I told you yesterday about how the House Ways & Means Committee amended legislation to put a moratorium on charter schools in Indiana and cap their funding so they can’t grow.  

This is about two things.  First, political posturing.  Second, the argument that charter schools take money from traditional public schools (I will refer to them as TPS’ for the rest of this blog.  Anyone who saw “Office Space” gets the joke) so they should be destroyed.

Although I am a big school choice/charter school fan, I’ve decided to give the anti-choice people a few ideas on how they can stop students from leaving TPS’ for charter schools.

1. Make charter schools, private schools, parochial schools and home schooling illegal.  Parents won’t take their kids out of school and send them somewhere else if there’s no place for them to go.
2. Mandate all school district employees, i.e. teachers, administrators, staff, etc. have their children in public school.  They should have as much skin in the game as the parents with no choice.
3. Make it illegal for parents to transfer their children out of the school district.  Once they’re in, make them stay in.
4. If none of that works, slap a tax on people who send their kids to another school district, because all they are doing is taking money out of the TPS.
5. Turn TPS’ into prisons.  That way students could never leave and the we could save them the years it would take to get to prison because of their poor educations.

Or the TPS’ could just improve the quality of education and make their schools a place where no one wants to leave but sometimes the simplest things in the world are the most difficult to do.

Are Marion County Democrats softening their opposition to consolidation of the township trustees?  Maybe. From what I’ve been able to gather in conversations with Statehouse lawmakers, they agree there should be some system of poor relief in Marion County, but they are split on exactly how that relief should be delivered.  Some like the current system, some think there should be countywide trustee with a township board, some privately wouldn’t mind poor relief being under the Mayor if he was a Democrat.  

And now with Center Township Trustee Carl Drummer heading to lobby for Ice Miller, it is less likely some lawmakers will go to the mat for the office.  In addition, the three newest members of the Marion County delegation are more open to government reform and the three remaining African-American trustees have never really endeared themselves to the County Democratic establishment.

This doesn’t mean consolidation will occur, but I honestly think this is the biggest shift in consolidation talk in a while. To be honest, I haven’t been this surprised when it comes to consolidation since Bill Crawford voted to consolidate the Trustees’ offices back in April 2005.  Will wonders never cease.

By a party line vote today, the House Ways and Means Committee passed legislation that would not only put a moratorium on charter schools in Indiana but also cap their growth and force achieving students back into failing schools.

If you at my last post regarding schools, I don’t think it’s the Charters that need the moratorium.

The Indianapolis Animal Care and Control Center is adopting a new policy when it comes to pit bulls.  Unless the dog has a history of violent behavior it will not be put down after four days.  IACC Director Doug Rae says every dog should be given a chance to live.

I agree. 

Although all breeds have their own traits, I do not believe simply because a dog is a pit bull it is automatically dangerous.  It seems that every decade or so there is a new breed of dangerous dogs: Dobermans, German Shepherds, Rottweilers, you name it.  

Now if an individual dog has a violent history that’s one thing.  But to categorize an entire group because of the actions of handful, come on!  Don’t we spend enough time doing that to our fellow human beings?

As some people try to promote a moratorium on Charter Schools, try to guess the answer to these questions…

1. Which school district is most likely to pay an employee $62,000 annually to answer e-mail?
2. Which school district is most likely to refuse to expel students who stab teachers and staff with sharp pencils?
3. Which school district is most likely to have a program in its schools called “Over-Under” that has 15-year olds in the 5th grade?
4. Which school district is most likely to have caught its students having sex and doing drugs on videotape in its school bathrooms?
5. Which school district is most likely facing a serious scandal involving Title One funds?

I’ll give you one hint: it’s the one most likely to go by three letters.

Sophomore years can really be tough.

If you’re a student, you start thinking about the college application process, reduce your extra curricular activities and focus more.  It’s also the year you assert your independence.

If you’re a musician, you want to make sure the second album lives up to the first and you prove it’s not a fluke.  Unfortunately for every  one Jimi Hendrix  Axis: Bold As Love, there are a lot more Hootie and the Blowfish Fairweather Johnson.

If you’re the current Mayor of Indianapolis, this year will very likely determine whether you’re on the path to second term or back to teaching full-time.

