Today’s Political Landscape
There are a quite a few items of political note today. Matt Tully has a pieice on how gracious Governor Mitch Daniels has been regarding the defeat of the Commerce Connector and part of the Illiana Expressway. I agree with Matt that the Governor has been gracious in defeat. He’s a much better person than me because I’d start building a Death Star to deal with people who didn’t get it.
Discussion gets underway at the Legislature today over Indy Works. State Senator Jim Merritt is offering an amendment requiring more community input on fire consolidation and also keeping the Township Assessors in place for now. Merritt’s bill would require townships to have three public hearings on fire consolidation and then vote. If approved the departments would consolidate and the township trustees would eventually be out a job becaue their poor relief efforts would be turned over to Marion County’s Health and Hospital. Under the current proposal, only a City-County Council vote is needed for consolidation. Merritt says the Assessor issue is one that should be decided statewide. While I have as much use for the Township Trustees as Stevie Wonder does for contact lenses, they are still elected officials and should have a say in the matter. The Mayor has already had victories in Washington and Warren Townships. I think he can do it in the other townships, but he may have the most problem with fellow Democrats Pike Township Trustee Lula Patton and David Baird, the Wayne Township Trustee. I don’t see these guys giving up power without a military junta overthrowing them.
Speaking on consolidation, the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns will hold a news conference today calling on more autonomy for local governments. Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson may have some ammunition under his belt. Standard and Poor has a report out that says without legislative help, the city could lose its AAA bond rating. James Weimken of S& P goes on to say that if the Indianapolis is not in a position to address its structural deficit, pension liabilities and growing public safety needs in a meaningful way, its credit rating will be lowered. A lower credit rating would mean higher interest payments when it comes to issuing bonds. Don’t be surprised if you see this argument surface today.
The City Ethics Board has agreed to hear the CC President Monroe Gray’s request for an ethics investigation. This will be fun to watch.
