ATTENTION ALL BUSINESSES IN MARTINSVILLE:
The Martinsville Mayor is trying to impose a
"Business License & Tax"!
“News & Views”
by Dennis E. Champlin, 02-08-2012
“Nepotism”: favoritism shown by somebody in power to relatives and friends, especially in appointing them to good positions; the practice of using your power and influence to give jobs to people in your family, instead of to people who deserve to have them. -- Encarta Dictionary
“Conflict of Interest”: a conflict between the public and private interests of somebody in an official position, or conflicts between a number of public positions. -- Encarta Dictionary
As you know, I write this editorial one week ahead of publication date, so to be timely means I’m always late! So as of today the Indiana House has passed HB-1005 and sent it to the Senate, where they are considering a nearly identical bill. The vote in the House was 70-Yea, 26-Nay (out of 100 members), so this vote represents a true bi-partisan effort. I expect a similar outcome in the 50-member Senate. The bill would then go to the Governor, who undoubtedly will sign it into law.
HB-1005 addresses both “nepotism” and “conflict of interest”, issues long abused in Indiana government. Retiring District 47 House Representative Ralph Foley, a co-sponsor of HB-1005, told his colleagues, “...Morgan County is the poster county for a bill like this...”
I heartily agree! In the 1950’s-1960’s my dad, Sylvanus “Big” Champlin, was a Republican Precinct Committeeman, also serving two terms as the Morgan County Highway Superintendent. He was an honest man, and he got out of politics because of the corruption he observed. I have watched these problems multiply in the subsequent years, with elected officials hiring family, or being elected to boards that oversee their appointed jobs. I salute the Indiana State Legislature for finally stopping this!
God is good; all the time! Amen!
“News & Views”
by Dennis E. Champlin, 02-01-2012
“All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.” -- 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 (NKJV)
The Apostle Paul was addressing a sinful situation in the Corinthian Church. Apparently they were doing something that was legal under Roman law, but illegal under God’s law. We have a situation like that today in Morgan County.
There have already been reports of the following on WISH-TV-8, as well as in the daily Martinsville Reporter-Times.
An elected public official, Coroner Garry Long, who was also a Morgan County Sheriff’s Detective, was investigated by the Indiana State Police for a possible sex crime against a local young man. Special Prosecutor Barry Brown concluded there would be no charges filed, because Indiana State Law gives the age of consent for sex acts to be 16, and the young man was 17.
I have known the victim’s father for over 25 years, and I know his honesty. I will not reveal his name, or his son’s name, in order to protect the child, as there has already been devastating psychological damage done to this young man. But they have physical evidence (both “Facebook” and text messages) of sexual exchanges between the perpetrator and victim.
Garry Long has retired from his position as Morgan County Sheriff’s Detective; he should have been fired without pension. Which brings me to my point today: he should resign as Coroner.
Why? As the Scripture I quoted above, what he did may be legal under Indiana law, but it is illegal under God’s law. While the young man, at 17, may be of a legal age, he is autistic; as such he is mentally and emotionally a child; he was taken advantage of by a responsible adult.
Mr. Long, resign!
God is good; all the time! Amen!
“News & Views”
by Dennis E. Champlin, 01-25-2012
“It doesn’t require expropriation or confiscation of private property or business to impose Socialism on a people. What does it mean whether you hold the deed or the title to your business or property if the government holds the power of life and death over that business or property? Such machinery already exists. The government can find some charge to bring against any concern it chooses to prosecute. Every businessman has his own tale of harassment. Somewhere a perversion has taken place. Our natural, inalienable rights are now considered to be a dispensation of government, and freedom has never been so fragile, so close to slipping from our grasp as it is at this moment.” -- Ronald Reagan
My hero said this 40 years ago, a Biblical generation. Reagan’s warnings were prophetic. We are seeing Socialism coming to pass in America today. I just turned 60, and it’s been 40 years since graduating high school. Looking back, I have been watching this trend happening on a national level for decades; now, to my shock and horror, it’s happening on the state and local level as well. We are headed toward more regulation and more taxing of our private property and businesses. Oh, they’re clever about it, disguising taxes as “user fees”. We desperately need more men like Ronald Reagan, from federal to state to local.
He said, “We are a nation that has a government, not the other way around. And this makes us special among the nations of the Earth. Our government has no power except that granted it by the people. It is time to check and reverse the growth of government which shows signs of having grown beyond the consent of the governed. Government can and must provide opportunity, not smother it; foster productivity, not stifle it.”
God is good; all the time! Amen!
“News & Views”
by Dennis E. Champlin, 01-18-2012
“Well, isn’t that special?” -- (Quoting Dana Carvey’s character, “The Church Lady”, from “Saturday Night Live”)
Last week I reported on the lame duck session of the Martinsville Common Council, where our elected officials gave themselves generous pay raises, in spite of the recession the rest of us are mired in.
