Banner Graphic, Volume 20, Number 251, Greencastle, Putnam County, 28 June 1990 — Page 4

THE BANNERGRAPHIC June 28,1990

A4

We get letters... Question of open government revisited

To the Editor: On May 12, 1987, Councilman Robert Sedlack wrote a letter to the editor in which he complained about what he perceived as a failure on the part of then-Mayor (Bobby) Albright to have adequate public discussion on an issue that existed at that time. He concluded that “the real issue, then, is open government.” While 1 disagree with the criticisms contained in that article written by Councilman Sedlack, I agree that open government is certainly an important concept and as I recall, that was the main thrust of the present administration’s campaign for office. Once again, recent developments have caused me to have smne concern about whether or not the present administration is being open with the citizens of Greencastle in the manner that Councilman Sedlack demanded from the previous administration. In February 1988, a project which was later to be promoted by the developers as “the largest single housing development project in Greencastle’s history” was announced. The project was apparently being put together by Omni Engineering. We (the City Council) had had one previous contact with Omni Engineering when they submitted a proposal to the city early in this administration’s first year of office to do the engineering work that is presently being done by Triad and Associates. A controversy arose because it was later learned that the mayor’s brother was one of the two principals of Omni Engineering. During that controversy, I sent a certified letter requesting a return receipt to the post office box number shown on Omni Engineering stationary. Even though Omni Engineering was notified four times, according to the Post Office, the letter was never picked up and it was eventually returned to me in the original envelope. Initially, the developers of the 260-home development were identified as Don Stafford of Stafford Realty, Stephen McPherson of Omni Engineering and H. Martin Harmless of Omni Engineering. About the time of this announcement, the city launched a comprehensive study of the annexation needs of the City of Greencastle. A citizen wrote a rather critical letter expressing her belief that the city’s object was to annex the Foxridge area so that the 260-home development would then be adjacent to the city and be capable of being annexed so that the city could bear the expense of providing utility and other services to the area. Of course, the the existence of city services would also substantially enhance the value of the lots and homes in the development. Many of my constituents expressed their belief that after the dust has settled and after all the annexation studies and meetings around town, Foxridge would be one of the few, perhaps the only area annexed by the city. This basically is the way it happened. For some reason after that occurred, the 260-home development cooled off considerably and finally, one Feb. 27, 1990, the Banner-Graphic carried an article announcing that the housing developers had put the project on hold. In that article, it stated: “Stephen

Another TCI extension? Just say ‘No!’

To the Editor: This is concerning the current debate as to granting an extension on the TCI cable TV contract. If city officials would like to do a poll on the worth of TCI, they maybe would not be so surprised that the answers would add up to a resounding “No!” In addition to unclear reception, channels constantly losing audio, visual coming and going, poor response to service calls, higher than average prices for less quality and quantity of channels in comparison to other cities, I have a few new, or not-so-new, complaints. At the recent meeting that Councilman (Mike) Rokicki sponsored, my father presented a letter telling of our problem with the Disney Channel, which we had turned on in April 1990. This problem involves a pulsing of diagonal lines across the screen making any enjoyment of the programming impossible. We were told it was my Nintendo game, but after unhooking the game from its separate circuit, on a separate cable slice provided by TCI, both TV sets still had the lines. No improvement in problem. Now after over two months and six or seven service calls, I am told that it is the radio at Central

City moving forward in the ‘war on trash’

To the Editor: The Greencastle Civic League would like to thank everyone who participated in the seventh annual Spring Clean-Up. A record number of organizations, businesses and individuals worked together to clean our city. There was a great display of community spirit and civic pride as people of all ages and walks of life stooped to remove trash from our streets. School children learned about keeping the environment clean and safe. They were taught to recycle, to conserve, to plant trees and not to litter. Seven-year-olds were heard telling parents that “it takes 500 years for this cigarette butt, I just picked up, to decompose!” But the task at hand remains monumental because just about everywhere you look you see another cigarette butt. Children also learned that the average family generates 4,550

