I wouldn't put too much stock in your informant re: Mary Ann Sullivan…She has been honest and up front about her support of charter schools. She also has a record of being involved with IPS and is very supportive of IPS also…………

I agree. Abdul you want to add sources.

I dunno. Without Bauer's iron hand, Sullivan would have been doing several things against fellow Democrats. Maybe if they go after Barnes, District 89 has a chance to go back Republican.

I feel sorry for the teacher who has some dumb kids in class. Dumb kids do exist and they naturally bring down test scores. If a teacher gets too many of them, the teacher could lose a job. Why so much stock put into one standarized test?

Uh, Puzzled. The first chance she had, Rep. Mary Ann Sullivan voted against charter schools. She burned her bridges with those folks. She's effectively turned off people on both sides of the charter school issues. Not a smart thing for her to have done.

The Mayor has a lot more to worry about from his rocky relationship with Marion County Republicans than the Governor. The ones I know are furious with the Mayor.

Ballard has won over more supporters than he lost after the election. I talk to Republicans every day and very few are unhappy with the way he governs.
Ballard will run for re-election with more support and will win by a wider margin then he did in 2008.
We GOP'ers in Marion County especially need to work towards a common goal. We need to take back Township government and keep control of the CC and the Mayor’s office. It's time for every Republican to get on board.
Airing our so called dirty laundry in public only reinforces our opponents resolve.

The state is getting very anti public education and and has never been a great state to teach in. This is one of the few states where kindergarten isn't law. Plus we allow any goomer to home school if the want to.

IndyErnie, give me a break. I am a Republican PC. The only Republicans I know who have anything good to say about Ballard, have jobs in the Ballard administration. And even they are not unanimous.

So you're really urging Republcians to “get on board” with Ballard? Do you not see the Ballard boat filled with water? Anyone Republican who gets on board by doing things like supporting tax increases for corporate welfare are going to find themselves at the bottom of an ocean come 2011.

Ballard has no chance at re-election. It's time to try to save some Republican council seats by having those folks show some independence from a very unpopular, and rightfully so, Mayor

“Goomer?” Isn't it amazing that even though they are “goomers” they still do better teaching their children than most public schools?

Ernie, I love you but you sound like you got into some koolaid this weekend.

Its not exactly anti public education. But you can't say the public schools are doing to hot. One has to mess with the system to change that fact.

Any Goomer? We should allow people to place their children whereever they choose. Seen any results of homeschool v. public school? The Goomers must know something the teacher's union doesn't. Its time to make public schools accountable, and doing that will piss off some public school supporters.

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I was at the township board meeting here at Decatur, and I think you have a couple of the details wrong…

The Trustee, Steve Rink, makes an annual request for a loan. The reason he says the loan is necessary is due to the state law which froze the township levy back in the early 80's. It doesn't allow them to grow, he says. Any raises would be included in the 2009 budget which is currently in use.

Next year's budget is not, and that's where they talked about raises (2 percent). Rink has not yet prepared that budget.

Thus, I think you've merged the two issues and they were mutually exclusive at the meeting which was attended by two people that were not firefighters (only one if you count Fire Merit Board Members).

Jon, you're drinking Rink's Koolaid. That isn't the reason for a loan. That may be what he's telling you, but many of these township folks have been cooking the books, and dodging very much public scrutiny, for decades. Every govt. unit in the state operates under the same levy restrictions. Some get temporary loans until their state allotments are delivered. I don't live in Decatur, and I thank my lucky stars every day for that, but Rink needs to explain the loan. By the way, every govt. unit in Indiana has or should have already prepared their budgets, because they have to be approved at June-early July meetings to be advertised in late July and August.

Re: Mary Ann Sullivan. I haven't heard a thing about the party organizing against her. If that happens, it'll be the Black Caucus railing against her, but there are 13 other Democrats against whom they can direct their anger. Sounds kinda far-fetched. The party won't go after an incumbent with such a flimsy House margin. Ed Treacy is not stupid.

As for Ballard, this Democrat continues to find him intriguing. I think he still has a reservoir of support that's anti-establishment. So, in that case, he can fan that base by simply being against the state government's “CIB solution.”

As much as folks here hate to admit it, this is still a Democratic county. And unless the Dems are fighting among themselves, or there's a tsunami of events as in 2007, Ballard won't win another term if he sends us all a $500 check. For everyone who thinks otherwise, I usually recite three words: Mary Catherine Barton. A complete doofus elected surveyor in 2004 simply because she was there, and she was a Democrat.

What idiot on the City-County Council would have asked for what they got handed in regards to the CIB? It is as bad if not worse then what was proposed.

