Saturday, November 5, 2016

BURGESS REVIEWS COUNTY COUNCIL CANDIDATES

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LOCAL POLITICAL ANALYST PUBLIC POLICY WONKETTE AND COMMENTATOR/JOURNALIST
GINA BURGESS



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correction-
Gina has reviewed her facts and research and analysis- and has updated her county council candidate review:
see post here- or newer on this blog- november 07-2016
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https://www.facebook.com/GinaMBurgess/posts/10210814605506038
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https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=vote%20for%20david%20c%20roach%20democrat%20party
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https://www.facebook.com/GinaMBurgess/posts/10210784871362703
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VOTE FOR ROACH-
THIS SEGMENT IS RIDDLED WITH ERRORS; OR AT LEAST NEEDS CLARIFICATIONS.
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POLITICS IS NOT A BLACK AND WHITE MATTER- IT REQUIRES A LOT OF GRAY MATTER.
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Democrat David Roach is a frequent candidate who has unsuccessfully run for Allen County Sheriff, Fort Wayne Mayor, and now Allen County Council. He served a tour of duty in the Army and is a wild card. While he is and has run a self-financed campaign in the past, he often plays the public role of “the joker.” This makes his actions completely unpredictable---he is cavalier when he should be serious and he is ridiculous when the situation is cavalier. Because Roach is a wild card, Mayor Henry won’t underwrite Roach’s campaign. Unlike the other Democratic candidates noted above, over the years Roach has made himself accessible and responsive to me. Late last year, however, Roach’s online behavior became increasingly inappropriate, disrespectful and at times erratic. After numerous warnings by me to modify his behavior and clean up his act, I unfriended and subsequently blocked Roach. Last I knew---and this could have change (more than once probably)—but Roach was pro-Annexation, pro-County Government Restructuring, and he often flipped-flopped on the Regional Cities issue. Due to his erratic and unpredictable behavior, it with regrets that I am unable to endorse him. 

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HERE ARE THIS ISSUES AS PROJECTED/ CONJECTURED COMMENTAROY BY GINA BURGESS-
A "FRIEND"- ACQUAINTANCE/POLITICAL PARTISAN- BUT SHE HAS SOME "QUIRKS- THAT CAUSE US TO NOT GET ALONG OFTEN- I LOSE MY PATIENCE WITH HER AND VICE VERSA.
WE ARE STRICTLY POLITICAL ALLIES ON THE SAME DEMOCRAT PARTY AND IT AMAZES ME HOW MUCH HER OPINIONS AND "TAKES" AND OUTLOOKS AND ATTITUDES ON THE ISSUES AND JUST WANTING/DESIRING TO BE GOOD CITIZENS AND PURSUE GOOD SOUND PUBLIC POLICY AND TAXATION  FINANCE TO BENEFIT THE MOST RESIDENTS.
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GINA IS A METICULOUS BORDERING ON OBSESSIVE RESEARCHER AND PERFECTIONIST- WHICH IS A GOOD THING FOR ALL THE REST OF US.
ME? IM MORE LIKE- IVE STUDIED THE WHATS GOING ON AROUND HERE AND THE WHO BENEFITS AND FOLLOW THE MONEY- UP IN MY HEAD- WHICH IS LIKE AN ANALYTICAL COMPUTER- "HEURISTICS" IS THE TERM.
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JUST TWO DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO THE SAME MISSION- FIX GFORT WAYNE GROW OUR HOMETOWN AND GROW THE ECONOMY FOR A BETTER FUTURE FOR EVERYONE; NOT JUST THE PLUTOCRAT/KLEPTOCRAT CLASSES OF CARPETBAGGERS AND PLUNDERERS.
