Letters to the Editor 04-21-1997
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
- Conflict Statements - Wilcoxson Neighbor - KABS Thanks - Child Support - Military - Flower Theft - Medstat
Conflict Statements
Editor, Times-Union:In regard to Mr. Wilcoxson's conflict of interest article, I would like to address some points with facts. Conflict of interest statements are required by state statutes. I can't imagine a town or city not having a developer or businessman on their board who wouldn't have as great or greater interest in their town as Mr. Wilcoxson does. That is why the form is in existence. The president of the Winona Lake Town Council does not vote usually (his choice), unless needed for a tie-breaker. He does an excellent job on conducting the meetings. He allows opinions to be voiced and is open to discussion. If there was anything inappropriate going on, I would personally feel responsible and address it, as would most of the others on the council.
Terrace Drive was going to be completed in 1996. It was moved up to April, but the council heard the request and granted it. It is a public street that the developers paid about three-fourths of the cost to have it paved. The town agreed to pay $10,000 of the costs and the developers only used $7,900 of it. They did not use all of the money allotted to them. How many other landowners are going to chip in to help pay for their street? The parking slots on Terrace Drive is on private land owned by the developers.
The Winona Hotel sewage rate was reduced to $27 while under renovation. Mr. Wilcoxson had the option of unhooking the hotel from the sewer line. If he had done this, there would be no charges due. He would have paid the town $200 to reconnect the sewer line when it was completed. As it is presently, the town is receiving $324 a year for no services rendered. The town is receiving more money by reducing the rate then by the hotel disconnecting the sewer line.
The company has donated two large parcels of land to the town. In addition, there have been smaller donations for various needs of several of the town departments. As a town resident, I am very thankful for the support this company has shown to the community. They seem to show an overwhelming community spirit.
How much credence should we give to individuals who do not identify themselves but make negative and damaging remarks? Thank you for allowing me to express my views and opinions.
Retha S. Hicks Clerk-Treasurer Winona Lake
Wilcoxson Neighbor
Editor, Times-Union:The article written on April 15 regarding Brent Wilcoxson certainly deserves a rebuttal. I too am a Winona Lake resident who does not hesitate to sign my comments, and my point of view is decidedly different from that cited in the article. I have personally known and lived a few houses from Brent and his family for about the last 15 years. We have not only been neighbors but have raked leaves, trimmed bushes, cleaned lake shores and canal banks and planted flowers together, all on property that neither of us owned, all in the guise of improving the town in which we chose to live and raise our many children. As we have worked we have talked and dreamed of how this charming and historic town could be saved from its rapid downward spiral.
Some years ago Brent encouraged a few neighbors to pool our resources and found Winona Restoration Partners. We did this to save a house in the midst of our neighborhood that had slipped into the realm of "slumdom." We worked hard and eventually that house was brought back from a five-unit slum to a beautiful single-family home that is an asset to the neighborhood. There was no global plan among us to get rich quick or get rich easy. We wanted our neighborhood to stay respectable and we were willing to invest out money and hard work to try to save it. Brent has since acquired more lucrative investors and his bigger dreams are coming to fruition. Good for him! I watch Brent's car leave his garage most every morning by 6:30 and rarely returns before the same time each night. As I walk around town Brent can be found often hauling plaster, shoveling stone or pounding nails, as well as administrating. If he is getting rich, it seems to me to be by the sweat of his brow, not mine. I can find no fault with this.
As for streets being paved and houses being refurbished for no one's benefit but his, ludicrous! I personally hope that he has significant financial gain from this effort. If he were developing a piece of farmland into half-acre plots for houses we would certainly expect him to make some money. His gain is my gain also. I live on the same hill as Terrace Drive. The fact that those houses are no longer slums benefits me a great deal. My property value has increased and the quality of life in my neighborhood has improved immensely. Each of us who live in this town benefit by every improvement made.
The article verified that when Brent has business with the town council pertinent to Winona Restoration Partners, he has stepped down from his role on the council and forgone his vote. This leaves the council able to vote "no" on any request they deem not in the best interest of the town. If they choose to vote "yes," so be it. Could it be that they vote affirmatively because those requests being made are well designed, well presented and in the long term beneficial to the community as a whole, regardless of who presented them?
