MONDAY MORNING MUSINGS
It was a busy day for a Monday.
Two candidates for the 7th Congressional District stopped by, local attorney Randle Pollard and County Treasurer Mike Rodman. Both had similar positions on Iraq and health care. They want to bring the troops home, but do it in an orderly fashion that doesn’t jeopardize democracy in Iraq nor security in the United States. When asked about Andre Carson, the current front runner on the Democratic side, Rodman said he was focusing on his own race. Pollard says Democrats need someone they can unite behind because there is no guarantee that they will hold on to the seat after the March 11 special election. He also says he was not put up by local power brokers to split the anti-Carson vote. Pollard is an attorney at Ice Miller and he says he’s putting his career on the line by running for the job.
State Senator Jim Merritt also stopped by this morning. He’s amended his Marion County Government Reduction plan. It would create one county-wide fire department, with professional standards and put control of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police department solely under the control of the Mayor’s Office. It will also allow the City-County Council to vote on abolishing the Township Trustees’ offices by 2011. It will put the small claims courts under the Superior Courts and reduce the number from nine to five. The township constables would be eliminated in favor of a warrant officer put under control of the Superior courts. Separate legislation is being introduced to combine the offices of Country Treasurer, Auditor and City Comptroller and would eliminate the Coroner’s Office in favor of a regional medical examiner.
