How to Waste $180,000 Without Even Trying
I was getting a little burnt out on the upcoming May primary and have been looking for something else to write about. And then, like manna from heaven, I was looking at the Indianapolis Star’s website and found that the Indianapolis City-County Council Democrats are seriously looking at wasting more than $180,000 of the taxpayers’ money on a redistricting plan. The gods have smiled upon me this morning.
According to my colleague Jon Murray the plan is simple. County Auditor Billie Breaux’s office “found” $180,000 in her budget which she will give back to the general fund and will get reimbursed from another fund. The Dems will take that money, hold public hearings and draw new maps. Now of course this also assumes, rather foolishly, that the Mayor would sign the appropriation and then the new maps.
Democrats have complained that there wasn’t enough time for public input on the new maps when they were drawn by election attorney David Brooks. There were several hearings on the new maps, and the public, that cared, either showed up or watched it on Channel 16. And as a sidebar, there were only two people who attended every public hearing, Brooks and me. There was nothing to indicate that the maps didn’t meet the state and federal rules regarding compactness, keeping together communities of interest and protecting minority voting rights, they don’t cross precinct boundaries, etc. etc. . If anything, this map increased the chances for minority representation on the Council. So unless Democrats want to take that away? And the maps were signed into law in the second year after the census. Ballard signed them the morning of January 1, as one of his last acts of his first term in office. And the fact that the Democrats have launched this plan instead of filing suit tells me that the maps are perfectly legal, despite the protestations from the political peanut gallery.
So what is to be gained by this exercise, if it were to go through? Nothing. If they pass appropriation the Mayor will veto it. And if by some chance they pass the new maps, the Mayor will veto it. And the Council has yet to be able override a veto and I don’t think their luck will be any better with this one. So, the people who have bemoaned the way the administration has spent money is possibly about to embark on a fool’s errand and reopen this redistricting can of worms. I wonder if they’ll fly coach or first class?
A copy of the new maps can be found here.
