Wednesday’s City Wire
Here are some items of note for your reading pleasure…
The panel taking a look at making the second Saturday night of Indiana Black Expo should have it’s recommendations ready to present to the public by September 20. Panel member Rev. Charles Harrison says the group met this past Monday and batted around a number of ideas. He says two of the group’s main goals are to address the issue of thousands of unsupervised teenagers in the downtown area as well as keeping the gang element at bay.
A meeting scheduled for today between the City and some local pastors over the Brandon Johnson excessive force case has been canceled due to scheduling conflicts. There also been a recurring issue over who the city should actually meet with since there are so many ministerial groups. And to make matters even more interesting, the ministers are divided over whether there should ever there should even be a meeting over Brandon Johnson until the Justice Department completes its review of the IMPD investigation.
If Council Democrats want to take out their frustrations on Paul Bateman, Jackie Nytes and Mary Moriarty Adams for the their vote this week on the Citizens Gas deal they’re probably going to have to wait until the May 2011 primary. The Council Democrat Caucus voted to remove any members who voted for the deal from their committee assignments, however the Council’s Committee on Committees makes the decision as to who gets what assignments and it is controlled by Republicans.
City agencies have submitted their budgets to the Mayor’s office for review. Formal budget hearings won’t begin until mid-August, but the city is looking to deal with $20-plus million shortfall due to tax caps and the downturn in the economy.
July 28th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Hey Abdul, this is an excellent article from Walter Williams which doesn't match your topic here today, but an earlier topic. I thought you'd like to read it!
http://www.lewrockwell.com/williams-w/w-william...
The rEVOLution Continues! – Ron Paul is taking over!
July 28th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
I hadn't heard anything about the Council DemCaucus's vote…please elaborate. I'll ask around, too. Could be an empty threat.
As for budgets, you apparently don't understand the budget process here: legal advertisements for all govt. entities' budgets, have to be run in the next week or two, in order to hold public hearings later in August. Those public hearings must, by law, be preceded by the legal advertisements. In order to be advertised, they have to be collected, assembled and, in some cases, approved (first draft). So, whoever told you they had just submitted their budgets, was once again blowing smoke up your rear…they've had those budgets in-hand for weeks, if not months. Or else they're more incompetent than I thought.
But hey, play along.
July 28th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
TA,
You jumped the gun. All agencies had to sumbit their plans to the COntroller for review, so he can make suggestions. We're still a few weeks off from public hearings. Not that I enjoy correcting you, but, I do on occasion. :-)
July 28th, 2010 at 6:15 pm
If Adams gets a primary/slated challenger, the Dems will have my support. I was surprised she stuck around after voting against the HRO twice in 2006.
July 28th, 2010 at 8:33 pm
Ok, so the city knows it is short and it found $33 million for the Pacers? Really? How does that math work again?
Also, the city needs to visit the IRS statements for The Arts Council and all the other organizations it funds to check on how much of its money is actually reaching programs and how much is going to salaries and admin. Ogden on Politics has analyzed several of the statements in the past.
July 28th, 2010 at 8:33 pm
In the words of Madea, “you'd better ask somebody.” DLGF's Advice to Taxing Authorities says the deadline is already here…to place legal advertisements properly, especially in weekly papers, they'd best be 'steppin. I've been part of the decision-making process before, and it hasn't changed in 25 years, calendar-wise:
Public hearings, last two weeks of August. Publication of Public Notice (Legal Ads): At least 10 days prior to hearing. To make publication deadlines for weeklies (almost all entities use The Recorder and/or that weekly lawyer newspaper whose name I now forget)…the ads must run twice.
So we're right-there.
And they've had those budgets for weeks. I talked to a council member who saw most of them a month ago. 95% complete. Absent some last tweaks.
It's not a huge deal, but obviously, they spoon-fed you that news tidbit, and you bought it. Unless he's our worst-mayor-ever (and the jury is still out on that), these agency heads had their budgets into the Comptroller and the 25th floor a month ago. Or more.
Tsk tsk.
July 28th, 2010 at 8:41 pm
That column is excellent.
July 29th, 2010 at 10:48 am
A lot of agencies have already complied, last Friday was the deadline to have everything in to the 25th floor.