Premature Adulation?
Terry Burns at Indianapolis Times says that former Indy Mayor Bart Peterson is expected to endorse Melina Kennedy for Mayor. That confirms something my sources told me that Peterson alluded to endorsing Melina at a fundraiser last night at Highland Country Club.
I doubt if I’ll get a media advisory for the press event when it happens, but I’m hearing through the political grapevine that may not be happening anytime soon.
Word on the street is that Peterson’s bosses at Eli Lily aren’t crazy about him interjecting himself into the 2011 Mayor’s race right now. Especially since Lily is potentially on the hook to give back possibly millions of dollars in tax incentives to the city for jobs that were supposed to be created but never were.
If I were trying to work out a deal with the city, the last thing I would want is one of my top executives (who lost to the current officeholder by the way) running around publicly endorsing his possible opponent (who also lost the one and only time she ran). Word also is that Peterson’s name was not supposed to appear on the stationary for Wednesday night’s fundraiser but somebody didn’t get the memo.
My sources also tell me that Peterson recently told a gathering of high-dollar Democratic contributors that he has several friends who are running for Mayor in 2011 and has no intention of backing any one candidate until after slating.
Ah, the things that make life interesting.