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SO- ON WITH THE SHOW:
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There are four other candidates on the ballot and as stated above, I could have chosen one additional candidate, but I am choosing not to. Before I explain why I am not endorsing the rest of the field, I would first like to take a moment to discuss some of the major issues that will or may be coming forth with this upcoming County Council:
TAX ABATEMENTS: These are government hand-outs to county businesses. Earlier this year, City Councilman Jason Arp introduced a proposal that would get rid of both City Council and County Council’s need to hand out tax abatements like candy on Halloween. The proposal basically eliminated the personal property tax for businesses. Several governmental entities that are co-dependent on these tax dollars came out in force against stopping what would have been a universal tax abatement for all local businesses---and yet those same tax-addicted entities fail to attend City Council or County Council meetings when tax abatements are being handed out?? Long story short---either we should be fair and give every business tax abatements or give no businesses tax abatements.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY STUDIES: Personally, I am for local government efficiency studies, but in my opinion efficiency studies are pretty useless without also conducting audits. All efficiency studies do is streamline processes and procedures in an effort to streamline operations—which I am for---but you can’t really properly streamline processes and procedures without first taking accounting of the waste from those processes and procedures. This means taking an audit of accounts and an inventory of physical supplies and equipment. Because no account auditing and no physical inventory is being taken, it is becoming clear that the dual local (City and County) government efficiency studies are a preparation for another attempted County Government Restructuring. And by County Government Restructuring—what we are really talking about is an Indy-style Unigov , which is a form of regional government.
REGIONAL CITIES: Governor Mike Pence created two Regional City Initiative Grants by taking taxpayer dollars that were supposed to be used for road repair and infrastructure needs and used those monies to essentially create a form of an incentive for the two groups of people that controlled two of the Regional Cities that Pence needed for re-election (now VP election). Later, a third group emerged either demanding the same treatment or using some other form of leverage to obtain a third Regional City Initiative Grant. To get funding for that third grand, the County wheel tax needed to be raised across the State---and it was by a majority, if not all, 92 Indiana Counties. Folks—Please keep in mind that any money that comes from Local Government, State Government or Federal Government originated with you as tax dollars. So when the State government gives the City of Fort Wayne, the County of Allen or some other entity like Greater Fort Wayne or the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership a “grant”---all they are doing is taking your tax dollars that were intended for one specific expense and using the tax dollars collected for that purpose for something never originally intended. Regional City’s monies are YOUR TAX DOLLARS. They are NOT “grants.”
This is important to understand because Fort Wayne is one of 9 Regional Cities. Each Congressional District has a Regional City. To put this in a more simpler term---for those of you who have seen the movie The Hunger Games: Fort Wayne is a “Capital City” from which resources are taken from other districts and transferred into the “Capital City.” Here in Fort Wayne, the entity co-founded by Mayor Tom Henry, Commissioner Nelson Peters, Deputy Mayor Karl Bandemere and others and currently “led” by Eric Doden is Greater Fort Wayne. Greater Fort Wayne has put forth a 10-year spending package that will likely use the rest of the Legacy Fund and all of the the awarded Regional Cities Grant Initiative (both money sources funded by your local, county, state and federal tax dollars) to create and “develop” grandiose venues and nearby parking---both of which you will have to then pay to use. Are you getting this? The system created taxes to fund needs, used those funds to create a FUND, packaged that FUND as a grant, to be used to create things that will require you to purchase tickets or pay an admission fee to be able to use the venue first created with your tax dollars. (And this nonsense is why you cannot vote for a Henry-backed candidate for ANY office.)
FUTURE ANNEXATION ATTEMPT: Folks—there is going to be another attempt. I don’t know when. I don’t know where. And I’m not sure how—although I may have an inkling. But with all of these unknowns, I promise---it’s going to happen. And here’s why?
