Fix Indy Now

Up to No Good

2006-12-19T14:59:00.000-05:00

Looks like Carl Drummer is up to his old tricks again:

Small claims judge sues Center Twp trustee

lawsuit filed against Center Township Trustee Carl Drummer by the township's small claims judge accuses him of meddling in the court's hiring and budgeting.

Judge Paula E. Lapossa filed the suit Monday in Marion Superior Court. It argues the Indiana Constitution allows the court to hire and supervise its employees, determine the court's expenses and provide adequate space.But the lawsuit says Drummer, the longtime trustee, hasn't provided sufficient office space, equipment or supplies. He also has interfered in hiring court staff and won't pay fees owed this year to a pro-tem judge and an interpreter, the lawsuit says; the pro-tem judge, whose name is not provided, sits in for Lapossa during some sessions and is owed $2,200.The Center Township Board approves the court's budget, but the lawsuit says Drummer has not consulted the court before presenting its budget.Lapossa's suit requests a court order barring Drummer from interfering in those areas and an order to pay the fees.

The state of Indiana also is listed as a plaintiff, and the township board is listed as a defendant.Attempts to reach Drummer today have not been successful.The case has been assigned to Judge Gary L. Miller, but not hearing date is set.

City Council Gets Smarter

2006-12-15T09:54:00.000-05:00

In today's Indy Star we learn that Greg Bowes was replaced on the CCC by Cherrish Pryor last night. Pryor was selected in a special caucus last night.

Pryor has been working in the City-County Council administrative office as legislative and public affairs director since 2004. Bowes you will remember has no clue about anything and thought the prosecutor was filing too many charges against criminals.

Good bye to Bowes who is off to mess up your property tax assessments! Bowes was recently elected as the new Marion County Assessor with zero assessing experience.

He also was one of the voting members of the CCC when they voted to give County officer holders a raise. Nice work Bowes, giving yourself a raise. YOU DESERVE IT!!!

Pick My Daughter . . .OR ELSE!

2006-12-12T10:22:00.000-05:00

It what was little surprise, Billie Breaux's daughter, Jean was selected as Billie's replacement in her Senate seat. Jean beat CCC Ron "I hit Police Officers" Gibson in a romp.

Indiana State Senator Billie Breaux won’t be in the Indiana Senate next year. She resigned after she was elected to be Marion County auditor. However, there will still be a Senator Breaux when the legislature goes back into session next month.

On a 55-25 vote, the Marion County Democratic caucus chose Breaux’s daughter, Jean Breaux, to fill out her mother’s terms of office. She defeated City County Councilman Ron Gibson for the job.

Jean Breaux says her opponent fought a tough campaign. “I think he ran a spirited campaign, and I have to applaud him for what he accomplished in the period of time he had to work with,” she says.

Gibson admits that recent legal troubles may have played a part in his defeat. He’s facing charges following a fight during last summer’s Indiana Black Expo. Breaux says she’s looking forward to her new position, but admits will be difficult since Democrats are still in the minority in the Senate.

Back from Vacation

2006-11-21T10:05:00.000-05:00

We are back and ready to see how the Democrats are doing. Beth White seems to think stealing ideas is a good thing to do. She is proposing decreasing the number of voting precincts in Marion County. A good idea that was proposed by Sadler two years ago and squashed by the Mayor's office.

Now that White has to run elections, she is all about lowering the number of places she can mess up.

White is already about a month behind in preparing for the May primary. My prediction now is that White will mess up the primary election numerous times. If we are even able to have a primary election it will be a miracle.

Election Day is Here

2006-11-07T05:11:00.000-05:00

Remember to vote today. Here is the link to locate your polling site.

Marion County Dems Breaking Laws?

2006-11-01T12:23:00.000-05:00

Pike Township folks received a little campaign literature the other day. A pink flyer and a Melina Kennedy palm card. Nothing too fancy. The flyer advertises the Marion County D's attempts to get their vote out. The flyer talks about the Mayor, and all of the county wide candidates riding a bus to different places. They are using the Pike Township Government center as the meeting place Saturday morning.

The wonderful thing about this meeting at a government building is that the flyer advertising it does not have a disclaimer on it anywhere. Be nice to see someone look into that!

If the Mayor, Sheriff, and candidate for Prosecutor can't follow a simple election law, then maybe they should not participate.

Abdul Does It Again

2006-11-01T09:25:00.000-05:00

I want to take my hat off to the hardest working member of the media in town. Abdul never takes a story or press conference at its face. He is always willing and able to look into things closer to get a full understanding. Additionally, I think that he may be smarter than about every Democratic member of the City-County Council.

Monday, the Democrats on the CCC tried to find a way to hit Brizzi a week before the election. Below, you will find Abdul's investigation into what happened and why.

Council Wars; Chapter 1.5 (The Rest of the Story)

There's some new information coming to light today on the Indianapolis City-County Council Democrats' move to see whether they can sanction Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi over what they allege were misleading statements regarding the early release of James Stewart, one of the defendants of the Hamilton Avenue murders.

I confirmed through several sources today that prior to Monday night's Council meeting, Democrats circulated copies of Democratic blog Taking Down Word’s posting that accused Brizzi of grandstanding on the issue. The post had been up for several days but failed to gain traction in the traditional media. Council Democrats and Brizzi had been at odds all summer long over the jail overcrowding issue.

In addition, Councilmember Ron Gibson was purported to make several disparaging remarks regarding Brizzi during the caucus and was extremely gleeful at the prospect of sanctioning Brizzi. Brizzi appointed a special prosecutor this summer to look into whether Gibson should have been indicted over a confrontation he had with a Marion County Sheriff's Deputy at Indiana Black Expo outside a local nightclub. Gibson was charged with several misdemeanor offenses, including battery and public intoxication.

To further add to the story, Brizzi is also looking into whether any laws were broken regarding 300 East, the bar/restaurant located in the Carson Center on Fall Creek. The wife of Council President Monroe Gray is one of the investors in the bar. And at Monday night's meeting, Gray signed off on Council Attorney Aaron Haith looking into whether Brizzi could be sanctioned.
In addition to the Brizzi issue, Democrats also ordered Haith to investigate whether they could sanction the Township Assessors for not providing them with assessments necessary to complete the budget this year. There may be some problems here. According the Indiana Department of Local Government and Finance, the Marion County Assessors are not alone. Close to half of the assessors in Indiana do not have the assessment in to their county boards and councils.

DGLF officials say the Council did not need the assessors' information to complete the budget. Instead, they say officials could have maximized the county's assessment to get the necessary tax rates and then later come back and lower their estimates once they had the actual figures. A position maintained by Lawrence Township Assessor Paul Rickets.

However, overarching in this debate is whether the Council has any authority to sanction Brizzi or any other official. A check into the Indiana Attorney General's Office revealed no legal opinions since 2001 that stated local government bodies could sanction other co-equal branches of local government.

I was able to find all this out in a couple hours. If it was this simple for me, people who specialize in local government should know this as well. What is more disturbing in all this is that it appears partisan politics (poorly done in my humble opinion) has reared its head one week before an election. At the very least Democrats should have checked to see if they had the authority to sanction other officials before announcing an investigation. Secondly, both Monroe Gray and Ron Gibson should recuse themselves from any matter involving the Prosecutor's office as they both have connections involving the prosecutor and alleged criminal conduct in Gibson's case and possible criminal activity in the case of 300 East. At least that way, things wouldn't look so blatant.

What likely happened is that some individuals in the caucus were so excited about getting Brizzi is they forgot someone would follow up on all this. Maybe they should consult me next time.

A Candidate Calls Tully to Task

2006-10-30T09:05:00.000-05:00

From yesterday's Indy Star, Clerk candidate Donna Edgar takes issue with Tully and his article from a few weeks ago. It is nice to see a candidate fight back.

Crime and the Clerk

I am writing in response to Matthew Tully's Oct. 13 column ("Candidate has odd take on duties the job entails'') in which he takes issue with my campaign's focus on public safety and declares, "Edgar doesn't know what job she's seeking." I want to assure Tully that I am very clear on the office I seek and the role it plays to keep our citizens safe.

This year we have seen more murders than in all of 2005. This is a clear symptom of the problems we face including everything from overworked and underappreciated police to jail overcrowding. Faced with this crisis, I believe that every elected official and candidate should be focused on finding ways to make the citizens of Marion County safer.

The County Clerk's office has a clear role to play in this pursuit. For example, let's look at the early release of prisoners from our jails. It is undisputed that the length of time that an inmate stays in custody awaits trial is a major cause of overcrowding and ultimately the early release of dangerous criminals onto our streets.

It might surprise Tully to learn that judges cannot conduct hearings without the necessary file from the clerk's office. The sheriff cannot move an inmate unless the clerk has transmitted an order from the judge with instructions for the inmate's incarceration. Even the prosecutor cannot file the most serious habitual offender charges without the evidence of prior convictions from the clerk. If these tasks are not handled quickly and efficiently, our jail population will quickly grow to the point where criminals are released into our neighborhoods.

If you still have questions about the role of the clerk in public safety, then talk to the men and women who know the most about public safety. The Fraternal Order of Police has chosen to endorse me for Marion County clerk, emphasizing in a letter to me that "We hope that you are elected so that the problems facing our public safety and criminal justice systems will receive the proper attention they deserve." I pledge to do just that. Our citizens and the brave officers who put their lives on the line every day deserve nothing less.

With all due respect to Tully, I believe that the question voters will ask is why my opponent is not addressing public safety when we are facing a crisis of crime.

Too often, public officials focus on public safety only in times of crises. However, I promise you, that I will make public safety a top priority every day.

Donna Edgar
Candidate, Marion County clerk

Hits Just keep On Coming

2006-10-27T09:28:00.000-04:00

The Kennedy Camp went on to make maybe their biggest mistake so far in the election. Yesterday, Kennedy announced her pick to lead the gang unit if elected. Mark King was her man.

King a former Deputy Prosecutor under Brizzi worked in the gang unit. The same gang unit prosecution that Kennedy has criticized.

The best thing about the press conference was Kennedy constant use of the phrase, "former FBI agent." Well it turns out, King was never an agent, and in fact, never able to finish the training academy.

Oops!

Kennedy later put out a correction on the issue. But, it once again goes to show that she either:

1. Does not do the background work necessary to get her facts straight; or
2. Is intentionally misleading the public

The Joke That is Ron Gibson

2006-10-26T12:33:00.000-04:00

Today, Democratic City County Council member Ron Gibson was supposed to have his initial hearing on charges that he shoved a Sheriff's Deputy in a drunken spat.

Turns out Gibson's "Criminal" attorney filed a motion to dismiss. Pretty sure that is just a method of prolonging the case until after the election. So the case is set for a hearing on that motion for December 14th.

I assume Gibson will be looking for some favors to take care of the case once the election is out of the way.

He probably has some delusion that Kennedy will win and she will drop the case.

Or

A similar delusion that Anderson will be re-elected and Anderson will give a sweet job to the Deputy if she drops the charges.