On balance, 2009 hasn’t gotten off to the best start for the Mayor.  On the day the Capital Improvement Board told the public it was swimming in more than $115 million in short and long-term financial shortfalls, Indianapolis was hit with more than 12 inches of snow.  The Mayor has had some good news so far, overall crime was down last year and the number of homicides stayed stable.  In addition the Mayor’s office handed out millions in crime prevention grants and Mayor-sponsored Charter Schools are performing.   But tell that to the citizen who had to ride a Ton Ton to get to work that day.  Even when the Mayor announced Uni Gov 2.0, the natural progression of reforming this government, his delivery wasn’t quite up to a command performance level.

With that said, while 2009 presents some challenges for the Mayor, it also presents some unique opportunities.  Here’s some of what the Mayor can do…

1. The Mayor can continue to push for his message of fiscal responsibility and come out and say a broad-based tax increase for Lucas Oil Stadium if  OFF the table.  He can say he will look at every option possible to keep the lights on and the doors open but that one.
2. The Mayor knows he needs to do better job of playing politics, he can use the city’s current financial crisis to pull the rug from under his political opponents. This is nothing new and has been done in politics for years.
3. The Mayor can endear himself to tons of parents by starting a citywide mentoring/tutoring/after-school program.  He can partner with the areas colleges and universities to get the tutors and mentors and use local churches as after-school centers.  The program can Monday-Friday from     3 p.m. to 7 p.m., the time most kids are likely to get in trouble.  Not only does the program reduce crime, but also helps improve the quality of education.
4. The Mayor should sit down quarterly with local neighborhood newspapers and publications, who don’t usually get access.  Sitting down with the big media is easy, but the little guys need attention too.  This gives the Mayor an opportunity to highlight his accomplishments and reach another audience.
5. Start building dossiers on possible challengers right now; Melina Kennedy, Dr. Woody Myers, Frank Anderson; local business man Brian Williams.   The County Democrats are already split over race and gender issues in the Mayor’s race anyway and already gathering dirt on each other for the 2011 primary, so the Mayor would not be doing anything different to the loyal opposition that the loyal opposition isn’t doing to itself.
6. Take heart from the last election.  Although Barack Obama beat John McCain 63-35 percent in Marion County, Mitch Daniels beat Jill Long Thompson 55-42 percent.  That demonstrates with the right message and right results a Republican can win in Marion County.  And even though the County leans Democrat, if you take out the at-large candidates on the Council, Republicans still lead 13-12, so you have some fundamentals that work in your favor.
7. Speaking of which, stay engaged with women and the minority communities.  Blacks and Hispanics make up to 30-percent of the city’s population.  Stress to them quality of life issues, safe streets, better schools, economic development, abandoned housing, etc.  Don’t let the local agitators whose messages are outdated as their hair styles be the only words those communities hear.
8. The old Center Township Machine is about to be on it’s last leg.  Julia  Carson is dead,  Carl Drummer leaving, Bill Crawford getting ready to leave the Statehouse in the next couple years, there’s no real farm team, and with a good relationship between the Mayor and Andre Carson, we could see a serious shift in Center Township politics in the near future.  Speaking of which, if consolidation does not go through the Legislature, don’t worry, the tax caps will take of that and you will have townships begging to consolidate before it’s all said and done.
9. Barnes & Thornburg.  Although the firm is the bane of some bloggers, if you were to ask 99-percent of Indianapolis what Barnes & Thornburg was, they would say a bookstore.  My advice, take their advice, along with all your other assistants, and make the best decision for the city.  It’s just that simple.
10. Improve your communication skills.  I truly believe the Mayor’s message of a safe, livable city where citizens are not taxed to death and enjoy a good quality of life is a great message.  But it doesn’t work if it gets lost in the delivery.  How you say something, whether it’s the words you use, how they are organized or how they are presented is more important than what you are saying.  Get a coach, buy a book, but get those up to par.  When you are Mayor, style can be just as importance as substance.

Above all, have fun.  There’s no point in being Mayor of one of the largest cities in America if you don’t enjoy it.  A positive attitude will do wonders for you and the city.

Follow that advice Mr. Mayor and I think you will get through your sophomore year just fine.  Now come see me in January 2010 and we’ll talk about picking a college.

Every so often legislation winds its way through the Indiana General Assembly that leaves me scratching my head.

