I was going to write something snarky about Monday night’s failed override of the smoking ban veto, but my parents told me to never speak ill of the dead, so I won’t.

With the chances of the Indianapolis City-County Council tonight overriding Mayor Greg Ballard’s veto of the recently passed smoking ban about as likely as me becoming the grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, I’ve decided to offer up three quick steps into helping individuals who worry about going out to a bar, tavern or restaurant and being exposed to secondhand smoke.

1.  Walk up to the door.

2.   Read the sign and see if it says “smoking” or “non-smoking” establishment.

3.   If it says “smoking” do not enter.

There are two really nice things about these instructions.  One they are easily repeated.  Two, they also work well with private clubs.

The Associated Press is reporting this morning that Indiana Unions are making a desperate bid in shops and labor halls across the state to keep their members from bolting.  I say, good, and I wish them luck.

This stems from the passage of “right to work” which now makes it illegal  for an employer to mandate an employee pay union fees as a condition of their employment.  Unions argued that this was an attempt to drive down wages while supporters said it was about job creation and economic freedom.

I have maintained that any union that is doing its job and providing good service, should not fear right to work. Instead, use RTW as an opportunity to sell the services the union provides.

In the AP article, local labor leader Brent Voorhies says he’s going around to different labor halls reminding workers of the services they provide, including grievance procedures, training, and negotiating wages and benefits.  Makes perfect sense to me,  most rational people don’t mind paying for a service if they think the service is valuable.

Now this is the point where the “free loader” arguments come in and RTW opponents say that by law they are forced to represent everyone in the workplace, regardless of whether they pay dues.  That is true, but not the entire story.  As I have stated before that when the union is certified it can decide whether it wants to be the exclusive collective bargaining unit in the workplace or represent members only.  However, it’s much easier for an organization to make a few bucks when everyone is forced to join.  It is a much harder sell when membership is voluntary.  And please note, there is nothing to stop the unions from going to Washington to lobby the federal government to change the law so they do not have to represent people who don’t pay for the service.

So as I read about unions lamenting about a loss of membership, I have a hard time finding sympathy. People will likely stay if you make the case.  Will there be some people who take advantage of the system, of course.  However, most people are willing to pay for something if they think it is worth the value.  So in the brave new “right to work” world we live in, unions can survive, they will just have to actually have to work smarter to do it.  The key words in that sentence are “work smarter.”

With Indianapolis mayor Greg Ballard expected to veto the current smoking ban passed by the City-County Council, I argue in my monthly column in today’s Indianapolis Star, that the recent success of the recent Super Bowl clearly demonstrates there is no need to expand the ban.  I’d be happy to hear your thoughts.

Could Libertarian Mike Wherry actually be Indiana’s Secretary of State?  Maybe, it’s not as farfetched as you might think.  There is speculation starting to percolate that if the Indiana Supreme Court finds that Charlie White was ineligible to be Secretary of State then that job could go to Libertarian Mike Wherry, who was also on the ballot, instead of Democrat Vop Osili.

This may sound a little bizarre, but the legal theory behind it does make you think.  Follow the logic here.  Indiana Democrats argue that because White was convicted of voter fraud he was not eligible to run for the office because he was not a properly registered voter.  And therefore the position should go to Democrat Vop Osili, who was the second highest vote getter on the ballot and he should be certified the winner.

Here’s the problem. Since the 2010 election, Osili has run for the Indianapolis City-County Council and is currently serving on the body.  Indiana law prohibits an individual from serving in two “lucrative” offices at once so he could only serve in one position.  So this is the part where you say, “So what’s your point?  Osili simply gives up his Council seat and goes to serve as Secretary of State.”   Not so fast.  This is where it could get complicated.

Not only does state law say an individual cannot serve in two “lucrative” offices, but when an individual is sworn into one office, he or she automatically gives up the prior office.  So here is the legal theory being circulated.  Since Osili took the position of City-County Councilmember, he has given up the claim to the Secretary of State’s Office and since White was never eligible then the Office goes to the only other person on the ballot, Libertarian Mike Wherry.

Now this is the part where you say, “Wait a second!  Osili didn’t give up the seat.  He was never certified as the winner and he just moved on.”  I thought of this too, and this where it gets even more complicated/interesting.  There is a concept in the law called “constructive notice” this means while a person may not actually know something, they should have so there is a presumption that they did, like illegal drugs in your suitcase.  The same theory would be applied here.  The legal challenge to White’s status had begun long before Osili assumed his spot on the Council, and therefore by running, winning and taking the oath, Osili has “constructively forfeited” his right to that office.  It would have been one thing had he gone back into private life or for that matter, filed suit.  But since he didn’t do anything, but go about his business and run for another office, the argument is that he forfeited the office by taking a spot on the Council.  Therefore, he is no longer eligible to be Secretary of State and the job goes to Wherry.  I’m just saying.

And even if the job doesn’t go to Wherry, the alternate legal theory is that Osili gave up the office when he took his Council seat so the position is vacant and the Governor makes the appointment.

Now whether the Indiana Secretary of State matter will get this far remains to be seen.  And before you call this a farfetched scenario dreamt up by a political muckraker, think again.  If I can come up with this after having a few conversations, someone with a lot more time and dedicated resources can dig into the weeds and do the briefs and file the lawsuit to bring the question forward.  In fact, I would not be surprised if the paperwork wasn’t already being drawn up.  So this drama could be far from over, even after the Court makes its ruling.  This is great for us muckrakers, bad for the voters.

Stay tuned.

The race for Indiana’s 5th Congressional District could be a lot more crowded come Friday.

With incumbent Dan Burton not running for re-election and former U.S. Attorney Susan Brooks, former Congressman David McIntosh, former Marion County Coroner John McGoff and Fishers Attorney Jack Lugar in the race you would think there was no more room at the political inn.

