The Lawrence City Council postponed a vote last night on settling its Voting Rights Lawsuit. A number of Councilors expressed concerns about settling the case and paying an attorney who could potentially walk away with money for nothing. A vote could come in a couple weeks.

A legal settlement in the City of Lawrence could have ramifications across the state of Indiana, particularly Marion County. The Council will vote tonight, and likely pass, a settlement in a Voting Rights Act lawsuit.

The complaint, filed by Lawrence resident Regina Dillard in 2004, alleged the make up of the City Council violated the Voting Rights Act because it diluted minority voting strength. Currently the Council is made up of six district seats and three at-large seats. Dillard says it is difficult for minorities to run for the Lawrence Council and win because of the at-large seats.

Under the terms of the settlement, the three at-large seats will be eliminated and replaced with three district seats. The plaintiff’s and her attorney have to petition the legislature for the change however.

There are two aspects to this case which make it interesting.

First, the attorney for the plaintiff, Stephen Laudig, will be paid $21,000 from the City of Lawrence and the Marion County Election Board. Laudig and his client Dillard have to go the Legislature to petition the change, however there is no guarantee the Indiana General Assembly will make the change. So they could literally find someone to sponsor a bill that goes nowhere and they will have met their terms of the settlement. What a way to make $21,000.

Secondly, and more importantly, there are ramifications to this suit across Indiana and in Marion County. Currently on the Indianapolis City-County Council there are 25 District seats and 4 at-large seats. The four seats are all held by Democrats, three Blacks, one White. On the whole Council there are nine Blacks altogether, for a total of 31 percent. If you take out the at-large seats the 24 percent. Why is this important? If we follow the Lawrence logic (which is scary enough in itself) Blacks are over-represented on the Council because according to the 2000 census, they only make up 24 percent of the population of the County. Whites are just slightly more than 70 percent.

So following the Lawrence logic, if I were a White person in Marion County (and some Blacks say I am) I would follow Lawrence’s lead and file a Voting Right’s lawsuit because it is more difficult for Whites to be elected at-large than Blacks and Blacks are over-represented on the Council.

A little something else to keep in mind, if the goal of this suit was to create Black districts, they may want to be careful about creating what I call benevolent apartheid. It’s a situation where a Black district is created so Blacks have a voice, but that voice is virtually ignored by their white counterparts and Blacks basically have no representation and are actually worse off than they were before, because where there would have been many voices affecting several races, now they all impact one.

There’s nothing like a lawsuit with unintended consequences.

I’m hearing the situation at the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute could be worse than previously reported. There have been a number of media reports that Heather Bolejack, the agency director has been placed on paid administrative leave while the state Inspector General’s Office conducts its investigation. I’m told by sources that three to four more employees of the agency could be disciplined (or indicted) by the time all is said and done. Although no one in the Daniels administration will comment, I’m told the investigation involves travel expenses and the letting of no-bid contracts involving federal dollars. Stay tuned.

Instead of getting some sleep like I had originally planned to do, I spent the weekend going from political event to political event to get a feel for all three political parties as we get closer to the May 2nd primary. I talked to a number of long time political officials. What I’ve composed is a summary of those conversations. In order to assure candor I asked the officials to speak “on background” which means I can use their comments but not attribute them to any one individual except where warranted. The conclusion that I’ve reached is that no one is quite sure what is going to happen Tuesday, however whatever happens, no one will be surprised at the outcome. Allow me to explain.

In the race involving Senate Pro Tem Bob Garton and challenger Greg Walker, my sources tell me they expect Garton to win his primary, 55-45, but they are still keeping open possibility that Walker can win the race. There are a lot of people working on the Walker campaign, but Garton has a lot of money. The geographics of the district tend to favor Garton, because it is too big to walk door-to-door, so advertising works well. However, recent polling data only has Garton at a 44% approval rating. One source said they wish Garton would have done some negative campaigning and done some damage to Walker. Like I said, everyone expects Garton to win, but no one will be surprised if he loses.

In Hamilton County the big race is the one for County Prosecutor, Sonja Leerkamp versus Paul Felix. Felix got an early start by getting organized, endorsements and putting up a lot of yard signs throughout the county. Leerkamp finally put up signs this weekend. There is some controversy surrounding Leerkamp’s use of a private attorney to do the county’s asset forfeiture work. The attorney, Bruce Petit, has done some work for Leerkamp before, including her divorce and bankruptcy back in 1995. This has caused a stir because Petit gets a third of whatever he successfully collects. That has raised the ire of a number of Sheriff’s deputies because they say there is an attorney on staff who could do the collection and the money would stay in the county. In 2005, according to court records, Petit was paid about $13,000 for his asset forfeiture work. I’m told that once the story broke a number of Leerkamp supporters were energized saying that Felix had attacked her unfairly. Just for the record, the information did not come from the Felix camp.