Neither theory seems to far fetched for a man and a party that thinks they are above the law.

13 Days

2006-10-25T09:18:00.000-04:00

We are under 2 weeks until the 2006 General Election. Not a whole bunch of time, yet there are still a lot of things to come.

What I am looking for today are predictions on the elections both locally and Nationally. We can then re-visit these predictions after the election and see how we did.

Bring them on.

Endorsed

2006-10-22T11:58:00.000-04:00

Brizzi continues to rack up the support. Today's Indy Star endorses Brizzi for another 4 years. You can read it here, or below

Bring back Brizzi as prosecutor
Our position: Incumbent has the record and experience needed to serve second term as Marion County prosecutor.

Two good candidates are competing in the race for Marion County prosecutor.

Democratic challenger Melina Kennedy, a former deputy mayor, is a sharp, thoughtful first-time candidate who has gained confidence as she's grown more comfortable with campaigning.

Kennedy has pushed incumbent Carl Brizzi with her ideas and with critiques of his performance. Voters should be appreciative of that effort because it underscores what elections are designed to do -- give the public solid choices and push incumbents to address weaknesses.

Brizzi, however, remains the better choice to lead the Prosecutor's Office for the next four years.
The Republican incumbent has built a strong record in his first term, helping drive creation of the Criminal Justice Planning Council, working across party lines to confront issues such as jail overcrowding, and adapting methods to tackle emerging threats such as gang violence and methamphetamine use.

Kennedy has sharply criticized the incumbent's record, but an Indianapolis Star analysis of cases during Brizzi's first term found that his felony conviction rate matches the national average, as determined by a U.S. Department of Justice study.

Brizzi has stressed Kennedy's lack of experience: She's never prosecuted a case and acknowledged in an interview with The Star's Editorial Board that the only witness she's ever cross-examined at trial was in Small Claims Court.

Kennedy counters, reasonably, that former Prosecutor Stephen Goldsmith had never prosecuted a case before his election.

Like Goldsmith, Kennedy could compensate for her lack of experience by surrounding herself with strong deputies.

But is there a need to oust an experienced and largely successful incumbent prosecutor?

On that count, Kennedy hasn't made the case. She's not shown convincingly that she would do a better job than the incumbent.

Brizzi does need to address a couple of weaknesses in a second term. It may be impossible to separate entirely politics from the prosecutor's office, but Brizzi at times seems too eager to score political points against his adversaries.

He also is too quick to thrust himself into the center of media attention. He recently, for example, showed up, reporters in tow, to deliver a search warrant to the Marion County Coroner's Office. He also decided this year to prosecute his first death penalty case, the high-profile Hamilton Street murders.

Then there is the campaign itself. Both Brizzi and Kennedy have been far more negative than necessary in their advertising. Given the admirable qualities both candidates offer, it's a shame they have felt it necessary to personally attack each other.

Voters will have two solid choices on Election Day. Carl Brizzi, however, deserves a second term based on his experience and the strength of his record.

Quick Quiz

2006-10-20T09:11:00.000-04:00

What do former Pacer Fred Jones and Prosecutor Carl Brizzi have in common?

They both scored 16 points on their opponent last night.

In a WTHR channel 13 poll, Marion County residents overwhelmingly showed support for Brizzi. The end result, Brizzi has a 16 point lead. The Kennedy camp was already going off issue negative their latest ad. I assume that it will only get worse from here as desperation sets in.

More Corruption?

2006-10-18T11:25:00.000-04:00

I am hearing that there is more to come with regards to the Center Township Trustee's wrong-doings.

I will update as I confirm information.

A Hat Trick of Prosecutor's Race Info

2006-10-18T10:13:00.000-04:00

Three things to look at this morning regarding the Prosecutor's race.

1st Frugal Hoosiers has a post tearing apart the latest Melina Kennedy commercial.

2nd It has been 19 days since Kennedy released her neighborhood notes plan and it is still not available anywhere on-line. Not much of a plan if no one can find it.

3rd Ironically, Tully is tired of the Prosecutor's race. He always writes about it, yet he talks about the slowing interest. Confuses the smartest of us.

Tasteless

2006-10-17T13:09:00.000-04:00

The Dems are back at being totally insensitive and tasteless. In the latest e-mail they sent to me, this picture to the left was included. Yep, those are flag draped coffins.

There are a lot of dirty things in politics, but using the dead bodies of soldiers should not be one of them.

Just goes to show that D's have no idea or are able to grasp what is really at stake this year.

Some Big News Today

2006-10-17T08:29:00.000-04:00

Abdul just announced that the former public safety director under Mayor Bart,Robert Turner, has officially endorsed Carl Brizzi for prosecutor. Pretty interesting endorsement since he worked closely with the Mayor and former Deputy Mayor, Kennedy on issues such as crime.

Just one other indication that Kennedy has no business dealing with crime or running for Prosecutor.

From Abdul's Blog:

Former Marion County Public Safety Director Robert Turner is endorsing Republican Carl Brizzi for Prosecutor over Democrat and former co-worker Melina Kennedy. Turner says Kennedy is a good person, but is not qualified for the job.

Shame On You

2006-10-13T11:20:00.000-04:00

Apparently, Mayor Bart doesn't like to follow the rules very much. Maybe that is why is he pushing his party candidate, and former deputy, Kennedy for Prosecutor so hard. He doesn't wanted to get Jacksoned. The Star and Mary Beth Schneider ran an article yesterday about Bart taking money from a fundraiser ran by a former State Employee. Check it out:

Ex-state official fined over fundraiser

The Indiana State Ethics Commission has fined a former deputy commissioner of transportation $6,100 for holding a political fundraising event in 2003 for Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson.

The commission found that Vaneeta Kumar violated a state policy barring state employees from soliciting political contributions from people who do business with their state agency.

Kumar held a fundraising event at her Indianapolis home for Peterson's re-election campaign on Aug. 10, 2003, and invited representatives of at least four contractors working with the state Department of Transportation, the commission found.

David Thomas, the state inspector general whose office investigated the incident, said the fine upholds an ethics rule "designed to prohibit firms who want to do business with the state agency from being placed in the position of being solicited to contribute to the state employee's political causes."

Kumar is the first person investigated by Thomas's office to contest the findings and ask for an ethics commission hearing, Thomas said.Earlier this year, former Department of Transportation Commissioner Bryan Nicol agreed to a $5,000 fine for holding another fundraising event for Peterson, at which Kumar was a co-host.

Friday the 13th

2006-10-13T10:00:00.000-04:00

Beware, strange things may and probably will happen today.

Not Much Of A Debate

2006-10-12T11:18:00.000-04:00

Last night the two candidates for Marion County Prosecutor squared off in their second debate. As the evening went on it became more and more clear the strategy Kennedy is using. Kennedy agreed with Brizzi on about 95% of the issues discussed only having disagreement when it was apparent she didn't know what she was talking about.

This is just one in a number of steps the Kennedy campaign is taking to muddy the waters. Kennedy's website is seemingly run by people with a commodore 64. Everything is hard to access, and there is no real information about Kennedy stance on any issue.

The best part is trying to find her Neighborhood notes, or plan for the prosecutor's office. It isn't there. Not anywhere on the site.

Kennedy can take shots all day at a case here or there, but when it comes down to it, she has no plan. She has no ideas!

In a real campaign about issues, wouldn't you want your issues out there, in the open for everyone to see? Not Kennedy. The fewer people who know about her and the ideas she puts in a plan, the better.

Tully's Take

2006-10-11T09:39:00.000-04:00

Tully takes a look today on Melina Kennedy's soft stance on crime and gangs. If Kennedy had ever been in a courtroom, she would know that someone accused of a crime will do anything to avoid going to jail. They will find God, they will swear off drugs, they will apologize to the Court, but in the end, it is all just a game to avoid doing time.

There are a lot of good preventative and rehabilitative programs out there to help kids that find trouble early in their life. A slap on the wrist and a written statement that they will not be part of a gang will be about as effective as a stick in a sword fight.

Kennedy's lack of experience dealing with the bad guys is showing through with her weak ideas.

Hacked

2006-10-09T18:59:00.000-04:00

There is a report on the Indystar that the Marion County Republican Party website was hacked into by someone.

Sounds like some D's in town are starting to get a little scared. The work of desparate people trying to keep information about Republican candidates off the web.

Hackers have apparently broken into and defaced the Web site of the Marion County Republicans.

The normal site of www.indyrepublicans.com was replaced with a Web page that includes an anti-Semitic and anti-U.S. diatribe.State Rep. Mike Murphy, R-Indianapolis, chairman of the county GOP, said the hack was discovered over the weekend. Tech staff tried to restore the regular site today, but the hackers struck again this afternoon.

Murphy said the Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into the incident. He would not speculate about who the hackers might be, but suggested they might be Turkish and have no ties to local politics.

New Web Ad

2006-10-09T14:20:00.000-04:00

Just got an e-mail directing me to Donna Edgar's Website. Edgar is the Republican candidate for clerk. She appears to be the second candidate in Marion County this year to have web ads up and running.

What a inexpensive way to get you message out. Not as high tech as Brizzi's ads at his experienced prosecutor site, but still informative.

I Missed It

2006-10-05T17:12:00.000-04:00

A pretty good article which I missed until today. Take a look:

The Marion County prosecutor race between incumbent Carl Brizzi (R) and challenger Melina Kennedy (D) is hitting full stride. You know this is the case because the negative attack ads have recently hit the airwaves.

I have paid some attention to the race but have to admit that my interest is minimal. The reason I’m not following the race closely is two fold.

Firstly, I generally don’t favor democrats in positions where being “tough” is a job requirement.
In my opinion, prosecutor is definitely a job that requires being “tough” and I’m skeptical that today’s democrats rise to the necessary level of “toughness”.

Democrats are known for their penchant to “rehabilitate” vs. punish (ie; obtain justice) and I’m a firm believer that the latter should be the top priority while the former is merely a more inclusive possibility depending on the crime committed and the possibility for success.
Secondly, Melina Kennedy is inexperienced in both the courtroom and the inner workings of the prosecutor’s office.

Kennedy claims that her inexperience with being a trial prosecutor is trumped by her organizational skills and ability to lead. I agree to some degree that different experiences and leadership qualities can translate from job to job but that isn’t categorically always the case.
For example, I don’t want a great basketball coach leading a team of surgeons in the operating room…or vice versa.

The fact that Kennedy has never worked in a prosecutor's office, never filed a charge, never tried a case and never prosecuted a criminal bothers me. Moreover, if elected, Kennedy would have less trial experience than every other prosecutor on her staff, including many of the interns.

Our crime wave has been on the upswing in Indianapolis and that makes the choice for prosecutor a critical one. Based on what I know today, I’m not willing to vote for an inexperienced candidate that is aligned with a democratic party known for it’s lack of judicial toughness (or toughness in general).

Obviously, what I’ve written isn’t an endorsement of Carl Brizzi or given you a reason why you should vote FOR him. I’ve just given you the reasons why I likely won’t vote FOR his opponent.
So...sticking with the latest campaign rhetoric, I’m sorry to say I'm unfortunately guilty of writing a negative attack blog.

