Courts have always played a major role in painting political landscapes, but the importance of the judiciary in determining public policy – and thereby influencing politics – seems particularly intense now.Six months after City Council member Glynn Hines got the attention of fellow Democrat Tom Henry with an unexpected attack on the mayor over minority hiring at a council meeting, the mayor handed Hines a big political victory last weekend.
Henry’s office announced the city was reversing its position and would no longer support a developer’s proposal to build up to 50 rent-to-own homes in Renaissance Square.
It’s no coincidence the announcement was made at Hines’ State of the 6th District meeting Saturday.
Heather Presley, the city’s deputy Community Development director, made the announcement. She previously had been the city point person in backing the plan.
City officials voiced disappointment that the developer hadn’t made a bigger effort to sell the merits of the project to neighborhood residents.
But residents’ widespread opposition to placing rental homes in the neighborhood certainly received Henry’s attention and that of his staff.
And Hines had made his opposition to the rental program in his district clear.
Web site Blooms
The new and improved Allen County government Web site features a well-displayed photo of Commissioner Linda Bloom announcing the launch of a rural bus service to previously unserved portions of the county.
Expect the commissioners to seek to raise Bloom’s profile in other ways over the next year before she heads into a contested primary. County Councilman Roy Buskirk has already expressed his interest in trying again to unseat Bloom. In 2006, Bloom won with 54 percent of the vote in a race that saw little campaigning by Buskirk.
A more aggressive Buskirk campaign could produce different results, but look for the councilman to continue an old Hoosier political tradition most candidates have retired long ago – handing out emery boards.
In contrast to the low-tech Buskirk campaign, the county’s new Web site has links to county government’s pages on Twitter and Facebook, plus a blog is in planning stages.
Correction
In my Sunday commentary about Rush Limbaugh, I incorrectly reported his income. A radio syndicate pays him $50 million a year for his show.