You have Mitch Daniels as the current President of Purdue University single-handedly restructuring IPFW to be a “metropolitan university” because it reaches far beyond the campus and far beyond Fort Wayne. You have water and sewage services from the City of Fort Wayne-owned, Board of Public Works-managed Fort Wayne City Utilities stretching far beyond Fort Wayne. You have efforts underway by the Fort Wayne Fire Department to take over EMS services from Three Rivers Ambulance Authority, which provides ambulance services throughout Allen County and beyond Fort Wayne---and if successful, FWFD will be entering into interlocal agreements with all 20 townships, the City of Fort Wayne, the City of New Haven, the County of Allen, the Parkview Medical Network and the Lutheran Medical Network cementing fire and ambulance services throughout Allen County and beyond Fort Wayne. (More on this issue later in another post.) You have Fort Wayne Community Schools shutting down schools, “selling” or simply “transferring” the real estate of closed schools to other taxpayer-subsidized governmental entities who then “sell” that real estate asset to a third-party private company, who in turn provides an energy product/service that….(drum roll please)…is provided throughout Fort Wayne and beyond Fort Wayne. Do you see a pattern here?
The City is extending by itself or in conjunction with other entities products and services beyond its current geographical boundaries. At the same time, its developing Downtown into a Regional City (“Capital City”) mecca within 10 years, has developed a program (Road to One Million) to double the population of Fort Wayne within 10 years, and is conducting dual City-County efficiency studies to streamline government operations so they can be later merged into a regional government system like Unigov. With expanded service territories of the local university, water, sewage, fire, ambulance and energy; with a program to in place to increase local population; and with local government restructuring efforts underway as a result of the dual efficiency studies---Fort Wayne will have to annex to be able to support all of this. (And this is another reason why you should not vote for a Henry-backed candidate for ANY office.)
Ok, so now onto why I cannot endorse the remaining candidates that make up the County Council field:
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2016 ENDORSEMENTS – ALLEN COUNTY COUNCIL: I had hoped to provide my endorsements as one post, but facebook isn’t quite cooperating. So I will be posting my endorsements throughout the day. Please check back periodically throughout the day and remember to refresh my page when you do return due to Facebook’s ever-changing algorithm.
METHODOLOGY: Before I give any endorsements, I would like to remind everyone of my methodology. When reviewing who I’m going to vote for (and therefore who I am going to recommend to others when asked), the first thing I have to ask myself is “Is the incumbent, my current representative, doing a good job by me and my family?” By me and my family….sounds a lil selfish, doesn’t it? It is. And that’s the point. Your vote is about choosing what is best for you and your family. All too often, political parties try to herd us all into this mentality of left or right. They do it by waiving the flag of patriotism around, cite a moral superiority and ask us to think about the greater community or the bigger picture. For more info on my methodology, please visit:https://www.facebook.com/GinaMBurgess/posts/10204979408269754
ALLEN COUNTY COUNCIL
MY ENDORSEMENT (PENDING): My endorsements for this race are for two out of the three positions—Republican Robert A. Armstrong and Republican Roy Buskirk. Voters can pick three candidates from EITHER party in this race. Or they can opt to select less than three candidates as I have here.
I chose Republican Roy Buskirk for many reasons, but one of the biggest ones is how he represents his constituents. He is constantly out there talking to and with those he represents. He keeps the lines of communications open, which makes him very accessible, and he is really good about getting back with people---sometimes even better than I am---and that makes him incredibly responsive. I ran against him in 2012 for the County Council At-Large position and lost. But even though I had lost, he worked to implement some of the items I had campaigned on in 2012 to increase the transparency and accountability of County Government. In 2014, Roy and I and others worked together as a nonpartisan coalition to stop the County Government Restructuring proposal of 2014. And together, we were successful. In late 2014 to early 2015, Roy again ran with an idea of mine to make County Government more inclusive to those who were visually- and hearing-impaired by making sure the monthly County Council meetings were transcribed, verbatim, and implementing an audio feature in the PDF version of the transcript that could be turned on to “read” the transcript out loud. (And btw Roy---thank you very much for your help with those items.) Earlier this year, Roy was diagnosed with a somewhat aggressive form of cancer and despite that diagnosis, he continues to serve this community. While Roy and I agree more often than we don’t, there have been times when we’ve been at odds. But despite those times, Roy has always worked to keep the lines of communication open. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a true sign of a public servant.