McPherson of Omni Engineering, Indianapolis, told the Banner-Graphic Monday that he and partner Donald Stafford calling themselves Putnam Housing Associates are taking a long look at Greencastle’s housing demand and project financing before proceeding further with the subdivision.” On at least one other occasion before then, the Banner-Graphic has also printed an article which strongly inferred that Stephen McPherson and Donald Stafford are the only partners of Putnam Housing Associates. At the May 30 meeting of the City Council, I asked if Marty Harmless was still involved in the Putnam Housing Associates project. The mayor’s response was that he really did not have any idea. Then he stated that his brother was an assistant commissioner for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and that he did not think he was in development any more. The mayor went on to state that the last job his brother has was doing all of the sewer work for the City of Hammond under a Republican mayor. Subsequent to the May 30 meeting, I decided to go to the Recorder’s Office and invest $5 to get copies of the official records available there. The documents I discovered and have copies of consist of a general warranty deed dated Feb. 7, 1990, conveying the 73.89 acres on which the subdivision was to be built, to Putnam Housing Associates, a joint venture organized as a partnership under the Indiana Uniform Partnership Act, among H. Martin Harmless 11, Stephen C. McPherson and the Donald Stafford Corp., and identifying their post office address as 431 First Ave., N.W., Carmel, Ind. 46032. This deed was recorded Feb. 14, 1990, in Deed Record 193, page 597, in the Recorder’s Office. I also discovered a mortgage dated Feb. 14, 1990, from Putnam Housing Associates, a joint venture formed under the Indiana Uniform Partnership Act among H. Martin Harmless 11, Stephen C. McPherson and the Donald Stafford Corp. to Central National Bank. The mortgage was recorded Feb. 14, 1990, at Mortgage Record 240, page 504, in the Recorder’s Office and the first signature on the mortgage is that of H. Martin Harmless 11, and he is identified as a partner. Finally, I obtained a copy of a Certificate of Firm or Partnership Engage in Business Under a Name Other Than Their Own, which I found recorded also on Feb. 14,1990, in the Miscellaneous Record 83, at page 126, in the Recorder’s Office. It identifies the partnership as Putnam Housing Associates, indicates that it is a real estate development company with its business located at 431 First Ave. N.W., Carmel, Ind. 46032, and identifies the members of the partnership as Howard Martin Harmless 11, Stephen C. McPherson and the Donald Stafford Corp., and is signed only by H. Martin Harmless 11. As Councilman Sedlack concluded in his May 12, 1987 letter to the editor: In a free, open and democratic society, this is no way to run a government. Tim Conway City Councilman Second Ward

Dispatch in Greencastle that is causing the interference. I was informed that this is also a problem in Bloomington and Franklin, where TCI is also, but it occurs on Channel 19 (a non-premium pay channel) in those two cities. The solution? A totally integrated system, which TCI seems unwilling to provide. The TCI service repairman here Monday and Tuesday offered to give us credit for the time we have had the problem the day we had Disney turned on but are they willing to give us their channel and Showtime (they say it has the same interference) free until they correct the basic problem? The service man has summed it up in what he said to me on Tuesday: “It’s job security for us, and frustration for our customers.” So why do we have TCI in our house? Well, until we get good, caring government officials who play fair with us, like Mr. Rokicki, TCI is the “only game in town.” Michael Harrison 418 Vi Jackson St. Greencastle

gallons of garbage per year. Therefore all generations need to work together to solve this waste problem. Greencastle is moving forward in the “war on trash”. Citizens and city government are working together to formulate year-round Clean-City programs. A local comprehensive recycling center is opening. Local enforcement of the state’s littering ordinance is eminent. An Adopt-A-Street program is being planned. We are privileged to live in this beautiful friendly community nesded in lush Hoosier farmland. But we have a responsibility to do our part to preserve it. We’re counting on your continued support to make Greencastle cleaner and greener. Gwen Morris Connie Macy Co-Chr. Clean City Comm. Greencastle Civic League

Simply, it’s your right to write ... The Banner-Graphic welcomes your views on any public issue. Letters must bear the writer’s signature and printed or typed name, full address and telephone number. Letters can be written on virtually any topic, although not all letters on a certain subject will be published, particularly if the points made by one writer have already been addressed in a previous letter. Use of initials in lieu of the writer’s full name will be permitted only in cases in which the Banner-Graphic determines there is an appropriate reason. Send your letters to: Letters to the Editor, The Ban-ner-Graphic, P.O. Box 509, Greencastle, Ind. 46135.

Critics see only slight easing in uproar over flag-burning issue

WASHINGTON (AP) Senators who defeated a constitutional amendment against burning the American flag say the uproar may have eased slightly in recent weeks but the issue remains a sore point with many voters. “It’s still a tough issue,” Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb., said Tuesday after the Senate’s 58-42 vote for the measure fell nine votes short of the two-thirds margin required. He said the dispute has “opened a wound in this nation,” but voters are seeing “that the fabric of American society has not been threatened by flag burners ... and in the end I think that’s what turned this debate.” ON THE ROLL CALL, 38 Republicans voted for the amendment and seven opposed it. Among Democrats, 20 were for it and 35 against. The vote was largely symbolic because the amendment, which had President Bush’s backing, also fell short of the necessary two-thirds vote in the House last week. Democratic leaders attacked it as an infringement on freedom of speech. The Senate pushed ahead with a vote on the amendment even though House Speaker Thomas Foley, D-Wash., had said he would not schedule a new vote in his chamber regardless of how the Senate acted. Sponsors said they would keep campaigning for the amendment nevertheless. “WE’LL SEE WHAT happens in the days and weeks and months ahead,” said Senate Republican

