Critical Election For Muncie IN Residents

The election is now only 10 days away and it will be a critical election for Muncie, IN residents. Running for re-election is an experienced mayor with a strong track record of accomplishment. She has not only operated within a very challenging budget but will finish her term with reserve funds for next year. She has saved taxpayers $500,000 by not having to borrow money to cover operating expenses while awaiting property tax distributions.

She has also been effective in building international relationships and working with economic development people at all levels to bring new jobs to Muncie. Our parks have received long-delayed attention and have added greatly to our quality of life. Prairie Creek Park has become an income producer for the first time in history and will return a $90,000 surplus this year.

Contrast this with her opponent who has no municipal government experience and whose only accomplishment as an appointed State Senator was to participate in the Democrat walk-out that paralyzed the IN legislature last spring. In addition, he has strong ties to local public emploiyee unions who will be negotiating new labor contracts next year.

The races for City Council, especially the "At Large" contests, are equally important. Here again, the Democrat candidates have strong ties to our public employee unions and one candidate is married to a firefighter. This same candidate pledged civility and cooperation in a recent debate even though she orchestrated and led a rowdy demonstartion, complete with news cameras at one of the Mayor's neighborhood commmunication meetings. The demonstration, by the way, was to call attention to the lay off of her firefighter husband according to contractual proceedures necessitated by reduced tax income. If elected, this person will be voting on the new contract with the firemen's union next year.

Though property taxes are capped, elected officials can still pass Local Option Income Taxes to generate additional revenue. If the candidates with strong ties to public service unions are elected, I can't help but wonder how long it will be before this tax is adopted in Muncie.

What has all this got to do with real estate? Quality of life and especially cost of living are two major considerations in peoples' decisions on where they choose to live. The more people who choose Muncie, IN the more opportunites are generated for everyone and the more people there are to share the cost of providing quality public services. Our mayor and her staff have proven that these are their prime objectives. The opposition seems much more concerned with preserving and enhancing the lives their friends, families and political allies at the expense of the rest of the community.