Moving back down south another race that has peaked a lot of interest is the race for Perry Township Trustee. Challenger Gary Coons is taking on incumbent Jack Sandlin. I’m told there are literally hundred of Coons yard signs. One source told me he had never seen anything like it in Perry Township. He says Koons’ name ID has been brought up tremendously in the Township. Coons also recently received the endorsement of Beech Grove Mayor Donald Wright. I spoke with Sandlin Saturday morning. He said he feels pretty good about his chances of winning re-election. He says people in his township don’t like negative campaigning. He says Coons is a being controlled by the firefighters’ union. He also takes Coons and the firefighters to task saying they have lied about his record and the safety of the equipment in the Township’s fire department. However, when the firefighters go door to door as they have since February, people tend to believe them when they say there are problems in the fire department. The insiders’ bet is that Coons has a 50/50 shot at winning.

Overall this primary will be one where incumbents, who have credible challengers, have a 50-50 shot at winning at best. My colleagues Brian Howey and Matt Tully have both written about these races, and I recommend you check out their writings. After spending time this weekend with both Republicans and Democrats I tend to agree. When people ask me who’s going to win a certain race, I tell them I don’t know. Which is odd for me, I’ll admit. Let me just say this, no matter what happens on May 2, I will not be surprised at the outcome.

Although the late Governor Frank O’Bannon suspended the state’s sales tax on gasoline back in 2000 to provide Hoosiers with temporary relief from high gas prices, current Governor Mitch Daniels says he doesn’t plan to do the same.

With gas prices hitting $3 per gallon in some places, many residents are feeling the pain at the pump.

Daniels told reporters this afternoon that suspending the sales tax on gasoline would hurt Indiana’s efforts to emerge from bankruptcy and balance its budget. He also says any relief would not be meaningful.

Current Indiana collects 16 cents on the price of every gallon of gasoline sold as well slightly more than 6 percent on the sale as well.

There is somewhat of a controversy brewing in the Republican primary for the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s race. It’s an election involving incumbent Sonja Leerkamp and challenger Paul Felix. Leerkamp has been in office since 1995, while Felix has done most of his work in Johnson County. Since there is no real Democratic opposition in the HC, whoever wins the primary, will likely win the general election.

There have been some rumblings in the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department by the rank and file over Leerkamp’s use of a private attorney for asset forfeiture cases. Asset forfeiture allows law enforcement to collect proceeds from illegal activity. Under Indiana law, proceeds confiscated via asset forfeiture are usually divided between the local law enforcement and the common school fund. Asset forfeiture is codified in the Indiana Code in sections 34-24-1-1 through 34-24-1-9.

It is not uncommon for a county prosecutor to use outside counsel to do asset forfeiture work. According to a 2001 Justice Department study, 73.1% of prosecutor offices across the country that are similar in size to Hamilton county do not engage their prosecutors in forfeiture actions or any other civil actions.

What’s caused a fuss in the HC is the person who does the forfeiture. The attorney is Bruce Petit, who works part-time for the Boone County Prosecutor’s Office. Leerkamp tells me that this works for the taxpayers in the HC because “[Petit] is familiar with criminal law as well as the forfeiture process and often receives calls from officers ‘on the scene’ requesting guidance on the seizure of property. The attorney is paid on a contingency basis, retaining 1/3 of the amount of recovered assets and saving Hamilton County the expense of having a deputy prosecutor’s time tied up in this civil recovery process.”

In 2005, the total assets recovered by Hamilton County Law Enforcement were $38, 454.96. The largest portion of these funds was proceeds of assets seized by the Hamilton/Boone County Drug Task Force. According to those figures, Petit collected almost $13,000. The concern for some sheriff’s deputies is Petit’s relationship with Leerkamp. According to court records, Petit handled Leerkamp’s bankruptcy in 1995. I am also told he has done other work for Leerkamp as her private attorney. I called Petit to ask him a few questions but he did not return my calls. Leerkamp has agreed to come on my radio program Monday and discuss the issue. The critics say that the money going to Petit could stay in the county because there is someone on staff in the Sheriff’s department who can do the same job.