However, Indy Politics has learned that there are very strong indications that State Senator Mike Delph is leaning towards getting in the race and Marion Mayor Wayne Seibold is also ready to declare.

When I spoke with Delph last week he said he had not made up his mind, but any decision would have to have family support.  Seibold had been mentioned as a very strong contender for Lt. Governor under Mike Pence.

The filing deadline is Friday.  So far Brooks, Lugar, McGoff and McIntosh have all filed. A candidate debate is set for February 16th in Fishers.  I will be one of the moderators.

My good friend Jon Easter has posted at his blog, Indy Democrat,  a list of his Super Bowl 2012 ‘Winners and Losers.”  For the most part, I think Jon gets his list right.  The city of Indianapolis and the Mannings are obvious winners, while New England is the obvious loser.  However my Internet counterpart misses the mark on a couple points.  I’m sure he won’t mind if I fine tune his list just a little bit.  An asterisk indicates an original designation.

Winners

Mayor Greg Ballard*

• People tend to forget that the Mayor’s military background is in logistics and moving people and equipment from point A to point B and making necessary adjustments when things don’t go as planned.  I think that showed in the execution of SB 46.  As far as the smoking ban goes, I asked the Mayor if he had received any complaints about the lack of a total smoking ban from anyone, his answer was pretty clear, no.

Indiana House and Senate Republicans

• Indy Democrat originally had them pegged in the loser category.  I would argue that despite four days of Democrat walkouts, thousands of paid union protesters showing up everyday, not only did they pass right to work legislation, but got most of the work done you would expect by half-time.

Losers

Unions

• For all the hemming and hawing and veiled threats that were being made about disrupting the Super Bowl over RTW, none of it came true.  The protests were typical, a lot of noise and then nothing.  I am not who thought that protesting at an event where most of the people in attendance would be closer to the 1-percent than the 99-percent would be a good idea.

People who a smoking ban before the Super Bowl

• If you can find a news story from a mainstream media out lamenting about the lack of a total smoking ban in Indianapolis, please let me know.  I made it a point to search virtually everyday and couldn’t find a thing.  In fact, the only article I cam across was one in the New York Times which praised Indy for being a cigar-friendly city.

Better Luck Next Time

Businesses Away from the Super Bowl Village

• If the city does do another Super Bowl, and I have no doubt it will, something will have to be done to help businesses further away from the Georgia Street Super Bowl village.  I heard from a lot of merchants that they didn’t get the traffic they were hoping for and overstocked.  I think expanding the Super Bowl experience about a mile out will be a good idea.  People still won’t have far to go and you can do shuttle services to get people back and forth in the downtown area.  Luckily that is one of those live and learn deals.  We lived through it, so now we learn better for next time.

That’s my list.  I still think the ultimate winner is the City of Indianapolis and once again it’s ability to pull off major sporting events, not that there was ever any doubt in my mind.

Us political types are all talking about this ad that ran during the Super Bowl. Some say it’s just a well-done ad promoting the auto industry others say it’s a subtle, or not-so-subtle, political endorsement of the Obama administration. I figured I would put it up here and let you make the call.

Not that you needed me to write or tell you about this, but Indianapolis is officially a Super City.  City leaders and volunteers pulled off a pretty darn near perfect execution of Super Bowl 46 and hopefully by doing so, Indianapolis has clearly demonstrated it can compete and do just as well, if not better, than a lot bigger places.

The compactness of downtown was the perfect setting for the Super Bowl, and unlike other host cities such as Dallas, Miami or Phoenix, people didn’t have to spend half their time in the car.  Let’s face it, while getting there may be half the fun, it shouldn’t take all day.

Hoosier hospitality was at its finest as usual as locals and merchants opened their doors and their good manners to visitors.  Even some of our most controversial issues managed to stay in perspective and not ruin the day.  Apart from some reasonable demonstrators, no one cared about Right to Work.  And the only real complaint I heard about the city not having a total smoking ban was the line to get into some places that were non-smoking.   And when traffic got a little hectic Friday night, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department took a page out of its previous playbooks and redirected traffic.

The only read adjustment I would suggest for city planners to do a better job of assisting downtown merchants who might have overstocked based on what they were told by local tourism officials.  With Super Bowl village mainly taking place on the south sector of downtown, some of the more northern business in the area didn’t get as much traffic as they were hoping for, but that is something that is easily adjusted for next time.

And whether you call it luck, mother nature or divine intervention, the weather wasn’t too bad either.

Indianapolis, you should be proud.  Granted you have pulled off big events before, the Indy 500, Final Four, Gen-Con, Big Ten tournaments, but there is nothing like a Super Bowl to show you have the gravitas to make it happen.  And despite the naysayers and curmudgeons, you should go out have a cocktail and toast yourself.  Indy, you done good and I’m glad to know you.

A Hamilton County jury has found Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White guilty of voter fraud.  Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels has appointed long time Secretary of State employee Jerry Bonnet to the position temporarily, he has currently been acting as Chief Deputy.

According to the Indianapolis Star, White was found guilty on six of the 7 felonies he was charged with.  However, since the charges can be reduced to misdemeanors, White could still keep his job.

The decision came at 2 a.m. after 12 hours of deliberations.  White’s attorney, Carl Brizzi, did not present a defense.  Special prosecutor DJ Sigler laid out a very detailed in closing arguments, including using White’s own cell phone records against him.   The Attorney General’s Office did not represent White in the matter, but says it may assist in an appeal as provided by statute.

White was accused of voting from his ex-wife’s address in the May 2010 primary.  He was acquitted on the more serious charge of fraud on on financial institution.  White was not taken into custody and is appealing.