Mayor Ballard Refreshingly Honest About His Own Cowardice and Status As "Just Another Politician"

I can't reach any conclusion but this: Mayor Greg Ballard is a self-aware man.

He says we need to get our utilities out of the hands of "politicians" so no office holder can be blamed at election time for implementing necessary rate hikes.

For example, him. Especially him.

The Mayor speaks from experience because he became mayor employing such blame-game tactics. Indianapolis needed pension relief so former Mayor Bart Peterson gave Luke Kenley his mandated local option income tax in exchange for having the state take over the obligation. And Ballard crushed Peterson on it. (If only Peterson had created a "fire and police pension charitable trust").

In short, Ballard is absolutely right that some political candidates (mostly Republicans like himself, by the way) attack their opponents for "raising taxes." But if a principled leader thought rate hikes were needed, wouldn't he push for them? Wouldn't he sell us on the necessity? Then why hasn't this Mayor?

As I said before, I'm going to be open-minded as I study this deal in more depth. But no matter how this plays out, for good or ill, our Mayor has proven himself not some courageous "man of the people," but rather, just another politician who would rather abdicate his responsibility than do what he says is needed and right.

Can I ask a question, Mr. Mayor? Why stop at utilities? Why not convert IMPD into a "charitable trust" if it's such a great governing model? Violent crime is insane right now, and I bet if we had a "charitable trust" those trustees could get that money for overtime on the streets, and no politician would have to ever take blame for raising taxes. In fact, why don't we just replace your office with a charitable trust?

I'm being facetious, of course, Mr. Mayor, because the City of Indianapolis already IS a "charitable trust," and you're its head trustee.

I can think of at least four people who would ask about your Mayor's chair the same thing Abraham Lincoln asked a reluctant general about his army:

"If you don't intend to use (it), may I borrow it for a while?"

Mayor Ballard Refreshingly Honest About His Own Cowardice and Status As "Just Another Politician"

Ballard Goes J.G. Wentworth on Us, But Does Deal Hold Water?

It seems these days that no Republican politician can avoid "the lure." They get offered lump sum cash for an asset now, and they sell out control, which is ironic because it runs completely contrary to all their smug talk about accountability and the Shepard-Kernan Commission's report as well.

Just like Governor Daniels did with the Indiana Toll Road, Ballard has worked a deal to sell the city's water operations to Citizens Gas for $1.9 billion with promise of infrastructure improvements. (Actually, the Toll Road was a 99-year lease; this IS an actual sale).

From the outset, because the Mayor has kept everybody in the dark until the deal was done, I haven't had time to really study it yet.

But here's what I already don't get. I'm told that the upside for Citizens Gas is that it's a charitable trust, not a company that has to appease stockholders. This means that IF it makes profits, the result is either reduced rates or reinvestment in infrastructure. I'm also told the Board members are fiduciaries, which means they have to act in the best interests of the ratepayers. Yaaaay!

Except what happens when Citizens makes a bad business decision? Say for example that something that seemed a good idea at the time, such as Coke Manufacturing, turns out to be a huge error (p. 62) and the company has to take a substantial hit because it can't find a buyer for the dismantled enterprise and now it has ongoing remediation costs? Did the fact it's a charitable trust ensure that mistakes don't result in rate increases? Well, no.

Can the Mayor fire anybody? Not anymore.

So can we hold someone responsible at a charitable trust if the trustees go completely outside of their core competency, for example, by taking control of a completely mammoth and unrelated enterprise? How could they? The public has no say in who the trustees are, nor in who they appoint to the Citizens Board, nor in who that Board hires or fires.

At least with the Mayor, there was a modicum of accountability if things got screwed up.

Harry S. Truman had a plaque on his desk that read: "The Buck Stops Here."

Greg Ballard just auctioned off that entire spirit so that he can fill the potholes he's left gaping and the sidewalks he's left crumbling.

He might even use some of that as a parlor trick to tell you he achieved the 10% cut in spending that he pledged he would achieve as a condition to his seeking re-election.

The real tragedy is that if the Democratic City-County Council voted as a block, this deal could not pass. But my prediction is that when somebody is told they can get some new sidewalks and look like heroes at re-election time, one or more D's will fall off the wagon and join the Mayor in selling out because, just like the Mayor, they probably won't even BE in office when the excrement hits the oscillating unit.

Hey, Mayor, have you thought about selling the Health & Hospital Corporation to Clarian?

Ballard Goes J.G. Wentworth on Us, But Does Deal Hold Water?

Mayor Ballard's Warped Sense of Public Involvement

Mayor Ballard said his administration would be "transparent."

Is this how it's done?

Despite telling Democrats on the City-County Council repeatedly that nothing was in the works, the Mayor and Citizens Energy Group CEO Carey Lykins are having a joint press conference tomorrow at 9:00 in the Mayor's Office.

Well, I wonder what those two could be discussing?

Did anybody think that it might be a good idea to get public input before embarking on any type of joint venture? You did? Oh, you just decided it would be a good idea to tell as few people as possible and to face the public AFTER the joint announcement?

Utility Briefing Invite[1]

Notice how this is a joint PR affair?

I seldom resort to personal invective on this blog, but, friends, our Mayor has gone from a "man of the people" to a behind closed doors deal cutting coward. He has the joint conference and then sends his underlings to clean up with the public. And, yes, Mr. & Mrs. John Q Public, you will get precisely one hour to grasp all the complexities of this deal our Mayor has shephered in the dark of night. Good luck!

Mayor Ballard's Warped Sense of Public Involvement