The e-mails have been pouring in today about my interview with Rick Skirvin, a former IMPD reserve deputy who was reportedly fired for posting comments in IndyUndercover; a local blog that has some issues with the current administration, to put it mildly. I’ve been told that Skirvin is either a hero or a whiner. Both sides miss the point.

The issue isn’t so much the firing. Legally speaking, a government employee’s free speech rights are very limited when it comes to speaking about its employer. However, firing Skirvin isn’t going to make IMPD’s problems go away. If anything it’s going to make things worse. Devoting time and resources to weed out dissenters as opposed to improving working conditions for law enforcement officers is a mistake.

Officers and deputies like Rick Skirvin should look forward to coming to work everyday. A positive attitude and pleasant workplace environment can do wonders for morale. Maybe that should be the focus of IMPD and not going on vitural witch hunts. They need to remember that the more you tighten your grip on employees like Skirvin, the more things tend to slip through your fingers.

Back in 2003, Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson’s office unveiled a list of the top 10 problem owners of abandoned homes in Indianapolis. In 2007, under the Mayor’s direction a number of city agencies are doing “weed and seed” operations to clean up several areas of town. I will compliment the Mayor for efforts that improve the quality of life for city residents. However, there is also a tool at the administration’s disposal which I don’t think it’s using enough. It’s called eminent domain.

It may seem a little odd that I would be an advocate of eminent domain after the big fiasco following the whole stadium deal and the NK Hurst Bean Company. However, my recommended use of eminent domain would be just what the doctor ordered. The city should use eminent domain to deal with its abandoned housing problem.

According to a 2004 study by the Mayor’s office, there were approximately 7900 abandoned vacant residences in Marion County. Which was about one out of every 30 homes, most were located in Center Township. There is some dispute over the current number of vacant homes, some estimating about 12,000 currently. Regardless of the number, vacant homes are magnets for all sorts of crime, the latest being arson and sexual assault.

What this city should do is use the power of eminent domain as spelled out by recent changes by the Indiana General Assembly and take these abandoned properties and either demolish them and replace them with “mini-green lots” or sell them for $1 to a developer and have them rehab the properties. There is no reason why these vacant homes should continue to be magnets for crime, drugs, arsons, etc.

Eminent domain is not evil when used for the right purpose. And the right purpose is ridding this city of vacant residential properties.

Call it either a sign of emboldenness or just plain craziness, but local Republicans are fielding a challenger against City-County Council President Monroe Gray. Local attorney Kurt Webber will announce tomorrow that he’s taking on Gray for the seat in the city’s 8th District on the near north side. Gray has come under fire for alleged ethical lapses and his performance as Council President. Webber will make his announcement at the abandoned police sub-station at 42nd and College.

I’m doing my Sunday blog reading and noticing some interesting comments in the blogsphere. They mostly have to do with Governor Mitch Daniels’ re-election bid. As you know Daniels officially announced yesterday that he was running for a second, and final, term. I personally think Daniels has been good for Indiana. He was worked to move this state forward into the 21st century. He hasn’t always been polite about it, but he has made change in a place where change is a four-letter word.

We can have an honest debate about the Governor’s record and whether he should get a second chance, but what I find to be completely intellectually shallow is the fact that many posters (not authors) on the local and state blogs have nothing constructive or thoughtful to offer in terms of debate and discussion about the Governor’s record.

It’s the usual trite, “he’s selling off the state” and “Ditch Mitch.” If you want Daniels to go, give a substantive, concrete reason based on sound public policy, not the same bumper sticker mentality that afflicts most of the anti-immigration crowd. When I listen to most of Daniels’ detractors all I can think of is the Monty Python Argument Clinic sketch, where their idea of an argument is simply contradicting every statement the other person makes.

If the Defeat Daniels crowd wants to beat him in November, they’ll need to say more than just “no.” Now would be a good time to start.

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels is sounding a theme of practicality over politics as he gears up for re-election. The Governor officially announces his re-election bid Saturday morning, but prior to that he sat down with reporters and pundits to talk about the past, the present and the future.

Somewhat surprisingly, the Governor said that his decision to run for re-election was not an automatic one. He said he didn’t make it until the end of the last legislative session. He said had not known how much change he and his administration would have made, he likely would not have run for a second term.

The focus of his campaign, he says, will be the Indiana economy, continued government reform and convincing Hoosiers to embrace change. He says saving the taxpayers’ money through efficiency and privatization has helped Indiana. He also said that there is a “New Indiana” emerging and the old political alliances are going by the wayside; referring to the political thought that Hoosiers are now more divided by change versus status quo as opposed to political party or region.

He did mention the opposition, saying some of it is sincere and other is pure politics. But what struck me the most is that the Governor is going to try to make the campaign about management rather than ideology.

2008 is a Presidential year, which means the usual wedge issues of immigration, abortion and gay marriage usually find a way to raise to the summit over the more substantive issues of the day. Daniels says those issues; specifically immigration and gay marriage are not a priority of his and plans to leave those to candidates for other offices.

He admitted to making mistakes, specifically not waiting to implement the computer conversion at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and not presenting the Commerce Connector in a better way. He said if you try as much as we did, “you won’t always hit the bulls eye.”

