TM Lutas

TEDx Chicago

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Yesterday was Chicago’s inaugural TEDx meeting. It was thought provoking, a full house, and a very educational evening. The event lost one speaker due to snowstorm but he made it in via Skype. Like any inaugural event there were a few technical hiccups but mostly they added charm to the event. I expect them to only get better from here.

The next one’s in October. I’ll be there. Fortunately, the room will be bigger so hopefully it will take a bit more than a week to sell out though I fully expect it to sell out again. Details to be released soon.

Gary Death Countdown II

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The original Gary Death Countdown can be found here.

Some residents of Gary, Indiana are impatient for the death clock to count down to 2012 and have asked the Indiana Distressed Unit Appeals Board to not wait so long. The Miller Citizen’s Corp President Douglas Grimes said it straight out:

The board must insist that the city explore Chapter 9 bankruptcy, receivership and other options which could allow the city to reset its compass and move forward

Chapter 9 bankruptcy is not a liquidation but a reorganization under the federal bankruptcy code. To do it now would be admitting that the DUAB process is a farce that will not lead to a Gary government that can live within its means. An early bankruptcy is a vote of no confidence in the political tadalafiltablets class of the city and the ability of the DUAB to do its job helping that political class change the way the city does business.

Bankruptcy would help the city get out from under its $34 million (or more) in obligations beyond the structural imbalances imposed by the tax caps. It wouldn’t help with the imbalances themselves. For that, the DUAB process would need to work its way through to a successful conclusion or Gary’s elected officeholders need to be replaced by a state appointed receiver and committee that would be willing to make the changes needed and given the powers necessary to negotiate the pay reductions needed to bring expenditures in line with revenues.

TEDx Chicago

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The wonderfulness that is TED is now coming to Chicago on February 10th. The theme for this kickoff local event is “Creative Convergence”. If you’re a member of the Museum of Science and Industry, you can get discounted tickets.

correction: Originally said it was the 15th, my error entirely.

Wikipedia Account Prep

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Whether you love Wikipedia or hate it, if you have strong opinions about just about anything you are very likely going to want to go over there at some point and give them a piece of your mind. If you don’t prepare beforehand, you’re very likely going to be ignored or called names. Here’s how to avoid that fate.

1. Register for an editor’s account.
2. Pick two or three topics you’re interested in that are a bit off the beaten path and tend not to be controversial.
3. Create some solid, boring edits in your non-controversial topics, at least 10 edits if you’re not running an anonymizer or 100 edits if you’re coming in through an anonymizer like TOR.
4. Put up a basic description of yourself on your user page that’s noncontroversial.

Once you’ve done these things and your account has a bit of longevity to it you’ve passed the participation hurdle of Wikipedia and you’ve paid your dues. The classic Wikipedia excuses that are used to not listen to new users don’t quite apply to you. If a page is semi-protected, you can still participate in the discussion and any voting.

You also might consider continuing the non-controversial edits, just for fun. Outside hot button topics such as politics and furry webcomics (really, don’t ask), Wikipedia actually does very good, neutral work on a whole host of topics. If more people were involved, especially in underrepresented groups like conservatives, it would be a better tool for everybody.

Gary Death Countdown

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[UPDATE: A follow-up Gary Death Countdown post is here.]

It’s much more likely not to happen than to happen but the clock is ticking for the death of Gary, Indiana. State law imposes property tax caps on all local governments far below the level Gary has grown accustomed to. Gary finances 80% of its $80M+ general fund operations through the use of property taxes. A vote on including the tax caps in Indiana’s Constitution is widely expected in 2010.

Gary has appealed and gotten special exemptions at a level unique in the state to maintain higher taxes while undergoing adjustments to bring government down to a size that can survive on anticipated revenue. Absent that relief, Gary’s 2010 property tax receipts would drop from a projected 62.9M to 28.1M.

As a condition of the transitional relief, a financial monitor was required for Gary and its related municipal districts (sanitary, storm water, public transport corp, and airport authority). The transition ends in 2012. If Gary has not adjusted sufficiently that it can handle somewhere between 20-30M less in revenue by that time, the 5th largest city in Indiana will be forced to declare bankruptcy.

Complicating matters are at least $34M in outstanding debts on top of its impending structural deficit. The term at least is used advisedly because unlike most cities, and most private organizations of its size and complexity, Gary uses a cash based accounting system. Future obligations that have not been presented for payment are not accounted for at all in a cash based system. The city government literally doesn’t have the capacity to accurately know what it owes. Because of the lack of information the financial monitor is forced to guess at some basic information.

The current Gary financial monitor’s report makes for frightening reading. Property tax revenue is scheduled to drop 50%+. There is no likelihood of a local income tax and Indiana does not share its sales tax revenue with local government. One of two casinos operating in Gary has entered bankruptcy and even before then a dispute with the casino operators disrupted payments to Gary. The bad news keeps on rolling for 265 pages.