A House committee Thursday passed a bill that would give unlimited free parking at meters to former prisoners of war.  HB 1258 would give anyone with a former P.O.W. license plate carte blanche to park at a parking meter and not have to pay nor adhere to any time limits.

As a military brat I am the last person to have anything against a former P.O.W.’s, but I really don’t see what one has to do with the other.  Why not give unlimited parking to the soldiers or special forces who rescued a P.O.W.  or the families of former P.O.W.’s?   Or what about the families of those who were missing in action?

It’s legislation like this that contributes to the belief that instead of working on the budget or government reform, lawmakers spend their time pandering because they know no one would vote against a bill like this even though it makes absolutely no sense what-so-ever.

Former Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele has been elected the new Chairman of the Republican National Committee.  He’s also the first African-American to head the RNC.  (Now that’s change!)

It took several (six actually) ballots.  Steele garnered major support when former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell dropped out of the race and endorsed him.  In addition to Blackwell, Steele also beat former Chair Mike Duncan, South Carolina Chairman Katon Dawson and Saul Anuzis of the Michigan GOP.

Steele beat Dawson 91-77 votes.  This is so what the GOP needed.  The old ways of doing business were not working at all.  Plus, Steele can do a better job criticizing the President than a Southerner.  No offense, but that’s reality.  Deal with it.

A couple weeks ago, I wrote the following column which appeared in the Indianapolis Recorder.  I issued a friendly challenge to AM 1310’s Amos Brown to debate the merits of Kernan-Shepard and township government and its impact on the African-American Community.  Amos still hasn’t gotten back to me yet, but if he takes me up my offer  I’ll be sure to let you know.  It would be a fun debate.

As you and your family sit down and try to figure out how to make ends meet in one of the worst economies in the last 60 years, picture this.

Picture a school district in Southern Indiana where the school board voted to give itself the same taxpayer-funded health insurance its teachers and administrators.

Picture a Mayor of one of the largest cities in Northern Indiana driving to Indianapolis in a taxpayer-funded Hummer H3 to tell state lawmakers his city is strapped for cash and it needs to increase its property taxes so businesses can pay more.

Picture a Central Indiana township trustee who spends more than $2.50 to administer every $1 of poor relief.

Do you see the big picture?

This is the government you are paying for and this is the government my counterpart Amos Brown is defending.

In his December 31 “Just Tellin It” column, Mr. Brown all but equated efforts to reform local government and make it more efficient as an effort to eliminate black-elected officials in Indiana and bring back Jim Crow.   In the immortal words of Public Enemy, “Don’t Believe the Hype.”

Government restructuring and reorganization is not about black politicians, but the money in black people’s (and ever other Hoosiers’) pockets. Indiana has more government per capita than the state of New York.  It has more counties than the state of California.  It has two-percent of the nation’s population, but eight percent of all the local officials.  Also the number of elected officials would fill up half of Conseco Field House.   

You, like a lot of us, are probably concerned about this economy and your finances, do really want to pay for more government than you need?  Depending on how you do the math there are anywhere from 40 to 66 taxing districts in Marion County capable of reaching into your pocket and taking your cash.  You’re even still paying for government that doesn’t exist anymore.  The former township assessors of Marion County will each get $54,000 in salary over the next two years, even though the taxpayers voted to eliminate their positions.   

In the long run, less government eventually translates into more money in your pocket. In the short run there is more accountability.  Part of the problem with this past year’s property taxes was that there was no accountability.  There were so many fingers being pointed in so many different directions it looked like an octopus with its tentacles tied up in knots.

Mr. Brown’s positions on Kernan-Shepard are wrong and do a disservice to the African-American community he purports to inform.  Reforming government is about protecting taxpayers, not politicians. Less government means more accountability and eventually more money in your pocket, period. 

Now should Mr. Brown wish to engage in a public debate over government reform and have the Recorder as the sponsor, I am more than willing to accept that challenge.  All we would need to agree upon is a time and place.   Heck, we could probably sell more tickets than an Ali/Frazier match. 

But in the interim, I suggest you read the Kernan-Shepard report for yourself and get the real facts and then ask yourself this question.  Who should keep more of the money you work for, the government or you?

I’ll pick you any day.

 

A old friend sent me this video clip.  It was a promotional video from our college in Europe from back in 1987. I show up about five minutes into it.   I look like a Cosby kid. Enjoy.