When Dollars Speak: What Does Goshen’s Budget Say About Us?

October 27, 2016 by Julia 10 Comments

Admittedly, we’re not the World Series — or a Serbian Folk Dance Troupe — but we DID have a pretty interesting discussion Tuesday night in City Council chambers, thanks largely to councilman Adam Scharf who got the ball rolling with some proposed cuts to the Mayor’s 2017 budget. For more on that, see today’s (10/27/2016) Goshen News editorial that rightly credits Scharf for starting an important — and difficult — public conversation.

Mayor Stutsman, of course, did some hard work behind the scenes with City department heads to shrink our overall budget from 2016’s $40,768,175 to 2017’s $37,673,355.

This was my first year participating in the budget process as a council member. Not surprisingly, it feels a little different from inside “the box” as I affectionately call our council seating area.

We heard testimony from representatives of the Economic Development Corporation, Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Goshen, Inc., and the Community Relations Commission — all organizations that were on a list of potential council-initiated reductions.

As an official steward of our community tax dollars, I found the input from these groups helpful. They all made their cases, describing their work and the value it adds to our community.

Here is the part that doesn’t set well in my bones (and, oddly, this was left out of the Goshen News editorial): The final result of our budgeting process was that the ONLY cut to the Mayor’s proposed $37 million budget was to the Community Relations Commission — which, by the way, is also the ONLY commission that doesn’t have ongoing city staff support. I voted against the cut (along with Councilwoman Gautsche and Councilman Ahlersmeyer).

It’s worth mentioning that several of those who voted for the cut to the CRC stated their support of the group as they cast their votes to cut it. I’m not quite sure what to do with that contradiction, so I’ll let it speak for itself.

I’m left with a question for us all: What message does it send to Goshen residents that in the current national political climate, the only additional cut that could get a majority council vote was a cut to the commission charged with fighting discrimination and building relationships across our differences?

If you have an answer, I’d love to hear it.

Additional thoughts from my first go-round of municipal budget hearings:

Budgeting for 30,000 people is not for wimps (pages and pages of numbers interspersed with legalese means lots of quality time with my new Middle-age Lady Reading Glasses)
City Council is generally less involved in the process than I imagined.
Many people don’t care at all about the budget (If we had grassroots, participatory budget planning workshops, would anybody come? Seriously, it’s YOUR money. We can spend it without you, but a little more guidance from you would be fun, too.).
A handful of people care a LOT about the budget.

On What Trying Looks Like

June 28, 2016 by Julia 4 Comments

It’s been a bit of a jumble inside my mind in recent days. Just as we were engaged in a pointed community conversation (thank you, Richard Aguirre) about having an exclusively white group of honorees representing the entirety of Elkhart County for Indiana’s Bicentennial, something hopeful was quietly blossoming in Goshen.

After many months of planning, a group of six Goshen residents (diverse in terms of ethnicity, gender and age) unveiled… THE MAPLE CITY MULTICULTURAL FESTIVAL!!

Feel free to applaud here.

LaCasa sponsored the group of residents at an annual leadership conference which included a small grant for a project. The Maple City Multicultural Festival was that project.

If you weren’t at the festival on Saturday, you’ll just have to take my word for it that it was a toe-tapping, drum-pounding, circle-dancing, smile-producing kind of day. And don’t even get me started on the food (my favorite was spicy pork and corn tortillas). You could also applaud here, if you like food.

THIS is the Goshen of my heart, the same Goshen that responded some 20 years ago to the racist KKK by creating the first grassroots-conceived-and-planned Diversity Day. Before that, there was the Goshen College Ethnic Fair (which was wonderful and generous, but somehow different because it lived on the campus of a small, private college).

Diversity Day lasted for many years as a stand-alone event (thank you, Sreekala Rajagopalan and many others), until it was recently reinvented as “Taste of Goshen/Diversity Day” and folded into our wildly successful First Friday’s. Clearly there were (and are) good reasons to solidify such a partnership; but there’s also some loss of identity, loss of history. There is something about a public park on a sunny day full of people with a single focus (celebrating our DIFFERENCES) that puts a spring in my step.

A small group of everyday Goshen residents saw a need to bring people together again in that very particular way (out in a public park, on a sunny day with the sole intention of celebrating one another) and they made it happen. THANK YOU, Jose Elizalde, Deb Jones, Elias Garcia, Jose Chiquito, Sylvia Rocio Diaz, Mark Daniels — and many, many more.

