Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson is asking the City-County Council to raise taxes to pay for public safety. The Mayor is asking the Council to take advantage of new revenue enhancement measures passed by the General Assembly this year and increase local taxes.

Under the plan, the Council would adopt a Local Option Income Tax (LOIT) to replace increases in the County’s levy, as well as a public safety income tax to pay for police and crime prevention programs. The Mayor says implementing the public safety income tax would allow the city to have a revenue stream to pay for outstanding police pensions and invest in crime prevention programs as outlined by the Mayor’s Crime prevention task force.

The public safety tax would be levied at half a percent and is expected to generate about 85 million dollars in new revenue.

However, because the city is preparing its budget for next year, the Mayor says the tax increase must be passed before the Council begins budget deliberations.

The $85 million tax increase would come on the heals of increases in local property taxes, some of which are expected to go up by 50 percent.

Marion County Sheriff Frank Anderson is commissioning a manpower study to see how many officers are needed for the new department. The study will be done by Indiana University. The department acknowledged it was short 53 officers back in March, however an internal document revealed at least 120 vacancies in street patrol officers. A spokesman for the Sheriff expects the study to be complete by the end of the summer.

I watched bits and pieces of the Republlican Presidential debate last night. There were no big shockers. The President’s “roast duck” status continued to cement in my mind as the candaites ran from him last night, but after watching the debate I have to ask, what’s a conservative?

I consider a conservative to be someone who truly believes in less government, not just the free market but also when it comes to private morality. To say the government should leave the free market alone to its own devices, but yet be entrenched in individuals’ reproductive organs is intellectually inconsistent.

The Republican party of the late 20th Century went from a party of Nixon-Eisenhower moderation to activist conservatism, which is counter to its roots.

I really hope the GOP will take advantage of this opportunity and return to its true conservative roots.

I was at the downtown Kroger this weekend at 16th and Central picking up junk food and feeding my bad habit when a woman in front of me with her two small children did something that made my blood boil. She bought a basket of junk food for her kids and used a Hoosier Works Link Card to pay for it. And to add insult to injury when she was asked if she wanted her receipt, she said “no.”

Now work with me on this one folks, a woman on public assistance is feeding her kids junk food and could care less about who’s footing the tab. I will freely admit I need to do a much better job of eating healthy, but I would never ask the taxpayers to subsidize my bad behavior. Bad eating habits only lead to worse problems later in life and this woman was not only teaching her kids to eat poorly but also not to care about other people’s money.

Someone should really change the “Link” card system and make it so only people using it can by fruits, vegetables, water, milk and certain kinds of juice. This may sounds harsh, but if you’re eating on the taxpayers’ dime, they get to pick what’s on the menu.

I got some good news this morning. Indiana Barrister has been rated one of the most influential political blogs in Indiana. For an ego as big as mine, I was pretty flattered. I’m in some pretty good company. And I haven’t been here as long as a lot of the other people who made the list. Score one for the Carpetbagger, now back to work.

There are two measures facing the City-County Council over the course of the next month or so that illustrate to me the perfect example of government with misplaced priorities. One is a ban on shooting off weapons. The other is a possible ban on pit bulls.

The shooting ban is proposed by Councilor Angela Mansfield. It got out of committee with a do-not pass recommendation. I am not a gun owner, but I respect the rights of gun ownership. And I personally don’t think this ban would do anything. On any given night shots are fired all over Marion County. There is no way the police (who are at least 120 short staff-wise) could make it to the shooting to enforce the law. And if you were to call 911 to report the shooting, you’ll be on hold for at least 5 minutes, so that’s plenty of time for the shooter to get away or come after you.

On the pit bull ban, which is still in the drafting stage, I frankly don’t see how 23 Animal Control Officers are going to get their hands on an estimated 50,000 pit bulls. And what is a pit bull anyway? Are we talking pure bred, half-bread, a mutt? What will the city do? If you have a mutt, will it just cut out the part that is a pit bull and give you the rest? Will the city grandfather in the ban? So if you have a pit bull now you’re free and clear, but any new pit bulls would be destroyed? I can see the image right now of Animal Control Officers going door to door killing the first born pit bull and an owner putting their pit bull in the White River where it is picked up by another family. And 30 years later the pit bull comes back and demands whoever is Mayor to let his fellow pit bulls go. I know this is silly, but so is a ban.

I am all for improving the quality of life in Marion County. I’m here too, you know. But outright bans never really solve the problem. More police on the street, less fudging of the bail bond system that puts criminals on the street, community involvement and healthy job creation and schools that provide real education are how you improve the quality of life in an area, not silly bans that make people feel good but do nothing to solve the real problem.

I’ve come under a lot of criticism lately for my own criticism of the powers that be and the city’s rising crime problems. I’ve been called a carpetbagger, told to go back where I came from, and if it weren’t politically incorrect, some of my critics would gladly drop the n-word if they could get away with it. They’re upset that I relentlessly point out the major challenges facing this city. My response, “get out of your house and go take a drive around Indianapolis.”