I have seen nothing from Brent but forthrightness and honesty. He is driven by a bigger dream for this town than my mind can conceive of and I am excited watching him work it out. Smart and capable people with the ability to see our town's potential and the drive to make it happen are the kind I want to see in my government. They are also the kind of people we need leading the comeback of our town. You've got my support, Brent.
Lisa LeMasters Winona Lake
KABS Thanks
Editor, Times-Union:We the people speak!
In appreciation of our KABS service and Happy Wanderer bus service. The drivers are very courteous and thoughtful of their passengers.
We would not be able to go anywhere in the city of Warsaw without their service. Everyone is eligible to ride. It's very reasonable.
K. Zentz Retired Tigers Apts.
Child Support
Editor, Times-Union:What is the problem in this county regarding single parents and child support? Is the prosecutor's office keeping anybody else's child support, or just mine?
In December of 1996, I had to take my ex-husband to court for nonsupport. He was about five months behind. I did not use the state's 4-D Program. I hired my own attorney. The judge that heard our case really impressed me. He told my ex-husband that if he ever returned to his courtroom for nonsupport again, he would go to jail. He entered a wage withholding and ordered my ex-husband to pay an extra $20 per week on the back support.
Because it takes time to enter a wage withholding, I didn't receive my child support until mid-January. However, my first child support check was $20 short. I waited one more week to see if it happened again. Sure enough, my second check was another $20 short. Through a series of phone calls I made to the prosecutor's Child Support Enforcement Office, I found out that Child Support Enforcement sent my $40 to Indy because they thought I was on welfare.
I informed them that I was not on any welfare. I was then told by Child Support Enforcement that my $40 would be released in March 1997.
Well, it's now April and I still don't have my $40. So yet again I made that call to Child Support Enforcement. I was informed that $40 was taken from me to repay three months' worth of food stamps I received in 1994 while my husband and I were divorcing. I know for a fact that Child Support Enforcement notified my ex-husband by mail in Decemeber 1996, (the very same time I was suing him for nonsupport) to inform him that not only did he repay the welfare I received, he overpaid by more than $400.
My ex-husband received that $400, plus overpayment in March 1997. Now if my ex-husband was already overpaid in December 1996, why was my $40 taken from me in January 1997? I want someone from the prosecutor's office to check this out. I want my $40. It's bad enough when single parents can't get the child support they need, but to have the very people who are there to help you, steal it, now that's a real shame.
By the way, every weekly child support check I've gotten since those first two in January have all included that extra $20.
Tammy M. Bussie Cromwell
Military
Editor, Times-Union:I couldn't help to notice Dennis Lundgren's ignorance toward the military.
I'm an enlisted soldier serving in the U.S. Army. Where do you (Dennis) get off putting down an enlisted person serving his country?
Enlisted make over half of the military. We are the backbone of the army (military). By you labeling an "all" enlisted personnel as being disrespectful to superior officers. That in itself is disrespectful and very ignorant thing to say.
It helps to think before you speak, because you know what happens when someone "ass-u-me"(s) something.
Military is held to a single standard. Nobody is better than anyone based on rank.
Adam Rothenberger Heidelberg, Germany
Flower Theft
Editor, Times-Union:Congratulations to the couple in the fancy truck who were witnessed helping themselves to an armload of my neighbor's daffodils on April 12. You have now joined the ranks of those who support our local community by stealing Christmas lights and dumping trash on our county roads. Why stop now? Perhaps the next time you are out our way, you can pick up a few television sets, VCRs and CD players ] maybe even a car?
Barbara J. Ehrhardt Tippecanoe Lake
Medstat
Editor, Times-Union:Accidents do happen, and when my son got a badly smashed thumb recently, we took him to Medstat in Warsaw. The treatment our son got there was absolutely first rate. Warsaw is fortunate to have such an urgent care center. They were competent, caring, friendly and pretty quick about helping my boy ] who means everything to me. When he hurts, I hurt.
Not only did Medstat do X-rays quickly on the premises, but also took us next door to the orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Jansen, who also is a great asset to a small community. Way to go!
