A WALK INTO THE LIONS’ DEN
Lately my Saturday mornings have been spent teaching Business Law for the MBA program at the University of Indianapolis. One of my classes just finished so I had time to go over to the slating for the Marion County Democratic party. I didn’t go to see who the Democrats would slate as much as it was to get a feel for the party after suffering defeat in the 2007 local elections. I wanted to know how energized and motivated they would be and would that energy carryover to the 2008 elections.
Now granted, there are a lot of Democrats in this county who would like to see pack my bags and go back to the Land of Lincoln because I allegedly am partially to blame for their losses last year. I don’t know how that’s possible because all I do is share my ideas and provide people with a forum to express their opinions. What’s even more ironic about that is the same people who say I’m partially responsible for the Republicans victory are the same people who say I have no credibility and am irrelevant to the debate. I wish they would make up their minds.
Regardless, I spoke to a number of local Democrats and here’s a summary of what they had to share…
State Representative Bill Crawford — Negotiations for property relief are going well and moving toward solutions. he says Democrats want to maximize relief for taxpayers while maintaining the state’s constitutional obligation to public education. He also says he’s skeptical of claims that many homeowners would lose their homes because of high property taxes, saying massive increases in local taxes are spotty at best across the state. He also says fire consolidation in Marion County is off the table for now two reasons, first Marion County already has the statutory authority to merge fire departments. Secondly, fire consolidation should be approached from a statewide perspective and not piecemeal it just for a single county. And Crawford also threw down the gauntlet saying if anyone wants to challenge him in the upcoming election, they are more than welcome to because he welcomes the debate.
County Assessor Greg Bowes – The County turned in its commercial and industrial reassessment numbers Friday evening to the Department of Local Government and Finance and are waiting for approval. Bowes is sticking with his office’s prediction that commercial and industrial assessments may go up 20-30 percent, but also that residential assessments may increase about six percent. Bowes says the increase in assessments means taxpayers could get somewhat of a break because everyone will be paying their fair share, however he also says taxpayers should not expect to pay lower than last year’s bills, per se; only that the increases seen in the 2007 bills will not be as high. Bowes hopes to release more information later this week.
Andre Carson (7th Congressional District Candidate) — He said support for his candidacy is coming in from across the city and across racial and religious lines. He said he and his opponents are scheduled the meet three times between and the election to debate the issues. He also called the videotaping of Jon Elrod signing campaign thank you letters at the Statehouse “junior high school” activity. It’s also worth mentioning, Carson got a lively round of applause when he spoke to the delegates, but I could also see quite a few people sitting on their hands, which means Carson may still have some work to do to shore up his Democratic support.
Mike O’Connor (Marion County Democratic Chairman) – The Ballard administration is finding out how hard it is to govern a city and it’s a lot different from campaigning. He says they backtracked on ethics pledges and promises to help eliminate taxes. He also says their new role as the “loyal opposition” is to hold the Ballard administration accountable to its campaign pledges.
Jim Schellinger (Candidate for Governor) -Mitch Daniels oversaw the largest property tax increase in the history of Indiana. He says he would work with all lawmakers to come up with a plan to protect all Hoosier homeowners.
Jill Long Thompson (Candidate for Governor) – Voters are waiting for change and she will provide it. She also says personal income in Indiana has dropped under Mitch Daniels. She also says the tax system in Indiana needs to be restructured so it works for Hoosier families and businesses.
I’ll be playing the complete interviews on Tuesday morning as well as comments from Governor Mitch Daniels about property taxes as we come down to the final stretch of the legislature. Speaking of Daniels, the biggest applause at the slating came whenever his name was mentioned in conjunction with throwing him out of office in 2008.
Overall, I was treated well by most of the Democrats I interacted with. They are usually the professionals who get it versus the more activist crowd who couldn’t see their political noses to spite their faces. And instead of treating me like a pariah when I show up at their events they’d probably be better of thinking of me as “Q” from Star Trek; The Next Generation. It would make everyone’s life a whole lot easier, especially theirs.