We are not there yet, to that place of power-sharing and mutual understanding. I know that. But surely we’re inching in the right direction. Oh, please say YES: In the same week, we had an awesome, inclusive event in Goshen AND the Elkhart County Bicentennial Committee offered apologies and remedies for what in years past would have been accepted as a standard result.

We can lament the actions and attitudes of those who would separate, or we can celebrate the warmth and companionship of those who would have us join together across a million possible divides.

Today, I choose to celebrate the unifiers.

National Peace Officers Week

May 19, 2016 by Julia 6 Comments

Several nights ago, in recognition of “National Peace Officers Week,” a group of officers and residents gathered downtown on E Jefferson Street to pay honor to the sacrifices police officers make every day to keep communities like Goshen safe.

We watched the Color Guard; we listened to speeches (including one from an officer who was shot and seriously injured in the line of duty); and organizers handed out a couple of scholarships to young people who are pursuing careers in criminal justice.

Each time I attend the annual event, I brace myself for the ceremonial gunfire. I promise myself I will stand stoically, not jump out of my skin. Then the thunderous shots ring out… and I STARTLE like an infant. The physicality of the sound perfectly punctuates the gravity of the occasion.

For those of us who aren’t enmeshed in the law enforcement world, the event is a good opportunity to stand with the men and women who have offered themselves up to deal with some of the problems that have slipped through our societal cracks. And I hope we can all acknowledge that by the time a blow-up happens on a street somewhere, much has already gone wrong (in a home, a school, a neighborhood, an economy…).

We’re not Chicago. But like any city, Goshen has experienced violent crime alongside the milder forms of criminal mischief. Thankfully, we’ve not seen our officers featured in any infamous viral videos. We have a Police Chief who has engaged in deliberate relationship-building with Latino residents; officers who volunteer as neighborhood association liaisons; police who play games with kids at the Boys and Girls Club. Police departments desperately need to be integrated into community life — and many of our officers are making that effort.

I recently rode with a Goshen officer. Like a typical civilian, in the days leading up to my scheduled ride-along, I conjured up a medley of police shows, everything from Cops, to Hill Street Blues to Reno 911. I imagined myself caught in a shootout or at the scene of a grisly car accident. Then I switched gears and worried that I’d be unbearably bored, that the officer wouldn’t talk to me, that I would be forced to sit silently in a squad car for hours (FYI, “silently” is not how I usually sit).

“I don’t know whether to be ready for boredom or waaay too much excitement,” I grumbled to my husband. And, of course, as I said the words aloud, it struck me: That’s the mental dance an officer does every single day. Every. Single. Day.

As it turned out, I was neither bored nor caught in a shootout. My host officer was welcoming and communicative. He talked me through everything that happened that evening (including the scary part), explaining his thought process and his use of discretion in a variety of situations. He answered every question I asked. He was genuinely good company and I left his car knowing that Goshen is fortunate to have him.

Now… it would be cowardly for me to ignore the dueling “Police-as-Hero” and “Police-as-Villain” narratives. What do we even DO with that? My heart holds immense gratitude for all the wonderful people who wear the uniform with integrity and selflessness. Yet we also know that some officers lose their way. Some officers have abused the public trust.

So, yes, we should Support the Police. No doubt. But surely support is more than unequivocal praise. It means seeing to it that our officers have the tools they need to do their jobs well — tools that go beyond basic hardware. It means recruiting carefully, training purposefully, and compensating fairly. It means reaching for and incorporating promising new approaches to age-old problems.

Peace Officer Week is almost over, but there’s no time limit for thanking an officer for serving.

Council Recap – May 3 (+ Bonus Puppy)

May 4, 2016 by Julia 2 Comments

DISCLAIMER: This adorable puppy (my dog about 10 years ago) has nothing to do with this post. I tried six times to upload a relevant photo of last night’s agenda, got six annoying error messages… and then gave up. This photo represents flexibility. And moving the heck on.

NOW…

It’s not every day that City Council competes with Bernie, Hillary, Donald, Ted… and a whole bunch of other local politicians.

In other words, we found ourselves on Election Day evening without a reporter as we discussed and voted on some fairly weighty agenda items. So, here goes…

HIGHLIGHTS FROM MAY 3 MEETING:

$$$ Council PASSED a resolution approving the issuance of lease rental bonds for the renovation of the Goshen Theater. A key component of the agreement is that it won’t go into effect unless Regional Cities funds and private donations meet match obligations.

It’s serious money. It’s scary voting to spend so much money (for real scary). So we all talked about it for awhile. An accountant answered our questions.