The billed passed out of the State House in regards to the CIB is a joke. If it gets any Republican votes at all it will be a surprise.

See ya next year with the same problem.

Geez, TA. I would have thought you would have used the Coroner as your example. ;)

that's a shame they're trying to get rid of her for supporting those things. i am a democrat with a father who is a public school teacher and i support charter schools in many cases, not as something to get rid of public schools but to give them some competition and force them to succeed. i look at it like the public option in the health care plan that's being considered–it's there to keep the private plans honest and give the least among us some options. it is a good analogy to charter schools. as to the supporting consoilidation, well that's just a no brainer. of course we need consolidation because if you truly believe that government can be a positive influence in peoples' lives then why wouldn't you want it to be as efficient as possible? it seems to me that the politicians who oppose consolidation have forgotten why they became public servants in the first place. Either that or they never had the right motivations int he first place.

Paul I'm glad to hear that you are involved as a PC. I happen to be very involved also as a Ward Chair. Like I said…I talk to Republicans every day and very few are unhappy with the way Ballard governs.
You should get out in the township clubs more… try shutting your mouth and opening your ears… you just might hear opinions of Ballard other than your own.

Gee, IndyErnie, I've only been active in the Republican Party since 1986, 23 years. How long you been active? I've been a PC, a VWC, a Ward Chairman and a the Pike Township GOP Club President.
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Bottom line is this “don't air dirty laundry in public” nonsense you are spouting is exactly the reason why we Republicans are in the mess we are in. The “dirty laundry” argument plays into the hands of people like Bob Grand, Joe Loftus, David Brooks and Tom John, who worked behind the scenes to take over the Ballard administration and send it off a cliff, all the while they and their friends profited. If Republicans would have been speaking out early, this could not have happened. But because we Marion County Republicans have been trained not to speak out,they were able to do what they did. As a result, we Republicans are going to be paying for this bungled adminstration for years to come.
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If we Republicans are ever going to have a chance at getting back to majority status in the country, we need a party willing to embrace independent-minded Republicans who know how to reach out to Democrats and Independents. The days when a country club Republican can win county-wide is long over. Have you looked at the baseline lately? It was 40% iin the 20008 election.

“I've been a PC, a VWC, a Ward Chairman and a the Pike Township GOP Club President.”
Good for you Paul, but “been” and am aren't the same.
My point is… if you want to make change do it within the family don‘t take it public.
The Hatfields never exchanged strategy with the McCoys. And R's shouldn't be posting malcontent where the D's can read it.
The democrats have already curtailed their loose lips and yet some R’s continue to broadcast arrogantly towards their own party.
Do something positive…what you are doing isn’t.

Sorry IndyErnie….If anyone knows how hard I worked in 2007 for Ballard it would be you, for I saw you constantly that year. As an independent voter that crossed party lines, went inside GOP HQ to make phone calls for Ballard, and worked probably as hard as anyone in his campaign, don't I deserve some answers?

As an Independent voter (registered Libertarian), I am very thankful for guys like Ogden that put people over party. Ogden tells it like it is.

As an incest survivor I am probably as well off as I am today because I finally talked about the abuse in therapy first, then to my friends, and finally in public. I'll talk about it indepth in my book. That's because I want creeps like my abuser obliterated. Surprisingly, I found that it is the public disclosure that has been most healing for me. Should I have never said a word and let the creep's abuse kill me from the inside out the rest of my life?

Your party is abusing Republicans, Ernie.

The Republicans need to air their dirty laundry. As Diana Vice says, “Sunshine is the best disinfectant.”

And Ernie…your party is also abusing independents and everyone else who voted for Ballard when they are less than truthful with the public.

Melyssa, dear heart, no one “registers” as a party voter. You choose that in a primary year, when you ask for a party's ballot. You register simply as “voter.”

I love to see the GOP “I'm more involved than you” exchange. Truth is, before my party was a majority in this county, we had many of the same kinds of arguments I see playing out between Ernie and Paul. There was always someone making a plea for hiding our differences and disagreeing only in private. That was usually me. And many others. But there were always those who “took it to the streets,” so to speak.

My observation is that the behind-closed-doors argument only ferment cancerous rifts. Sunshine helps almost every public function, most especially political parties. As a power structure, parties thrive on darkness anyway–kinda like mushrooms.

Paul–the baseline Republican vote in 2008 was 38.5%. The Greg Ballards of the world don't come along every election. And you won't often have an incumbent like Peterson failing to listen to the right people. The atmosphere was exactly right for the kind of explosion on which Ballard brilliantly capitalized. I still recall the scuffaws he got when he stepped forward for the GOP nomination. Unless the world falls apart(and it could), that atmosphere will not exist in 2011.

