Wait. Vaughn thinks there is more conflict in being in the Indiana State Senate than on the CCC? Is that just because lobbyists for the statehouse have to register (& there’s a bunch of them @ B&T) making it marginally more obvious, but those before the CCC don’t?

I dunno. Vaughn kind of strikes me as Tommy Carcetti.

Ryan doesn’t lobby the city, but he does at the Statehouse.

Oh, so he’s a lobbyist, not a write contracts/sue people “real lawyer” at BT?

He still strikes me as Carcettiesqe.

Ryan Vaughn chairs Public Safety where he deals with a parade of B&T clients that come before the committee. He has tons of conflicts on the council. Anyone who suggests otherwise ought to consider for a second why Ryan Vaughn started working for B&T in February after he was appointed Chair of the Public Safety Committee in January. That wasn’t a coincidence.

Ryan Vaughn political career is probably in trouble if he stays on the council. Healmost certainly will carry the ball on the tax increases, which will lead to an almost certainty that he will be opposed in the Republican primary. Even if he wins that, he he may well not be able to win the general election. Carrying the water for Bob Grand and an unpopular Mayor isn’t a good political move at this point.

However, getting into a vacacancy election, where the contest that is easily rigged by party leaders, like Tom John, that’s another matter entirely.

Vaughn should leave Indy and , just go away, he is an up and coming lawyer / looser………….

I hope citizens in this district make their voices heard. We don’t need another lawyer at the statehouse. We especially don’t need a Barnes & Thornburg lawyer at the statehouse!

Vaughn is going to challenge Noe in the primary. The Gov will want a closer friend to replace Lubbers. One of the IN 5 challengers would be well served to take the job until Burton retires on his own terms.

I’m sorry Ryan is being demonized. I have worked with him and have been very impressed with his work ethic and abilty to get things done. His background of experience and time spent in the prosecutor’s office have been a real asset in understanding the needs and responsibilities of the numerous departments that fall on the Public Safety Committee.
Each instance that I have observed where there might be a perceived “conflict of interest”, he has demonstrated conscientousness in volunteering to remove himself from the decision making/voting process.
Whether Ryan is the “moderate” Republican, he is cast to be, I won’t comment on. What I do know is that his temperament is such. He brings a calm and quiet strength to many a contentious meeting. He is willing to listen to all sides, and change direction when new information gleaned on a particular issue forces him to readjust his previously held mindset.
If moving to the Senate is a an opportunity Ryan embraces, then I wish him well.Selfishly, I would like for him to stay on Council, where his talents are needed right now.
Sorry naysayers and arrow vaulters. I will take to task those who need to be, but I will defend those who are maligned by those who choose to build a case against him based on their own fertile, negative imaginations and total acceptance of everything they read on blogs.

Veritas,

Ryan Vaughn has had a chance to show some leadership on the council and instead decided to carry the water for Bob Grand and a Mayor pushing through a very elitist, anti-Republican agenda. As part of the leadership he has been part of a retaliatory, strong-armed effort against Republican councilors who dare question the Mayor’s agenda. Talk to the Republican councilors about Ryan Vaughn…most do not talk favorably.
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He was also involved in the effort to retaliate against Ed Coleman regarding committee assignments before Ed became a Libertarian. I understand he’s young…but he has made some bad political choices recently.
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As far as his recusing himself on conflicts of interest cases, well that simply is not true. He is chair of the Public Safety Committee, which committee has a parade of Barnes & Thornburg clients appear before it. He sponsored a proposal to give CCA $225,000 more dollars for dubiious reasons. CCA is a B&T client. That firm makes millions off of CCA as they are constantly being sued for their operation of Jail #2. (Vaughn later recused himself on the vote on the proposal he sponsored.) He has voted on matters involving the Coroner, which his firm represents in several cases. He even sponsored a measure involving the Marion County Superior Courts, which again, his firm represents. B&T represents the Prosecutors office. In fact, it’s hard to find people appearing before Public Policy who are not B&T clients…which is exactly why Vaughn, a B&T attorney, chairs the committee.
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As far as his experience in the prosecutor’s office being an asset, given the problems with the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office right now, I am not sure that’s a feather in his cap.
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Ironically the state senate opportunity is likely to be the best way Ryan has of escaping a very, very negative couple of years. He’s likely to be asked to carry the CIB tax increase bill and will likely have a primary opponent. He might even be vulnerable to being knocked off in the general election. Escaping to the State Senate is his best chance to avoid the possible end of his political career come 2011.

Fire, there is no primary in that Senate District until 2012.

Is Ann Shane related to David Shane from the Board of Education and big time Daniels supporter?

Abdul- if we can attribute your support of a President who spends like he’s gone mad to a kinship in other areas, how about you pursuing a vacated Vaughn council seat? If your bride-to-be has got you parked here, you have your head on much straighter than most around here. What say?

PKO, I’m talking Noe’s IN87 house seat in 2010, not Lubbers’ Senate seat in 2012.

firehammersteel-

You should check your sources better. Vaughn doesn’t live in Cindy Noe’s district. He’s in HD86, which is currently well represented by Ed Delaney.

Ryan Vaughn does not strike me as the kind of Senator the district has traditionally had, and needs. We do not need another lawyer beholden to people like Tom John, Bob Grand and Joe Loftus. I hope the precinct committeemen think about this very deeply, and do not rubber stamp this apparent annointment.

just what we need — another lawyer from the firm that has brought us bob grand and joe loftus…..i hope the precinct committeemen do not go along with this dubious appointment. The district has always had “indpendent, progressive” types representing it in the Senate — this does not fit with that.