I chose Republican Robert A Armstrong for many reasons as well. Like Roy, I have campaigned against Bob in 2012 for County Council and again in 2015 for City Council. Bob and I had a bit of a rocky start. I ran a very aggressive campaign in 2012 and Bob responded by shutting down the lines of communication. However, we found ourselves on the same side of issues in 2014 as we were both against the then-proposed version of County Government Restructuring; again I 2015 when we both lost our City Council primary races and could not believe just how different the Council races were to campaign on; and again in 2016 with both of us being against the proposed North IV Annexation, against the run away spending of Downtown/Riverfront Development, both against the proposed new stadium-turned-expansion of the Grand Wayne Center, and more. I can’t recall when Bob re-opened the lines of communication, but I have appreciated him doing so. I have a feeling we will be working together again should Greater Fort Wayne’s covert-but-not-so-covert efforts of re-attempting County Government Restructuring arise out of the dual County and City government efficiency studies and possible again on another potential Annexation matter, should it arise by way of some new, specially-created state legislation drafted by Phil GiaQuinta.
To date, both Roy Buskirk and Robert “Bob” Armstrong tend to be fiscally conservative---although there are times I wish both would be more conservative on County Council. There’s far too many tax abatements being handed out and I didn’t agree with the vote to increase the County Wheel Tax this year nor the approval of the Redevelopment Authority from 2015 (or 2014). But I also understand that if you both had voted against these items, they would have still been approved by the rest of County Council.
There are four other candidates on the ballot and as stated above, I could have chosen one additional candidate, but I am choosing not to. Before I explain why I am not endorsing the rest of the field, I would first like to take a moment to discuss some of the major issues that will or may be coming forth with this upcoming County Council:
TAX ABATEMENTS: These are government hand-outs to county businesses. Earlier this year, City Councilman Jason Arp introduced a proposal that would get rid of both City Council and County Council’s need to hand out tax abatements like candy on Halloween. The proposal basically eliminated the personal property tax for businesses. Several governmental entities that are co-dependent on these tax dollars came out in force against stopping what would have been a universal tax abatement for all local businesses---and yet those same tax-addicted entities fail to attend City Council or County Council meetings when tax abatements are being handed out?? Long story short---either we should be fair and give every business tax abatements or give no businesses tax abatements.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY STUDIES: Personally, I am for local government efficiency studies, but in my opinion efficiency studies are pretty useless without also conducting audits. All efficiency studies do is streamline processes and procedures in an effort to streamline operations—which I am for---but you can’t really properly streamline processes and procedures without first taking accounting of the waste from those processes and procedures. This means taking an audit of accounts and an inventory of physical supplies and equipment. Because no account auditing and no physical inventory is being taken, it is becoming clear that the dual local (City and County) government efficiency studies are a preparation for another attempted County Government Restructuring. And by County Government Restructuring—what we are really talking about is an Indy-style Unigov , which is a form of regional government.
REGIONAL CITIES: Governor Mike Pence created two Regional City Initiative Grants by taking taxpayer dollars that were supposed to be used for road repair and infrastructure needs and used those monies to essentially create a form of an incentive for the two groups of people that controlled two of the Regional Cities that Pence needed for re-election (now VP election). Later, a third group emerged either demanding the same treatment or using some other form of leverage to obtain a third Regional City Initiative Grant. To get funding for that third grand, the County wheel tax needed to be raised across the State---and it was by a majority, if not all, 92 Indiana Counties. Folks—Please keep in mind that any money that comes from Local Government, State Government or Federal Government originated with you as tax dollars. So when the State government gives the City of Fort Wayne, the County of Allen or some other entity like Greater Fort Wayne or the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership a “grant”---all they are doing is taking your tax dollars that were intended for one specific expense and using the tax dollars collected for that purpose for something never originally intended. Regional City’s monies are YOUR TAX DOLLARS. They are NOT “grants.”
