SayNotoFishers.com

Today, August 21st, Judge Nation, Hamilton County Superior Court, ordered the Town of Fishers and the Geist remonstrators (against the forced annexation) into mediation to settle the lawsuit prior to trial.

Settlement negotiations are to take place before a court-appointed mediator on September 11, 2008.  The court expects the GUO to serve as the agent representing the remonstrators; the Fishers Town Council will, of course, represent the Town. We have learned that the meeting, at least in part, will be a meeting the public can attend, but probably not a public meeting at which the public may speak (details are still being worked out).

So here’s the deal:  We have no choice but to enter into mediation as the COURT has ORDERED that we do so.

But, in order for the GUO to serve as the agent representing the remonstrators and to comply with the court order, we will need a large number of those who signed to remonstration (anti-annexation) petition to sign another document giving the GUO the authority to do so.  This is because the GUO is simply a volunteer group that has helped to organize our remonstration efforts, we are not elected or otherwise empowered to represent the remonstrators in matters like this.

Over the next couple of weeks we will be holding a series of meetings at which we will do our best to explain the situation and ask for your signatures once again, if you want us to represent you.  Sorry for the short notice, but this just happened.

Our lawyers tell us that court ordered mediation often occurs in lawsuits and the judge fully expects that a settlement will be reached.  However, if a settlement is not reached, although the parties have negotiated in good faith, then the trial will proceed (scheduled for October 1 – 3, 2008).

Let us be clear:  the judge expects that good faith negotiations will take place; we cannot undermine the mediation process simply to force the matter into trial (that could be viewed as contempt of court).

You may have noticed that there hasn’t been much communication from the GUO lately; this is because of the lawsuit (against the annexation)—our lawyers pretty much put a gag order on us in order to avoid any possible complications.  Behind the scenes a lot of legal stuff has been happening (e.g., depositions are underway), but nothing until this point worthy of announcement.

Stay tuned for announcements on meeting dates, places, and times.

Thank you to everyone who attended the SOS fundraiser and helped to make it such a success! The d.j. was great and got people out on the dance floor after the live auction was over…with the help of some of those SOS drink specials! Also, thank you to Jeff and George who helped create a lively auction for those Colts tickets!!! As always, Ron and Connie Cruthers and the Indianapolis Yacht Club created a wonderful setting for the night. Thank you to everyone who donated the wonderful auction items too!

If you would like to see the pictures from the event, please go to our website at www.saynotofishers.com. If you have any questions about the auction items, please contact Rachel Quade at rachelquade@talktotucker.com.

Thank you again to everyone for making the night a success!!!

~The GUO Board~

The GUO is hosting a legal fund raising event on Friday, June 20th, from 7:00p until 11:00p, at the Indianapolis Yacht Club.

Tickets are $100 per person and $150 per couple.  The price includes 2 drink tickets (4 per couple), appetizers, entertainment, silent auction, and fun with neighbors and friends.

There is limited capacity, so don’t wait to get your reservation in.

Click on the “Donate Now” link to make your contribution of $100 (for one person) or $150 (for a couple) or more because you know how important this cause is.  Then, send us an e-mail at geist.united@yahoo.com letting us know who will be attending (please include your name, e-mail, and phone number; we’ll reconcile the list and send you a confirmation.

This is an important event and most necessary to help build up our legal fund.

If you would be willing to donate an item for the silent auction, please contact Rachel Quade at rachelquade@talktotucker.com. Thank you!

See you there!  SOS–Save-Our-Status!

The Geist United Opposition has updated their FAQ section of their website SayNOtoFishers.com to reflect the current issues facing unincorporated property owners around Geist Reservoir. Questions being answered include:

• Won’t tax reform make all this moot?
• Is annexation inevitable?
• What about SPORTS and parks?
• What about the Towns of Geist?
• Fishers promised me sewer connections if I don’t remonstrate?

Check out the answers to these and other pressing questions, click here.