“Well, isn’t that special?”
Now the City is telling us they may have to discontinue our tax-paid trash service, or add a surcharge to the water-sewer bill. Is there a correlation between getting those raises, yet not having enough money for the trash? And what about the trash trucks being “kaput”? Wasn’t there money built into the budget for eventual replacement, or is this just a convenient excuse? Are we going to get a tax rebate if the service is discontinued?
“Well, isn’t that special?”
The recession started Christmas 2007, right before the current administration took office. They’ve had four years to work on budgets they knew would grow smaller annually due to this recession, yet they kept spending as if they had the money. They also know there is a constitutional amendment to cap property taxes, so they’re almost certainly going to try every optional “user fee” they can impose (remember the proposed “Business License and Tax”? That isn’t dead yet!)
“Well, isn’t that special?”
Finally, the City Council is reorganizing for 2012, and traditionally elects its own President, so you have to wonder what’s behind the Mayor’s unprecedented requirement to have any prospects apply to his office before they meet for election. I thought the City Council was supposed to be an independent body.
“Well, isn’t that special?”
God is good; all the time! Amen!
“News & Views”
by Dennis E. Champlin, 01-11-2012 “Surprise, surprise, surprise!” (Quoting actor Jim Nabors in his popular role as Gomer Pyle).
The Martinsville Common Council, in a final lame duck session held Thursday, December 29, at 3:00pm, had postponed a salary ordinance for the city elected officials until after the election. And it comes at absolutely no surprise they gave all of our elected officials hefty pay raises.
Mayor Phil Deckard’s salary was raised by $5,300, for a total of $60,000. (This comes on top of his 2011 raise of $5,700, when he went from $49,000 to $54,700.) The vote was unanimous from the six City Councilmen present: Gordon Burgin, Terry Buster, Phil Deckard II, Rick Kivitt, Gary Lester, and Dave Trout (Eric Bowlin was absent).
They were split on how much to raise the Clerk-Treasurer, Mary Lou Peden. Three proposals were offered, and a compromise agreed to $1,500 (with Gary Lester opposing). This raises her to $49,000. The Council also unanimously added $5,000 to her husband, City Judge Mark Peden, raising his pay to $35,000.
Finally the City Council increased their pay by $1,000, for a total of $7,000. Outgoing Councilmen include: Gordon Burgin, Rick Kivitt, and Dave Trout, (being replaced by incoming Councilmen Doug Arthur, Jeff Price, and Bob Strader).
In summary: we have all been in an economic recession since Christmas 2007; businesses are hurting and many people have lost their jobs; these politicians knew what the offices paid when they ran; while I have no objection to raising the pay of the workers (including Police, Fire, Street, and Water), I believe the politicians should have frozen their pay (or, better yet, taken a cut)! And finally, how unreasonable for them to do it mid-afternoon, when most tax-paying citizens are busy working!
God is good; all the time! Amen!
“News & Views”
by Dennis E. Champlin, 01-04-2012
“Out with the old, and in with the new!” I always pause and reflect on New Year’s Day, and because my birthday falls on January 7th, it actually becomes a week-long experience. This “Baby Boomer” was born in 1952, this year turning 60, and I grew up in what was really the “Golden Age” of America. I thought this might be a good time to “re-introduce” myself to you.
I was born and raised on a farm in rural Morgan County. My first job, at twelve years old, was at Grandpa Earl Lewis’ “High Rock Market” on State Road 67, north of Martinsville. My Dad, Sylvanus “Big” Champlin, was well known around the county in conservative politics; he was Superintendant of the Morgan County Highway Department, and worked at Harry Kindred’s Market.
I started playing music when the Beatles came to America in 1964, along with 12 million other kids, but I stuck it out and became a professional musician when I grew up, earning a living at it. A graduate of Martinsville High School (1970), I continued my education at the infamous “School of Hard Knocks”. Along the way I spent some time in radio and recording studios, and I took up teaching music, finally opening a private studio. That eventually led to my retail music store, CHAMPLIN MUSIC, and this year I’m celebrating my 32nd year in business.
I like to define myself as: first, a Christian; second, a Patriot; third, a Conservative; and fourth, a Capitalist; I’m definitely not “P.C.” (Politically Correct). My first political campaign was back in 1964, working to elect Barry Goldwater for President. My motivation has always been for building a better America, not tearing her down; and my conviction is that the only true hope and lasting change revealed to humans came in the person of Jesus Christ, God in the flesh. Let this be your hope for 2012, the national motto of America: “In GOD we trust.”
God is good; all the time! Amen!