To the tax paying citizens of Fishers, isn’t it time to stop this wasteful Town Council from spending your money.

Today is the 4th of July, to many it’s just a day off, but to some it is the anniversary of a very important document and the birth of a nation.

Why am I telling you this, because you seem to have forgotten about our nation? You seem to want to rule, just as King George did, for the benefit of yourself and the government and not for the people. You don’t care what people want you only care what your vision is.

When I look at Town Hall I realize Fishers is not a city because you would be out of a job as Council President, we would have a Mayor. So while Fishers is bigger than most cities in the state, you fight to keep it a town, so you can have your job, Is being a town for the benefit of the citizens or your benefit?

When I look at open space, I see trees; you see bulldozers and 25 story apartments going up. Is this New York or Chicago? Do we need 25 story anything or can we have some trees and open space. I guess not. Do we need to build another City within the Town? The traffic at this location is already overflowing, but so what is a few 1000 more vehicles a day or hour, it tax dollars to the city.

When I see the airport I see a few airplanes taking off once in while and more open space. You see 1000’s of semi’s coming off I-69 to an industrial park and more and more buildings. Thank god the airport doesn’t have trees you can bulldoze down. But that runway will make a great semi parking lot. Now the fact that the airport is around the corner from the 25 story city and we add all that traffic to the semi traffic, oh my we will start to truly look like Chicago and New York, pollution, traffic jams, but the Town will grow and isn’t that great.

When I go to eat at the Nickel Plate, I look around and enjoy the look and feel of older times. When I see the older people in some of the homes nearby, I see my forefathers who built this town. When I see the mom and pop small businesses, I see citizens who started to build this town before McD and the big boxes arrived. I know the sewers are old and the town should fix them. But you see a way to not use town money and get a developers to come in, tear it all down, throw the people and business that have build the town in front of your favorite vehicle the bulldozer. Build your new town center, all that chrome and glass with no soul.

When I look at a map of Fishers I see how you keep growing, to avoid areas that are not yet developed, to blackmail areas that are being developed with sewer contracts and annexation agreements. Lets face it those are not agreements they are vehicles of blackmail. The poor people who buy homes in these non-Fishers developments find out later when they are being annex, all of a sudden they have to pay a lot more in taxes. You sure are a smart guy doing it this way. And of course the developers, well they get to sell property telling people how low their taxes are going to be until… I know hidden away in the stack of papers they sign at closing is the fact that they are going to be annexed and that makes it all right. In that stack it says you have lost your constitutional rights to be against a government that is going to take over your land and tax you. If everyone read every line at closing, it would take three days to close on a home. So what if these people have to move when their annexed taxes kick in, someone else will buy their home.

When I look at Geist, I see a beautiful lake you see tax dollars. How dare those people live at Geist and not want to become part of Fishers. I noticed that you wanted to live at Geist, so you worked a deal with a developer to annex one of his lots to gain access to the lakeshore and then you annexed a strip of land under water to the other shore to annex your lot, so you could remain on Town Council. How come the developer didn’t annex all his lots to the Town? Just one. Was there a deal? How many different strips of land did you break up a single lot to allow it to be annexed? Yes, you met the letter of the law, but used all these little strips of land to get around the intent of the law? Why was one lot the subject of four annexations? Was it so you could move into a new home and stay in office. Was this for the town benefit or your benefit? Sounds more like yours?

Oh I almost forgot, why did you annex the Geist Lake bottom, are you going to tax the fish? Are you going to impose fees on boats for floating over Fishers Land? I did notice that you kept the annexation lines away from the shore line, just far enough so you would not have to notify all the home owners around the lake. Just another part of the master plan to take over the Geist area. Yes a master plan for takeover, and it appears you will do anything to achieve this goal even if the people who live in the Geist area don’t want your form of government. What ever happened to the voice of the people, oh I forgot you know what’s best for your servants.

When I see a nice two lane country road, I see trees and homes, children playing in back yards, horses and even some farms, all you see a four lane highway with strip malls. How many dry cleaners do we need, how many empty storefronts do we need, how many nail spa’s do we need? How many homes must be displaced so can you built your 3 and 4 lane roads? Oh, how dumb of me, those roads are where the big develops want to build more giant tracks of homes so your town can get even bigger, so I-69 can get backed up even more.

