Loading ...CITY TALES
Addition by Subtraction
I saw 73 new police recruits get sworn in Monday. I always welcome new police officers but we aren’t adding any new officers, because they will replace the 70-75 officers who will retire at the end of the year. The department has managed to add more officers on the street by moving some from behind the desk, but of those are detectives, investigators and upper management. There are plans in the works to increase the recruitment ranks by lowering the academic standards. Currently officers need to score and 80 percent on the written exam to join the force, that number is being lowered to 75 percent.
Loyal Following
I ran into Center Township Trustee Carl Drummer the other day at a political event. I asked him what he though about Monroe Gray, Drummer said Gray was his friend and he stands by him. He says people make mistakes, but you should never desert your friends. Maybe the Mayor could learn something from the trustee and finally put his arm around Gray at a rally scheduled for Saturday morning at County Headquarters. By the way, the Council did finally vote to move forward with the ethics investigation of Gray. It voted 28-0 to create a bi-partisan commission to investigate allegations against the Council President.
Peterson Plan III
Mayor Bart Peterson is set to unveil Peterson Plan III. It will be unveiled on the mayor’s campaign website this afternoon. I was hoping for a little more fanfare from Hizzoner. But like most sequels, the plot runs thin by the third installment. So hopefully the Mayor will unveil a Return of the Jedi and not a Star Trek III.
October 30th, 2007 at 8:00 am
Well we all know the GOOD Star Trek movies are the even numbers ones. Lets hope Peterson Plan IV never see the light of day !
October 30th, 2007 at 8:22 am
Hey Abdul! Are the tax protesters invited to the rally? What’s the address some of us would like to show up and, well share our thoughts with the Bart and Monroe..Please tell us the time and place.
October 30th, 2007 at 8:24 am
Hey Abdul! They gotcha!!!!
It’s all a diversion designed to take you and the GOP off message. They are killing him in the polls with the tax increase, crime and curruption issues. Tell the Ballard folks NOT to take the bait. Stay focused!
19 tax increases in 4 years,
more crime and zero accountability.
October 30th, 2007 at 8:57 am
Reduce the Number of Abandoned Houses
Abandoned houses can be sites for criminal activity and dangerous places of refuge for people
who are homeless. They are unsightly and unsafe and damage property values. Abandoned
houses harm a neighborhood’s self-esteem. They pose a hazard to our public safety officials and
children. Mayor Peterson will continue his fight against abandoned housing.
The Peterson administration has taken steps to begin to rid our neighborhoods of these
unsafe eyesores.
? The city increased its use of the expedited tax sale procedure in 2003 by
placing more than 500 parcels on the expedited tax sale list, thereby
moving the properties toward potential redevelopment faster.
? The city published the top ten list of problem property owners. Using this
list, the city can prioritize its legal efforts to hold property owners
accountable and encourage neighborhood organizations to put public
pressure on owners to fix up their properties.
? The city, using a comprehensive classification system, completed an
inventory of abandoned properties in the old city limits (the city boundary
prior to UniGov). This inventory, the city’s first, will make it easier for
the city, the private sector and community development organizations to
consider a property’s redevelopment potential and for the city to prosecute
property owners who repeatedly violate health and safety codes.
? The Indianapolis Police and Fire Departments have begun sharing
information they receive about abandoned properties from police and fire
runs with other city agencies. Efforts are already underway to get similar
information from other agencies in Marion County.
Abandoned houses reduce property values, produce blight, and induce criminal activity
leading to social and economic costs that neighborhoods and city government are forced to
bear. These costs are a barrier to community development.
? From January 2000 to December 2002, the city spent more than $5 million
to board or demolish unsafe structures. These are dollars that could
otherwise have been invested in other community revitalization initiatives.
NEED:
At a minimum, abandoned houses spoil the quality of life and economic potential of many urban
neighborhoods. At their worst, abandoned houses lead to crime and can be a health hazard for
our community. Indianapolis cannot succeed as a world-class city if it abandons neighborhoods
that have fallen on hard times.
October 30th, 2007 at 9:02 am
PETERSON PLAN II (PAGE49)
NEED:
With the Indianapolis Police Department and the Marion County Sheriff’s Department facing
similar types of criminal activity, enhanced collaboration will help the two departments fight
crime more effectively.
