I had a couple minutes today so I decided to do some cruising through Facebook just to see how some of Indiana’s candidates are doing with their social network worlds.   I tried to use campaign Facebook websites where possible.  Now this is not to say whether your “friends” will translate into votes, but I think it does provide a peak into how candidates are using the medium to reach the populace.

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.

I knew this was coming. I figured one unit of local government would get ready to head to the Department of Local Government and Finance and ask for a property tax levy appeal so they could max out on what they could get from the taxpayers.  This time it’s the Marion County Public Library and IndyGo.

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 spent some time this weekend at the Feast of Lanterns, a near east side community event.   I volunteered to sit in the dunk tank for an hour.  I managed to get dunked by Democratic City-County Council candidate Zach Adamson, an 11-year old and my wife.  I’m not sure who had the most fun thorwing stuff at me, but it was for a good cause.   Clerk Beth White was there and just missed me by a few minutes.   Frankly, I thought more Marion County Democrats would have showed up.  They could have killed two birds with one stone, help a good cause and drop me in a tub of gross water.  There’s always next year.  Enjoy the photo.

If  you are rooting for Indiana Republicans to take back the State House of Representatives, I’ve got some good news for you and some bad news for you.  First, the good news.  If the election were held today, you would win by a very comfortable margin.

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.

As someone who spends a lot of time in downtown Indianapolis, there’s nothing more disturbing and frightening than listening to a report about someone on the roof of a parking garage firing shots.

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.

Quick note,  I’m hearing the early word on the federal review of the Brandon Johnson excessive force case is that Indianapolis Metropolitan Police followed proper investigative protocol in its review of the matter.

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.

With recent problems plaguing the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, the City-County is stepping into fray.  Council President Ryan Vaughn and Public Safety Committee Chairman Ben Hunter are offering up a proposal they say will bring changes to the department that are 20 years in the making.

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.

The following post is based on a number of conversations with individuals in Marion County. None wanted to go on record for fear of repercussions, but they were more than willing to talk as long as I kept their names out of all this.   What you take away from this post will likely depend on what you brought to it.

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.

My brothers and sisters in the media today are all writing about the the calls for the public safety director, Frank Straub,  to step down.  The calls to resign center around recent scandals involving the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.   Now some of you are going to say, “Abdul, you’re on that public safety advisory board so how can you be objective with what you are about to say?”   Easy, it’s my job and I have the facts to back me up on this one.   If you can present facts to the contrary, I will be glad to post them here.  Besides, even if I wasn’t on the advisory board my opinion would be the same.

I would agree with the calls for Straub to resign if he were involved in a crime, gross misconduct, or a violation of city rules and gross dereliction of duty.

• Straub wasn’t arrested for sexual assault in February.
• Straub didn’t steal $500 from an arrestee in March.
• Straub wasn’t investigated by the FBI for public corruption.
• Straub did not use excessive force against Brandon Johnson.
• Straub was not charged with arson.
• Straub did not strangle a resident in a fight.
• Straub did not discharge his weapon during a domestic dispute.
• Straub did not hit 4 motorcyclists, killing one and injuring two others.
• Straub did not wreck a police vehicle and then take it to a body shop in order to hide the damage.

Had Straub done any of these things, he should be fired.  If he tried to cover-up any of these incidents he should fired.  If he showed a pattern of failing to discipline any of the officers involved in these incidents, he should be let go.  Unfortunately for his critics, the facts don’t support any of those arguments.

If anything, one of the biggest complaints I will hear from the public is the perception that officers cover for each other and get away with everything.  We have a situation here where officers are behaving badly and are being held accountable for their behavior.  I would frankly be more concerned if this was going on and we didn’t know about it.

The real issues here are that partisans are using these incidents to attack the Mayor politically, and there is a strand of xenophobic in this community for anyone who comes from or has spent time outside the intellectual gene pool.

Can police do a better job at communicating with the public, yes.   Has IMPD’s reputation taken a major hit, without a doubt.  Does there need to be a major review and subsequent rewrite of policy, definitely.  Does IMPD need to step up its professionalism and do a better job of  weeding out the bad apples that tarnish the rest of the department, yup.  Should Frank Straub be fired or resign, only if  he’s not making these things happen.

When I was a kid there was nothing better than a trip to the circus.  Monday night’s Council meeting was a return to my childhood.

I don’t know which contributed more to the circus-like atmosphere.  The Council Democrats who got up and walked out of the chamber before Mayor Greg Ballard delivered his budget address.  It might have been the protester who held up the sign, and I am not making this up, “Stop rapeing the taxpayers”.  Or it could have been the Baptist Ministers Alliance, which is always good for a chuckle or two.    The sad part of all this is that this city has serious issues that need to be addressed and you would think people would want to keep the silliness down to a bare minimum.  So with that said, the Democrats who left get the Ringmaster award.

With a $75 million drop in sales and income tax revenue you would think that Democrats would want a place at the table to make sure programs important to their constituents remain a funding priority.   Instead most of them walk out (please note Joanne Sanders, Jackie Nytes and Mary Moriarty Adams stayed for the entire address).    The walkout was reportedly the brainchild of Democrat Vern Brown, the gist of his complaint being that the city never consulted with them before putting it together.   I asked City Controller Dave Reynolds about that and he told me they never asked.

The only “idea” that has come from the Dems regarding the budget so far was from City-Councilor Jose Evans who put out a release saying the city was going to end its policy of take home cars for police officers.  The city is not eliminating take home cars for police officers, but looking at take home car usage in other areas of public safety, IFD, Animal Care and Control and Homeland Security.

My Democratic friends must be taking a playbook from the national Republicans, complain, don’t offer up any real ideas and hope voter anger is enough to carry the day.    I shouldn’t be shocked at this behavior, for the past three years they have been scarce on offering substantive public policy ideas.  And the ones that do have a thought are ostracized by members of their caucus.

Oh well, I guess a majority of them leaving the room and walking out was for the best.   If they have nothing to offer the best they can do is leave.  So now instead of calling them the party of no, I can label them the party on the go.