Indulge me for just a second.

A long, long time ago in a school district far, far away, it was a period of civil war.  Rebel school board members, striking from their base won a victory against  an evil galactic school district.

During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored central office with enough power to destroy the education for thousands of children.

Pursued by the Empire’s sinister agents, Samantha Adair White races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the school district…

Thank you for indulging me and my inner GEN-CON.

I write this because I am feeling better about the future of the Indianapolis Public School District.  I feel better because of three people, Sam Odle, Gayle Cosby and Caitlin Hannon.  They are running for the IPS School Board.  Each brings not only a new set of skills but new ideas and frankly, new blood to a place that needs it badly.

As much as find Darth, uh, IPS Superintendent Dr. Eugene White offensive and more harmful to the education of poor black children than anyone wearing a white sheet, the only people more dangerous than him were the four school board members who enabled his counterproductive behavior.

Luckily Mary Busch is leaving the board; leaving only three of his enablers left.  With a little bit of luck, two of them, Elizabeth Gore and Marianna R. Zaphiriou will be put out to pasture this next election season as well.

A new school board that puts children first instead of a tired Superintendent will breathe new life into the district and I truly believe will cause Indianapolis to rally around IPS to do even more to improve the school district.

All it takes is just a few votes this November.  Hopefully the voters of IPS will pay attention and take a chance to make some real change,

Or at the very least they will blow up the Death Star.  Now pardon me, I just found the droids I was looking for.

In the immortal words of my late grandfather, Indianapolis City-County Council Vice-President Brian Mahern has lost his natural mind.

I figured he was never the sharpest political tool in the shed, only the loudest and my belief was re-affirmed this afternoon.   In another one of  his publicity seeking news conferences, Mahern called for the city to levy a PILOT against the Capitol Improvement Board as an alternative to the city phasing out the the county homestead credit for property taxpayers who haven’t reached the one-percent tax cap.  By the way, the state got rid of this a few years back once the tax caps were in place.

A PILOT is “payment in lieu of taxes” that is usually levied against entities that don’t pay property taxes, for example Citzens Gas.   Mahern tells the Indianapolis Star that such a move would cover the $8.1 million that would come from the elimination of the homestead credit.   There are a few problems with this logic.

First, the CIB already passed its budget, which by the way City-County Council President Maggie Lewis is on the Board, so Mahern’s move undermines his own leader,  also since the budget has been approved by the board there is a legal question of to what extent can the Council modify it.

Second, any PILOT would have to be adopted by ordinance (which we know the and it’s  unclear if the amount collected would be $8.1 million.  Here’s why.  Under Indiana law…

The PILOTS must be calculated so that the PILOTS may be in any amount that does not exceed the amount of property taxes that would have been levied by the legislative body for the consolidated city and county upon the tangible property described in subsection (e) if the property were not subject to an exemption from property taxation.

So what are the values of Lucas Oil, Banker’s Life, Victory Field and the Convention Center?  And why stop there.  There are a lot of entities that don’t pay property taxes.  The State of  Indiana, IUPUI, Butler, UIndy,  Ivy Tech, the Center Township Trustee’s Office,  a lot of not-for profits, etc.  Do we charge all these entities as well?  We should, if we want to be fair, right?

And speaking of fairness, Mahern says he wants to create a “Tax Fairness Task Force” where not-for profits would “voluntarily” pay PILOTs.  What crack pipe is he smoking?  What entity is going to “voluntarily” fork over more money to any government?

There are a lot of more thoughtful ideas Mahern could have come up with to address the city’s financial shortfall, but the problem is they are thoughtful and they don’t allow you to be a media slut.*

I’m not sure who has the better to phrase this silly idea.  The Mayor’s Office…

“Today’s latest news conference from Councillor Mahern underscores his lack of knowledge concerning municipal finance.   Continuing the homestead subsidy would cost $13 million, not $8 million.  It also would create a $13 million funding cliff that would put Indianapolis into a deeper fiscal hole in 2014 and beyond.  This knee-jerk proposal continues the same line of thinking that nearly bankrupted the Capital Improvement Board and produced fiscally irresponsible city budgets a few years ago.  Mayor Ballard looks forward to having a serious discussion about the long-term fiscal needs of our city with thoughtful leaders in the Council, including President Maggie Lewis, who just yesterday as a member of the CIB voted to approve its budget.”

Or my late grandfather…

“What a dumb ass!”

* For the record, I am a media whore because I get paid for what I do.  Mahern does his for free so he can run for Mayor in 2015 and lose in the primary.  And also for the record, I am not saying anything that 90% of all Republicans and DEMOCRATS in this town’s political aren’t already thinking.  You know I’m right.