Votes:

Yay: Gautsche, King, McKee, Scharf, Weddell

Nay: Alersmeyer, Orgill

Council POSTPONED a vote to approve the Plan Commission’s approval of the Economic Development Plan for the Consolidated River Race/US 33 Economic Development Area (Just rolls off the tongue, yes?).

There was a LOT to digest and understand. Some of it was familiar — projects that I’m eager to support — but there were also some additional areas and properties in the plan. New council members in particular had many questions.

My main concern was/is that the City is actively discussing areas of the City for unspecified redevelopment without the knowledge of those who live there. Apparently this is not unusual, but to these newbie eyes it doesn’t look good. If my house was on a list that was circulating among various boards and commissions, I’d want to be personally notified by the City.

The legal department agreed to send out a notification letter to tenants and landlords of residential properties that are new to the plan document.

It was a lengthy discussion. Other council members voiced other concerns.

Votes to Postpone:

Yay: Gautsche, King, Orgill, Scharf

Nay: Alersmeyer, McKee, Weddell

We also cast some unanimous votes on (is it unprofessional to call them “boring”?) items that are statutory requirements about annual tax rates (blah, blah, blah — oops).

Council received the COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMISSION ANNUAL REPORT and heard from the Chair, Nate Mateer Rempel. He gave a reflective, thoughtful review of their work, their challenges — our collective challenges — and an update on current projects. TASTE OF GOSHEN/DIVERSITY DAY is coming up this First Fridays.

I’ve left plenty out; so for more detail, I encourage you to read the minutes from the May 3 meeting when they’re posted on the City’s website. If you’ve read this far, you’re definitely the kind of person that will want to read those minutes. Promise.

One Step at a Time

March 29, 2016 by Julia 4 Comments

“Distance changes utterly when you take the world on foot.”

(Bill Bryson, author of A Walk in the Woods)

Despite all the meetings, all the questions asked and answered, despite the many (MANY) maps that have been unfurled and presented to curious, crinkly-browed residents — a bit of confusion still surrounds the impending U.S. 33 North Connector project.

Or maybe it’s not confusion. Maybe it’s disappointment.

Recently, I stood outside with the City Engineer and a group of Goshen residents who worried aloud about the fact that the long-established pedestrian crossing over the tracks at 9th Street and Washington has been blocked. This particular crossing has been identified by three separate neighborhood association groups as significant to the area’s walkability. Over the last 18 months, I’ve heard people speak gently in favor of keeping the pedestrian crossing open; and I’ve heard people speak forcefully in favor of keeping the crossing open.

Nonetheless, the sidewalk at the site has been torn out and a metal guardrail obstructs the path. To punctuate the closure, an orange snow fence runs along the railroad tracks, a fence that now sags because so many hands have pushed it down to hop over it. If the unauthorized hopping continues, the City Engineer has reported, the railroad will begin issuing fines.

The arguments in favor of the closing go something like this:

Keeping it open is dangerous
Keeping it open is EXPENSIVE (with the new road configuration, the railroad will require pedestrian crossing gates)
You’ll get used to it
It will be fine

Like some of the nearby residents, I’m having a hard time accepting the closure. This is the second pedestrian crossing that’s being eliminated close to Goshen’s downtown core (the first was at N 5th Street). Both were done quickly and quietly without much public discussion.

I’m trying to tell myself that in the grand scheme of things, these closures are small. Except I’m not sure I believe it. The closures represent something bigger than just a space to slip through to get to the other side. They’re in conflict with the collective vision and goals we’ve stated in Goshen’s Comprehensive Plan, such as creating and maintaining a walkable community. And how the closures have been handled is in conflict with our declared support for including residents — particularly organized neighborhood groups — in civic decision-making.

It’s so much faster and easier (seriously, SOOO much easier) to make decisions without a lot of people dumping their opinions into the mix. But as an elected official, I fear that when we fail to respond in any significant way to public input, we’re training citizens to stay out of the democratic process.

Everyone can’t get everything they want. That’s obvious. Resources are limited. But in this circumstance, we may be working against ourselves. We say that safe pedestrian crossings are too expensive, but there are clear economic benefits associated with community walkability (see, for example, the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program study by Christopher B. Leinberger and Mariela Alfonzo).

At a public meeting last week, residents were told the plan is final. They were also told, however, that a pedestrian crossing could still be added at 9th Street if — once the North Connector route is completed — there remains support for the crossing.

So, I suppose the final/almost final message is STAY TUNED…