Shame on me.

We're At War!

2006-10-04T13:45:00.000-04:00

Looks like the city is using all of its resources to combat the bird problem. Maybe we should ask them for help in dealing with our crime problem. Read from the Indy Star below:

City's war on birds goes high-tech

Business operators, residents and visitors will get a sample tonight of what likely is to become the latest effort to shoo away starlings and other birds whose droppings foul Downtown businesses and sidewalks.

Officials from Indianapolis Downtown Inc. and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services are planning a demonstration of three tactics intended to safely drive birds away including the use of streamers, small pyrotechnic blasts and hand-held lasers.

If the demonstration proves effective and inoffensive to businesses and visitors, the new tactics could be employed in the coming weeks as flocks of birds swoop into the Downtown area seeking shelter, said Julia Watson, vice president of marketing for Indianapolis Downtown Inc.

The thousands of winged nighttime visitors that flock to the central city during the fall and winter leave behind large amounts of excrement that is both unattractive and a potential health hazard.

“The USDA folks know what to expect, but we want to understand how that will play out in the Downtown,” said Watson. “For example, if there are guests in a hotel, we want to know what effect the sounds and lights might have.”

The work proposed by the USDA would supplement efforts being made by individual property owners.Watson said the federal workers would be responsible for providing the equipment and implementing the bird relocation plan, with the cost paid by Indianapolis Downtown, a public-private partnership that helps develop, manage and market the city’s Downtown.

You're Out!

2006-10-04T09:40:00.000-04:00

Deputy Mayor Eugene Anderson is officially out of the administration in the Mayor's office. Anderson has a 8 year old arrest for domestic battery. He resigned today.

Looks like the double standard has struck again. The Dems, who gave Eric Dickerson all kinds of trouble for a 15 year old arrest that was later dismissed, have created a situation where Anderson could not stay on any longer.

Anderson's case apparently was dismissed as well. The problem was, Dems made it out that no one should be active in government with that type of arrest.

I wonder if anyone in the Peterson administration knew about the arrest which was here in Marion County? I wonder if his co-worker, Melina Kennedy knew about it?

Endorsements

2006-10-03T08:39:00.000-04:00

Does anyone else think that officers should have a big say in who their boss is, and who they have to work with?

I do, and I think a lot of other folks in Marion County do.

Last night, the local FOP voted to endorse Steve Davis for Sheriff, and Carl Brizzi for Prosecutor. Both offices work closely with police officers to help protect our city.

Officers have to work on a daily basis with these offices and would know best if they were doing a good job, and whether they should hold the office.

It is vital this year, maybe more than any other, that we have a strong group of individuals working to make things better here.

Uncovered

2006-10-02T09:04:00.000-04:00

Or not? Indy Undercover proposed revealing who runs the website yesterday. When the time came for pulling back the curtain, nothing.

That is ok, it is better not to know the name of the informative officer. Keep bringing behind the scenes looks at what is going right and wrong in the business of protecting the city.

One thing is for sure, if a police officer is not happy with their leadership, then us normal folks shouldn't be either.

Really?

2006-09-29T09:45:00.000-04:00

The Democrats on the CCC cannot be serious. They cannot be backing a person that has been accused of pushing a police officer. They cannot be taking the side of someone that pushed a woman.

Yet.

They are. So, from this little press conference they held yesterday, we must assume that they are against police officers in general. The Democrats on the CCC think it is ok to push a police officer. They think it is ok to abuse their positions on the CCC and demand compliance from city employees.

Ridiculous.

Sure, he is innocent until proven guilty in the courtroom. Sure, there is a possibility that a jury might find him not guilty. However, a Democratic attorney from Bloomington thought there was enough evidence to charge. A Democratic Judge thought there was enough evidence to sign the probable cause.

Wake up and look at the example you are setting for the City.

I want to know what the Mayor thinks about all of this. I want to know if the Mayor sides with a drunk CCC or a Police Officer.

Make Believe

2006-09-27T14:59:00.000-04:00

Now Kennedy is depicting that she has actually done stuff in court. Kennedy, the oft mistaken Democratic candidate for Marion County Prosecutor, is pretending to be a trial attorney in her latest commercial. In the ad, Kennedy is seen asking questions of a witness in a courtroom with the word experienced.

The Marion County Republican Party issued a request for the ad to be pulled from the air due to it misleading viewers.

Looks like it is just one more ridiculous event in the worst run campaign ever!

UPDATE: Tully has some interesting insight into the event:

Kennedy on the air
Posted by Matt Tully

Republicans are a little shook up over Melina Kennedy's latest campaign commercial. The Democratic candidate for prosecutor's new ad centers on this theme: "Experienced. Tested. Tough."

As you may recall, that is the exact tagline Republican incumbent Carl Brizzi has used in his campaign commercials. The Brizzi team says Kennedy has "hijacked" its theme.
Is it clever or a cheap shot? You decide.

One interesting scene in the new ad puts Kennedy in a courtroom, where she is questioning an actor/witness. Kennedy, who has faced criticism from the GOP about her lack of courtroom experience, visited The Star today. She was asked whether she has ever questioned a witness in court, as she is seen doing in the commercial.

She said she had, "in a small claims case ... in the early 90s."

Kennedy didn't become a lawyer until 1997, so whatever she did, she would not have been an attorney.

Play Nice

2006-09-27T09:40:00.000-04:00

It appears that Ron Gibson is facing criminal charges for his drunken fiasco a few months ago. I will update more when I find the exact charges.

UPDATE: The Indianapolis Star is now reporting that Ron Gibson will face 3 charges from the incident on July 16, 2006. City Councilor Ron Gibson (D) will face one charge each of Battery, Disorderly Conduct, and Public Intoxication. Gibson could serve a sentence of up to one (1) year.

Coroner's Corner

2006-09-26T13:35:00.000-04:00

Finally, someone is looking into the worst run office in the County. In the Indy Star:

Prosecutors search coroner's offices

Investigators with the Marion County prosecutor's office served a search warrant at the office of the county coroner this morning.

About a half-dozen men and women, including Prosecutor Carl Brizzi, went into the office.
Brizzi said they were reviewing seven death investigations by the Marion County coroner.

Grand jury investigators served the search warrants because “there have been some questions about the integrity of record-keeping in the office.”

He did not elaborate.Coroner Kenneth Ackles was not at the morgue, 521 W. McCarty Street, during the sweep.The prosecutor's office has had an ongoing investigation into the coroner's office over allegations of mismanagement.

In a report written in February, a police detective said he found a lack of computer security that allowed nearly three-dozen employees to alter property receipts without detection. That lapse has raised concerns that evidence could be corrupted.

The memo, dated Feb. 9, also reported that several thousand dollars worth of county equipment was missing and concluded that the coroner's office, "at least on the administrative level, is incompetent and careless."

The Count Keeps Growing

2006-09-26T11:00:00.000-04:00

It is starting to get a little redundant, but Indy had another murder last night. We are up to 116.

Why has the Mayor been quiet on the issue since he blue panel?????

A 45-year-old father of five children was shot and killed Monday in the front yard of his Near-Eastside home, apparently after a brief argument with a neighbor who had been a friend.

Allen Eugene Humphrey's death brings the Marion County homicide count to 116 this year.
By late Monday, Indianapolis police had arrested Kevin Moncrief, 53, on preliminary charges of murder in Humphrey's shooting. Moncrief turned himself in about four hours after the shooting, which occurred about 6 p.m. in the 1800 block of Brookside Avenue.

Friends said violent death has visited Humphrey's family at least twice before -- his two older brothers were killed in separate incidents nearly three decades ago.

Friends and family members who arrived at the scene as word of Humphrey's slaying spread said the death adds to the growing frustration with the rise of violence.

"This has got to stop. This is stupid!" said Sharon Ward, 49, whose family is close to Humphrey's family. She and her brother, David Walker, 46, and other siblings grew up with the victim and his siblings.

Great Ad

2006-09-22T15:33:00.000-04:00

I finally was able to see the ad put out by the Marion County Republicans. Pretty good stuff. I checked out their numbers on the FBI website and they are accuarate, which is very scary!

Take a look for yourself. There are two sites running it.

TV Ad

or

TV Ad

Why isn't anyone else blaming the Mayor????

Check It Out

2006-09-21T09:57:00.000-04:00

Check out Indy Undercover's newest post. It says it all.

More Coroner Fun

2006-09-21T09:50:00.000-04:00

Looks like the Marion County Coroner might need to start looking for a new gig.

The Indy Star reports:

A legislative committee has approved a proposal that would mandate more training for coroners and set standards to avoid errors like the one that switched the identities of two college students -- one dead and one alive.

The proposal would require that coroners identify the dead by one of four methods: fingerprints, DNA, dental records or visual identification by a family member.

The possible changes in state law were motivated in part by a Grant County coroner's error that switched the identities of two Taylor University students -- one dead and one alive.

In the April 26 fatal crash in Grant County that killed five people, one of the deceased victims, Laura VanRyn, 22, was mistakenly identified as 18-year-old Whitney Cerak.

VanRyn's parents kept vigil at Cerak's beside in the hospital for five weeks, only realizing that she was not their daughter when Cerak began to emerge from her coma.

Indiana's 92 county coroners are elected, and only half are certified as legal death investigators by the state. Unlike their deputy coroners, who must be certified and undergo continuing education, elected coroners are not required to be certified.

At Wednesday's hearing at the Statehouse, the Interim Study Committee on Criminal Justice Matters unanimously approved the proposed bill, which Sen. Patricia Miller, R-Indianapolis, will introduce during the 2007 legislative session.

She and others on the committee said the bill is "a work in progress" and likely will change during the process.

The proposal would require elected coroners and deputy coroners to pass a 40-hour training course within six months of taking office or being hired, and then complete another eight hours of training each year.

Training would be developed by a pathologist and taught by the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy. If a coroner or deputy coroner didn't complete the training, the proposal states that the county government could withhold their salary until they do.

Dick Alfeld, Allen County's chief deputy coroner and a board member for the Indiana State Coroners Association, said that while the identification rules leave little leeway for coroners the association accepts the proposed change.

He said he does not think it is legal to withhold the coroner's pay because the position is a constitutionally elected office, but he said the association will not oppose the modification.
However, Alfred said the association is fighting the proposed bill's provision to move the training from the Coroners Training Board -- which receives money from death certificate fees -- to the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy.

"As the coroners association we are interested in improving the system," Alfeld said. "But why are we reinventing the wheel? We have a training board that already does this. The problems arise from people who haven't taken the training, not those who have."

The only requirement for the elected office under the constitution is that a coroner be at least 18 and a resident for one year in the county in which the candidate is seeking the job.

A member of the Legislative Services Agency told the committee in August that under a long-standing court ruling interpreting the constitution, new qualifications to be elected coroner could not be added without changing the document.

Changing it requires an amendment passing two consecutively elected Legislatures and approval in a statewide vote, a process that can take up to four years.

Some More Fun

2006-09-20T08:53:00.000-04:00

Looks like Brizzi is highlighting the importance of experience in a new way.

At experiencedprosecutor.com there is an updated web commercial.

Funny again. Not as funny as his new commercial airing on any television at any time, but the point is made.

Haven't seen anything new from Kennedy. She is probably hibernating while Julia Carson makes false accusations and fabricates police reports.

Results Matter?

2006-09-18T14:57:00.000-04:00

Just got a release from the Marion County Republican Party. Looks like someone has been trying to hide a bad job performance. The release is below:

Results Matter?
Melina Kennedy’s Role in Economic Development Results in Negative Job Growth for Indianapolis Residents

Indianapolis – Last week, Democrat candidate for Marion County Prosecutor Melina Kennedy said “Just like in any business, government is the same. You have got to have performance be part of what we look at.”[1] A review of Kennedy’s performance as Director of Economic Development for the City of Indianapolis from June 2001-September 2004 and Deputy Mayor of Economic Development from September 2004-September 2005 reveals significantly poor results.

According to data released by CNN[2], when Melina Kennedy was in charge of economic development for the city, Indianapolis suffered from -1.37% job growth from 2000-2005.

“Kennedy continues to say that “results matter” but she was unable to produce positive results in her last job. When Kennedy was responsible for economic development, cities neighboring Indianapolis prospered while Indianapolis failed to produce positive job results,” said Marion County Republican Party, Executive Director Mike Biberstine. “Her sole responsibility was to provide a positive economic climate so that Marion County residents could earn a decent living to provide for their families, but Kennedy failed to produce results.”

Two cities surrounding Indianapolis saw job growth top 30% from 2000-2005. Fishers was ranked 15th in the nation in fastest job growth while Carmel was ranked 24th in the nation.

“We’re seeing phenomenal job growth in cities just one county north of Indianapolis, yet when Melina Kennedy was responsible, Marion County experienced less job growth than our neighbors and less growth than Gary, Indiana” said Biberstine.

“The economy is a major factor in crime rates. We should not reward Melina Kennedy for results like this. We cannot afford to elect a Prosecutor who has zero experience prosecuting criminals and has negative results in her last job,” said Biberstine.

Melina Kennedy has never filed a charge, never tried a case, and never put a criminal behind bars.

-30-

In Case You Missed It

2006-09-17T19:53:00.000-04:00

In case you have not had a chance to see one of the funniest commericals out this year, check Brizzi's newest ad out.

http://indianaonmessage.com/mcp_brizzi_lifeguard.shtml

What do you think?

Updates on a Friday Afternoon

2006-09-15T12:39:00.000-04:00

Just a couple of things before you start your weekend.

The coroner has not messed anything up as of yet today. I will keep you updated as I hear things. The rumor was that he took today off to spend a long weekend watching CSI and Quincy M.D.

Also, a little fun for everyone. Kennedy, the attorney who has never tried a case running for Prosecutor has a fun picture on her website that I really never noticed until this morning.

The main picture at the top of the website has a bunch of paid actors pretending to enjoy the rally. One of those people is the famous, or infamous Monroe Gray. Nice to know that Kennedy is so close to the lowly Gray.

If you remember, Gray refused to hear a proposal about increasing the number of jail beds to stem the rise in crime. Gray also is smack in the middle of the Julia Carson bar fiasco. He told local reporter Matt Tully that he didn't know anything about the bar or what was going on with it. Turns out he is a big fat liar. Gray's wife is an investor in the bar which is being placed in a government building.

Good to know who Kennedy's friends are. People that believe they are above the law, and don't need to follow the same steps as the rest of the city.

Exhibit B

2006-09-14T10:51:00.000-04:00

I would offer into evidence, exhibit B.

From Jack Rinehart at Channel 6:

Relatives of a man they reported missing in June learned this week that not only was he dead, his remains were cremated -- and that the Marion County coroner's office identified the body months ago but failed to tell them or police -- 6News' Jack Rinehart reported.

Carl Southern's relatives said they learned Tuesday in a letter from the Social Security Administration that the 51-year-old Indianapolis man -- who they reported missing on June 20 -- had died.

Through subsequent discussions with Indianapolis police and the coroner's office, they learned that police found a body June 15 and that the coroner's office identified it as Southern on the same day, but neither police nor his relatives were told about the identification.

The coroner's office said it tried unsuccessfully to contact Southern's family, even using newspaper advertisements in an attempt to reach them. But after a few weeks, the office sent the body to a funeral home, which cremated it, Rinehart reported.

"It was just devastating," Southern's sister, Loretta Williams, said. "I couldn’t believe it. I was like, 'What is this?' "

The funeral home told the federal government of Southern's death, so the Social Security Administration sent his family a letter saying it was terminating his benefits. When the letter arrived Tuesday, the SSA succeeded in doing something the coroner's office said it couldn't -- locate Southern's family.

Police Stunned By Revelation

Information on the cause of Southern's death wasn't available, but the coroner's office said it determined that he had cocaine in his system and had suffered a subdural hemorrhage, or bleeding on the brain.

Police investigators -- who said they learned of Southern's death only after his family told them about the Social Security letter -- said information about the body's condition leads them to suspect foul play in the death. But with cremation having taken place, they must investigate without the body.

Authorities said they spent a lot of time looking for Southern since he was reported missing June 20. In late July, they asked the news media to publicize his disappearance, not knowing that the coroner's office had identified his body more than a month beforehand.

"We are flabbergasted about this whole chain of events," said Capt. David Allender, head of the Indianapolis Police Department's missing-persons branch.

Coroner's Office Says It Tried To Reach Family

Police said they now know that they found Southern's body on June 15 in an alley in the 1300 block of Cruft Street. The body was given to the coroner's office as an unidentified man.
With the help of fingerprints and pieces of identification on the body, the coroner's office determined that day that the body was that of Southern, Rinehart reported.

The coroner's office held the body for nearly six weeks. From July 22 to July 24, it ran advertisements in The Indianapolis Star's public notices page, trying to find members of Southern's family, Rinehart reported.

Eventually, the office determined that its efforts to find relatives were unsuccessful, and it gave the body to a funeral home for cremation.

The funeral home is searching for Southern's ashes. Williams, Southern's sister, indicated her trust had been exhausted.

"Even if they came and brought me something, I don’t know if that's my brother or not. I wouldn't believe that it is if they did bring me some ashes or whatever," Williams said.

News of Southern's fate came as the coroner's office was being investigated over allegations that more than $3,000 in cash and property belonging to a deceased man was stolen.

The Consequences of Inexperience

2006-09-12T09:40:00.000-04:00

I would like to offer into evidence, Exhibit A. This is an article showing the direct effect of someone inexperience and unqualified taking a job.

The Marion County Coroner apparently thinks it is OK to take money from dead people and then allow your staff to cover it up.

From the Indy Star:

The Marion County coroner's office is being investigated by the prosecutor's office after more than $3,000 was stolen from a body, revealing lapses in computer and storage security.

A police detective's investigation found a lack of computer security that allowed nearly three-dozen employees to alter property receipts without detection, according to a confidential police memo obtained by The Indianapolis Star. That lapse has raised concerns that evidence could be corrupted.

The memo, dated Feb. 9, also reported that several thousand dollars worth of county equipment was missing and concluded that the coroner's office, "at least on the administrative level, is incompetent and careless."

Last week, Coroner Kenneth Ackles said the theft of cash from a dead man was an isolated incident. He acknowledged the theft had to have been committed internally by someone with access to a shared evidence locker and the computer system.

"It was an unfortunate thing, but that's the only thing," Ackles said. "If you look at the amount of money and property that goes through the office, and there's only one incident, I think that's a pretty good record."

So, one person stealing in the office is OK??? Did Ackles ever do anything???

Another crazy item from this story is that there are 20 Deputy Coroners. Do we need 20? Are any of them capable of doing an autopsy?

What's Next

2006-09-12T09:30:00.000-04:00

It appears that Kennedy, the Democratic candidate for Prosecutor is going to roll calls in Marion County and talking to officers. The problem is, the officers are being forced to sit and listen to her and are not allowed to ask any questions.

The story was brought up by Indy Undercover. Here is their story.

So, the city is willing to force police officers to sit and listen to an inexperienced attorney talk about crime. No wonder the Mayor had to increase patrols. He is making half of them listen to his propaganda instead of working.

Shame on all of them!

Remember 9-11

2006-09-11T09:36:00.000-04:00

Crime Prevention Task Force?

2006-09-07T14:43:00.000-04:00

40 Members
105 Murders
Thousands of Early releases

How long do we have to wait for the Mayor to do something substantial to help curb violence. He has given us a lot of lip service, but no real action.

In the Star editorial today (linked above) it reads in part:

As Peterson acknowledged in a meeting with The Star's Editorial Board on Wednesday, the city's crime problems festered for years in part because he and other leaders tolerated early releases from the jail. In time, a sense of lawlessness took hold on the city's streets.

The Crime panel is a joke. How are 40 people, many who have no crime prevention background, ever going to decrease crime? All of the individuals are smart professionals who are great in their fields. This is a different story. They are not even supposed to come out with recommendations until December. What good is a piece of paper going to do us 3 months from today. People are being killed at a crazy rate and we are supposed to wait 3 months for an opinion from 40 people.

On the Air

2006-09-06T11:18:00.000-04:00

Brizzi's campaign commercials started this morning. Really sharp ad in my opinion. It actually shows his name in the ad. Pretty smart if you ask me.

In contrast, Kennedy, does not put her name in her ad once, and it looks like a old home slide show presentation. Who made those, and what the heck were they thinking?

What are your thoughts?

Dude, Where's My Mayor?

2006-09-05T16:43:00.000-04:00

I think it is official, we have no Mayor. Today, Bart announced that he would spend $10.5 million to cover stepped-up police patrols, more jail beds and night court through 2007. However, Bart being Bart has no idea how we will make it past then.

Instead of coming up with a plan, or letting the public know taxes are going up, Bart simply passed the buck one more time. I am starting to think that Bart was the type in grade school who refused to be a captain and pick a team.

Bart has no guts, no ability to make a tough decision to better our city. He constantly has to blame someone else for the problem. Indyworks doesn't get passed and it is the fault of the State House. Crime goes up and it is the fault of chance. The jail becomes overcrowded, we file too many charges.

The only problem that I see while Bart has been in charge, is simply that, Bart was in charge. He has no idea how to run a city. Things were so well oiled when he took over that they are only now starting to fall apart.

It is just a matter of time before the wheels fall off.

The Century Club

2006-09-05T09:56:00.000-04:00

We hit 100 homicides and it is only September 5th! Just 9 murders away from last years mark and 59 murders away from the record. What a great place it is to live here. Thanks Bart, for making our city a giant game of Russian roulette.

In lighter news, there will not be anyone available to do the autopsies on all the dead bodies. In what must be a determined path for Democrats, the County coroner has decided to fire all of the pathologists in the County who perform autopsies to bog down the criminal justice system even more. Of course the coroner, himself, is not able to do autopsies because he is just a Chiropractor, not a real doctor.

They cease to amaze me with their ridiculous, and irresponsible decisions. What is the current solutions to not having anyone available to conduct an autopsy. People died over the weekend. Murders happened over the weekend. Are their bodies just sitting around because the Chiroprator/Coroner does not like the contract that, he himself, worked out?

He's Got the Unions

2006-08-31T18:25:00.000-04:00

In a press release today, Brizzi announced the endorsement of a number of local Unions.

With the Unions going for Brizzi the Kennedy camp has got to be shaking in their boots. What most people would consider a historical Democratic group and its members backing Brizzi, Kennedy's hopes are fading away like the warm summer days.

The release is below.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday August 31, 2006

Unions Endorse BrizziAs Labor Day Approaches, Several Local Unions Announce Support for Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi's Re-Election

INDIANAPOLIS-- Six local unions endorsed Carl Brizzi for re-election as Marion County Prosecutor. Collectively, the unions represent over 13,000 active and retired members in Marion County.

Unions endorsing Brizzi include Teamsters Local 135, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 103, and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Locals 725, 1437, 3131 and 3766.

The largest labor organization to back Brizzi is the Teamsters Local 135. A newsletter announced their support by stating, "As Marion County residents head to the polls in (early May and) November, they will vote for a prosecutor with a proven record. Carl Brizzi has been working tirelessly for Teamster members and the citizens of Marion County, keeping the city streets safe and prosecuting the most violent offenders."

Prosecutor Brizzi is humbled that so many local unions support him in his bid for re-election. "I'm honored and grateful to have so much support from the hardworking men and women of labor," stated Brizzi. "We've worked well together over the past four years and it means a lot to me to have their confidence."

ast week, the Prosecutor unveiled Brizzi Brief 2006 which includes a report on the progress of the last four years and Brizzi's future plans for the fight against crime. "Because we believe in the philosophy that criminals have a choice, victims don't, we've made our office an advocate for the victims of this county," said Brizzi. "We've made the prosecution of the most violent offenders a top priority and we've worked with law enforcement to conduct sting operations to catch sexual predators who solicit children on the internet."

Brizzi will participate in the Labor Day parade on Saturday, September 2nd.

Click here to see Teamsters endorsement Click here to see AFSCME endorsements

He Has Conviction

2006-08-31T08:13:00.000-04:00

In Case you missed these effectively prosecuted cases, here they are:

Ex-firefighter gets 40 years for child molestation

Two men were sentenced Wednesday

2 convicted of murder in separate cases

That would be 5 separate people sentenced for crimes they committed because of effective prosecution by Brizzi's office.

Take Two

2006-08-30T13:06:00.000-04:00

Looks like Carl Brizzi has the second installment on his new website up.

ExperiencedProsecutor.com

I still laugh everytime I type that in.

These ads are well done and a step above anything Kennedy has done so far. I am sure they are scrambling around to get something out.

That brings up another topic. At CarlBrizzi.com you can read the Brizzi Brief 2 which is now out.

It is a comprehensive description of what Brizzi wanted to do, what occurred, and what he plans for his second term. Pretty in depth.

So, Kennedy is scrambling to be more tech savvy, and to come up with a plan on what she would do. If it is anything like the other proposals she has put out, we should get loads of entertainment and laughter out of it.

Back-Tracking

2006-08-30T11:20:00.000-04:00

Now the Mayor is suggesting that we should not go forward with all the initiatives and funding that is necessary to protect our city.

Bart seems to think that everything that has been done as of late is not the reason for the decrease in crime.

I really didn't think he could get any more ridiculous on dealing with crime until I read this article.

From the article:

"And if they stay in place, of course we have no way in our current budget to be able to pay for it. So, the funding needs are not gonna go away," Mayor Peterson said.

So, the mayor said it may be best to address those funding needs in phases. Phase one would take us from now through next year. Phase two would go toward what he calls the chronic problems in public safety spending. He hopes to have those numbers in the next few days.

Take A Bite out of Bart

2006-08-29T15:36:00.000-04:00

Now, the Mayor has admitted that he can't even run a dog fighting program. The City is re-launching a program called Canine Crimestoppers."

No, I am not joking, that is really what it is called. Bart apparently could not get it right the first time and the program fell apart.

But, for some reason now, the Mayor thinks that the program will work and is willing to spend $10,000 on it to advertise.

Couldn't that money be used for something a little more productive to help public safety? The story is below:

City officials hope an ad campaign will curb dog fighting by prodding the public to call in tips about suspicious activity.

Mayor Bart Peterson joined enforcement officers from the city's Animal Care and Control Division in a press conference today to re-launch a program called Canine Crimestoppers. The officers credited the awareness initiative with boosting the number of investigations from six to 51 after it began in 2004.

Media Wilson, a spokeswoman for Animal Control, said the program petered out last year. The agency will spend $10,000 to for posters, bumper stickers, flyers and media ads that encourage the public to call the tip line, she said.The timing of the re-launch coincides with other city efforts to crack down on crime this summer, Peterson said. It was not prompted by several high-profile dog attacks or efforts to place limitations on pit bulls."One of the real scourges of our community is dog fighting," Peterson said. "Violent people are involved in dog fighting, people you don't want in your neighborhood."

Democrats Scramble to Find Actual Live Supporters

2006-08-29T08:34:00.000-04:00

Looks like the local D's will have to start making phone calls with live people according to Steve Carter and the Attorney General's Office. Automated calls are not allowed.

Recent stories indicate Ed Treacy and the Marion County Democrats have had to use an out of State firm to make phone calls. Ed had to pay a pretty penny for those calls. Now, this ruling looks to force the local Dems to either pay for more phone calls, or actually have volunteers make the calls.

Very Very Quiet

2006-08-23T18:10:00.000-04:00

Is it me, or has the political arena been pretty quiet the last few days? Almost like everyone is waiting for the next shoe to drop, whether it be another rash of crime in the City, or another misstep by a City-County Councilor.

All that has really gone on today, is:

Tully talking about The end of the overblown Eric Dickerson sale of his car dealership and Mister Ed paying for things his party can't get volunteers to do.

AND

Shella reminds us of the documentary "We the People."

I have a feeling something is about to happen. What you may ask??? I don't have that answer. I just have that feeling.

Web Ads

2006-08-22T17:28:00.000-04:00

Carl Brizzi started his web ads today. I got the link in an e-mail this afternoon. The name is very clever, and takes a little hit at his opponent.

experiencedprosecutor.com

When compared to what Kennedy has already put up, the quality and message are a million times better.

A good way to get the message out to anyone and everyone when they want to see it. You can get an idea of who Brizzi is and what he stands for.

He is Special

2006-08-22T07:53:00.000-04:00

A special prosecutor has been appointed to let us know what we already do, Ron Gibson broke the law.

Read below:

INDIANAPOLIS -- Investigators are taking a closer look at last month's scuffle between a city-county councilman and a Marion County sheriff's deputy.
Prosecutor Carl Brizzi has appointed a special prosecutor from Monroe County to look into allegations that City-County Councilman Ron Gibson shoved Deputy Jean Burkert, who was working security during Indiana Black Expo's Summer Celebration.
Gibson denies that he did anything wrong. He said Burkert was abusive. Both have filed complaints against one another.

Full Speed Ahead

2006-08-21T14:40:00.000-04:00

The Marion County Criminal Justice Team got things started today to help ease some of the crowding issues in the jail. Night Court might not be as fun without judge Stone, but they could get Judge Stoner to hear cases!

A series of sweeping changes to the Marion County criminal justice system – prompted by the jump in violent crimes this year – begin today. Among the changes are a new night court to handle Class D felony and misdemeanor gun cases and a warrant strike team to go after defendants who fail to show up for court.

Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi says it’s all about speeding up the criminal justice system. “When you have somebody in jail on a “no bond” hold, rather than just languishing in jail, let’s expedite their appearance before a judge and decide what we’re going to do with their case,” he says. Officials say moving cases through the courts at a faster pace should reduce the number of people waiting in the county jail for trial and ease jail overcrowding. It’s hoped the changes will also eliminate the release of criminals when the jail reaches the court-ordered cap.

In addition to night court, most courtrooms in the county have expanded their hours so they can handle more cases. But longer hours and more courts means more personnel – judges, court staff, and prosecutors. City officials have estimated the changes will cost more than $7 million dollars through 2007, and they’re scrambling to find the money. They’re also not ruling out the need for a tax hike to cover the cost.

Might be "Too little Too Late"

2006-08-18T11:04:00.000-04:00

Curfew Sweeps being done now????? Why wasn't this done 2 months ago???

Would the Sheriff and Mayor get their heads out of their, as if they cared about anything until their numbers starting doing a nosedive.

The story is below from the Indy Star:

Local law enforcement pulled in 18 young people for violating curfew Thursday night.
The countywide sweep marked the first time police detained juveniles under a change in state law. Until recently, police could only issue a summons for curfew violations.

Curfew is 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday for anyone under 18. On weekends, 15-, 16- and 17-year-olds can stay out until 1 a.m.

The youngsters detained Thursday night ranged in age from 11 to 17, officials said today.
In 12 cases, parents or guardians were called to the Washington Park Family Center, 3130 E. 30th St., to pick up offenders.

The other six were taken to the Marion County Juvenile Center -- four for probation violations and two for being arrested on new offenses. One was caught with marijuana and the other had been drinking.

Authorities vowed the curfew sweeps would continue and said they are part of a broader effort to keep youngsters safe as school starts.

Most youngsters are not trying to get into trouble, Mayor Bart Peterson said.

"They are at risk, however, because nothing good can happened to you at that hour of the night," Peterson said.

In addition to the curfew sweeps, police are enforcing school speed zones, keeping an eye on bus stops and crosswalks and visiting schools.

IPD officers issued 153 tickets for speeding in school zones on Thursday.

Not Safe Anywhere

2006-08-17T10:41:00.000-04:00

Now the Sheriff isn't even protecting the people that are in the jail. In the Star today, one of the Sheriff's employees is apparently involved in a plot to let a defendant on a murder case be placed in a jail cell all weekend long. During this "coercion" weekend, the defendant was able to get the witness to change his story.

I wonder if anyone ever did a background check on this Jail Clerk???

I wonder why there isn't more supervision by the Sheriff to make sure witnesses who help convict murders aren't better protected??

Just another example of how the Sheriff has no idea what he is doing.

Their Mouth is Writing Checks Their Body Can't Cash

2006-08-17T10:38:00.000-04:00

It looks like the City-County Council is doing everything in their power to limit the budgets of public safety. Even after the Mayor made statements that the City will find a way for the funding, the Council is less optimistic.

WIBC reports that:

A City County Council committee is facing a nearly impossible task as it searches for some way to find millions of dollars for the county's criminal justice system. Committee members held a marathon hearing Wednesday night and listened to agency directors plead for more funding. "While I may understand any reluctance you might have to address an increase in our budget at this time, the needs of our court require your attention," Circuit Court administrator Theodore Sosin told the committee. But committee chair Mary Moriarty-Adams told him finding the money will be difficult. "Funds are very limited in this city, but we have an issue with criminal justice that must be funded," she said. "So we have to find revenues where we can." Police and court officials say the money is necessary to combat the violent crime increase that's hit the city. "We all have recently seen the cost of not addressing that," said Judge Cale Bradford, presiding judge of the Marion County Superior courts. Moriarty-Adams says right now, the council is looking at a three-prong approach for finding the money, which includes cutting other budgets, borrowing some funds, and using the county's dwindling fund balances to make up the rest.

Lost

2006-08-16T18:52:00.000-04:00

In the Star today:

INDIANAPOLIS -- The state gained only 200 jobs in July from the previous month, to 2,976,800, according to preliminary Indiana Department of Workforce Development figures. That's 37,100 short of a peak reached in May 2000. The Indianapolis area lost 3,900 jobs from a year earlier. The region had 884,200 employed. (Star report)

Congratulations Mayor Bart. You continue to run our city into the ground!

Interesting Post

2006-08-16T10:24:00.000-04:00

Indy Undercover has an interesting post about the unbelievable confusion in the Marion County Jail and a particular judges courtroom.

Read up.

Some More Disturbing News

2006-08-16T10:17:00.000-04:00

After reading an article on WTHR I am even more baffled at the Mayor's Office. It appears as though the Mayor never requested any Federal funds for the 2005 year to help with public safety. That would explain why we were hurting for money. Additionally, it appears as though Mayor Bart has allowed our forces to go below the level allowed for the grants we received from 2000 to 2004 meaning we may have to pay back the $15 million we received.

Way to drop the ball once again on public safety.

The article reads:

Between 2000 and 2004 Indianapolis touted its take: more than $15 million to put 200 police officers on the street. But last year, it didn't see a dime.

"Any funds that would have been received by Indianapolis would be funds that they would have requested and in 2005 - that has not been the case," said Gilbert Moore, Department of Justice. Moore confirmed that there had been no requests for crime-fighting funds in 2005.

This may be a surprise to someone who has been out of the country for a while, but expected from anyone who has been following Bart the past 7 years.

The Building Blocks for Crime

2006-08-15T11:30:00.000-04:00

I am not an expert on the causes of crime, or the reasons behind behavior. However, on WIBC today it is reported that the IPS budget will be cut again.

There is fault on the government when crime levels increase. There are many things that can be done to protect against a rise. Things such as work programs, education and constantly increasing economic development. If these things are done, most of the time criminals will cease to run the streets.

But, if efforts are unfunded, or under-funded, crimes are committed. If you don't give police efforts the full financial and public support you will have problems. If you don't educate your children, they will grow up without the skills they need to be successful. If you don't work to keep business here and create new jobs, people will find a way to pay for things.

I believe what we have seen from the Mayor is a message of apathy. He has done nothing to fund public safety. He has done little to properly fund education in the city and he hasn't done a thing to promote business or jobs.

Crime does not just pop up. It is created by a lack of leadership and initiative. New York City was stuck in the middle of a crime epidemic in the early 90's. Look up the numbers, they will scare you.

Who led them out of that terrible problem? Their Mayor. He cut the murder rate by 76%.

The Mayor knows what the cause of increased crime is, he just doesn't like the answer.

Breaking News

2006-08-14T10:30:00.000-04:00

The IUPUI Campus is smoke free. I know that is not really breaking news. The FIN is just waiting for Greg Bowes to take credit for it. Bowes, the Democratic candidate for Assessor, who has never assessed anything likes to flaunt the Indy smoking ban on his website. Not a single word on there about assessing.

There is more about smoking bans and soccer referees on Bowes website than anything else. I would place a bet that he is probably the least qualified assessor candidate in the State.

Bowes might believe this is a great achievement of being on the city-county council. But, it is really the only action he has ever taken. Bowes is adamantly against more jail beds, wanting criminals to walk the streets hours after being arrested. Bowes is against filing charges against people when they break the law because it causes the jail to be crowded, and he is against funding our public safety needs as he consistently votes against anything that is proposed to help the crime problem.

What a great man!

Daddy Needs a New Pair of Shoes

2006-08-13T11:41:00.001-04:00

Tully talks about downtown casinos to raise revenue for public safety. Not a bad idea. I like to gamble. It is important for the city to raise revenue anyway possible. Of course there will be the standard response that casinos raise crime and cause money problems for people. My question to that would simply be, "Could it get any worse than it is now?"

Here is the link to Tully's article.

Where Are The Savings?

2006-08-13T11:41:00.000-04:00

I want to know where the city seems to find any of this savings.

Phil Borst and the rest of the City-County Council want to know exactly where the savings is coming from. The numbers don't match up. The police force will still be down 30 some officers and the city is in dire need of more protection.

Next year's fire and police department mergers in Marion County will save even more than originally estimated -- nearly $18 million per year, according to new figures from the Indianapolis mayor's office.

With savings of nearly $10 million from the Jan. 1 consolidation of the Indianapolis police and Marion County sheriff's forces alone, the city plans to restore 42 of 78 police positions reduced last year. That will bring the newly formed Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department to a combined strength of 1,604 sworn officers.

That budget also forecasts a savings of nearly $8 million from the merger of the Washington Township and Indianapolis fire departments. As a result, the city plans to restore two of the 44 firefighter positions cut last year, giving Fire Chief James Greeson a combined force of 865.
The savings were projected in Mayor Bart Peterson's proposed 2007 spending plan, which was released last week.

"To be put in a position where we don't have to make the draconian cuts we made last year is a good thing," the Democratic mayor said.

City officials did not itemize how the mergers would save $18 million. Instead, they compared the 2006 and 2007 budgets, subtracted new costs and said the difference is a result of merger savings.

The city had said the police merger would save about $9 million and the fire merger would save at least $2.3 million.

Republicans were skeptical about the new numbers.

Phil Borst, the GOP minority leader of the City-County Council, said the city's methodology did not break down what elements of the merger produced a savings.
"I think they still need to go back and show the comparison clearly," Borst said. "They haven't shown me where the savings are."

Rep. Phil Hinkle, R-Indianapolis, called the projections "fleeting fantasies."
He said the experience of Louisville, Ky., and other cities that have merged police forces shows that it doesn't produce any savings.

"I think this is really a shell game," said Hinkle, who led opposition to the mayor's consolidation plan in the legislature the last two years. "All we're going to do is stall this fiscal crisis with the illusion of savings today."

Suzannah Overholt, Peterson's transition director for the mergers, was confident the additional savings would be achieved.

"The proof will be there," she said. "That's what we propose as their budgets; so if they (the Police and Fire departments) can live within that, it's a real savings."
She said merger officials found savings opportunities in part by using civilians in the place of sworn officers who hold desk jobs. The change also would make more sworn officers available for street patrol.

Civilians generally cost about 30 percent less than officers, she said. The total cost -- including training, uniforms, cars, benefits, pension and salary -- of a sworn officer comes to around $100,000 per year, according to Overholt.

Most of the projected savings from the mergers will be dedicated to offsetting rising costs for fuel, health insurance and pensions.

Without the savings, residents' property taxes would likely have climbed to cover these costs, administration officials said.

While the city hasn't been able to calculate tax rates for next year yet, Peterson said spending by the city and county would not trigger a tax increase.

However, because they lie outside city control, the budget considers separately $156 million in spending on state programs such as child welfare and juvenile justice. A $33 million increase for these two programs next year will cause taxes to increase by $62 for a home valued at $100,000, Peterson said.

Merger critics, meanwhile, continued to question why the city never stopped to determine the cost of the different parts of the Sheriff's Department before the merger. If that had been done, they said, the total cost of the merged parts of the Sheriff's Department could be more clearly measured against the expense of the new department.

Only the sheriff's law enforcement and investigation divisions will be merged with the Indianapolis Police Department. The sheriff's budget, which includes the costs of running the county jail, has never broken down costs by division.

In any case, city Controller Bob Clifford said doing so wouldn't have provided a better estimate of savings. He said his budget calculations take into account an array of costs that offer the clearest view of the merger's financial impact.

Other critics, meanwhile, called on Peterson to fully restore the city's public safety forces. Clifford said the city hopes to restore the remaining police cuts of 36 positions by 2008.

Isaac Randolph, a Republican council member and Indianapolis firefighter, last week called on Peterson to fulfill his promise during police merger negotiations and restore all 44 firefighting positions lost.

"For me, it's very real," Randolph said. "If I get trapped in a fire, I want to know there's another set of hands to help get me out."

Mike Reeves, the president of the city's fire union, said he has faith in the chief's projected needs for the merged department.

"My position is that every apparatus should be fully staffed, and the city has committed to that," he said.

Dickerson Scores

2006-08-11T09:20:00.000-04:00

An interesting look into a press conference Eric Dickerson held yesterday in his attempts to save a park from being the start line for numerous drunk driving trips.

http://www.advanceindiana.blogspot.com/

Dickerson, the Republican candidate for the 7th Congressional district has been seen throughout town riding in his RV and talking about issues that affect our lives.

The park, which was there and is being unilatterally removed is holding up the opening of the bar. There are city ordinances which prohibit bars from being certain distances from parks. So, without really any notice to anyone, the park has already started coming down. Word is, the man whom the park was named after received some consideration and a new park.

Street Justice

2006-08-10T07:55:00.000-04:00

It was only a matter of time before people starting taking matters into their own hands. RTV6 reports:

INDIANAPOLIS -- Police said a potential threat on Indianapolis' streets was caught Wednesday before he could kill.

Anthony Taylor, 46, was pulled over along East 38th Street Wednesday night after officers said he was speeding.

What officers said they found inside his car was much more alarming than a minor traffic violation.

Investigators said a gun, bulletproof vest, clippings of suspects in recent shootings, alcohol and drugs were found in the car.

"We're actually concerned because here we have a gentleman who's wearing a bulletproof vest. He's got binoculars in the vehicle. He's got guns in his vehicle, paper clippings of someone who's wanted for murder," said Marion County sheriff's Capt. Phil Burton.

"That, in itself, is just odd and strange and very dangerous if someone is in fact targeting someone."

Burton said Taylor was also wearing black gloves and sunglasses when he was pulled over.

An Elephant Ear, and Extra Security

2006-08-09T11:28:00.000-04:00

State Fair Officals indicated with IPD that extra patrols will be out and about to make fair-goers feel a little safer in the big city. WIBC reports:

With the Indiana State Fair starting up, Indiana State Police are arriving in the city in droves to help with security. This comes, as Indy experiences a spike in murders and violence across the area. ISP officials say they are concerned about the violence and are asking their officers to be vigilant. They say they plan to saturate the area in and around the fairgrounds, including using motorcycle patrols and undercover officers. ISP officials also say they're coordinating with Indianapolis Police, on State Fair security matters. ISP officials also say there will be some limited overtime work, by officers.

Even The Animals Aren't Safe!!!

2006-08-09T09:12:00.000-04:00

Murders everywhere, and now even penguins are being attacked!

It is a sad thing, and I will apologize now to any animal lovers out there.

Just looking for a little humor on a Wednesday morning.

The Mayor Sucks . . .The Life Out of Indy

2006-08-08T09:35:00.000-04:00

The Mayor and his traveling group of lackeys proposed a budget last night that was incomplete, and lacked any details. He said that many changes would come because of the prior weeks events.

To start then, a few questions:

Was crime not a priority before last week?

Was the Mayor going to cut the budgets in public safety prior to last week?

Then Monroe Gray in his infinite wisdom is quoted in the paper today on the budget as saying, "I think everyone in public safety is out to spend money as wisely as possible." "At the same time, we can't put all the city's funds in the prosecutor's office and start laying people off in the parks and other parts of the city government."

No secret, I am Republican. Most of the time I have a partisan view of things. But, when it comes to safety and my comfort level on the street I am open to any ideas and plans. The planning, vision, and understanding this administration has with regard to crime is laughable.

The problems we are having today are the same problems we had 6 months ago, 1 year ago. The murder numbers have been on a record pace from the start. When you cut spending on public safety, when you merge police forces, when you have an inadequate facilities to house inmates, crime is going to go up!

This is not like some natural disaster as the Mayor seems to think. It is not catching us as a surprise. It is not some unforeseen random instance. Everyone, down to my barber saw it coming for some time. My barber even commented that he did not think the Mayor or Sheriff even cared. That is a statement from someone who rarely watches the news and does not read the paper.

I could be wrong, but the lack of leadership is sending this city into a downward spiral which it may never recover.

Take A Closer Look

2006-08-07T18:25:00.000-04:00

The budget will be out tonight and there will be a lot of conversation of how money is being spent. There is one area that I think should be looked at a little closer. How much does the Sheriff spend on the upkeep of cars? Where does that money get spent? Where is the only real car dealership in business downtown? Who is listed as the official treasurer of the Sheriff's campaign?

The amount spent will be in the budget tonight, the other questions all have the same answer, Payton Wells.

Something smells a little fishy there. Payton Wells helps bring in money for the Sheriff's campaign to be Sheriff, the Sheriff throws hundreds of thousands of dollars towards the car dealership.

I am sorry, but Frank Anderson, and his $360,000 salary are about as dirty as you get.

The guy talks tough on crime for one day during his 3 years and office and everyone seems to forget his wrongs.

The next time you see the Sheriff, ask him how many bids he accepted before awarding Payton Wells the contract to take care of the MCSD vehicles!

Others Start To Speak Up

2006-08-07T14:06:00.000-04:00

If you noticed, there is another Blogger out there who is concerned with fixing Indy. www.indyundercover.blogspot.com has been linked to this site.

The stories carry more of a law enforcement perspective, and have some very interesting insight into the problems facing our city.

It is nice to see others actually care about slowing the crime problem and addressing public safety head-on.

Do You Feel Safe?

2006-08-05T11:06:00.000-04:00

9 more shootings last night and 5 more murders. When will it end? When will someone step up and do something to end the madness?

WISH TV

WTHR

Indy Star

The Mayor pledges to do something (Talk talk talk). What concerns me is the simple fact that this has been going on for the last month and only now does the Mayor feel he should act. Let's step it up and do something.

Nothing like having a crazy, deadly evening when thousands of out of town race fans are here.

Tully Does It Again

2006-08-04T13:24:00.000-04:00

He has nailed it on the head one more time. Tully's article today dealt with the rise in crime and the necessity for public safety to be our top priority.

The Mayor does not seem to know what to do, so here are a few of my suggestions:

Spend the grant money given to the Sheriff's office as it is intended (Violent crime task force grant money is not being completely used)
Hire more officers to be out on the streets
Hire someone who does know what to do (i.e. A new Mayor)
Elect a new Sheriff who will spend money on officers and equipment instead of landscaping at his million dollar home.

I think if we try these things, we may see our city as being a little safer.

All Talk, No Action

2006-08-04T13:17:00.000-04:00

The Mayor is talking about being tough on crime, but just isn't doing a thing. Here is a quote from the WISH TV story:

"The most important thing we can do is fight back and fight back with everything we have," he says.

The mayor also says there are a lot of people doing the right things. They're just not getting the right results. In the end, he says the influx of drugs is, as he put it, "probably the root of all evil in our society."

So, we need to fight back, but how? Bart is great about saying the right thing, but rarely does he act on his words. Talk is cheap as they say and what is coming out of Bart's mouth is worth about $0.03!

To Do List

2006-08-03T07:16:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I received my annual notice in the mail to renew my bar dues with the Supreme Court of Indiana. As I usually do, I reviewed it, and got it ready to be sent in. It took me a whole 2 minutes.

After doing this, I thought it best to send a reminder out there to my fellow attorney friends to renew their license and stay on the active list. I know it is very time consuming, and complicated.

But, you never know when it might be important!!

So, mark the little boxes on the form and send your money in. It really isn't that hard, or that expensive.

When you drop it in the post office, you can do a little dance and enjoy your ability to practice law for one more year.

Paint it Gray

2006-08-02T08:21:00.000-04:00

In what has to be one of the greatest quotes in recent memory, my favorite City-County Councilor, Monroe Gray is quoted in today's Indy Star as saying,

"I understand the jail crisis. People whose rates we raised will ask why their failing septic system wasn't fixed and why I gave that money to jail beds."

That has got to be one of the funniest things to date. So, he gets the jail overcrowding issue and the problems we are having with crime. But, he thinks the sewer system was really more important?!? He thinks that fixing the septic system was a bigger deal and he simply voted for more jail beds because that is what people wanted.

Monroe Gray is a special man.

National Night Out

2006-08-01T15:15:00.000-04:00

Tonight is National Night Out against crime. Everyone is encouraged to go out tonight, have your outside lamps on and talk to your neighbors.

I just encourage each of you to be careful and alert. With crime at a record level, even nights like this can be dangerous. I wonder if the Mayor and Sheriff will even be out after seeing that Indy was ranked as the 4th worst city for crime.

The link for the story will be up shortly as USA Today decided to take down the story.

Who is Against This?

2006-08-01T13:15:00.000-04:00

Why in the world would Ed Treacy and his puppets (Riordan and Sullivan) be against cleaning up the voter polls? They claim that they are protecting the voters of Indiana and particularly Indianapolis. How is fighting to keep the poll books bloated with duplicates and thus increasing the likelihood of error, fraud, or mistake a good thing for the voters in this City?

Crazy Ed has always got his things. Every year he tries to make it look like Republicans are against letting people vote. Every year he claims it is some racist ploy. I always enjoy it because I don't think his own party even takes him serious anymore. In a way, I think he is getting more and more like the television character Mister Ed. He talks, and it is amazing some of the things coming out of his mouth, yet no one takes it serious.

The cost of running an election and the number of poll workers could be lowered if the Democrats and Mr. Ed would allow folks to follow the law and remove duplicate listings for a voter off the poll. I don't want my name on there twice because I know I am only allowed to vote once.

Mr. Ed is really just trying to keep as many names on the poll books so that he and his Democratic friends can cheat and steal elections without being caught. You are either for fair elections and correct voter rolls or not and it is clear Ed is not for fair elections.

Melina Mess

2006-07-31T16:06:00.000-04:00

They pulled another "Kennedy." In the running saga of mess ups and mistakes, the Kennedy folks incorrectly made their commercials. I know, it made seem petty, or little, but when you make as many little mistakes as they do, it leads one to think they can't do anything right.

The disclaimer on their commercials, or powerpoint slide shows depending on who you talk to, did not stay at the bottom of the page for the legally required amount of time.

Nothing like trying to break election law when you are running for an office like Prosecutor.

Oh, well, the nice part about all of it is, it made me watch the commercial twice. They had to fix it prior to it airing per television stations request.

No, You Do It!

2006-07-28T10:31:00.000-04:00

Sheriff Frank Anderson is talking about hiring a bunch of new reserve officers. These reserve officers receive some training, are given a gun and a police car, and sent out to work as police officers. They are not paid, yet risk their lives. A very noble volunteer job and a nice addition to the force to help with things.

It sounds like the Sheriff wants to use these deputies, though, as a regular officer giving them a beat. That is fine on a temporary basis for folks going on vacation before school starts back up. I know some of these reserves and they are very good at what they do. Some probably deserve to be looked at for full time employment by the department.

My concern is, the Sheriff is going to hire these men and women to risk their lives, pounding the pavement throughout the county while Frank sits in his big office. The reserves will be bringing in $0 while Frank makes $180 an hour (Assuming he actually works 40 hour work weeks). Something doesn't seem right.

When you put out the numbers, I don't think anyone out there can justify Anderson's salary. Not even Frank.

Police Contract Voted Down

2006-07-27T11:10:00.000-04:00

IPD is still without contract this morning after a city proposal was voted down last night in a close vote. So, it is back to the drawing board. The story is on WIBC and the Star.

One interesting tid bit from Vince Huber:

Huber is also accusing Mayor Peterson with violating a city ordinance that prohibits the city from negotiating with individual officers. The union leader says Peterson has attended IPD roll calls to promote the contract.

My thoughts are simply; The Mayor has rarely followed the rules when it comes to pushing something he wants. He is still currently violating the law with regards to usurping control over the Auditor's office and uses his governmental website to push his political campaign.

Why would Bart start following the rules now?

Everybody's Talking About It

2006-07-26T10:14:00.000-04:00

The Star and Channel 13 (WTHR) ran stories about Ron "Party" Gibson as well. It sounds like Ron was out having a little too much fun and got abusive to a Sheriff's Deputy. I saw Ron on WTHR last night clearly stating that he was not drunk and did nothing wrong.

Some FIN Points to Ponder:

Big downtown celebration

1:30am

Drinking over a 7 hour period

"Do you know who I am?"

Are these the types of things that suggest sobriety to anyone? He still claims he was on the VIP list which tells me if someone gave him trouble about it, he would get crazy. So, since he could not get into the bar to continue his drinking escapades, he got belligerent, and pushed a female peace officer. What a great example he sets for the citizens of Marion County. You keep up the good work!

City Councilor Adding to Crime Problem

2006-07-25T09:28:00.000-04:00

No, they did not vote against another measure that would help in protecting you from criminals. As Abdul reports on his show notes, Ron Gibson, one of your esteemed At-Large members of the City-County Council (CCC) got into a scuffle with a Sheriff's Deputy a few weekends ago.

Gibson apparently dropped the "Do you know who I am," and "I am your boss," speech. Not the kind of attention the Democrats on the CCC need right now.

After an embarassing display last Wednesday most of the Democratic leadership in Marion County have been heard to be arguing with themselves about the crime problem. No one seems to be happy with the slow reaction from the Mayor's Office and the seemingly disjointed message sent by the CCC's on the Public Safety Committee. Greg Bowes was quoted as saying, "Marion County does not need more jail beds," and "The Prosecutor should not file as many charges."

Others have been heard criticizing "Kennedy and her Merry Band" lacking the knowledge necessary to present new ideas that will resonate with the voters this fall.