Democrats seemed skeptical, Republicans somewhat supportive of Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard’s budget that closes a $65 million gap with cuts to public safety, dips into reserves and eliminates a local homestead tax credit for property tax payers.

City Council President Maggie Lewis said she wanted more details but thought the Mayor should have been more transparent.  The Democrats also said they were concerned with cuts to public safety and said the Mayor’s office was working with bad numbers saying it was off by about $14 million.

Minority Leader Mike McQuillen said he understands the city is in a tough spot and the Mayor is making the city live within in its means however he says the GOP will demand every ounce of fat be taken out of the budget before asking the taxpayers for more money.

You can both sides below.  The Democrats news conference runs about 13 minutes.  McQuillen’s comments run about five.

Leon-Tailored Interview – Democratic Reaction to Ballard Budget

Leon-Tailored Interview – Republican Reaction to Ballard Budget

Here is the Mayor’s introduced budget for 2013. Below is the audio from today’s briefing as well.

My colleague Jon Murray today in the Indianapolis Star spells out Mayor Greg Ballard’s first step toward closing the city’s estimated $30-$65 million budget shortfall.  It includes budget cuts, revenue increases and spending freezes.

According to Murray the Ballard’s highlights of the plan include the following…

• Postponing scheduled 3% raises for IMPD and IFD
• Elimination a city-county homestead tax credit (averaging $22 annually per household)
• Capturing $21 million from recent state payments
• Capturing another $10 million from the downtown TIF district

More details will be available Monday and Council Democrats are meeting this afternoon to discuss a strategy.

The way I look at the city budget is this, I think this is a good starting point for a discussion.  And for those who want to play critic, you are entitled, but once again, please do everyone a favor, especially yourself, and bring up concrete solutions.

And I will take care of your first suggestion; rescind the pay raises for the 25^th floor, done.  Now go find another $64,850,000 and then you will have really accomplished something.  And before I forget, public safety is 80% of your budget and before you start dissolving TIF districts you might want to check and make sure their bonds are paid off.

I was doing a little reminiscing earlier this week as it marks one year since my departure from WXNT radio.   As some of you know, I did the morning show there for nearly eight years when management decided that syndicated programming was preferable to local.   It was what it was.  I am capitalist so I can’t complain when people make decisions based on money.  However, what I could do is what I did do, put “plan “B into operation.

Instead of complaining and talking how unfair people were, I decided to go into business for myself.  So using my contacts that I have built up over the past few years I went and started my other web blog,  Indy Politics,  and it’s done pretty well.  So far this year it’s had nearly 150,000 page views and a nice slew of advertisers.   My “Cheat Sheet”  gossip column is doing well also.  Those few hundred or so subscribers helped pay for a vacation for the Lovely Mrs. Shabazz,  a new flat screen TV and a ton of martinis, cigars and comic books. I’ve also increased my teaching load, picked up a couple nice consulting gigs and I even play lawyer on occasion.  And we’ve majorly stepped up our local and statewide media presence with contributions to the Indy Star, NUVO, RTV 6, Inside Indiana Business and the Statehouse File.

I bring this up not to brag, well a little bit, but it demonstrates that in this tough economy, you can turn setbacks into opportunities if  you are willing to keep a positive, but realistic, attitude,  work smart and take advantage of them.   It comes from always networking, keeping up your skills, keeping a lookout and surrounding yourself with positive people.    I have always been surprised when people get laid off but have no back up plan.  I learned a long time ago that you never do anything with a back up plan.  And in the 21st Century, and the job climate the way it is, how could anyone not have a back-up plan?   In fact my back-up plans have back-up plans.

The other thing I learned a long time ago is that sometimes positives really just mask themselves as negatives.  Had the radio station and I not parted ways, I would have never tried to branch out on my own in this manner.   A better example I like to use is that had my old girlfriend not broken up with me, I would have never have met my wife.  So one year after being shown the door, a new door opened with a wealth of opportunity and possibilities.

And I get to sleep in until 6.

Somehow I get the strange feeling that “Lugar Republicans” are in pretty high demand these days.  Democrat Joe Donnelly mentioned how he worked with Richard Lugar to save  Indiana’s automotive industry.   Richard Mourdock does in a roundabout way when he talks about working with Governor Daniels to keep Indiana on track.  And Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Gregg mentions in about every stump speech he can.

So why are these “Lugar Republicans” so valuable?  Just look at the last two polls that have come out in the race for the United States Senate.