Because of my jobs, I get to do something not a lot of people do, I get to see a lot of this city a lot of the time. On any given day I hit three to four of the townships. And it’s not to talk to elected officials. Today, I decided instead of taking the Interstate back to downtown from Ivy Tech’s Lawrence Campus I decided to use city streets. I went down Post Road and swung through the old neighborhood where we used to live when my Dad worked at Fort Ben. I took 38th over to Emerson, Emerson to 25th street, 25th to Keystone and then winded my way back downtown.

I saw neighborhoods that looked like they had been devastated. The scenery included abandoned homes, unkept lots and individuals who looked like they had given up on everything. As I drove through these neighborhoods all I could think of was that these are the people who have the smallest voices and are impacted the most by crime and neglect. The conditions they have to live in is as criminal as the people who break the law. And if one of them is a crime victim, they’ll be treated as another statistic.

It’s real easy to get outraged about the State Senator who is mugged or the woman who is attacked across the street from city hall, but I really wonder if any of my critics would ever take a drive through one of these neighborhoods if there weren’t some media attention involved or an opportunity to showboat.

Fundamentally, I don’t mind the criticism whether it shows up in e-mails or posts on this blog. To quote a line from one of my favorite stage plays, “Inherit the Wind”, my job is to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comforted.” If no one’s getting upset, I’m not doing my job. I just wish my critics would get as upset about the conditions I write about as they do with what I write. All they have do is get in their vehicles and take a drive. But I guess it’s easier to come after me.

Just so you know, tomorrow June 1 is the anniversary of the Hamilton Avenue murders.

You remember what happened that day. Desmond Turner and James Stewart reportedly invaded a Hispanic family’s home. After not finding money or drugs, detectives say Turner shot and killed the family of seven, including three children.

This is not a day I’m looking forward to remembering, but I have to ask this question.

Has the city done enough in the area of public safety since that tragedy?

I welcome your thoughts.

My head hurts today after looking at some of the things going on in the city. I was downtown and surrounded by homeless people who won’t stop begging, but when I sat down on the wall at Monument Circle a cop told me I couldn’t sit there and had to move.

The teacher who says he was the subject in the Teddy Bear massacre film at Knightstown Intermediate School in Knightstown is suing the students who made the film. He claims it was defamatory and placed him in a false light. He asks for punitive damages. He should also ask for a clue.

The Mayor wants to ban pit bulls now. We can’t stop murders, rapes and carjackings because we have no cops, but we can go after pit bulls. I don’t know how they’re going to do it, but looking at the success we’ve had in other areas, I’m sure we’ll have the same success rate.

And speaking of Mayor, I got a phone call a couple nights ago on my private land line at my apartment a couple days ago from a company I can only assume is polling for the Mayor’s re-election campaign. Since these things don’t happen to me very much, I decided to take full advantage of the situation. The pollster asked whether I thought favorable about Greg Ballard, Republican challenger, Sheriff Frank Anderson, Marion County Clerk Beth White (I said nothing because I couldn’t say anything nice), incumbent Mayor Bart Peterson and Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi.

The poll also asked me if I would support a local income tax to “implement the Mayor’s anti-crime strategy.” It also asked whether I would support an income tax to pay for police and fire pension. It asked what I thought of the Mayor’s “Works” and whether the Mayor’s second term in office was better than his first. And was I favorable to his continuing in office. And there was also a charter school question.

I won’t give you my answers, but needless to say I think the questions are more important as they offer insight into what Mayor may be most concerned about, looking for cover to raise taxes.

A tax increase, a pit bull ban, a teacher with no sense of humor or clue and not being able to enjoy lunch on Monument Circle. I have to go find some aspirin.

I’ve just reviewed some comments by “Hizzoner” Mayor Bart Peterson about the shortage of police officers facing Indianapolis and Marion County. While most of us argue the department is at least 120 officers short, the Mayor told WISH-TV the number was closer to nine, because us media folks aren’t including the officers on probation and in the current recruit class which amounts to 134 potential officers. Confused, let me explain.

The city says its number of actual sworn officers is 1,633 and it’s authorized number is 1,642. That number includes the chief, his staff and a bunch of other people who aren’t out on the street. That notwithstanding, they also include the 134 potential officers in the new recruit class and current ones on their probationary period who will be fully sworn when they complete probation.

Here’s where I get to call bull****.

IMPD’s full actual strength is 1,929 personnel according to their own staffing table as of May 20, 2007. Their allocated number is 2,106 for a difference of 177 vacancies. How do they get to the 1,929 figure. Let me break it down.

Allocated Positions — 2,106

Chief — 1
Assistant Chief — 2
Deputy Chief — 5
Major — 9
Captain — 21
Lieutenants — 107
Sergeants — 247
Patrol Officer — 1109
Probationary Officers – 79
Recruits — 53
Civilians — 296

Total — 1,929

Difference — 177 personnel.

The city is ALREADY counting its probationary officers and new recruit class as part of its staff. That’s how they get to the 1,929 number. Even though they can’t legally function as police officers. If they didn’t exist we’d have 311 vacancies. To say the 134 recruits and probationary officers will fill the gap would mean the city would have to count them TWICE at the least. And the city is also assuming no one will violate probation or drop out of the academy. And just for the record, there are only 30 probationary officers are assigned to districts according to the staff report.

This city is not nine officers short, it looks a lot like 120, and with all due respect Mr. Mayor, smells a lot like Bull****!