Delaware County: Commissioner’s Meeting 1/3/22
January 3rd Meeting was About the Will of the People
In a standing room only for the first 2022 Delaware County Commissioner’s meeting, the elected representatives heard from dozens of rural citizens of Northern Delaware County. One resident after another got up to let the Commissioners know they were unhappy about the lack of communication, the removal of property from tax rolls, declining revenues to Wes-Del School, and how they resented the backroom deals cooked up by politicians and planners.
Others talked about the lack of information coming from the local newspaper. Several pleas brought emotions from the speakers and those in the crowd.
The group even hired a lawyer to speak on their behalf. The lawyer contacted the Commissioners to get on the agenda but was denied by the controlling party. Therefore, he came and presented in person. I suspect once the Republican Commissioners realized their voting constituency was in the crowd, they started making plans to backpedal, and that they did.
Delaware County Residents Take a Stand
After Marta Moody, Regional Planner for Delaware County, presented the TogetherDM plan, this journalist asked the newly appointed Commissioner President, Sherry Riggin, to poll the crowd’s informal poll to see how many attended all the “meetings” the Ball family chosen steering committee held for the community. She refused, but I asked anyway. Not a single hand went up. Not one person provided input on the Delaware County Regional Plan the Commissioners approved during the meeting. The entire crowd was shaking their heads, “No.”
At the end of the meeting, I asked the Commissioners to reconsider approving the regional plan. Still, they said no even though they agreed to place a moratorium on adding solar farm plans and redo planning and zoning requirements to appease those in the crowd.
Back to the drawing board for the County as new dates were being announced so Marta Moody and the Zoning Board could look again at what they already approved. They almost snuck it past the voters/citizens/taxpayers, but last-minute organizing on Facebook caught the Commissioners off guard. The crowd was wearing “No Solar Farm” stickers handed out in the hallway.
Many speakers acknowledged that solar was needed, and they were not “anti-solar,” but they wanted input into the plan for our region. As I mentioned before, the Metropolitan Plan was just another Muncie/Delaware County Plan drawn up by outsiders at the behest of Jud Fisher and local sycophants chosen as steering committee members. It backfired! I can name every one of the willing nonprofits in Downtown who support the plan. Why wouldn’t they? They all get funding from the Ball Brothers.
What will City Council Members do?
Next up for the Jud Fisher concocted plan is codification at the Muncie City Council meeting on January 10th. We’ll see if Muncie residents are as awake as the rural folks in Delaware County. We’ll also see how many Republican Council members take a cue from their friends at the Commissioner’s meeting. Finally, we’ll see how many Democratic Party members grow a spine.
I tried asking questions during the City Council in December’s meeting, but there wasn’t enough time since they only let taxpayers come up at the end of the meeting instead of during the agenda. That way, they can confine comments to three minutes and ignore you. They have no clue what it means to be a public servant. You can’t serve community members and the oligarchy at the same time. The truth in word and action must align, or you will eventually get caught by a good journalist.
Muncie Needs to Address the Lack of Revenue from Nonprofits
Our “elected representatives” should be asking state officials for help with funding government services by all the nonprofits in this community?
Moody’s credit agency told the Muncie Community School Board several years ago that the reason the school’s revenue streams were stagnant was due to all the nonprofits in Muncie and the economic development TIF Districts extracting revenues.
So, how can our plan not address all these nonprofits in the world? Why are public servants’ wages stagnant with no increases without asking the state to pass Payment in Lieu of Taxes on Ball State University, IU Health/BMH, Meridian Services, Minnestrista Culture Center, the YMCA, and all the churches in Muncie city limits?
Why are workers paying COIT and LOIT while giving the above entities a pass on paying taxes or fees for government services?
Once you realize the plans are to benefit the local oligarchy consisting of Jud Fisher at the Ball Brothers Foundation, it all makes sense. You can also see how the “newspapers” or regional media (most receiving revenue from Ball State or IU/Health and other nonprofits) align with the propaganda and both political parties.
You should have seen the expression on Commissioners Sherry Riggin, James King, and Shannon Henry faces this morning.
Now that the public is becoming aware of the local shenanigans being played by the oligarchy and political parties, what will City Council members’ do next Monday? Who will rise to the occasion on January 10th? Who are the leaders in the community and who are the sycophantic followers?
If you have any information to share or have any questions about Regional Planning in Delaware County or Muncie, Indiana, you can contact me at my encrypted email address: toddsmekens@protonmail.com. Those wanting to watch the video can check it out here:
