Another 525,600 minutes

Today, I turned another year older. When I’m asked how old I am, I tell people “old enough to know the difference between right and wrong and still young enough not to care.” But on a more reflective note, I look at my birthday not so much through awards and accomplishments over the past year, but through the words of playwright Jonathan Larson, who wrote the play Rent.

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred moments so dear
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?

In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee
In inches, in miles, in laughter in strife
In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure a year in the life?

How about love
Measure in love
Seasons of love

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred journeys to plan
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

How do you measure the life of a woman or a man?
In truths that she learned
Or in times that he cried
In the bridges he burned
Or the way that she died

It’s time now to sing out though the story never ends
Let’s celebrate, remember a year in the life of friends

Remember the love, measure in love
You know that love is a gift from up above
Measure your life in love
Seasons of love

I think I’m finally starting to grow up. Who knew?

Today Sen Evan Bayh (D-IN) met with a small group of Indiana bloggers in an ongoing attempt by the Senator to reach out to alternative forms of media. Blogger Hoosierplew (written by Shawn Plew) was kind enough to post the audio recordings here. This isn’t the first blogger meeting Bayh’s had, and judging from my discussions with his staffers it won’t be the last.

Sen. Bayh’s presidential aspirations are no secret. In 2005 alone he visited 22 states, with two visits to both Iowa and New Hampshire. His PAC also raised more money than any other potential Democratic candidate during the first six months of 2005, along with continued fundraising success in ’06. He offered a refreshingly candid response about a possible run when he said, “It’s no secret that I’m doing all of the things one needs to do” to run for president.

Bayh’s approach on the campaign trail is best summarized in a campaign bumper sticker he suggested to the Des Moines Register: “I kind of like ‘Bayh-partisan.'” This theme of partisan reconcilitation was echoed numerous times during our lunch today and it will no doubt form the bedrock of his presidential campaign.

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You know a lot of things happen to me in the day-to-day events of my life. I’ve been on a TV Game Show, jumped out of perfectly, good working airplanes, and have been courted to run for public office by people who represent all three political parties. But Wednesday night, something occurred that made me scratch my head and give me good comic material for the rest of my life.

I was meeting a friend for a couple drinks at the Living Room Lounge on 9th and Pennsylvania in downtown Indianapolis. My place is in the downtown area and the LRL is in walking distance. As I was on my way, I got a call from a source on a story so I started talking and taking notes. As I do that my buddy drives up in his car and I walk over to him and start talking. I lean on his driver side window while I talk to him and on the phone. This will be important to remember later. While I finish one conversation and start another a cop drives up. He parks behind us and looks at us. I look back. My friend looks back. And we look at each other with a puzzled look on our faces. He decides to go park and meet me in the LRL. The cop drives off.

I thought to myself the officer probably thought there was some sort of drug deal going down, so I don’t blame him for being vigilant. But I wasn’t dressed like a drug dealer (I was in my Eddie Bauer shirt, Gap khakis, brown belt, sandals, with matching watchband. There’s no excuse for looking horrible even if one is drinking Miller Lite. Hey, if looking good were easy more people would do it.) My buddy and had our drinks, got caught up and later went our separate ways. He e-mailed me the next day telling me that odds are the cop did not stop us because he thought one of us was a drug dealer, but that I was a male prostitute. I’ll let you catch your breath.

Apparently, I’m told, there is a problem with male prostitution by the new library. So apparently the officer suspected I might be one of them. I didn’t think I was dressed like one. I wasn’t wearing anything revealing and even my Eddie Bauer shirt only had one button undone. So I was still taken back at being mistaken for a male prostitute. I’ve been mistaken for a lot of things; being rude, arrogant, obnoxious, conceited, overbearing, self-centered, and borderline narcissistic, and they’d probably be right. But I’ve never been mistaken for a male hooker.

And then I thought about, why take it as an insult, when I can take it as a compliment. Think about it. First of all, the fact that someone would actually pay money to have sex with me is novel concept in itself. All this time, I’ve been doing it for free, or in the alternative paying for dinner and the movie. So maybe I should rethink my modus operandi. Secondly, there is a certain irony in the fact that I am also an attorney and there are some people who will say there is little difference between a lawyer and a hooker. Well there is one difference, the hooker stops screwing you once you’re dead.

Now I don’t blame the officer for doing his job. As someone who spends 80 percent of his time in the downtown area, I want it to be clean and safe. And the entire incident did give me a little chuckle and a funny story to tell. Of course this bit works great for the comedy act, however I think a co-worker might have taken this too seriously. He left me a note and $20. I’m afraid to touch either of them.

The city of Indianapolis could be sitting on a few extra million dollars. According to some information that’s recently come across my desk, the city has been underpaid in distributions from the state’s excise tax on alcohol sales. The city has been underpaid since 1988 to the tune of nearly $9 million, but some folks say it could be as high as $16 million. The city and state agree in principle that Indianapolis has been underpaid, but they disagree over the exact amount. Where this gets interesting is that even if the city is owed a few million, it owes the state even more, due to child welfare costs and juvenile justice issues. So there could be a situation where the city is entitled to $16 million, but doesn’t get it because it has to pay the state. However, the good news in all this is that the city would get an extra $500,000 per year in excise tax money; that would impact other municipalities across Indiana because it would mean a decrease in their allocations. This should all be worked out in about a month. Stay tuned…

If you think voters were mad at Bob Garton, check out this story at Yahoo.

