I was not surprised that the Baptist Ministers Alliance of Indianapolis called, for the 20th bajillionth time for Frank Straub’s resignation/termination/flogging/tarring/feathering as Public Safety Director.  Nor was I surprised that some Democrats on the City-Council are trying to politicize and capitalize on the tragic death of Eric Wells.  If they say they’re not being political, don’t believe them, their  latest news release was put out by Adam Kirsch, Executive Director of the Marion County Democratic Party.

Where I am puzzled is with all the recent discussions about what did all the parties the day of the Bisard crash and when did they know it.   My fellow brothers and sisters in the press have reported that the day of the incident Deputy Chief Daryl Pierce and Assistant Chief Ron Hicks went out to the scene but were called back by Chief Paul Ciesielski to talk about a news conference regarding the image of  Director Straub.

There have been references to conversations and text messages, but no one has produced anything in writing.   There is a lot of  “he said/he said” but I would assume that the easiest way to clear up this controversy would be for the parties involved to release the text messages that transpired that day.    With the back and forth between the culture and the command structure of IMPD, a review of the text message communications of that day would clear up confusion and we would know what everyone else knew.  Was it a failure of command at the scene or was the Chief more concerned about public relations?

And here’s something else a release of the text messages would show, did any of IMPD’s field command tell the Chief that the scene was so bad they weren’t going to come back to the office, but stay there and supervise?   That has been in the back of my mind since this controversy began.   I know IMPD has a pending investigation so they may not want to release anything until the findings are complete, but there is nothing to stop Hicks, John Conley or Pierce from releasing information through their attorneys.

I’ll be paying close attention to see how this part of the drama all plays out.

I asked him his reaction to critics who say he’s been in office too long and what he thinks about a primary challenger?  He told me he will serve until his fellow Hoosiers decide it’s time for him to do something else.  And when asked about a possible primary challenger in 2010 , he said “it’s a free country and people are entitled to do what they wish.”  He says he has a lot of energy left and looks forward to the race.

I bring this up, because Lugar has been in the U.S. Senate since 1976, for some people that’s too long.   For me, I’ve always believed you should serve until you are no longer effective.  For some politicians that means serving one-term, others that could mean a couple decades.   I also think that if the voters have had enough of someone they should get together and remove that person from office.  It has been done before, just ask Lisa Murkowski, Robert Bennett and Arlan Specter.  Each was an incumbent and each lost.  Granted it was a primary, but they still lost.

Of course critics would say the above examples are the exception, not the rule.  I will freely admit incumbency always brings a certain amount of inherent advantages.  However, at the end of the day, it’s the votes that count.   I think we can make voting more competitive by eliminating blatant gerrymandering and the creation of districts that look like a Rorschach test.  We can also neutralize some of the power of entrenched incumbency by putting term limits on committee assignments.  Just because you should be allowed to serve until you die, doesn’t mean you can keep the same spot in perpetuity.

Of course, if people would get off their rear ends and exercise their civic duties and stay engaged in the process, this discussion wouldn’t be necessary.

Word of caution, I am friends or following all of the candidates because it helps me keep track of their campaigns and it is not to be taken as an endorsement of their candidacies.  I like and dislike everybody equally.

So with that said, here’s where everybody stands as of when I wrote this post this morning, the numbers may have changed slightly since then.

U.S. Senate

• Dan Coats – 3,889 friends.
• Brad Ellsworth – 7,484 friends.
• Rebecca Sink-Burris – 742 friends.

2nd District

• Joe Donnelly – 1,848 friends.
• Jackie Walorski - 4,938 friends.

8th District

• Trent van Haaften – 1,279 friends.
• Larry Bucshon – 1,186 friends.

9th District

• Todd Young – 2,413 friends.
• Baron Hill – 2,219 friends.

Secretary of  State*

• Charlie White – 1,916 friends.
• Vop Osili – 2,008 friends.
• Mike Wherry – 305 friends.

Auditor

• Tim Berry – 543 friends.
• Sam Locke – 1,355 friends.

Treasurer

• Richard Mourdock – 1,420 friends.
• Pete Buttigieg – 1,096 friends.

