Fort Wayne Observed

Stutzman Campaign Requests Clarification from FEC

The Marlin Stutzman campaign has requested an advisory opinion regarding the Federal Election Commission regarding the treatment of campaign contributions when there is both a regular election and a special election on the same day. 

Federal election law treats the elections as two separate events. However, that creates some questions when campaigns are trying to allocate campaign contributions to one campaign or the other.  A donor merely want to support a candidate but the candidate's campaign needs to determine to which election the donor intended to contribute.

The Stutzman campaign asks whether this may come under the FEC arcane term of art "presumptive redesignation."   We know that may sound as esoteric as "redactive voting" but it is a term used by the FEC to allow the redesignation of an amount in excess of a campaign limit to the "next election."  This usually means that funds received in a given election year for a primary that are in excess of that cycle's donation limit can be "presumptively redesignated" to the general election. 

The odd feature of this congressional election - where a special and a general occur the same day - calls for some FEC interpretation.

You may read the PDF of the request for advisory opinion here.

Bob Morris Newest State Representative

Bob Morris, a Fort Wayne business owner is Indiana's newest state representative. Mr. Morris won on the third ballot with 26 votes.

Results - Morris Way Out in Front

Results -Morris - 19; Pillie - 9; Olinger - 7; Brown - 5.

40 Eligible to Vote in 84th; 21 needed to Win

The speeches have just concluded at the 84th District Republican state representative caucus. 40 precinct committeepersons of the 53 in the district are in attendance. 21 votes will be needed to win.

The 84th's Evan Smith Announces Social Media Campaign Sites

Evan Smith, the Democratic nominee for the 84th District State Representative seat, has announced the launch of social media sites in support of his campaign.  You may connect to his Facebook site here and his Twitter site here.

The Republican candidate for the seat will be chosen by caucus on Monday.  Mr. Smith was also nominated by the caucus process.  He was nominated on the same night Democratic precinct committeeperson met to choose Tom Hayhurst as the their nominee for the Third District special election.

From Mr. Smith's release:

“If you live in the 84^th District, I want to hear your story,” said Smith. “Social media give people direct access to a candidate, as well as a forum for ideas and feedback. Whether the issue that concerns you is education, taxes, your job, or just how state government could better work for you, we need to talk. This is your opportunity to shape the agenda I bring with me to the State House.”

Photo credit: Claire and Evan Smith, courtesy of the candidate.

Video of the Fort Wayne Observed 84th District Forum

Stephen Parker of the Around Fort Wayne blog has posted videos of the Fort Wayne Observed 84th District Forum held on Monday.  Fort Wayne Observed sponsored the forum featuring the four declared candidates for state representative. The caucus to fill the vacancy in both the remaining term and the Republican candidacy will be held on Saturday at 11 AM at the Allen County Republican Headquarters.

You may view the videos here.  Please note that the sound volume will be low and that you should be prepared to turn up the volume on your speaker.

The winner of the caucus to fill the vacancy will immediately fill the remaining 2008-2010 term of the 84th District seat.  The winner of the caucus to fill the candidate nomination vacancy will face Democratic Party candidate Evan Smith in November.

Wicher Speaks in Utah of the Threat to Genealogy's Future

The erasure of the past is threatening the future of geneaological research.  That was the message Curt Witcher of Fort Wayne to the plenary session of the Brigham Young University Conference on Family History and Genealogy held in Provo, Utah.  Mr. Witcher is the Director of The Genealogy Center of the Allen County Public Library.

Michael DeGroote wrote for the Mormon Times:

With all the genealogical information being made accessible on the Internet, some might think this is the golden age of family history. To Curt B. Witcher, however, we may be entering a new dark age where vital records and the memories of people alive today are lost forever.

"At the same time we have more (technological) ability we are losing interest and focus on keeping the thoughts and the words for future generations," Witcher said.

[ ... ]

"I believe we have a crisis in our midst," Witcher said. "We have left the care of our written records largely in the hands of disinterested strangers." He said these records include everything from birth records to tombstones — and more and more they are disappearing.

Libraries are limiting hours and public access to materials. Courthouses are engaging in "radical sampling," where they take a few samples of large collections of old records and destroy the rest. "This is going on now," Witcher said.

Witcher gave several specific examples of the problem. The Ohio State Library gave away all its genealogical materials to a local library. The Library of Michigan was getting rid of genealogical items that are not directly related to Michigan. The Boston Public Library is contemplating making its vast collections of newspapers inaccessible to the general public. Seventy-nine percent of reporting U.S. Federal agencies believed their records were at high or great risk of being lost.

"At every turn there is a threat," Witcher said.

Records are also disappearing on a personal level. "Who is writing letters anymore?" Witcher asked. "When was the last time you received a letter?"

Taylor Redux: Arizona Mixes Up Crash Survivor and Crash Victim

Arizona officials are the latest to mix up the identities of a survivor and and a fatality from an automobile.  Abby Guerra, a University of Evansville soccer player was thought to have been killed.  Her teammates on the Purple Aces team were preparting to fly to what would have been her funeral on Monday.