I’m told today that Heather Bolejack may not face criminal prosecution. The former director of the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute was fired on Friday, along with a deputy director Kate Gullans. Sources are telling me it doesn’t look like Bolejack’s actions rise to that of criminal conduct, but more than likely mismanagement. If that is the case Heather might want to stop talking to the press. She went on a radio station yesterday in Indianapolis that has one of the least influential audiences in the city. Taking Down Words has a rather interesting analysis of her statements that may come back to bite her if she is not careful. Advance Indiana also has some interesting perspective as well. But for now, my sources say right now it does not look like Heather will be charged with criminal conduct. I’ll let you know if something changes. But that’s what I know for now.

Normally I leave town Friday afternoons and go back to Illinois to play and relax. Not this time. I spent a good chunk of my time on the 9th floor of One North Capitol at the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute attending the hearing that resulted in the termination of Executive Director Heather Bolejack and Deputy Director Kate Gullans. The two were dismissed for alleged improprieties including issuing no-bid contracts and travel voucher discrepancies.

Although the Inspector General’s report hasn’t been made public yet, that hasn’t stopped the race card from being played. Bolejack made statements in Saturday’s Indianapolis Star that she was targeted because of race. I’m not kidding. Already an Indianapolis talk show host (who has no clue by the way as was apparent when he showed up at the Governor’s press conference Friday) has alluded that race is playing a role in the firing. And Democratic strategist Ann Delany, I’m told, made similar hints on Indiana Week in Review.

If this is the way this debate is going to go, it’s unfortunate. Injecting race into the issue does more harm than good. And it also usually means that you have nothing left to go on. And it does more harm than good in the long run, because people who have a legitimate issue regarding race are taken less seriously down the road. As an attorney I strongly believe Heather is entitled to due process and should have a fair day in court. To argue race does her a disservice. If anything the Daniels’ administration is very sensitive to the fact there are not enough minorities in leadership positions in state government and is stepping up their efforts for outreach.

To play the race card is unfortunate and also uncalled for.

Call me crazy, but on the eve of me losing my job and facing possible state and federal indictment on public corruption charges, I would not be out partying or at the very least getting my picture taken with someone who WISH-TV Channel 8 just did an investigative piece involving his not-for profit charity that got a $417,000 grant (which was later pulled) that raised several eyebrows. Some needs to have a long talk with Ms. Bolejack.

We told you so…

Governor recommends termination of Criminal Justice Institute executive director

INDIANAPOLIS (May 12, 2006) – Governor Mitch Daniels is recommending today that the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI) Board of Trustees terminate the Institute’s executive director, Heather Bolejack, and a deputy director, Katalina Gullans. The recommendation is based on findings of an ongoing Inspector General (IG) investigation. Upon
completion, Daniels also has authorized the IG to submit his report to state and federal prosecutors for further review.

The Governor placed Bolejack on administrative leave April 25, upon the IG’s recommendation pending completion of a review.

According to the IG, the office initiated an investigation on February 3 after receiving a tip from a whistleblower. The investigation involves irregular travel expense reimbursements and the award of a grant to a Bolejack family friend without disclosure to or approval by the ICJI Board.

“The Inspector General briefed the governor Thursday afternoon, and the governor immediately recommended these terminations. At a minimum, evidence suggests unacceptable misconduct and poor judgment. Whether any
actions are more serious is a matter for prosecutors to decide,” said Mark Massa, the governor’s general counsel. “The governor demanded tougher ethics rules and an Inspector General to police them precisely
to make sure situations like this are dealt with promptly and forcefully.”

By state law, the ICJI Board employs an executive director nominated by the governor. The board ratified Bolejack’s appointment in April 2005. Jon von Arx, the chairman of the Commission for a Drug-Free Indiana, and
Jason Barclay, special counsel to the governor for public safety and chairman of the board of trustees of the Criminal Justice Institute, will continue to oversee the daily operations of the Institute.

Since its creation in 2005, the Inspector General has made 42 referrals to prosecutors and achieved over $4 million in savings. In 2005, the IG issued more than 500 ethics advisory opinions.

Although nothing will occur officially until 4 p.m. Friday, my sources tell me to keep an eye on at least three Indiana Criminal Justice Institute employees. Director Heather Bolejack, Deputy Director Kate Gullans and Chief Counsel Sylvia Muller are all worth watching. As I posted earlier today the Institute’s Board of Trustees have an Executive Session meeting at 2 p.m. on “personnel” issues and a full public meeting at 4 p.m. Bolejack is already on administrative leave, with pay, while the State’s Inspector General conducts its investigation into alleged no-bid contracts, travel voucher issues and the issuance of thousands in grants to local organizations with no appropriation. Stay tuned.