This is important to understand because Fort Wayne is one of 9 Regional Cities. Each Congressional District has a Regional City. To put this in a more simpler term---for those of you who have seen the movie The Hunger Games: Fort Wayne is a “Capital City” from which resources are taken from other districts and transferred into the “Capital City.” Here in Fort Wayne, the entity co-founded by Mayor Tom Henry, Commissioner Nelson Peters, Deputy Mayor Karl Bandemere and others and currently “led” by Eric Doden is Greater Fort Wayne. Greater Fort Wayne has put forth a 10-year spending package that will likely use the rest of the Legacy Fund and all of the the awarded Regional Cities Grant Initiative (both money sources funded by your local, county, state and federal tax dollars) to create and “develop” grandiose venues and nearby parking---both of which you will have to then pay to use. Are you getting this? The system created taxes to fund needs, used those funds to create a FUND, packaged that FUND as a grant, to be used to create things that will require you to purchase tickets or pay an admission fee to be able to use the venue first created with your tax dollars. (And this nonsense is why you cannot vote for a Henry-backed candidate for ANY office.)
FUTURE ANNEXATION ATTEMPT: Folks—there is going to be another attempt. I don’t know when. I don’t know where. And I’m not sure how—although I may have an inkling. But with all of these unknowns, I promise---it’s going to happen. And here’s why?
You have Mitch Daniels as the current President of Purdue University single-handedly restructuring IPFW to be a “metropolitan university” because it reaches far beyond the campus and far beyond Fort Wayne. You have water and sewage services from the City of Fort Wayne-owned, Board of Public Works-managed Fort Wayne City Utilities stretching far beyond Fort Wayne. You have efforts underway by the Fort Wayne Fire Department to take over EMS services from Three Rivers Ambulance Authority, which provides ambulance services throughout Allen County and beyond Fort Wayne---and if successful, FWFD will be entering into interlocal agreements with all 20 townships, the City of Fort Wayne, the City of New Haven, the County of Allen, the Parkview Medical Network and the Lutheran Medical Network cementing fire and ambulance services throughout Allen County and beyond Fort Wayne. (More on this issue later in another post.) You have Fort Wayne Community Schools shutting down schools, “selling” or simply “transferring” the real estate of closed schools to other taxpayer-subsidized governmental entities who then “sell” that real estate asset to a third-party private company, who in turn provides an energy product/service that….(drum roll please)…is provided throughout Fort Wayne and beyond Fort Wayne. Do you see a pattern here?
The City is extending by itself or in conjunction with other entities products and services beyond its current geographical boundaries. At the same time, its developing Downtown into a Regional City (“Capital City”) mecca within 10 years, has developed a program (Road to One Million) to double the population of Fort Wayne within 10 years, and is conducting dual City-County efficiency studies to streamline government operations so they can be later merged into a regional government system like Unigov. With expanded service territories of the local university, water, sewage, fire, ambulance and energy; with a program to in place to increase local population; and with local government restructuring efforts underway as a result of the dual efficiency studies---Fort Wayne will have to annex to be able to support all of this. (And this is another reason why you should not vote for a Henry-backed candidate for ANY office.)
Ok, so now onto why I cannot endorse the remaining candidates that make up the County Council field:
Democrat Morrison Agen is a first-time political candidate who is the owner of a local music store. He is pro-Annexation, pro-Regional Cities, and very heavily funded by Mayor Tom Henry. He is very much an establishment candidate and will likely vote in favor of any new or future attempts at county government restructuring. Agen has refused to accept a friend request from me, making himself unavailable to me for question. Since this is an At-Large position, if elected he would be representing me. However, as many of you know, I am a firm believer that residents can only be properly represented when elected officials are accessible and responsive to their constituents. In this case, Agen has chosen to be inaccessible and non-responsive to me, as one of his potential constituents. By virtue of Agen’s choice, I am unable to endorse him. In fairness, however, I would like not endorse him anyways due to his pro-Annexation, pro-Regional Cities, and pro-County Government Restructuring positions. On a more personal note---I am flattered that the ACDP continues to recycle my 2012 campaign strategies, but it’s gotten a little ridiculous when you train candidates to regurgitate my words and phrases instead of paraphrasing things. Ok—let me rephrase this, I am flattered but you’ve crossed into the creepy zone.