Please email Vernon Smith and Patrick Bauer and ask them to give SB 114 a hearing in the House of Representatives. Congressman Smith is the chairman of the Local Government Committee where this bill was assigned.  

Vernon G. Smith (Gary) h14@in.gov
Patrick Bauer h6@in.gov

Here is a sample of what you could ask both Smith and Bauer:

Please give SB 114 a hearing in the Local Government Committee. This bill greatly affects Indiana citizens in unincorporated areas. These residents deserve to be heard by the Indiana House of Representatives.

A few weeks ago GUO sent you an e-mail requesting that you send a message to the State Senators asking them to support annexation reform.  Your e-mails were successful, and they definitely helped lead to the passage of SB 114 in the State Senate.  Senate Bill 114 has now moved over to the House for consideration.

We are now asking you to send a similar message to the House Representatives.  Below are the e-mail addresses of the State Representatives.  Time is of the essence, and we ask you to send your message within the next day or two.  Please consider sending the following message, or one of your own to the e-mail addresses listed below.

Indiana is one of only six states that allow forced annexations.  I am asking for your support of Senate Bill 114.  Forced annexation is bad public policy and puts undue burden on Indiana property owners.  The last thing any resident needs is another unexpected property tax increase in this state.

Please leave SB 114 intact with the January effective date.

Indiana Democratic State Representatives…

h36@in.gov; h27@in.gov; h75@in.gov; h1@in.gov; h25@in.gov; h94@in.gov; h95@in.gov; h26@in.gov; h64@in.gov; h81@in.gov; h6@in.gov; h7@in.gov; h68@in.gov; h86@in.gov; h62@in.gov; h73@in.gov; h3@in.gov; h9@in.gov; h12@in.gov; h56@in.gov; h69@in.gov; h61@in.gov; h72@in.gov; h96@in.gov; h98@in.gov; h37@in.gov; h63@in.gov; h70@in.gov; h100@in.gov; h10@in.gov; h17@in.gov; h14@in.gov; h13@in.gov; h71@in.gov; h8@in.gov; h11@in.gov; h5@in.gov; h74@in.gov; h80@in.gov; h99@in.gov; h66@in.gov; h46@in.gov; h42@in.gov; h34@in.gov; h2@in.gov; h76@in.gov; h30@in.gov; h19@in.gov; h77@in.gov; h60@in.gov; h43@in.gov

Indiana Republican State Representatives…

h91@in.gov; h83@in.gov; h45@in.gov; h84@in.gov; h88@in.gov; h41@in.gov; h38@in.gov; h89@in.gov; h58@in.gov; h53@in.gov; h78@in.gov; h33@in.gov; h20@in.gov; h51@in.gov; h67@in.gov; h57@in.gov; h97@in.gov; h82@in.gov; h47@in.gov; h23@in.gov; h93@in.gov; h16@in.gov; h31@in.gov; h92@in.gov; h55@in.gov; h65@in.gov; h15@in.gov; h50@in.gov; h35@in.gov; h24@in.gov; h90@in.gov; h48@in.gov; h87@in.gov; h85@in.gov; h29@in.gov; h79@in.gov; h22@in.gov; h54@in.gov; h59@in.gov; h4@in.gov; h40@in.gov; h52@in.gov; h28@in.gov; h44@in.gov; h39@in.gov; h32@in.gov; h49@in.gov; h21@in.gov; h18@in.gov

Jay Hacker and Anne Vaughn delivered the boxes of petitions to the Castleton Post Office on Monday morning. You should receive in the mail today your annexation petition. If you do not want to be annexed by Fishers, please sign the petition and send it back right away. A stamped return envelope has been included for your convenience. Here are some general instructions that need to be followed:

1. only ONE signature per property
2. sign your name exactly as it appears on the petition form that was mailed to you (First name, middle initial, last name)
3. return your signed petition as soon as possible.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your neighborhood block captains and coordinators, listed here.

Senate Bill 114, which eliminates forced annexation in Indiana for good with an effective date of January 1st, passed the Senate today 26-22. Yesterday, the bill was defeated narrowly, but after some arm twisting and lobbying by the GUO and others, the Senate passed it today. Now its on to the House of Representatives!