State Parties**

• Republicans – 805 friends/8,846 friends.
• Democrats – 627 friends/965 friends.
• Libertarians – 1,847 friends.

*Just for the record,  if Facebook friends were votes, Libertarian Mike Wherry helps Libertarians keep their ballot access because he get seven percent of the total vote.

**State parties have a couple pages that I pulled the data from.  HT to Matt Stone for the info.

IndyGo is what it is, so I won’t spend a lot of time on it.  The library is another matter altogether.  The library wants $1.8 million more of your property tax dollars because it hasn’t hit the ceiling on what it can levy.  No offense, but I really think the library needs to look at its business model and ask itself what is the role of a library in the 21st Century.

A very good friend of mine who is a big library supporter had me raise an eyebrow when he said he went to an eastside library recently and where he expected to see kids studying, he saw grown ups playing on their Facebook pages.  No offense, but I don’t think the mission of a library should be for individuals to play on the Internet.  I’ve also never been a big fan of new DVD rentals coming out of libraries either.

I’ve always believed libraries should reinvent themselves as neighborhood multi-service centers.   Instead of just books,  they house a medical clinic, police substation, family counseling, other city offices etc., etc.  At the very least the taxpayers can more bang for their buck by a number of agencies literally in their neighborhoods.

That approach has always made more sense to me than simply putting up a library.   In the 21st Century, there is not that much money running around anymore and it behooves all levels of local government to give taxpayers the biggest bang for their buck.

I’ve been doing some analysis as of late and things potentially look better for the House GOP than I expected.   Generic polling shows Indiana House Republicans with a comfortable lead over their Democratic counterparts.  Mitch Daniels and Aiming Higher are raising buckets of money.   Evansville-area Democratic candidates are running against the Capitol Improvement Board instead of focusing on local issues.  The State Teachers Union has endorsed Mark Messmer, the Republican candidate in House District 63.    Overall, not a bad place to be.

Now here’s the bad news.  The election is not today, it’s 64  days from now and anything can happen.   Democrats privately say they are confident things are coming together, despite the national trends.  In addition, there 36 Libertarian House candidates on the ballot this year, the most in the last decade, which could split the vote in some places.

Despite those pitfalls, the political winds, for now, are at the backs of the Republicans for the Statehouse.  However, we’re in the Midwest and we all know the winds can change at a moments notice.  That’s why this stuff is so much fun to watch.  Stay tuned.

Luckily, no one on the street was injured.  Unfortunately the entire incident was the end result of a murder-suicide.  However, one thing I have to say is thank God the cops were there.

As much bad press as IMPD has received lately, and a good chunk of it deservedly so, I don’t think there was anyone who wasn’t happy to see the police show up Thursday afternoon.

Yesterday’s incident is also a reminder of the danger police face when they go into a life-threatening situation.  For every officer who responded, there was a chance that he or she might not have come back, but they still went and did their jobs.  These are the officers we should never forget about and lift up whenever possible.

We should also remember that for every David Bisard or Matt Elam, there are the men and women who responded to that emergency call downtown, that run into burning buildings, and make life a lot safer for all of us.    I will never condemn them for the actions of bad actors, however I am going to ask them and stand up and show the same courage to help weed out the bad seeds and help improve IMPD’s reputation as they do when they commit other acts of bravery.

We need you more than ever guys.  I hope you’re willing to take on this tough assignment.

Some members of the Indianapolis community have been calling  for a federal investigation of the case.

When I get more, I’ll let you know.

The Councilors say their law enforcement integrity professional proposal will focus on education, professional standards, accountability and transparency.  The plan would require the following…

Education

• All new police hires would have to have at least 60 hours of college credit or an Associate degree from an accredited institution of higher learning.
• A bachelor’s degree will be required for any promotion to Sergeant, Lieutenant and Captain.
• A bachelor’s degree will also be required for any appointed rank.  Also anyone promoted to an appointed rank must complete nationally accredited professional development school or academy.
• The Councilors also say they plan to take into account military experience.