Democrat Palermo Galindo is a first-time political candidate who is the President of the Greater Fort Wayne Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He is also is also Mayor Henry’s community liason, serving on all four Fort Wayne neighborhood Area Partnerships by appointment of the Mayor. He is pro-Annexation, pro-Regional Cities, and very heavily funded by Mayor Tom Henry. He is very much an establishment candidate and will likely vote in favor of any new or future attempts at county government restructuring. Galindo has refused to accept a friend request from me, making himself unavailable to me for question. Since this is an At-Large position, if elected he would be representing me. However, as many of you know, I am a firm believer that residents can only be properly represented when elected officials are accessible and responsive to their constituents. In this case, Galindo has chosen to be inaccessible and non-responsive to me, as one of his potential constituents. By virtue of Galindo’s choice, I am unable to endorse him. In fairness, however, I would like not endorse him anyways due to his pro-Annexation, pro-Regional Cities, and pro-County Government Restructuring positions.
Democrat David Roach is a frequent candidate who has unsuccessfully run for Allen County Sheriff, Fort Wayne Mayor, and now Allen County Council. He served a tour of duty in the Army and is a wild card. While he is and has run a self-financed campaign in the past, he often plays the public role of “the joker.” This makes his actions completely unpredictable---he is cavalier when he should be serious and he is ridiculous when the situation is cavalier. Because Roach is a wild card, Mayor Henry won’t underwrite Roach’s campaign. Unlike the other Democratic candidates noted above, over the years Roach has made himself accessible and responsive to me. Late last year, however, Roach’s online behavior became increasingly inappropriate, disrespectful and at times erratic. After numerous warnings by me to modify his behavior and clean up his act, I unfriended and subsequently blocked Roach. Last I knew---and this could have change (more than once probably)—but Roach was pro-Annexation, pro-County Government Restructuring, and he often flipped-flopped on the Regional Cities issue. Due to his erratic and unpredictable behavior, it with regrets that I am unable to endorse him.
Republican Eric Tippmann is a second-time candidate and from what I know and seen, he’s a pretty nice guy. But as nice as he is, he won’t “friend me”—a potential constituent---on facebook nor will he open any lines of communication with me. That alone is enough for me to not endorse him. An elected official cannot properly represent a constituent if that official is not accessible or responsive to the constituent. But there’s more than that---I don’t know what his position is as it pertains to Tax Abatement, County Government Restructuring, Regional Cities, or Annexation matters. If I were to assume the very best---that he is against all of these matters---then another question gets raised: Why was he campaigning in Whitley County when he is running for Allen County Council?
THE POSITION: The Allen County Council is comprised of seven members, four elected from districts and three elected at-large. Council serves as the County's fiscal body. Members of Council must reside within the county and the district from which they were elected, if applicable. Council also sets and approves the County's annual property tax levy. County Council is responsible for establishing an annual budget for County Government. Council is also responsible for appropriating funds for the operation of County Government. The County Auditor serves as the secretary of the fiscal body. For more info, please visit:http://www.allencounty.us/county-council
ALLEN COUNTY COUNTY COUNCIL
The Position:
The Duties and Responsibilities:
THE CANDIDATES:
Morrison Agen (Democrat)
Allen County Democrat website:
Campaign website: https://www.facebook.com/MorrisonForCountyCouncil
Palermo (Pal) Galindo (Democrat)
Allen County Democrat website:
Campaign website: https://www.facebook.com/Palermo-Pal-Galindo-for-Allen-Cou…/
David Christopher Roach (Democrat)
Allen County Democrat website:
Campaign website: https://www.facebook.com/davidchristopherroach
Robert A Armstrong (Republican)
Allen County Republican website:
Campaign website: https://www.facebook.com/ArmstrongforCountyCouncil
Roy Buskirk (Republican)
Allen County Republican website:
Campaign website: https://www.facebook.com/Roy-Buskirk-for-Allen-County-Coun…/
Eric (ET) Tippmann (Republican)
Allen County Republican website:
Campaign website: https://www.facebook.com/EricTippmann
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