No word yet on whether Leerkamp’s opponent Paul Felix will use this in the final days of the campaign. However the two big questions for Leerkamp will be one, why use an outside attorney if there is someone on the county payroll who can do the work, why not use them? And second should the lawyer doing asset forfeiture be one who handled the county prosecutor’s bankruptcy and reportedly other legal work? Stay tuned…

I’m noticing some interesting trends one week before the May primary. If you’re an incumbent, you could be in trouble. Across the nation incumbents are either running scared or playing defense. Indiana is no exception.

In the Senate, Pro Tem Bob Garton is in a tough primary re-election battle against accountant Greg Walker of Columbus. Walker has the support of the Right to Life movement. The Lt. Governor, Becky Skillman, came out an endorsed Garton this week. That may not be enough because according to sources, polling data shows only 44% of Garton’s constituents think he deserves to be re-elected. This does not bode well for Garton.

Across the area incumbents are facing strong primary challengers. Hamilton County Prosecutor Sonja Leerkamp is going against Paul Felix. A quick drive through the HC will reveal a lot of yard signs for Felix. Meanwhile, Leerkamp signs are spotted about as often as Democrats.

Head south on 31 to Perry Township and you’ll find Trustee Jack Sandlin in a tough race against former Beech Grove firefighter Gary Koons. There have been rumblings that signs have been taken off doors and fire fighters have been disciplined for sporting Koons signs in their vehicles. None of this bodes well for the incumbents. It will be interesting to see who survives come May 3.

With gas prices hovering near $3 per gallon, the government is making noises about getting involved to get a handle on rising oil prices. Republican Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania Sunday said the government should consider a tax on oil companies if they make excessive profits amid the rising prices. Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said such a windfall profits tax, along with stronger antitrust laws, could help bring down gas prices.

I am not a big fan on uses taxes to discourage or encourage certain behavior, although it does have its place. I would rather use the free market as a way to keep gas prices under control. If you want to pay less for gas, then you have to take steps to lower your gas consumption. A little internet research came up with this…

1. Keep your tires inflated to their proper pressure.
2. Use the air conditioner selectively.
3. Do the speed limit.
4. Maintain your vehicle.
5. Make more efficient trips.

Will this bring down the price of gas tomorrow? Probably not. But there will be less money coming out of your pocket to the oil companies. I don’t expect gas prices to drop anytime soon. I do expect to make better use of my time and money buy putting less in the tank.

I’m hearing a deal will be announced tomorrow between the NK Hurst Bean Company and the Indiana Stadium Building Authority. Neither side is commenting but a source close to the negotiations tells me that under the deal, NK Hust will be allowed to stay at its current location just south of the new stadium. There will be some type of land swap will be announced at a news conference tomorrow. There’s no word on how much each side will pay for the land swap, however a source says the SBA will likely build a parking garage on the land it receives. Like I said, neither side will comment on the deal which is expected to be announced tomorrow. The two sides would have gone to court in August had they not worked out an agreement.

One 7th District Republican Congressional candidate says he is the victim of dirty tricks by his opponent. Former City-County Council member Ron Franklin says comments made in a recent interview about gays and some individuals on disability are being taken out of context.

In an interview conducted last month, Franklin was asked about gay rights and social security. On the gay rights issue, Franklin says the Indianapolis city county council was wrong to pass the human rights ordinance. He says marriage should be between a man and a woman, however he concludes the interview by saying “he likes it better when they [gays] kept it in the closet.”

Later in the interview after touching on other issues he comments on people on social security disability (SSI). He says he’s seen too many people getting disability and tells his office manager to not rent to them. Franklin manages the Mosell Sanders public housing complex on east 38th Street in Indianapolis.

Franklin says he knew he was being set up by his opponents so he gave answers that weren’t to be taken seriously.

He blames the entire matter on the Eric Dickerson campaign, which he says has tried to use a number of dirty tricks to derail his campaign. Already the two sides are hinting at legal action against each other over the interview.

The implications of this are far reaching. By making his comments, as the slated (party-backed) nominee, Franklin has put the party in an awkward position. They must either denounce his comments and possibly his candidacy, or appear to be endorsing what he said. Thereby giving an opening to their Democratic counterparts who will definitely pounce on this by putting out news releases and making public statements that Franklin should get out of the race and his party should call him on the carpet.

Trust me, the bomb just went off. Now we have to see how much damage it does.