Professional Standards

• IMPD will be required to be accredited through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies by 2014 and adopt best practices for policies and procedure.
• All IMPD employees will be required to have annual performance evaluations; currently there is no such requirement.
• Anyone who assumes the job of Public Safety Director must have a four-year degree, prior state, local of federal law enforcement experience as well as command and supervisory experience.
• Reserve officers must be certified by the Indiana Law Enforcement Training Board.

Accountability

• The Public Safety Director and police chief will report bi-annually on IMPD’s accreditation status, number of employee civilian and sworn discipline cases investigated and their disposition, as well as recommended reforms from the IMPD Training Academy.
• A bi-partisan study commission will review department policies on take-home cars and the need for an independent investigative unit under the jurisdiction of the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office.
• Review of departmental policies of law enforcement officers involved in critical, traumatic or incidents involving death as a result of a law enforcement action.

Transparency

• Revise city code to require any officer involved in an accident/crash with a city owned vehicle be reviewed by the Citizens Complaint Board.
• Final dispositions from all Internal Affairs investigations, district level supervisor/citizen complaints and dispositions from the Citizen’s Complaint Review Board will be made available on-line.
• All officer community or departmental awards as well citations or honors will be made available on-line.

Vaughn and Hunter say their intent is not to micromanage the department, but the Council does have a role in helping direct and promote IMPD policies that increase public confidence.

They say they have floated their ideas by the Ballard administration and the Fraternal Order of Police.  The administration is said to be generally supportive of the proposal, while IMPD is very open to the education and accreditation components.

The devil, they acknowledge, will be in the details.  A formal proposal is expected to be submitted at the September 20th City-Council meeting.

I have never been one to believe in conspiracy theories, but sometimes a cigar can be more than a cigar.  There’s been a rumor on the political streets for weeks that Democrats are going to try and use race as an issue in the Mayoral election, but up until the Brandon Johnson case, they weren’t quite sure how to do it. And for the past few weeks I’ve been playing connect the dots on a few local news items and the picture I’ve come to the conclusion that the rumors are true and this is all about making Melina Kennedy Mayor in 2011.

Allow me to explain.

Despite public declarations to the contrary, the Baptist Ministers Alliance of Indianapolis has only been around since March of this year.  The national organization is about 140-years old but the local branch is a few months old. It’s registered as a not-for profit with the Indiana Secretary of State’s Office. My sources tell me, the Alliance is the brainchild of Democratic lobbyist Lacy Johnson and State Representative Bill Crawford, and former City-Council member King “Ro” Conley, who plans to run again next year.   Johnson is one of the sharper tools in local politics I know so it would come to me as no shocker that he could put all this together.

He, along with Crawford and Conley, are reportedly leading the pack that is mostly black statehouse elected officials as well as city-county council members.

The purpose of the Alliance is simple; give Melina Kennedy wedge race issues to run on next year and to make Stephen Clay, the Black Pope of Indianapolis. Up until the Brandon Johnson case, Greg Ballard reportedly enjoyed a healthy margin of support amongst African-Americans.  Support has dropped off and the BMA makes it a point to keep it in the news.

In addition to wanting to weaken the Mayor, Clay wants to be the sole leader of the African-American community.  Remember, during their first news conference they called themselves the official voice of the black community. And in order to make that happen, members of his camp have been working to move out other black community groups aside or bring them under the BMA’s fold such as the Concerned Clergy and the Ten-Point Coalition.
And an added benefit in all this is that it would give Johnson a major leg up in his alleged battle to be the unofficial head of the black wing of the Indiana Democratic Party against Cordelia Lewis-Burks. By the way, that’s a blog post for another day and it should make some great conversation at the Annual Indiana Democratic Editorial Association convention in Bloomington this weekend.

And just so you know, I did find it odd that the same black elected officials who go on and on about race have picked a white woman, albeit a very polite one, to back for Mayor as opposed to two African-Americans.

So, is it a big giant conspiracy or Marion County politics as usual? Take your pick, regardless it’s fun to write about and even more fun to put it all open where everyone can see it.  Let the gossip, denials and just general political brouhaha begin.