PLAN OF ACTION:
Mayor Peterson will work with Sheriff Frank Anderson to establish an even closer
partnership between IPD and the Marion County Sheriff’s Department; however, the
Mayor is not in favor of consolidating the two departments. The Mayor will work with
Sheriff Anderson to improve communication between the two departments through regular
meetings between senior leadership of IPD and the Sheriff’s Department. The enhanced
collaboration will create efficiencies that will allow the city and county to stretch scarce
public safety resources to their full potential.
October 30th, 2007 at 9:09 am
The bi-partisan proposal to “investigate” President Gray’s public behavior is just more stonewalling. All votes will be 2-2. Deadlock.
Expectation is that most voters will move on to the Presidential elections and forget all about poor old Monroe soon enough.
I can’t see why anybody is happy about this development.
Peterson “Plan” XYZ. Just reelection posturing. Just like Plans I and II, it will be tossed on the midden heap along with the aforementioned ethics “investigation”.
What went wrong with Bart Peterson? Somewhere in the last eight years he has lost his way. That subject would be a worthy subject for a political study.
October 30th, 2007 at 9:50 am
That class of 74 officers started out at 100. They are far from finished and have only been sworn into the academy. Now they have many weeks of training and all will not pass, so let’s not count the chickens before they hatch.
October 30th, 2007 at 9:58 am
Let’s try for an even worse movie in its third sequel - how about Smokey and the Bandit Part III - it was so bad Burt Reynolds wouldn’t participate in it!
October 30th, 2007 at 10:04 am
MAKING INDIANAPOLIS SAFER BY ADDING
200 MORE COMMUNITY POLICE OFFICERS
To reduce violent crime we must hire and train 200 additional community police officers.
Fact: No major city in America has experienced a larger increase in its homicide rate over the past few
years than has Indianapolis. In the Indianapolis Police Department (IPD) service area, the homicide
rate increased by over 70 percent in the period 1991 to 1998, while in most cities, including those
of similar size, homicides were down.
Fact: Indianapolis has fewer police officers in 1999 than it had in 1970.
Fact: Since 1991, the overall crime rate for areas served by IPD has increased by almost 20% and
violent crimes comprise much of this increase.
Fact: Indianapolis has 2.7 police officers for every 1,000 residents; but, according to FBI statistics, the
national average for cities with populations of at least 250,000 people is 3.1 police officers for
every 1,000 residents. Just for IPD to reach the national average, Indianapolis needs at least 140
additional police officers.
Fact: Cities such as New York, Boston, Portland, Cleveland, and Columbus have seen significant
decreases in their violent crime rate after increasing the number of police officers in their ranks.
Fact: 200 police officers can be added to the IPD without a tax increase.
Fact: Community policing is an officer-intensive approach to crime prevention; Indianapolis purportedly
has implemented community policing but it doesn’t work because we have never increased the
number of officers.
October 30th, 2007 at 11:55 am
Why would Peterson start Plan III when Plans I & II are not even started?
October 30th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
Mayor Bart Peterson has played a cruel eight (8) year trick on minority and women-owned businesses. Under the City of Indianapolis’ mbe/wbe program, the city sets aside 15% & 8% for women and minorities-owned companies, respectively, from city contracts. Combined that’s 23%, nearly 1/4th of city contracts. Other public entities also have mbe/wbe programs, such as Indianapolis Public Schools, Veolia Water, the Indianapolis Airport, the Universities, and public hospitals. When Bart entered office eight years ago the city was contracting 1-2% with wbe/mbes. All the reports that I’ve gathered to date indicates the city still only doing 1-2% with mbe/wbes– and political insiders are getting that.
http://www.indygov.org/eGov/City/DOA/MBE-WBE/home.htm
http://www.indygov.org/NR/rdonlyres/EEC5D6F9-FE6D-45F1-B113-E12DA6AE5E28/0/ProposalPacketChange.pdf
Indiana legislator and House, Ways and Means Chair William “Bill” Crawford gets the privilege of determining whether to read bills submitted to this powerful committee by these public agencies. He can either read the bill or continuously moving it to the bottom of the stack, insuring that it will ultimately expire if not read by the end of the legislative session. Representative Crawford enjoys this privilege so much that he opened shared it on numerous occasions to dozens of black gatherers and entrepreneurs. It tickled me to personally “see and hear” a veteran legislator make such public confessions, repeatedly! Especially when those in the audience seldom benefited from these annual political shakedowns at our State’s capitol.
http://www.in.gov/h98/index.html
Yes, Bill Crawford was the deliverer of mbe/wbe contracts to blacks and women–carrying the scales of justice in one hand, and a stack of legislative bills in the other.