Rasmussen has Donnelly and Mourdock basically tied at 42-40, with 11% undecided and Donnelly’s own recently released internal poll had the race at 41-40.  Four percent went to Libertarian Andy Horning and the remaining 15% was either undecided or none of the above.

Where the “Lugar Republicans” come in are in both the Rasmussen and Donnelly poll, both oversampled Republican voters;  45-32 in the Rasmussen poll and Republicans had an 8-point party identification lead in the Donnelly poll.   Also take into account Mitt Romney is easily winning Indiana, according to Rasmussen, 51-35 over President Barack Obama.  And everything we hear in the race for Governor is that you would much rather be Mike Pence than John Gregg right now.

For Romney and Pence to be doing well and Mourdock in a dead heat, that tells me that those “Lugar Republicans” aren’t sold on Mourdock.  And although Lugar and Mourdock have reportedly buried the hatchet, I will believe it when I see the two of them campaigning together in Indiana and Lugar does some commercials.

Some of my Republican friends are trying to figure out why someone who votes for Romney and Pence would split their ticket and vote for Donnelly.  The answer is pretty simple, they’re mad.  What you can’t explain by logic and reasoning can very easily be explained by emotion.  They are still ticked off at the primary, the Indiana Tea Party (whose RINO hunting rhetoric doesn’t help build bridges by the way) and Mourdock really needs to do some reaching out to those folks and getting them on board.   And don’t forget, Hoosiers are notorious for splitting their tickets at the top:  Bush-O’Bannon – 2000; Bayh-Daniels – 2004;  Obama-Daniels 2008.

Now granted this is still a very red state and the fundamentals still lean toward a Mourdock victory, however, the fact that Romney and Pence are running away with their races and Mourdock isn’t tells me that the Lugar Republicans could be the deciding factor in this race.

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels is waiting for a decision from the State Inspector General’s Office to see if as the President of Purdue whether he can lobby the state.  This stems from the Governor’s own Executive Order that prohibits state government lobbying by members of the executive branch for one year after leaving their jobs.

The rule is as follows…

No state officer, employee or special state appointee who leaves state government after Jan. 10, 2005 shall accept employment or receive compensation for one year:

a. As a lobbyist engaged in lobbying the executive or the legislative branches of government in Indiana;

b. From an employer if the former officer, employer or special state appointee was engaged in the negotiation or administration of one or more contracts with that employer or in a position to make a discretionary decision affecting the outcome of that negotiation or administration of such a contract; or

c. From an employer if the former officer, employer or special state appointee made a regulatory licensing decision that directly applied to the employer or to a company that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with the employer.

Obviously as a university president, the governor would clearly be lobbying the executive and legislative branches of government regarding funding, construction projects, and a various sundry of other rules and regulations affecting higher education. But once again, by doing any of this is he in violation of his own executive order? I would argue no.

What’s key in the executive order is that it applies to individuals “who leave state government.” By taking over as president of Purdue, Daniels is not leaving state government; he is merely going to work in another branch. Purdue is a creature of the state. If you look at its own history the school would not exist but for the state.

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Land Grant Act, which turned public lands over to any state that agreed to use the land sale proceeds to maintain a college teaching agriculture and the “mechanic arts.”

In 1865, the Indiana General Assembly voted to participate in the plan and took steps to establish such an institution. And on May 6, 1869, the Indiana General Assembly chose the Lafayette area for the new institution and accepted a $150,000 gift from John Purdue, as well as $50,000 from Tippecanoe County and 100 acres of land from local residents.

The legislature named the new school Purdue University.

Looking at Purdue’s $1.6 billion annual budget, state funding accounts for approximately 27% of its operating revenue to the tune of about $312 million, coming in second to student fees. Purdue has to answer not only to its Board of Trustees, but also to the Indiana Commission on Higher Education and the Indiana General Assembly.

And the first line in Purdue’s own mission statement is to “serve the citizens of Indiana.”

Taking those facts as a whole, it is hard to argue that Purdue is not an institution that would qualify as an entity of “state government.” So therefore, if all the governor is doing is going from one branch of state government to another – albeit a more independent branch – then it doesn’t seem to me that there really is much of an issue here.

Go Boilermakers!

A less than two weeks the city of  Indianapolis will unveil its budget.  I’ll be writing about this over the course of the next few weeks, but here is a cop of the adopted budget for 2012  so we all have a frame of reference to work from.  Note: public safety (IMPD, IFD, MCSD, Courts) all make up about 85%  of city-county expenditures.