The Athletic Director of the University of Evansville is schedule to have a press conference later this afternoon.  Ms. Guerra remains in critical condition.

Ofelia Madrid of the Arizona Republic writes:

The appendix scar on the girl's stomach was missing.

That was one of the first signs that the girl in the hospital bed was not who everyone thought she was.

All last week, the friends stood vigil outside a room at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center thinking Marlena Cantu, 21, was in critical condition. At the same time, they mourned another friend, Abby Guerra, 19, who they thought had died in the same car crash last Sunday.

On Saturday, the worlds of two different families fell into chaos when they learned it was actually Cantu who died in the rollover crash and that it was Guerra in the hospital bed with a brain injury, broken back, collapsed lung and other injuries.

[ ... ]

A DPS spokesperson wouldn't be available until Monday to explain how people were identified at the crash scene.

[ ... ]

Teammates from Guerra's University of Evansville soccer team in Indiana were expected to fly to Phoenix for a Monday funeral.

Bob Morris Announcing for 84th Today

Fort Wayne entrepreneur Bob Morris will be announcing his candidacy for the vacancy and candidate vacancy for the 84th Indiana House of Representatives seat.  A caucus of Republican precinct committeepersons will meet on July 31st to fill the vacancies created when Randy Borror resigned the state legislative seat and his candidacy.

Mr. Morris will vow to support the conservative fiscal policies of Governor Mitch Daniels.  You can view the entire press release here as a MS WORD document.

From the release:

Governor Mitch Daniels was elected to office—literally—just in the nick of time.

In less than six years, as the rest of the nation sank into economic gloom, Governor Daniels transformed Indiana into the No. 1 job-creation-state in the union.While other states all around us are sinking in a sea of red ink, Indiana stands proud with asurplus yet-remaining, and better times ahead.

Although we as a state and we as a nation are not through the difficult times yet, Governor Daniels’ discipline and leadership has seen-us-through, and leaves us poised for tremendous growth.

And THAT, my friends, is the reason I am running to continue to advance and build upon the Daniels’ vision of fiscal wisdom, a vision that allows the free-market to do what government cannot ever do in creating opportunity, prosperity, and wealth

Jon Olinger, Bill Brown and Derek Pillie have also announced their candidacies for the 84th seat.

Derek Pillie Confirms He's a Candidate for the 84th

Text of the Press Release Issued by Derek Pillie this morning at the press conference confirming his candidacy.  The Pillie press conference was held at Allen County Republican Headquarters.

Derek Pillie announced his candidacy this morning for the 84th House District seat today and expressed his determination to fight for effective, results-oriented government policies.

Pillie said, “My fellow Hoosiers have spoken loudly, clearly and repeatedly that they want government to be smarter about the ways it spends their money. They want us to spend less of their money and they want us to spend it... on the tasks that government should be doing and nothing else. I understand that, I believe that and I will fight for that at the Statehouse.”

Citing his conservative credentials and commitment to smaller, local government, Pillie announced his candidacy with his family before a group of supporters at Allen County GOP Headquarters in Fort Wayne.

Fort Wayne City Councilman Tom Didier (R-3rd) offered his endorsement of Pillie’s candidacy. In a statement read at the press conference Didier said, “I’ve known Derek Pillie for the last seven years and I believe he would do the best job for the residents of the 84th District. He is the kind of person that cares about his community and we need to send to the Statehouse.”

Mr. Pillie will file declarations of candidacy Friday at the Statehouse to fill both the vacancy in the remaining months in the 2008-2010 term and the candidate vacancy for the Republican nomination for the 2010-2012 term.

A biography issued by the campaign:

Derek A. Pillie, 34 (born June 9, 1976), has worked on behalf of the citizens of northern Indiana for nearly a decade. Since 2000, Derek has served on the staff of Indiana's Third Congressional District, most recently as District Director. In that role, he oversees Indiana operations of the office, including constituent outreach and helping taxpayers solve problems with federal agencies. He also worked on crucial economic development projects including the preservation of hundreds of jobs at magnet wire facilities in Fort Wayne, protecting veterans' access to local inpatient care and ensuring the long-term survival of the Air National Guard presence at Fort Wayne International Airport.

While attending The George Washington University, Derek developed an interest in public service while interning for a member of Congress. Prior to joining Indiana’s Third Congressional District staff, Derek worked in the offices of Congressman Ken Calvert, R-Calif. and former Congressman Jon Fox, R-Penn.

Derek, a native of Sellersville, Penn., married his wife Janay in September 2000. She is a native of Avilla, Indiana in Noble County. They are the parents of Emma, 8, and Nathan, 6, and live in the Blackhawk neighborhood in northeast Fort Wayne.

In addition to his professional involvements, Derek is President of the Serra Club of Fort Wayne, a member of the Redeemer Radio capital campaign board and active in Allen County Right to Life. The Pillies are members of St. Charles Borromeo Parish.

Photo: Mr. Pillie is shown with his daughter, Emma.