Democratic Party spokeswoman Jen Wagner said their party was not surprised that Daniels was announcing so early saying he had a long road ahead to repair his image and win back voters. She admits though it will take a unified party with a strong message and a lot of money, but Daniels can be beat.

The Governor seemed to be looking forward to taking another bite at the apple. He says he’ll ask voters to look at the results of the past four years which he described as active, positive and honest. And even if Daniels wins a second term, his opponents won’t have to fret too much, he also said that this will be his last campaign for public office.

Let the campaign begin.

I’m working on another project today so I won’t be spending a lot of time on the blog. You are free to post your political and non-political thoughts and musings today. Just be civil. Oh, Marion County Clerk Beth has fixed the error on her website, so I have to give credit where it is due. Post away.

I think I’ve hit a nerve lately with some of the more hardcore partisans in this town. I know this because the “drive by” posts and hate e-mails have started showing up again.

They will attack me personally, but never challenge me on the issues at hand. They will attack my radio show, not knowing how ratings work. They will attack my friendship with Marion County GOP Chairman Tom John and my affiliation with his firm John, Lewis and Wilkins which anybody with half a brain knows has been the worst kept secret in this town for more than a year. They will call me a carpetbagger because I still have a home in Illinois, not knowing I am fortunate enough to have enough income to maintain two places in two different states. I have also been called the n-word and even had my sexual orientation questioned. Although I embrace my metrosexuality with manicured hands and open arms.

I’m a big boy so the attacks don’t get to me, but I do find two things disturbing. First, I would feel better if the detractors and drive-by posters would just debate the issue at hand. If they want to disagree, fine. I accept other points of view but come after me on the merits of the discussion.

Second, I could be like some bloggers, screen the posts and only let in the ones I agree with, but that defeats the purpose of the free flow of debate and exchange of ideas. But if you must go for the personal attack, at least have the attached manhood to sign your name. At least that way everyone can know you are devoid of any true synaptic activity.

I’ve managed to cause quite a bit of stir today with my earlier post about Marion County residents facing an estimated $170 million in new taxes later this year because of government budget issues. The Mayor’s office has told me I have my facts wrong so I’ve invited them to come on the show tomorrow and tell me why. Deputy Mayor Steve Campbell will join us from 8:10 to 8:30 tomorrow on WXNT. It is nice to know people are listening and reading.

It’s not very often that I get the opportunity to be wrong, but I was. I made a really bad mistake the other day and need to atone for it. I pride myself on giving you accurate information and offering my own perspective on local and state events and then allowing you to draw your own conclusion as we engage in debate, but Saturday, I let you down.

I wrote a post that essentially said Marion County residents were staring down the gun of an $85 million tax increase as a result of the new taxing authority given to the Mayor and Council by the State. That number is not totally accurate.

This summer, taxpayers are not facing an $85 million tax increase. That number is closer to $170 million. How did I get that figure? In addition to the 0.5 increases in public safety tax, which would yield an estimated $85 million, there is another scheduled increase (0.1) in the county option income tax slated to go into effect July 1, which is another $17 million. Also, local governments can raise income taxes to offset the freeze in property taxes and that amounts to about another 0.4 increase. Take all those tenths of a percent and add it up and you get an estimated $170 million tax increase this year for Marion County residents.

Although there is some property tax relief on the way, you wont see it for a while. These tax increases go into effect this summer and your “rebate” won’t show up until later this year if you see it at all. The money from the rebates would come from expanded gaming, but the State and casinos have their own issues to work out. And depending on your mortgage company, you may not see anything at all.

And please note in all this $170 million in new taxes, you really aren’t getting much in new services. This is all to maintain what you have. You get some more court space and infrastructure, but I’ll be writing in a few days how we played the ultimate shell game to deal with jail overcrowding.

But until then, please accept my apology.

I found out recently that Marion County Clerk Beth While sent “thank you” cards to some members of the media for their fair and balanced coverage of the last election. I didn’t get one. And I thought we provided very fair and balanced coverage of the more than 3000 disenfranchised voters whose polling places never opened and no one cared.

I was about to take this personally until I realized there was a logical explanation, she made a mistake and forgot. How did I figure this out? No, I didn’t look at the last election, I went to her website which had a listing of state and local elected officials and realized it was also full of mistakes. Granted it was a website called Polis Politics that drew my attention to it.

For example, she has Connie Nass listed as State Auditor. Nass left that post in January and was replaced by Tim Berry, who is also listed in that position as well. She lists Billie Breaux as State Senator, even though her daughter Jean has that job now. Two former City-County Council Members still have their jobs, Jim Braford and Earl Salisbury, despite the fact they have both given up their positions. There also numerous mistakes involving township officials and school board members.

I figured Beth would not have purposely made these mistakes because she spent all her energy turning the primary into a disaster, so I she figured she just forgot to send me my card.

Don’t worry Beth, I can wait. And just so you know, it’s spelled Abdul Hakim Shabazz. And it would be nice to have it before the next election or the next polling place doesn’t open, whichever comes second.