Greg Ballard: Year Two
Sophomore years can really be tough.
If you’re a student, you start thinking about the college application process, reduce your extra curricular activities and focus more. It’s also the year you assert your independence.
If you’re a musician, you want to make sure the second album lives up to the first and you prove it’s not a fluke. Unfortunately for every one Jimi Hendrix Axis: Bold As Love, there are a lot more Hootie and the Blowfish Fairweather Johnson.
If you’re the current Mayor of Indianapolis, this year will very likely determine whether you’re on the path to second term or back to teaching full-time.
On balance, 2009 hasn’t gotten off to the best start for the Mayor. On the day the Capital Improvement Board told the public it was swimming in more than $115 million in short and long-term financial shortfalls, Indianapolis was hit with more than 12 inches of snow. The Mayor has had some good news so far, overall crime was down last year and the number of homicides stayed stable. In addition the Mayor’s office handed out millions in crime prevention grants and Mayor-sponsored Charter Schools are performing. But tell that to the citizen who had to ride a Ton Ton to get to work that day. Even when the Mayor announced Uni Gov 2.0, the natural progression of reforming this government, his delivery wasn’t quite up to a command performance level.
With that said, while 2009 presents some challenges for the Mayor, it also presents some unique opportunities. Here’s some of what the Mayor can do…
- The Mayor can continue to push for his message of fiscal responsibility and come out and say a broad-based tax increase for Lucas Oil Stadium if OFF the table. He can say he will look at every option possible to keep the lights on and the doors open but that one.
- The Mayor knows he needs to do better job of playing politics, he can use the city’s current financial crisis to pull the rug from under his political opponents. This is nothing new and has been done in politics for years.
- The Mayor can endear himself to tons of parents by starting a citywide mentoring/tutoring/after-school program. He can partner with the areas colleges and universities to get the tutors and mentors and use local churches as after-school centers. The program can Monday-Friday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., the time most kids are likely to get in trouble. Not only does the program reduce crime, but also helps improve the quality of education.
- The Mayor should sit down quarterly with local neighborhood newspapers and publications, who don’t usually get access. Sitting down with the big media is easy, but the little guys need attention too. This gives the Mayor an opportunity to highlight his accomplishments and reach another audience.
- Start building dossiers on possible challengers right now; Melina Kennedy, Dr. Woody Myers, Frank Anderson; local business man Brian Williams. The County Democrats are already split over race and gender issues in the Mayor’s race anyway and already gathering dirt on each other for the 2011 primary, so the Mayor would not be doing anything different to the loyal opposition that the loyal opposition isn’t doing to itself.
- Take heart from the last election. Although Barack Obama beat John McCain 63-35 percent in Marion County, Mitch Daniels beat Jill Long Thompson 55-42 percent. That demonstrates with the right message and right results a Republican can win in Marion County. And even though the County leans Democrat, if you take out the at-large candidates on the Council, Republicans still lead 13-12, so you have some fundamentals that work in your favor.
- Speaking of which, stay engaged with women and the minority communities. Blacks and Hispanics make up to 30-percent of the city’s population. Stress to them quality of life issues, safe streets, better schools, economic development, abandoned housing, etc. Don’t let the local agitators whose messages are outdated as their hair styles be the only words those communities hear.
- The old Center Township Machine is about to be on it’s last leg. Julia Carson is dead, Carl Drummer leaving, Bill Crawford getting ready to leave the Statehouse in the next couple years, there’s no real farm team, and with a good relationship between the Mayor and Andre Carson, we could see a serious shift in Center Township politics in the near future. Speaking of which, if consolidation does not go through the Legislature, don’t worry, the tax caps will take of that and you will have townships begging to consolidate before it’s all said and done.
- Barnes & Thornburg. Although the firm is the bane of some bloggers, if you were to ask 99-percent of Indianapolis what Barnes & Thornburg was, they would say a bookstore. My advice, take their advice, along with all your other assistants, and make the best decision for the city. It’s just that simple.
- Improve your communication skills. I truly believe the Mayor’s message of a safe, livable city where citizens are not taxed to death and enjoy a good quality of life is a great message. But it doesn’t work if it gets lost in the delivery. How you say something, whether it’s the words you use, how they are organized or how they are presented is more important than what you are saying. Get a coach, buy a book, but get those up to par. When you are Mayor, style can be just as importance as substance.
Above all, have fun. There’s no point in being Mayor of one of the largest cities in America if you don’t enjoy it. A positive attitude will do wonders for you and the city.
Follow that advice Mr. Mayor and I think you will get through your sophomore year just fine. Now come see me in January 2010 and we’ll talk about picking a college.