I guess those weekly Friday Group meetings is when I first noticed the “Abuse of Juice” by Indianapolis black politicians. What was more amazing is that quite a few black entrepreneurs knew about, but remained quiet due to fear, or perhaps hopes that one day they’ll be allowed to join the team called by many as the “Ghetto Mafia”. Yes, they do and say nasty things towards anyone who disagree of such unethical behavior, or who dare have the audacity to think they have ANY rights at all under the U.S. or Indiana Constitutions. One wonders if they’ve ever read it or if they understand it, a major pitfall of having a black caucus that has NO black lawyers whatsoever and some with NO formal education and limited cognitive and comprehensive capacity.
23% of public contracting is a lot of money and the exercise of Representative Bill Crawford’s legislative power regarding such money is a lot of power [and] years of unchecked arrogance – such conduct has facilitated contracting to front companies, phony contracts to friends and overall abuse and neglect of the mbe/wbe programs throughout the entire state of Indiana.
To add to this mockery of leadership for women and minority businesses, Rep. Crawford introduced legislation last year to allow not-for-profit companies to obtain mbe status and thereby compete with women and minority-owned for-profit. http://www.in.gov/apps/lsa/session/billwatch/billinfo?year=2007&session=1&request=getBill&doctype=HB&docno=1566
23% is enough to provide sufficient contracts to hundreds of small businesses — which in return create many jobs for recent college graduates/interns, minorities, women and ex-felons;
23% is also enough for a few crooked politicians teamed up with a few greedy minorities & majority companies and a “rubber stamp” at city hall.
These greedy people are Mayor Bart Peterson’s friends and they are using Mayor Bart Peterson’s rubber stamp. But just like with everything else, Bart Peterson hides and lies. This is an example of not only how Mayor Bart Peterson fails to provide Equal Protection and Due Process rights to its black constituents and women-owned businesses as guaranteed under our U.S. Constitution, but how he is using our cities resources and power to do it.
MAYOR BART PETERSON FAKES DIVERSITY INITIATIVES
AND
ALLOWS HIS GREEDY FRIENDS TO STEAL WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY OURS!
PETERSON WON’T HELP US, IT WILL NEVER STOP!
LET’S HELP OURSELVES!
ELECT GREG BALLARD AS OUR NEW MAYOR!
October 30th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
Why is the Mayor trying to take credit for creating new units in IMPD or moving officers to the street. He’s even talking about trying to improve the 911 center. He voluntarily gave up control of IMPD and 911 but now it’s a large part of his plan?
October 30th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
“Peterson Plan” & Racketeering seem to go hand-in-hand. “Racketeering activity” is defined in Indiana as “to commit, to attempt to commit, to conspire to commit a violation of, or aiding and abetting in a violation of any of the following: (18) Bribery (IC 35-44-1-1).
(19) Official misconduct (IC 35-44-1-2).
(20) Conflict of interest (IC 35-44-1-3).(21) Perjury (IC 35-44-2-1).(22) Obstruction of justice (IC 35-44-3-4).
(23) Intimidation (IC 35-45-2-1).(25) Promoting professional gambling (IC 35-45-5-4).”
Isn’t this a better picture of “The Peterson Plan”???
October 30th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
abdul, would you help me with this once and for all? is monroe gray racially african american?
October 31st, 2007 at 10:09 am
Carl Drummer sticks by his friends.
That’s rich.
Carl has the best-paying legal job he’s ever had in his life. And he can’t get that right. And on that trustee salary, he has multiple Corvettes, two homes, an ex-wife and kids to support, and expensive travel habits? Hmmmmm
So we put honor in his statement, that he stands by his friend, who can’t produce timesheets or true work product for his $83K and city car? In which both sat outside a peashake parlour a couple years ago?
Their world is defined by their standards. Which are warped. As long as the definition of “friends” and “honor” are theirs, instead of Webster’s, we’re all screwed.