Varan–you're right. I could've used the coroner's job as an example. But at least Dr. Ackles was mildly qualified–and I use that term very loosely. He had a cursory knowledge of human medicine, but there's a reason bone-crackers often don't get hospital admitting rights. But Mary Catherine was a good example because no one–and I mean NO ONE–ever gave her the time of day. She knew nothing about the surveyor's office. Stark raving mad. And she got elected to that very important office.

By registered, I meant dues paying. I joined the party. I carry the Libertarian card with me.

And Think Again…I loved your analysis, especially:

“My observation is that the behind-closed-doors argument only ferment cancerous rifts. Sunshine helps almost every public function, most especially political parties. As a power structure, parties thrive on darkness anyway–kinda like mushrooms.”

I think that would make pretty much everyone surprised that I was “drinking Rink's Kool-Aid.”

As the President of the Decatur Township Democratic Club, a Democrat on the Decatur Township Fire Merit Commission, a former Decatur Township Advisory Board candidate, and a generally pro-consolidation person, I am well aware of the past history. I was just pointing out that I was at the meeting and was reporting what was said in the meeting.

As far as my “ear to the ground in Republican circles”, I am probably not the best source. What I am hearing from my Republican friends is that they are very underwhelmed with Mayor Ballard. His “Mayor's Night Out” in Decatur Township was a sham. He clearly did not know the neighborhood and was not well-versed on issues he should have been, and that was according to people that I know to be Republicans. A few even walked out of the room on him. He's got a long way to go. He's not a leader, and he shows no learning curve for on-the-job training. He may be a nice guy when you meet him one on one, but this city doesn't need a wallflower on the 25th floor of the City-County Building.

“Speaking of schools, lawmakers removed a provision in state law that would have prohibited schools from using ISTEP test results to evaluate teacher performance.” The language removed was, no doubt, ISTA cretin language designed to keep the worst of the worst employed and ensuring the kids exposed to the worst were unable to ever catch up.

Jon, your Dem credentials notwithstanding, and mine are good, too—you accepted Rink's explanation, or someone else's with a less-than-complete understanding of the budget process.

If any governmental unit in Indiana hasn't finished their 2010 budget process by mid-June, they're so far behind the 8-ball they'll never see the light of day. Whatever reason a trustee or his minions give for the million dollar thing, it has a line-item traceable origin. It shouldn't be a mystery.

And the fact that the township crowd passes out misleading information is pro forma, frankly. They've been doing it for years. I understand you were just reporting what you heard, but from this end, it sounded like advocacy, not mere reporting. Forgive the assumption.

Melyssa, folks always say they're “registered Democrat” or Republican or whatever. No one is registered within a party. You're registered with the Marion County Board of Voter Registration as voter. Nothing more–although that is a very important status.

If you belong to an organized political party, bully for you. It has nothing to do with your registration. In fact, you needn't be a registered voter to belong to a party.

I belong to no organized political party–I'm a Democrat.

After re-reading my original post, I can see where you got that, TA.

JON

How about a extraction tax? Almost 30 state have it and Indiana is missing out on a lot of lost revunue. Oh im sure the coal company’s that are rapeing the Indiana landscape hand in hand with IDEM will put up a full court press against it. It always amasses me when I go to Kansas and see them stripping coal that they put the ground back and raise crops on it the next year. In Indiana they rape the ground leave big gullys and lease it to the DNR for $1.00 a year for 20 years to get out of paying tax on the ground then after state of Indiana has spent a fortune fixing it up they come along 20 years later and strip it deeper. TAX the natural resources once they are gone they are gone.

Thanks, Jon. Continue to hold Rink's feet to the fire. He probably doesn't realize his days are numbered, but they are. Township folks are almost gone.

So if your a teacher and your grade level doesn't take the test, kg, 1st, 2nd, you are exempt from the evaluation? What about high school teachers? Do they flag the english, math and science teachers the kid had in his senior year? What if those teachers had students who passed the test? More dumb Indiana eduation laws that private schools and charters are exempt from. Who would want to teach a grade that was being tested. Are you high or is it just the Indiana DOE?

“Speaking of schools, lawmakers removed a provision in state law that would have prohibited schools from using ISTEP test results to evaluate teacher performance.”
We need to document the source for what appears to be mis-information as quoted and see how or why the source was in error. Apparently, we still have to take the words of the perps that they actually did something.

“Speaking of schools, lawmakers removed a provision in state law that would have prohibited schools from using ISTEP test results to evaluate teacher performance.”
We need to document the source for what appears to be mis-information as quoted and see how or why the source was in error. Apparently, we still have to take the words of the perps that they actually did something.