Some people just have way too much time on their hands. The City of Indianapolis is looking at revamping its zoning laws to allow for digital billboards. However, opponents say this is the first sign (pardon the pun) of the apocalypse. They present a laundry list of reasons why digital billboards are bad, but allow […]
I am not a big fan of the Indianapolis chapter of the NAACP. In the past I found them to be outdated and particularly ineffective. For example their “education” platform is really just a page out the out of any teachers union playbook. And when it came to responding to Charlotte Lucas’ rant about minorities […]
I am no longer disappointed that my good friend Greg Ballard isn’t running for a third term, because Democrat Joe Hogsett is doing it for him. As I listened to the speech that Hogsett gave Wednesday at the Kennedy-King Memorial at 17th and Broadway, everything he spelled out that he wanted to do Ballard has […]
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard tells me that he is not running for a third term. In his office Wednesday afternoon Ballard said after eight years it was time to move on. He says he was not phased by Tuesday’s Democratic victories in Marion County. He cited polling that had his approval ratings in the 70s. […]
Whenever I am asked whether Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard will run for a third term, my answer is pretty simple. It depends on the day you catch him; some days he is gung ho, other days he’s ready to call it a day. Ballard ignited a lot of speculation about his future this past week […]
I have always argued that when dealing with crime, more cops doesn’t equal less crime unless you do some other things, like keep the bad guys behind bars and mitigate the conditions that make new ones. The plan Mayor Greg Ballard announced today does just that. It adds nearly 280 more police officers over the […]
I’ve gotten quite a bit of response to my column this week in the Indianapolis Star on my “reverse panhandling” experiment. You can read it here, but in a nutshell, a few weeks ago I got tired of the panhandlers downtown asking me for money so I decided to turn the tables on them and […]
In an effort to assist Indianapolis residents figure out how the Ballard administration’s proposed elimination of the local Homestead property tax credit would impact their pocketbooks, Indiana Barrister is providing a link to the city’s webpage that can show you how your tax bill would change. Just click on the link and enter your parcel number. I did […]
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard will introduce a budget Monday night that closes the city’s $55 million shortfall without raising income taxes, but it does expand the city’s tax base while holding the line on spending and adding new police officers. Due to the national economy and declining income tax revenues Indianapolis was facing a $55 […]
I am sure somewhere deep down inside, my Democratic friends on the Indianapolis City-County Council have the same hopes for the city as I do, they want one that is safe, vibrant and has a high quality of life. And we all realize those goals are complicated when money is tight. However, one of the […]