Email all the Indiana Senators by copy/pasting the email addresses below into your own email program (i.e. Outlook, Google Mail, Yahoo Mail). Do not send to more than 7 senators at a time, most of them will block your email if they see more than 7 addresses in the “to” or “cc” fields.
S22@in.gov, S50@in.gov, S23@in.gov, S37@in.gov, S5@in.gov, S29@in.gov,  S17@in.gov, S21@in.gov, S19@in.gov, S28@in.gov, S7@in.gov, S42@in.gov, 20@in.gov, S14@in.gov, S6@in.gov, S24@in.gov, S16@in.gov, S30@in.gov, S13@in.gov, S31@in.gov, S32@in.gov, S9@in.gov, S43@in.gov, S27@in.gov,S12@in.gov, S44@in.gov, S41@in.gov, S36@in.gov, S39@in.gov,S18@in.gov, S15@in.gov, S35@in.gov, S11@in.gov, S1@in.gov, S2@in.gov, S3@in.gov, S4@in.gov, S8@in.gov, S10@in.gov, S25@in.gov, S26@in.gov, S33@in.gov, S34@in.gov, S38@in.gov, S40@in.gov, S45@in.gov,S46@in.gov, S47@in.gov, S48@in.gov, S49@in.gov

If you haven’t heard by now, on Tuesday night (January 22) the Fishers Town Council voted 6 – 0 to adopt the three Geist forced annexation ordinances. Councilor Charlie White was absent from the meeting, which is why there were only 6 votes.

The GUO and just about everyone else expected the Town Council to adopt the ordinances, despite the fact that doing so is clearly NOT the will of the people, despite the fact that it will now cost the taxpayers of Fishers even more money (hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars) to fight this in court—because the Geist property owners will take them to court, and despite the fact that even the state General Assembly is considering legislation that would make forced annexations illegal because such annexations are simply wrong.

We now have 90 days from the date the ordinances are published to obtain remonstration petitions from at least 65% of the property owners of each of the three Geist annexation areas! The clock has begun ticking.

This week the GUO will be mailing remonstration petitions to each of the property owners affected. When you receive your petition package please carefully follow the directions for signing and returning the signed petitions to the GUO. The signed petitions are due back to the GUO before February 4th.

Remember, our attorneys have said that we have a strong case against this forced annexation, but to present our case we must get to court. Under current Indiana law, the only way we can get to court is to file a remonstrance that includes petitions signed by at least 65% of the property owners of record. Every petition counts.

On a slightly humorous note, prior to the Council vote the Town Council had two lawyers and one consultant make presentations to the Council to explain (a) that the Town is fiscally sound, (b) Geist is leaching off the largess of the Town by using their services without paying for them, and (c) why Geist shouldn’t incorporate itself into its own towns.

The first two items are akin to you paying a beauty consultant to tell you how beautiful (or handsome) you are. “Here’s $10, please tell me how pretty I am.” The latter made no sense whatsoever. But, it would appear that the Town Council has money to burn to pay for a “feel good” session, not to mention that several other town attorneys were present at the meeting.

Sign the petitions and get them back promptly to the GUO—we will prevail!

Now is the time to donate!

Obviously, their Fishers Town Council has unlimited financial resources and would rather spend the taxpayers’ money on fighting Geist than doing good works for their citizens.

Unfortunately, the GUO does not have unlimited resources nor can we simply tax people to pay for legal costs. We are now looking at a protracted legal battle for sure, so please contribute to the legal fund.

You can donate online, or mail a check to GUO, P.O. Box 56023, Indianapolis, IN 46256. Thus far, we saved every Geist homeowner over two years’ worth of additional taxes. Moving this through the courts, if nothing else, could save at least another two years worth of additional taxes.

Using the Fishers Town Council projected tax increase of 16.45%:

If each homeowner gives at least 10% of what you’ve already saved, we will be well funded.