City of Logansport, Indiana

STATE OF THE CITY

JANUARY 2009

Welcome to the State of the City and County address. I will take this opportunity to thank the Logansport/Cass County Chamber of Commerce for hosting this annual event and to you for taking time from your busy schedules to attend. This event gives the leadership of our great community the opportunity to brag a little about accomplishments over the past year and present new hopes and ideas for the future. The year 2008 is over and I would like to highlight some of the events that took place during this past year. The year started off a little slow but we did break ground on a couple major projects and some smaller projects as well all these projects regardless of size are important for the future of Logansport and Cass County. In February 6 (six) new "T" hangers were built at the Logansport/Cass County Airport all six hangers were pre-leased before they were built. Our dream of a new IVY TECH campus came one step closer to reality with the ground breaking event on April 30^th. Construction started almost immediately the roads were built and completed in late summer and construction of the building is moving along nicely. I have said many times that IVY TECH will be the catalyst that will help promote Logansport and Cass County as a community, but we must be willing to use it. We must encourage every incumbent worker below the age of 60 to consider returning to the educational system. Companies will remain in and relocate to a community whose workforce is more educationally diverse, a workforce that is more willing and able to change as technology changes. To promote this I have asked the City Council to consider earmarking $10,000 of non tax money for scholarships to IVY TECH and I encourage all not-for-profit organizations, unions and social organizations to follow suite with some type of financial assistance.  We must instill our young people at the 5^th and 6^th grade levels that lifelong learning starting at K through 12 and continuing their education until retirement will be the norm for future workforces. In May the Airport Authority again broke ground on a new airport operations center which includes 6,300 square feet of office and public space it also features an attached 80ft x 85ft hanger. The Logansport Cass County Airport Authority has received their FONSI (Finding Of No Significant Impact) this is the final step needed to extend the runway to 5000 plus feet. Lengthening the runway will give our community an edge over communities with shorter runways enhancing the opportunity to expand existing business and attract new business to Logansport and Cass County.  Even with a down turn in the economy we have added a new 17,745 sq. ft. Aldi's grocery store, a new O'Rileys Auto Parts store, an addition to the McKinney House, a upgrade to Taco Bell, the new optometrists office at 25^th at Market, as well as an addition to the Woodbridge health care facility, a new Sonic Drive In restaurant, both Marsh Stores have invested approximately $1 million in upgrades within their stores, a new addition onto Grant Implement and after many months of negotiation, and later this spring we may see, a new WAL-MART

Super Center starts construction. The CSO project on Broadway between 24^th street and 6^th street is nearly complete about 11 months ahead of what INDOT had first projected, next spring we will finish planting trees and some minor touch up work. The progress we have made in commercial and residential construction small and large in 2008 totals nearly $12 million (not including Ivy Tech or the Broadway projects) these investments will make a significant impact on our communities' future. On the weekend of October 11^th-12^th, a delegation of 33 Japanese young people visited Logansport and Cass County. They spent time touring the Eshelman farm and the Memorial Hospital. Fifteen Cass County families volunteered to host these young people overnight in their homes the Japanese had a wonderful time while visiting and left with a positive impression, of Logansport and Cass County because of the generosity and hospitality of those host families; I hope to continue these cultural exchanges I believe it is important to build these types of relationships wherever and whenever possible. That is a quick look at 2008 now to take a look at the future of not only the City of Logansport but Cass County as well. We have to "change" the way we look at economic development.  While pursuing "big business" to expand and locate in our community is ongoing, supporting those "small businesses" right here at home is as important.  Statistics tell us that most job creation comes from small businesses.  That's why the Logansport and Cass County are proud to be partners in SUCCEED program an acronym for "Stimulating Unlimited Cass County Entrepreneurs and Economic Development".  Entering its 5th year, this locally-based initiative supports those wanting to start or expand a business in Cass County.  The program itself has been a success  SUCCEED has helped seven local businesses, beat the odds  they are NOT ONLY still operating successfully, but collectively have created more than 20 full-time jobs in our community!  This program has been recognized by the

Lieutenant Governor's office and awarded state funding to assist up-and-coming entrepreneurs right here in Logansport and Cass County.  This banner represents a new marketing campaign for the program; one that we know/hope will encourage and teach more would-be and future entrepreneurs to "How To SUCCEED in Business"!  As the 2009 session of the Indiana General Assembly is now in progress and change (whether I agree with it or not) is inevitable with the passage of HEA 1001 property taxes revenues have been adjusted for 2009 and I am positive that future adjustments will follow. How we approach these adjustment issues that lie ahead will dictate how successful we will be as a community. The future holds many challenges and even more opportunities because of those challenges. Most of the decisions concerning these opportunities will be difficult at best, but, indications from the General Assembly tell us that the way local government has operated in the past is not going to continue into the future. In 2008 Logansport celebrated its 170 year as an incorporated community.