Mr. and Mrs. Rick Wagner Pierceton
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- Conflict Statements - Wilcoxson Neighbor - KABS Thanks - Child Support - Military - Flower Theft - Medstat
Conflict Statements
Editor, Times-Union:In regard to Mr. Wilcoxson's conflict of interest article, I would like to address some points with facts. Conflict of interest statements are required by state statutes. I can't imagine a town or city not having a developer or businessman on their board who wouldn't have as great or greater interest in their town as Mr. Wilcoxson does. That is why the form is in existence. The president of the Winona Lake Town Council does not vote usually (his choice), unless needed for a tie-breaker. He does an excellent job on conducting the meetings. He allows opinions to be voiced and is open to discussion. If there was anything inappropriate going on, I would personally feel responsible and address it, as would most of the others on the council.
Terrace Drive was going to be completed in 1996. It was moved up to April, but the council heard the request and granted it. It is a public street that the developers paid about three-fourths of the cost to have it paved. The town agreed to pay $10,000 of the costs and the developers only used $7,900 of it. They did not use all of the money allotted to them. How many other landowners are going to chip in to help pay for their street? The parking slots on Terrace Drive is on private land owned by the developers.
The Winona Hotel sewage rate was reduced to $27 while under renovation. Mr. Wilcoxson had the option of unhooking the hotel from the sewer line. If he had done this, there would be no charges due. He would have paid the town $200 to reconnect the sewer line when it was completed. As it is presently, the town is receiving $324 a year for no services rendered. The town is receiving more money by reducing the rate then by the hotel disconnecting the sewer line.
The company has donated two large parcels of land to the town. In addition, there have been smaller donations for various needs of several of the town departments. As a town resident, I am very thankful for the support this company has shown to the community. They seem to show an overwhelming community spirit.
How much credence should we give to individuals who do not identify themselves but make negative and damaging remarks? Thank you for allowing me to express my views and opinions.
Retha S. Hicks Clerk-Treasurer Winona Lake
Wilcoxson Neighbor
Editor, Times-Union:The article written on April 15 regarding Brent Wilcoxson certainly deserves a rebuttal. I too am a Winona Lake resident who does not hesitate to sign my comments, and my point of view is decidedly different from that cited in the article. I have personally known and lived a few houses from Brent and his family for about the last 15 years. We have not only been neighbors but have raked leaves, trimmed bushes, cleaned lake shores and canal banks and planted flowers together, all on property that neither of us owned, all in the guise of improving the town in which we chose to live and raise our many children. As we have worked we have talked and dreamed of how this charming and historic town could be saved from its rapid downward spiral.
Some years ago Brent encouraged a few neighbors to pool our resources and found Winona Restoration Partners. We did this to save a house in the midst of our neighborhood that had slipped into the realm of "slumdom." We worked hard and eventually that house was brought back from a five-unit slum to a beautiful single-family home that is an asset to the neighborhood. There was no global plan among us to get rich quick or get rich easy. We wanted our neighborhood to stay respectable and we were willing to invest out money and hard work to try to save it. Brent has since acquired more lucrative investors and his bigger dreams are coming to fruition. Good for him! I watch Brent's car leave his garage most every morning by 6:30 and rarely returns before the same time each night. As I walk around town Brent can be found often hauling plaster, shoveling stone or pounding nails, as well as administrating. If he is getting rich, it seems to me to be by the sweat of his brow, not mine. I can find no fault with this.
As for streets being paved and houses being refurbished for no one's benefit but his, ludicrous! I personally hope that he has significant financial gain from this effort. If he were developing a piece of farmland into half-acre plots for houses we would certainly expect him to make some money. His gain is my gain also. I live on the same hill as Terrace Drive. The fact that those houses are no longer slums benefits me a great deal. My property value has increased and the quality of life in my neighborhood has improved immensely. Each of us who live in this town benefit by every improvement made.
The article verified that when Brent has business with the town council pertinent to Winona Restoration Partners, he has stepped down from his role on the council and forgone his vote. This leaves the council able to vote "no" on any request they deem not in the best interest of the town. If they choose to vote "yes," so be it. Could it be that they vote affirmatively because those requests being made are well designed, well presented and in the long term beneficial to the community as a whole, regardless of who presented them?
