So, since he is “Director of Networking” and wants to hijack my facebook page, perhaps he can answer the question I posed to him:

Somehow, I don’t think I will get an answer…..

“Her campaign has repeatedly touted that her council took the county from an $8 million debt to a $22 million surplus. This included repaying the state millions owed for housing juvenile offenders, a debt that went unchecked for years.

Hughes, however, does not tout the fact this accomplishment included several tax increases. The council pushed increases to finance such projects as staffing the Wood Youth Center – increases so large, the county had to ask for permission from the state to enact them.”

“….And that is exactly why Goldner should win again. The fiasco he references is the Mayoral race between now Mayor Henry and Matt Kelty. Has anyone else made the connection between Russ Jehl and Kelty’s campaign manager (Glenna Jehl)? Russ is Glenna’s son.”

CITY CLERK CANDIDATE ZACH BONAHOOM CALLS CITY EMPLOYEES NAZIS

FORT WAYNE, IN — On May 13, 2011 Republican candidate for City Clerk Zach Bonahoom posted the following message on his Twitter and Tumblr referring to city parking employees as Nazis:

“Saw parking Nazi on the corner, so I quickly went and fed every meter on the block. Got the stink eye but it felt so good! “

This tweet is especially inappropriate given that the City Clerk is responsible for the parking enforcement department. In other words, Bonahoom referred to his own potential employees as Nazis.

This grossly disturbing message came to light following a recent news story in the Journal Gazette highlighting an inappropriate tweet sent by Bonahoom in which he stated “Mark GiaQuinta sitting behind me at City Council…will need a shower when I get home.” Bonahoom has made his proficiency with technology a cornerstone of his campaign but has repeatedly showed a dramatic lack of judgment in its use.

“This message demonstrates Zach’s extraordinary lack of judgment and disqualifies him to represent Fort Wayne residents,” said Allen County Democratic Party spokesman Kevin Knuth. “Anyone who would call their own employees Nazis simply does not deserve to hold elected office. If Zach has any understanding of what it takes to be a public servant, he will immediately apologize to the city employees who work hard for our city.”

In a story in today’s JG, however, he makes excuses….and shows how immature he is.

“While attending the City Council meeting on Tuesday evening, GOP clerk candidate Zach Bonahoom felt the need to take a verbal swing at FWCS board President Mark GiaQuinta.

Bonahoom wrote on Twitter, “Mark GiaQuinta sitting behind me at City Council…will need a shower when I get home.”

On Wednesday, Bonahoom defended the statement as a jab back at GiaQuinta, who wrote a letter to the editor last month criticizing Bonahoom for trying to take an active role in a City Council meeting despite not holding office.”

Yep….sounds like Zach is making excuses……..

In regards to the $200 Million that City Utilities has spent on a FEDERALLY MANDATED sewer fix, Berry said, ““I don’t think the federal government said you have to spend this dollar amount.”

I will let the JG take it from their- from the Political Notebook blog:

Unfortunately for Berry, the federal government did set a spending minimum. The city’s consent decree mandates it spend $240 million in 2005 dollars to reduce the number of times sewage overflows into the rivers. If it succeeds in meeting its target for a lesser price, it must spend up to that total to make the system even better.

Note to Paula- if you are going to bring in someone to stump for you, make sure they know what they are talking about!

It included this:

“Hughes and I worked together to lower the county’s property tax levy for the 2007 budget. We succeeded and saved the taxpayers $100,000.”

The problem? Well, taxes went up that year!

You are either misleading your readers or you do not understand how taxes work- I will let you tell us which is the case.

The fact is this- the proposed tax levy was an INCREASE of $1.8 million. Council decided to only increase your taxes by $1.7 million. So Hughes and Vogt call this a cut. IT IS NOT A CUT- YOUR TAXES WENT UP!!

Oh, don’t take my word for it. Here is a blog post from Political Notebook.

“In fact, as The Journal Gazette has previously reported, the council voted to lower the maximum levy by $100,000, but even with that reduction, the levy still rose by $1.7 million. The vote was unique, in the fact most governments simply took the maximum increase without debate, but it did not reduce property taxes.”

So Councilman Vogt….please explain your comments. Are your PURPOSELY misleading folks, or do you simply not understand your job?

The local Republican Party even released its own website, www.therealtomhenry.com attacking the mayor’s record on raising taxes.

Shine said his party’s website was a direct response to the Democrats’ website attacking Hughes.

The problem here is that the Republicans purchased the “www.therealtomhenry.com” domain in May of this year. I bought “www.therealpaula.com” in September. They were planning this all along.

That is the number of jobs Fort Wayne has lost since Tom Henry became Mayor. It is important to note, however, that Paula Hughes says the number is “nearly 14,000″.

Why the difference?

Paula is blaming Tom Henry for ALL JOBS LOST in Allen, Whitley and Wells counties. Yes, you read that right.