I would suggest that the basic way we govern today is not far removed from the way it was done in 1838. Perhaps, it is time for a change in the way local government does business! We need to be able to do more with less because that is what the public has demanded. We need to look at new and innovative ways to approach how we offer services to our customers (the citizens). We, the city and county government, in my opinion, are going to have to become more willing to work together to survive. Cass County and Logansport have been working together for many years with a joint city/county planning department, most recently we have again joined forces to establish an E-911 governing board that will oversee a state of the art combined dispatch center located at 6^th and High Streets, this proves it can be done and reality tells us it must be expanded where possible. We hope that this new dispatch center will increase efficiency and save tax dollars we also believe it will give Cass County a leadership role in the regionalization of dispatch centers, across the state. Governor

Daniels established a "blue ribbon commission" lead by former Governor Joe Kernan and Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court Randle Shepard they and the members of their commission submitted a report entitled "Streamlining Local Government" that will, if carried out in its entirety, mandate changes in how local government operates. After studying that report, it is my opinion that in order for rural communities like ours to remain strong and competitive with more urbanized communities we must continually look for ways to work closer together. Thought processes like "we tried that before and it didn't work", "we have always done it this way", "it's too much trouble", "it's too risky", and "we have never done it that way before" are all excuses not to change. We must realize that--almost everything we do today--is something we had never done before and that if we do not create change-----change will create us. We should not be the victims of change, but rather, we must become the architects of changes that will carry us into the future. George Bernard Shaw wrote; "Progress is impossible without change and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything".  We must start immediately with the transition of change; however, this transition cannot happen at the leadership level alone every citizen of Cass County needs to be involved. There were twenty seven recommendations concerning the operation of local government reform in the Kernan-Shepard report, I understand that number was recently reduced that number to 20. No matter the number the content of that report will affect every citizen, municipalities, counties and school corporations large and small in the state of Indiana in some fashion. It may mean paying for services that citizens thought they received for free. It may mean an increase in fees they are already paying. It may mean a loss of some services and in some cases closing of some facilities. Cities, counties and school corporations will have to change their way of thinking when it comes to budgeting and spending habits. The communities that do this will be communities that are successful and prosper under the atmosphere of change. The communities and their leadership that continue to live within their means and never challenge themselves to change--those communities that resist the impending changes, in my opinion,  will die a slow and agonizing death. We, the citizens and the leadership of Logansport and Cass County, must be the catalyst of this change we should be looking for new revenue streams that offset lost property tax revenues and we must be willing to look outside the antiquated, outdated township and community boundaries that restricts progress and prohibits success. It will be the obligation of every citizen to keep an open mind and be willing to become involved in the change process with understanding and acceptance. The changes that are coming must be seen as opportunities that will facilitate better government, a more efficient government, a government that will be quicker to answer to the wants and desires of the people it serves. Please understand I not saying we must change just to change, what I am trying to say is that we must look at every option that may improve our citizens' quality of life. We must look optimistically to the future and realize that change is the essence of life. We must be willing to relinquish what we are today--so we can become what we need be tomorrow. It is essential that we become a community with a willingness to adapt, willingness to tear down those boundaries I mentioned earlier, because the unwillingness to change is what will hold back other communities not willing or capable to understand that creating change is vastly more important than simply managing change as it happens. We as citizens of this great community should demand no less from our leaders or each other than a willingness to change. We want history to show that Logansport and Cass County has leadership that does not stand still, leadership that seizes the opportunity when necessary, to change things for the better. We as leaders must realize that change will always be necessary keep our community on the forefront of progress. We want history to show that the citizens of Logansport and Cass County from this day forward understand the concept of change and embrace it. I must admit I am excited, and a little apprehensive, about the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead of us the next three years. I realize we may not have a choice what changes are handed us, our attitude, however, will dictate how the change affects us. Change; we must commit to it, we must harness it, we will have to accept it, we must nurture it, we need to get with it, we should embrace it. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to work for the future and share the dreams for your community and I ask you to pray that the leadership and the citizen alike face the changes that lie ahead with acceptance, passion and enthusiasm.

 Sincerely,