Well it’s the forth of July and I would like to remind you of a few words from 1776:

“That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

Since you do not believe in getting your power from the consent of the governed I request that you resign from your office.

In case you forgot, the following is for you and maybe a few citizens of Fishers might want to read this to be reminded of the start of our nation, to see that you are more like King Geoge than any of our founding fathers:

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

— John Hancock

New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

Maybe we should look at the names of the cities, Noblesville is rather Noble and well Fishers is rather Fishy.

“The potential for economic development for the city of Anderson would be greatly enhanced by a state-of-the-art airport facility,” Anderson Mayor Kevin S. Smith said in a written statement. – IndyStar (5/16)

If Anderson wants this airport so badly, then why are we the ones spending $150,000 on a study???

I live around the corner from the airport and Ritchey Woods. I drive Hague Rd. every morning and evening during my commute downtown. Personally, I enjoy seeing the sunrise/sunset across the open fields and woodline. I’d rather see the landscape remain the way it is than have my view obstructed by brick, concrete, and automobiles (even if I have to pay a few more bucks in taxes, as our town council asserts the only way to keep our taxes low is to develop-develop-develop!!) Who cares about congestion-congestion-congestion!!??

I know there’s a few council members who have this pipe dream that the property will become a mass transit hub that uses the existing rail line as the route. I really don’t see that happening since that rail line runs through dozens of neighborhoods and hundreds of backyards (who knows how much it would have to be expanded since the existing single set of tracks certainly isn’t sufficient to carry a mass transit system). A route hugging I-69 would make more sense.

At any rate, I’m against the proposed development at Allisonville/96th as well as developing the airport property. Has anyone driven on 96th street from Keystone to Allisonville during rush hour? I don’t know the distance, but it took me 45 minutes one evening. In regard to the airport property, traffic on Hague already backs up to the railroad tracks during the rush. I don’t see Fishers maintaining it’s boasting status as a Top 25 community if we continue down the development road we’ve been on….

I don’t want to give the wrong impression….. I love living in Fishers. If I didn’t have a generally positive view of the town then I’d move. I think it’s a great community and our Town Council/Managers have done an exceptional job in leading through the past 20yrs of growth. For the most part, they’ve done a decent job in balancing exponential population growth while maintaining a high standard of living (ie. greenspace). However, I simply don’t agree with their vision on a few items and wanted to speak out on it.

Ice said that’s why Dancing the Night Away offers three different packages to fit a wedding budget not to send the couple into debt once they return from their honeymoon.Makes sense to me, I thought. Let the bride spend a little more on her dress, not food or reception hall. Another problem is brides don’t price compare reception halls. They usually get a place on their mind and it becomes much like an E Bay auction. The bride wants it and will pay for it regardless of other facilities or add ons that come close to the wedding day.

Candles on the tables with pretty glass vases can be purchased at discount stores for favors and florists are all over the yellow pages. Find one you like and can afford then choose flowers that are local, grown in the USA and in season.

Ice said if the future bride and groom followed these suggestions they would knock 25% off their anticipated cost or more.

Well, Ice, I’m not going to get married to see if you are right but what you suggested does make sense to this writer. So, there you have it! Future brides of Fishers and surrounding areas, listen to the suggestions of ICE if you want to save money. By the way ,I did promise to plug Dancing the Night Away in return for the interview. They can be reached at (317) 201-5267 and (317) 654-3136 if you are looking for inexpensive disc jockey entertainment and free suggestions on how to limit the cost of your wedding reception.

2. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don’t Disguise Your Voice.

3. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, Ask If They Want Fries with that.

4. Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label It “In.”

5. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch to Espresso.

6. In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write “For Smuggling Diamonds”

7. Finish All Your sentences with “In Accordance With The Prophecy.”

8. Don t use any punctuation

9. As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.

10. Order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat with a serious face.

11. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is “To Go.”

12. Sing Along At The Opera

13. Go To A Poetry Recital And Ask Why The Poems Don’t Rhyme

14. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area And Play tropical Sounds All Day.

15. Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends You Can’t Attend Their Party Because You’re Not In The Mood.

16. Have Your Co-workers Address You By Your Wrestling Name, Rock Bottom.

17. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream “I Won!, I Won!”

18. When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Towards The Parking lot, Yelling “Run For Your Lives, They’re Loose!!”