World leaders apparently not big fans of economics

By WALTER R. MEARS AP Special Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) Given the opportunity, even presidents and prime ministers sometimes cut economics. They’d rather spend their time talking about international politics, strategy and military matters, says an economist who has watched them do it at economic summit meetings. So W. Allen Wallis, a former undersecretary of state for economic affairs, says the seven leaders at the economic summit in Houston next month will stick to designated subjects at the formal meetings and switch to their own agendas in more relaxed, private settings. AFTER ALL, THEY’RE the bosses four prime ministers, two presidents and one chancellor. No professorial economists are going to make them deal with a steady diet of the dismal science. Most of them aren’t really very interested in economics anyhow, Wallis said. At Houston, July 9 to 11, they’ll probably spend their private sessions discussing, and trying to translate, the Soviet C Houston, July 9 to 11, they’ll probably spend their private sessions discussing, and trying to translate, the Soviet Communist Party conference that convenes 10 days before they do, in sessions that could be crucial to the future of Mikhail S. Gorbachev and his programs. THEY’LL ALSO BE talking about progress toward reunification in Germany, and about the risk of deunification in Canada, where the French-Canadians of Quebec are threatening succession. The Houston conference will be the 16th economic summit meeting, and like those that went before, it is

opinion

Leader Bob Dole of Kansas. He said Americans were pained to see protesters show disrespect for the nation by burning the flag and had been counting on Congress to settle the issue once and for all with a constitutional amendment. “In the heartland of America, some folks just can’t understand what Congress is up to,” Dole said. Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., said the issue was “so important that it should be sent to the states where the American people can decide whether they want to protect the flag.” Sen. Howell Heflin, D-Ala., another amendment supporter, said, “Americanism cannot survive unless it has nationalism Americanism must have sacred symbols.” HOWEVER, CRITICS of the proposed amendment said the Senate vote was designed primarily to put them on record on an emotionally charged issue in a way that could be used by conservative challengers in fall election campaigns. “Stirred by fears of sound bites

not likely to produce drama or major decisions. Off past performance, chances are it will be dull, especially when sticking to business. Summit staff veterans agree that the annual meetings are useful, for the contacts, conversation and agenda-setting. But they seldom decide anything, and the final communiques usually are worded to paper over the most nettlesome issues. The summits began in 1975 when the leaders of France and West Germany, who had conferred wmic conference at the top. THOSE MEETINGS were supposed to be informal, but that doesn’t work with heads of governments. They have their own protocol and their own lingo. Each of the seven delegations eight counting the European Economic Community is entitled to 15 members, all expenses paid by the host country. Each government head has a personal representative for the summit, a role Wallis filled six times for President Reagan. In economic summit-speak, the representatives are called sherpas because, like Himalayan mountain guides, they plan and preview the route to the summit. Those top summit aides hold four formal mini-summits of their own in advance of the main event. At a briefing at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, a panel of economists who have been involved in prior summits looked toward the one just ahead THEY AGREED THAT trade barriers, especially on agricultural products, need discussion at the summit, and that the altered state of

and 30-second spots, members of Congress who should know better are expressing a willingness to sacrifice the Bill of Rights for what they hope will be a benefit in the polls,” said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass. Sen. Dale Bumpers, D-Ark., said his mail had turned against the amendment. And Sen. John Glenn, D-Ohio, said heavy debate over the issue in recent weeks may have changed some minds. “The more people learn about this, the more they hear discussion and hear all of the ramifications, the less likely, they are to go for the amendment,”; he said. KERREY SAID AFTER the vote that it “doesn’t feel like a victory, it doesn’t feel as good as iC ought to” because “a wound has: been opened in America, a real: wound.” The highly decorated Vietnam veteran said many veterans feel: strongly about the measure and as a; result of his opposition “they are; disappointed, they are disillusioned.”

East-West relations also should be a prime summit topic. By the time they get to Houston; the Western heads of state may be showing traces of summit fatigue they meet a week earlier at London for a NATO summit. The quest for a new international trade agreement by the end of the year is a priority for the Bush administration. As the summit host, President Bush is first among equals in influence at such sessions, and his agenda would customarily be followed. But Robert J. Morris, another former summit planner, said French President Francois Mitterrand may have a different idea. MORRIS, NOW THE senior vice president of the U.S. Council for International Business, said the French leader “takes almost glee in spiking the summits that are hosted by American presidents.” This time, he said, Mitterrand wants the summit to consider Western aid to the Soviet Union, a notion the administration considers premature at best. The Houston meetings aren’t likely to change minds on that, or produce deals on much else. “Economic summits are not, and should not be, occasions for explicit agreements or formal actions,” Wallis said in an appraisal to be published by the institute. “They should be occasions for heads of government to converse candidly with their peers. At home, remember, they have no peers.” EDITOR'S NOTE Walter R. Mears, vice president and columnist for The Associated Press, has reported on Washington and national politics for more than 25 years.