Loading ...Breaking the Law, Breaking the Law
Has the Center Township Assessor been listening to Judas Priest lately? You could make the argument that Eugene Akers has.
As citizens have been going in to appeal their property tax assessments, Akers’ office has been handing out political literature telling them to vote against transferring the Township Assessor’s duties to the County Assessor.
I know this is true because I went to the Office last week and they not only gave me a copy, but made several copies, at my request, to hand out to all my friends.
Here’s the text of the flyer…
JUST SAY NO!
If you wish to retain local representation in Center Township, vote NO on the November 4th General Election Referendum issue:
“Should the assessing duties of the Elected Township Assessor in the township be transferred to the County Assessor?”
Please look for this referendum on the backside of your ballot!
JUST SAY NO!
Thank you for your Support!
There was no disclaimer on the flyer nor was there a disclosure statement as to who paid for it (of course we know who did, it was the taxpayers).
I wasn’t sure about the legality of this until I called the Indiana State Board of Accounts and was told the agency would take exception to the township assessor paying for political activities out of public funds.
We can have a debate about whether consolidation of the township assessors into the County assessor is a good thing, but it doesn’t help the township assesssors when one of them does really dumb things like this.
It also makes me wonder if someone is stupid enough to engage in blatant politicking on government time, do they really need to keep their job?
July 8th, 2008 at 9:38 am
I’m sure that Akers has enough in petty cash to get himself a custom made, orange jumpsuit.
July 8th, 2008 at 9:56 am
“Corruption is as corruption does.”
–The Democrat Machine
So now the Democrats are using taxpayer money to copy fliers to advocate their corrupt political agenda. This is Felony Official Misconduct!
Where is our prosecutor on this one? Is he still fine tuning the Monroe Gray case for the filing of an Information?
Brizzi is failing us all!
July 8th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Wait a minute, wait a minute…which township office did you say?….
Oh…Center Township…never mind. They are exempt from the laws of mankind.
July 8th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Good job Abdul!
July 8th, 2008 at 11:13 am
In response to Muckraker, corruption is a both-party problem. As long as we continue to blatantly support the status quo of two parties with comments such as your’s above, we will go exactly where we are heading. …. Also, three lines later, you blame the republican elected official. … What’s your point?
July 8th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Republican prosecutors Steve Goldsmith, Scotty Newman and Carl Brizzi seem to agree. They’ve never indicted any Center Township officials…
July 8th, 2008 at 11:45 am
Do we uphold law when faced with the probability of being labeled racist, sexist, uncaring, or a hater of some sort, and face possible recrimination if our group is guilty of the same thing? The answer’s generally no. Therefore, we get the council members we get, the township officials we have, etc. I’d be interested to see the Mayor use some of his relatively non-partisan capital on this one, but not worth losing headway on less polarizing economics and education.
July 8th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
The only racists I encounter in my immediate world are the ones in Center Township who are members of the Democratic party.
.
I simply do not encounter racism in my interracial neighborhood at 42nd and Central or at my place of employment in Center Township.
July 8th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
THANKS, Abdul, for bringing this to light. Sorry I was so slow in getting you a copy of the flier, but I appreciate you making this a big deal.
The best part? After the assessor heard my appeal and gave me the speech about the ballot referendum, he then told me the process for getting my prop tax refund after my assessed value was adjusted:
1. The township assessor’s adjustment gets sent to the county appeals board for approval.
2. The county sends their decision back to the township office.
3. The township office sends me a form of some sort that allows me to apply for a refund.
4. I fill out the form and mail it back to the township office.
5. The township office then sends notice to the treasurer that I am owed a refund.
6. The treasurer then can send me a check.
Government inefficiency at its finest. And this, right after he tried to justify for ten minutes why their office should stay intact.
July 8th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
If you want a very interesting study in probable self-interest look at the following:
http://cms.indygov.org/myassessedvalue/result.aspx?Parcel=1081021
http://cms.indygov.org/myassessedvalue/result.aspx?Parcel=1046648
July 8th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Does anything ever happen to these issues? I seem to remember an issue by a government employee in Noblesville that happens to be a State Rep. The issue was handed off to the State Police by the Hamilton County Sherriff and that was the last it was ever heard of. So it is not just a Marion County, Center Township issue if nothing becomes of it.
Peace
July 8th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Ed, this information should be on the front page of the STAR, not in a blog. By any stretch of the imagination, this does not smell right.
July 8th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
oh yeah, and one more thing.
it appears that the ctr. township assessor may be using the appeals process itself to advance their cause. they are miffed that a third-party contractor was hired for the reassessment, so i wonder if they are reducing assessments (and subsequently, tax bills) to influence our vote.
i am reminded of the first sentence the assessor spoke during my hearing: “let’s see what they did to you.”
July 8th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
That quote is a propaganda tool, I’m thinking.
July 8th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
[...] Assessor Eugene Akers is running afoul of the law. It seems WXNT host and blogger Abdul has caught Akers handing out political literature to those who go to the Center Township assessor’s office to protest their assessment. [...]
July 8th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Jacob, the point I made is that Democrats flaunt their corruption…and Carl Brizzi acquiesces. The corruption continues.
July 8th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Why would the status of prior prosecutors’ actions against Center officials make any difference? Or have anything to do with ANYthing? Deflecting honest criticism is an ages-old tactic, but it doesn’t change the facts.
The assessor was unqualified for the job when he ran for it. He was shoved on the Center voters by the Carson machine, for reasons of sheer political vendetta. A more-qualified candidate existed, and she nearly won.
He had supervised a few janitors at IPS before he took the current elective job.
I’m aware that the township assessors have been meeting for awhile, plotting a fall referendum strategy. Which is their right and, in the interest of job preservation, probably their duty.
But they’re doing this, at least partially on company time. And they’re sending emails to potential supporters from their indygov addresses.
They’re gonna lose this referendum…there’s no way it can prevail. Their position, frankly, is untennable and will be lucky to gain 30% support.
But they certainly have the right to organize on private time and using private resources.
Akers’s leaflet is an insult to our intellegence. He owes taxpayers an apology.
The law regarding elected officeholders and their time on task is rather loose. But if any of his stooges on the township payroll worked one minute on this while clocked in, it’s ghost employment and misuse of taxpayer funds.
July 8th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Big Dawg,
I’d love to hear some more about what you’re talking about. Care to spill some beans about whatever supposedly happened, or can you link me to someplace where I can read more? Thanks.
July 8th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
John
Here is a Blog Post from a few weeks ago.
http://bigdawgtales.blogspot.com/2008/06/representitive-kathy-kreag-richardson.html
Peace!
July 9th, 2008 at 3:40 am
Thomas Jefferson wrote and I quote “government of the people, by the people, for the people” and what do we have now ? Government of the legislators(and officials), by the legislators(and officials), for the lobbiests(with money to spend). We have to elect a different and more honest breed of legislators and officials before it is too late.
July 10th, 2008 at 4:48 am
I am really sick of the Ghetto Mafia.
September 19th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
The exact same thing is going on at Republican Fall Creek Township. But State Rep 29 is still on the loose after a cover-up by her Republican buddies in Hamilton Coutny.