19. Tell Your Children Over Dinner. “Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go.”

20. And The Final Way To Keep A Healthy Level Of Insanity…….Send This Link To Someone To Make Them Smile

This year’s winner was a real rocket scientist…HONESTLY! Read on…and remember that each and every one of these is a TRUE STORY.

And the nominees were:

Semifinalist #1

A young Canadian man, searching for a way of getting drunk cheaply, because he had no money with which to buy alcohol, mixed gasoline with milk. Not surprisingly, this concoction made him ill, and he vomited into the fireplace in his house. This resulting explosion and fire burned his house down, killing both him and his sister.

Semifinalist #2

Three Brazilian men were flying in a light aircraft at low altitude when another plane approached. It appears that they decided to moon the occupants of the other plane, but lost control of their own aircraft and crashed. They were all found dead in the wreckage with their pants around their ankles.

Semifinalist #3

A 22-year-old Reston, VA, man was found dead after he tried to use octopus straps to bungee jump off a 70-foot rail road trestle. Fairfax County police said Eric Barcia, a fast food worker, taped a bunch of these straps together, wrapped an end around one foot, anchored the other end to the trestle at Lake Accotink Park, jumped and hit the pavement. Warren Carmichael, a police spokesman, said investigators think Barcia was alone because his car was found nearby. “The length of the cord that he had assembled was greater than the distance between the trestle and the ground,” Carmichael said. Police say the apparent cause of death was “Major trauma.”

Semifinalist #4

A man in Alabama died from rattlesnake bites. It seems that he and a friend were playing a game of catch, using the rattlesnake as a ball. The friend – no doubt a future Darwin Awards candidate – was hospitalized.

Semifinalist #5

Employees in a medium-sized warehouse in west Texas noticed the smell of a gas leak. Sensibly, management evacuated the building extinguishing all potential sources of ignition; lights, power, etc. after the building had been evacuated, two technicians from the gas company were dispatched. Upon entering the building, they found they had difficulty navigating in the dark. To their frustration, none of the lights worked. Witnesses later described the sight of one of the technicians reaching into his pocket and retrieving an object that resembled a cigarette lighter. Upon operation of the lighter-like object, the gas in the warehouse exploded, sending pieces of it up to three miles away. Nothing was found of the technicians, but the lighter was virtually untouched by the explosion. The technician suspected of causing the blast had never been thought of as ”bright” by his peers.

Now ladies and gentleman, the winner of this year’s Darwin Award (awarded, as always, posthumously):

The Arizona Highway Patrol came upon a pile of smoldering metal embedded in the side of a cliff rising above the road at the apex of a curve. The wreckage resembled the site of an airplane crash, but it was a car. The type of car was unidentifiable at the scene. Police investigators finally pieced together the mystery. An amateur rocket scientist… had somehow gotten hold of a JATO unit (Jet Assisted Take Off, actually a solid fuel rocket) that is used to give heavy military transport planes an extra “push” for taking off from short airfields. He had driven his Chevy Impala out into the desert and found a long, straight stretch of road. He attached the JATO unit to the car, jumped in, got up some speed and fired off the JATO! The facts as best as could be determined are that the operator of the 1967 Impala hit the JATO ignition at a distance of approximately 3.0 miles from the crash site. This was established by the scorched and melted asphalt at that location. The JATO, if operating properly, would have reached maximum thrust within 5 seconds, causing the Chevy to reach speeds well in excess of 350 mph and continuing at full power for an additional 20-25 seconds. The driver, and soon to be pilot, would have experienced G-force usually reserved for dog fighting F-14 jocks under full afterburners, causing him to become irrelevant for the remainder of the event. However, the automobile remained on the straight highway for about 2.5 miles (15-20 seconds) before the driver applied and completely melted the brakes, blowing the tires and leaving thick rubber marks on the road surface, then becoming airborne for an additional 1.4 miles and impacting the cliff face at a height of 125 feet leaving a blackened crater 3 feet deep in the rock. Most of the driver’s remains were not recoverable. However, small fragments of bone, teeth and hair were extracted from the crater, and fingernail and bone shards were removed from a piece of debris believed to be a portion of the steering wheel.

Epilogue: It has been calculated that this moron attained a ground speed of approximately 420-mph, though much of his voyage was not actually on the ground.

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