I have seen nothing from Brent but forthrightness and honesty. He is driven by a bigger dream for this town than my mind can conceive of and I am excited watching him work it out. Smart and capable people with the ability to see our town's potential and the drive to make it happen are the kind I want to see in my government. They are also the kind of people we need leading the comeback of our town. You've got my support, Brent.
Lisa LeMasters Winona Lake
KABS Thanks
Editor, Times-Union:We the people speak!
In appreciation of our KABS service and Happy Wanderer bus service. The drivers are very courteous and thoughtful of their passengers.
We would not be able to go anywhere in the city of Warsaw without their service. Everyone is eligible to ride. It's very reasonable.
K. Zentz Retired Tigers Apts.
Child Support
Editor, Times-Union:What is the problem in this county regarding single parents and child support? Is the prosecutor's office keeping anybody else's child support, or just mine?
In December of 1996, I had to take my ex-husband to court for nonsupport. He was about five months behind. I did not use the state's 4-D Program. I hired my own attorney. The judge that heard our case really impressed me. He told my ex-husband that if he ever returned to his courtroom for nonsupport again, he would go to jail. He entered a wage withholding and ordered my ex-husband to pay an extra $20 per week on the back support.
Because it takes time to enter a wage withholding, I didn't receive my child support until mid-January. However, my first child support check was $20 short. I waited one more week to see if it happened again. Sure enough, my second check was another $20 short. Through a series of phone calls I made to the prosecutor's Child Support Enforcement Office, I found out that Child Support Enforcement sent my $40 to Indy because they thought I was on welfare.
I informed them that I was not on any welfare. I was then told by Child Support Enforcement that my $40 would be released in March 1997.
Well, it's now April and I still don't have my $40. So yet again I made that call to Child Support Enforcement. I was informed that $40 was taken from me to repay three months' worth of food stamps I received in 1994 while my husband and I were divorcing. I know for a fact that Child Support Enforcement notified my ex-husband by mail in Decemeber 1996, (the very same time I was suing him for nonsupport) to inform him that not only did he repay the welfare I received, he overpaid by more than $400.
My ex-husband received that $400, plus overpayment in March 1997. Now if my ex-husband was already overpaid in December 1996, why was my $40 taken from me in January 1997? I want someone from the prosecutor's office to check this out. I want my $40. It's bad enough when single parents can't get the child support they need, but to have the very people who are there to help you, steal it, now that's a real shame.
By the way, every weekly child support check I've gotten since those first two in January have all included that extra $20.
Tammy M. Bussie Cromwell
Military
Editor, Times-Union:I couldn't help to notice Dennis Lundgren's ignorance toward the military.
I'm an enlisted soldier serving in the U.S. Army. Where do you (Dennis) get off putting down an enlisted person serving his country?
Enlisted make over half of the military. We are the backbone of the army (military). By you labeling an "all" enlisted personnel as being disrespectful to superior officers. That in itself is disrespectful and very ignorant thing to say.
It helps to think before you speak, because you know what happens when someone "ass-u-me"(s) something.
Military is held to a single standard. Nobody is better than anyone based on rank.
Adam Rothenberger Heidelberg, Germany
Flower Theft
Editor, Times-Union:Congratulations to the couple in the fancy truck who were witnessed helping themselves to an armload of my neighbor's daffodils on April 12. You have now joined the ranks of those who support our local community by stealing Christmas lights and dumping trash on our county roads. Why stop now? Perhaps the next time you are out our way, you can pick up a few television sets, VCRs and CD players ] maybe even a car?
Barbara J. Ehrhardt Tippecanoe Lake
Medstat
Editor, Times-Union:Accidents do happen, and when my son got a badly smashed thumb recently, we took him to Medstat in Warsaw. The treatment our son got there was absolutely first rate. Warsaw is fortunate to have such an urgent care center. They were competent, caring, friendly and pretty quick about helping my boy ] who means everything to me. When he hurts, I hurt.
Not only did Medstat do X-rays quickly on the premises, but also took us next door to the orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Jansen, who also is a great asset to a small community. Way to go!
Mr. and Mrs. Rick Wagner Pierceton
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