Check out Abdul's notes to read more about Ron Gibson's Hangover.

Got it!

2006-07-24T09:32:00.000-04:00

The Star ran a story today that really hits the point when you talk about the collateral damage of jail overcrowding in a large urban area. If criminals are bing let out here in Indy, odds are they will start breaking into nice suburban houses sooner or later.

Remember to thank your Democratic City County Councilors out there for allowing this to happen!

Here is the entire story.

The metro area's suburban police agencies are forming an alliance to combat crime they contend is growing in their jurisdictions as a result of problems in Marion County's beleaguered justice system.

"We are being pounded by spillover crime," said Greenwood Police Chief Joe Pitcher. "I think Indianapolis-Marion County has lost focus on public safety."

The latest arrest statistics, from June, appear to support the contention:

In Avon, 12 of 25 arrestees had an Indianapolis address. Eleven lived in Avon.

In Fishers, 22 of 63 arrestees were from Indianapolis; 25 were from Fishers.
In Greenwood, the split is nearly even. Of 198 arrestees, 86 were from Marion County and 85 from Greenwood.

No comprehensive statistics have been compiled to document the extent of the problem. But police agencies are starting to gather such data.
In Marion County, several categories of crimes are up, including homicides, burglaries, armed robberies and aggravated assaults.

Avon Police Chief Jeff Ritorto blamed the early release of prisoners at the Marion County Jail for contributing to a near tripling of forgery cases in his Hendricks County town of 8,200 residents.
Moreover, Ritorto said, the number of arrests for all crimes this year is up 86 percent.

"Most of our crime increase has been from Marion County's overcrowding situation," he said.
Greenwood's Pitcher agreed.

"These are people with absolutely longtime Indianapolis addresses. It (jail crowding) has to be part of it," he said. "I have anecdotal evidence of people we take to jail for shoplifting or driving with a suspended license. They say, 'Why are you taking me to (Johnson County) Jail? In Marion County, I'd just get a ticket.' "

Training Day

2006-07-21T13:49:00.000-04:00

They did it again!!! They pulled another "Kennedy."

Kennedy proposed a training academy. The details are not clear as to whether it would be for the experienced prosecutors in the office, or for the inexperienced Kennedy.

That is a great idea! After calling and speaking last night to a deputy prosecutor I went to college with I have discovered that it has been going on in the office for the last few years. Regularly schedule training sessions during lunch has been occurring led by experienced, educated prosecutors. Additionally, there have been training sessions where groups of young prosecutors are placed with a few experienced prosecutors to work on some of the fundamentals.

So, to lay things out: Training already going on, Kennedy proposal retarded.

Additionally, I would like to suggest that the proposal, while seemingly uninteresting to many brings up a bigger issue. Kennedy ultimately has no idea what is currently going on in that office. Kennedy does not understand the first thing about what it takes to be a Prosecutor. The training would benefit her more than anyone else. (Just ask Melina a question about self-defense if you want to know her understanding of what it takes to be a prosecutor.) She has never tried a case! She has never been in a courtroom. There are interns in the Prosecutor's office right now who are more qualified and more in touch with what it takes to protect this city than Kennedy.

I love the fact that Kennedy has to embarass and attack the hard working, front line prosecutors every chance she gets suggesting that they are the reason for jail overcrowding. Thanks again for pulling another "Kennedy."

We have Money for This?

2006-07-21T11:09:00.000-04:00

In the Star today, it talks about spending money on art for downtown. $250,000 to be exact. The person who runs the Indianapolis Cultural Development Commission who is funding the art has a number in the City-County building which suggests that it is a city run group. So, the city will spend $250,000 on art for downtown, where people are being assaulted and beaten, but won't fund the money for jail beds.

Don't get me wrong, I think that art makes a city great, but, it is an end product of a city that has nothing else to worry about.

Right now, there are a lot of problems that we have to worry about such as crime and getting the street light in front of my house to work.

Priorities!!!

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

2006-07-20T16:13:00.000-04:00

Here you see Monroe Gray at a local event. Advertising for Pepsi and eating some popcorn.

But

If

You

Look

Closer

You can see he is eating "Brizzi Popcorn"

Just thought a few of you out there might enjoy it. A buddy of mine from college sent it to me and we had a good laugh.

Eat some Brizzi popcorn, refuse to put his proposal on the agenda!

Partisan With Public Safety

2006-07-20T11:03:00.000-04:00

When will the members of the City-County Council get it? Do they even notice that we are in the middle of a crime epidemic? Last night was one of the ugliest nights I have ever witnessed for any governmental body. My thoughts below, and Abdul's thoughts on his site.

Some background: Crime is up and the size of the jail is continually being lowered because of a court order. The Sheriff and Mayor have yet to do anything to try and address the issue. Finally, the Sheriff organized 125 extra beds be used. The stick of that is, the beds at liberty hall were already being used to house inmates (male and female), they just changed the population over to all females. I really wonder if it added any space at all. Then, Prosecutor Brizzi and Councilman Borst propose using some beds in New Castle. Coucilman Gray refuses to even put it on the agenda saying "what good is having the juice if you don't use it." Finally, a month later, and 447 early releases, the city council takes up the proposal. After 5 hours of utter BS last night, the council and Monroe Gray through 4 Democratic puppets stalled the proposal, amended it to give it no meaning and passed it. The proposal as it was amended gives the Sheriff and Criminal justice planning council the power to look into more jail beds.

Didn't they already have that power and never use it? Couldn't the Sheriff have done something about this a long time ago and, instead, sit on his hands and do nothing?

Greg Bowes, the winner of the dumbest comment of the year accused Prosecutor Brizzi of filing too many charges. Bowes went on to say that we did not need any more jail beds. Brilliant!! Go back to your smoking ordinance and trying to pass an assessor's test.

Vernon Brown and Williams Oliver spent the entire evening asking rediculous questions showing the entire City they know nothing about protecting citizens or how the system works. I once heard in another meeting Oliver ask why prosecutors didn't read people their rights. Come on, are our representatives that stupid?

This was ultimately just an example of how removed the Democrats on the City-County Council are from the people. It shows that public safety is not a priority of the Sheriff, Mayor of majority on the City-County Council. The blood will be on their hands when the next early release commits a crime. Not all of the potential crimes can be seen, or prevented, however, additional beds would lower that risk. Too late now, that ship has sailed!

The King is Corrupt

2006-07-19T10:23:00.000-04:00

I have a feeling that the Robert Turner story won't be going away anytime soon. It appears again that the Mayor, King Bart, (known for other roles including, how to bribe your sheriff, and I can't believe we couldn't discover a park employee stole $350,000) has been caught trying to keep something else quite.

Turner, the only qualified person in public safety working for the Mayor's office was quitely and carefully pushed out of his office because Turner cared about protecting the public. Turner did not agree with what the Mayor was doing and got fired for it. King Bart apparently does not do well when others disagree with him. Hey, news bulliten: Mayor Peterson, you have no idea what you are doing!!!

Also for note, King Bart never appears on camera when there is bad news about his administration. The Mayor always has Steve (I own a electric mower and look weird mowing with it) Campbell

A Moment With Tully

2006-07-19T09:52:00.000-04:00

Tully has a good article today. The only problem is, why would anyone want Bart to head up something when he hasn't done anything in 7 years? This isn't a new problem. It has been mounting and getting worse for a couple of years. The city-county council's majority has no idea what they are doing. Their only goal right now is to keep any ideas and proposals brought up by the Republican caucus from seeing the light of day.

Here is Tully's article.

There are rumblings

2006-07-19T08:58:00.000-04:00

UPDATE: Steven Talley has stepped down from his council seat effective as of 8am yesterday. As we find out more on the reasons, we will get back to you.

I am hearing that a Democrat has resigned from the city-county council. I will get back with more info as I track it down.

Strange But True

2006-07-18T17:47:00.000-04:00

I just don't get it. Monroe Gray, the man who protects criminals from serving any time in jail has a letter posted on the City-Council website. Just doesn't seem right to me. I look forward to what excuse he comes up with this time around when he tries to stop the chance for us to keep a few more criminals off the street. Maybe he has such strong feelings about it because he is losing money at his gambling house!

Check it out: Monroe Gray's sob story.

It's Over

2006-07-17T09:13:00.000-04:00

A tough day for me today as I offically give up on the Cubs for the 2006 season. It was a difficult season to watch up until yesterday when it went off the deep end. The Cubs gave up 11 runs in an inning and lost to the Mets of all teams.

So, with that disgrace, I am officially looking ahead to Colts season and training camp which starts in about a week.

Wait til next year!

Strike 3 . . . Hundred

2006-07-13T15:08:00.000-04:00

Government in Indianapolis seems to have let down their citizens once again. It turns out that the HUD assistance programs are really just paying the rent for criminals to live here.

Pretty sad when the Federal Government has to come in and let us know how bad of a job we are doing. Will the Mayor please stand up and start doing something to make our city safer?

Here is the story from Channel 6:

INDIANAPOLIS -- Federal officials are connecting numerous high-profile crimes in the Indianapolis area with recipients of free housing.

Call 6's Rafael Sanchez first broke the story on Wednesday night about dozens of Hoosiers being arrested for housing fraud after alleged involvement with other crimes.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson is in Indianapolis for Black Expo and is expected to address the crackdown on Thursday.

Officials said a large number of violent crimes over the past two years are traced to people that taxpayers pay the rent for each month.

The federal housing voucher program in Indianapolis is intended for people in need, but in several cases, officials said that people claimed poverty to get the help, then allowed others to live in their homes while allegedly committing crimes.

Sources told 6News that the two people charged in the deaths of seven people last month, Desmond Turner and James Stewart, should not have been living in subsidized housing because of previous criminal records.

Others connected to Turner and Stewart face charges for allowing them to live in the homes.
Others being charged in a citywide fraud sweep include a landlord who officials said has been collecting tax dollars for a person who was dead for seven months. The landlord has not returned the money, Sanchez reported.

Call 6 has also learned that police connected the shooting of IPD officer Michael Antonelli last November to people receiving federal housing assistance.

Two postal workers who claimed poverty are also being kicked off government handout rolls. Officials said the postal workers had several hundred thousand dollars stashed in hidden bank accounts.

Officials said the fraud they have uncovered is worth more than $1 million dollars.
Watch 6News beginning First At 5:00 for updates.

Way to Go!

2006-07-12T15:29:00.000-04:00

Another early release appears to have resulted in ruining a few more lives. I hold Monroe Gray and all of his Democratic buddies responsible for anything bad that may have resulted from this.

I wonder if the Sheriff is looking for plane tickets to leave the country. Lord knows he can afford it.

If only there was a way that we could find more jail beds to make sure no evil person was let back out onto the street. (Sarcasm)

It is about time that people in this city start letting their elected officials know that we are "Mad as Hell and we aren't going to take it anymore!"

Can you say "Cover Up"

2006-07-12T09:38:00.000-04:00

More fun with the richest sheriff in town.

Star articles:

Board member kicked off

Tully's Article

Editorial

All of this and crime is still running rampant!