1. Smoking ban; expand it, keep it the same, or rescind it?

This ordinance is, perhaps, the main reason I decided to run for City Council. Not because of the desired goal, but because of the way it came about. I don’t smoke, and I work in an oncology clinic, the Hansen Center. I see the horrible effects of smoking in the oncology setting every day. However, tobacco is still a legal substance in the United States and the decision to go smoke-free as a community should have been made through a voting mechanism. If a vote on this issue is not possible for municipalities in Indiana, I would accept reliable polling data, taken from the an independent organization, to guide the decision. For a small elected body to determine how businesses and private clubs treat a legal substance, in what was a very short period of time, seemed very “Orwellian” to me.

I feel a Greensburg smoking ordinance would certainly pass, in some form, if put to a vote. However, if a smoking ordinance was voted on by the electorate, as in Ohio, the means with which the goal had been achieved would not be in question, and as such, the decision to comply would be less traumatic.

2) TIF District’s 3.6 million windfall and future use of TIF districts.

I believe, after attending the TIF meeting on April 25, that this will no longer be a question that the community will have to ponder. The taxpayers were overcharged, and they are due a refund. This is not only the right decision, it is the only decision, in my opinion, and apparently, it seems to be the newest opinion of the Department of Local Government and Finance (DLGF).

Until the problem that occurred with the calculation of TIF funds for the Lincoln Street project is resolved, it seems silly to be discussing future TIF districts. Again, from the TIF meeting on April 25, the City of Greensburg was “not guilty” of making any errors, and Gary Malone, from the accounting firm, Umbaugh and Associates, stated that his company simply used the figures that were given to them. With this as background information, how could we have confidence in the amount of funding available in a TIF fund for current or future infrastructure projects? I support the concept of Tax Increment Financing as dedicated funding for local projects, but would like to see our current process of auditing the fund reevaluated.

3) Airport - Expand, Move, or Shelve the Project?

I am in favor of an airport that will meet the needs of our community. If that means an airport that will need to grow, I am in favor of an alternative site from the current location. I am not in favor of using Eminent Domain for this project, in part, because even with Eminent Domain the airport would still be “land locked” to some extent. Before we assume the expense of maintaining an airport, we certainly need to be aware of the anticipated costs, which would require some study. At this time, without knowing Honda’s needs or projected area growth, I would not be willing to commit additional local funds towards this project.