reality is that our taxes (the current residents of Fishers) will increase at a faster rate if ALL unannexed areas are not brought on to the rolls and that is not fair to us.

I've been accused of espousing the ideals of the democratic party but I'm all about capatalism and wealth preservation. My support of this annexation is (believe it or not) is in the interest of preserving more of MY acquired wealth.

The gUO - geist Untied Operation, meets for a "Love-In" 2/21/06

Actually, the best part of this little pep rally was hearing the one lone voice questioning the "fairness" of not paying taxes like his neighbors "less than one football field away" do. A brave soul indeed. Mike Kole who attended the meeting tried to say that this guy was some kind of republican party operative there to try and sabotage the Love-In. I have my doubts since 100% of the folks I'm personally acquainted with in the proposed annexation area feelings range from "I'm OK with it" to "BRING IT ON! It's about time!".

I chuckled at all the little sidesteps by the gUO - geist Untied Operation "board" about what will be done about the money if some areas win and some lose. It's likely that some areas will collect the 65% of signatures neccesary and some won't, even though money will have been collected from folks in the losing areas. It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out. I predict these spoiled children will eventually show their true colors and the group will implode into a disarray of bickering and financial ruin before the end of this process.

Ben Franklin - A True American Hero!

Someone posting to the atgeist.joke web site aptly quoted Ben Franklin. Since I think Ben was probably the most intelligent of the framers I'm posting some more appropriate quotes from him.

There is no kind of dishonesty into which otherwise good people more easily and frequently fall than that of defrauding the government.

Those who govern, having much business on their hands, do not generally like to take the trouble of considering and carrying into execution new projects. The best public measures are therefore seldom adopted from previous wisdom, but forced by the occasion.

Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame.

When you're finished changing, you're finished.

A countryman between two lawyers is like a fish between two cats.

God works wonders now and then; Behold a lawyer, an honest man.

I conceive that the great part of the miseries of mankind are brought upon them by false estimates they have made of the value of things.

In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.

Ben Franklin