Treacy Steps Up on Gray Matter

With apologies to Chamillionaire, Monroe Gray is no longer "riding dirty," thanks to his payment of three year's worth of auto registration fees. The big kudos in this story, though, go to Marion County Democratic Party Chairman, Ed Treacy, who said the following regarding Gray's failure to register in the first place:

"I think once someone has had a problem in the past, it's incumbent on that person to probably make sure they have all the, the i's dotted and the t's crossed. (Gray) ought to be more introspective about in terms of not subjecting himself to further criticism."

Many people will say, "Are you crazy? This is nothing!" Ladies and gents, the hardest thing anyone can do is criticize a member of one's own party when that person has powerful friends. I thought this was major because it's the first public criticism of an elected Democrat by a party leader in Marion County that I can recall. (Like I said in my prior post, Mayor Peterson didn't do it). Also, politics is a field of closed door fire but public smoke. Might one hope that in the places where cameras and microphones don't go, somebody was getting their hindquarters chewed?

Does it go as far as I would have liked in terms of outcome? No. But you can't say it's not a pretty clear warning shot across the bow. Does it mention Doris Minton-McNeil? No. But you can't say it's not directed at her by implication. There is a simple rule in politics - when you know people are inspecting your house, keep it in order. All Treacy did was restate the rule for many people who should have already been living by it. But, in so doing, he said a lot.

Treacy Steps Up on Gray Matter

Democrats Won't Clear Up Gray Skies

I love my county party. Anybody who says otherwise should expect words. But I am looking for someone - anyone - who has the cajones to make it act right. I started this blog because I was tired of waking up embarrassed by the latest idiocy of a D elected local official. Two years and 328 blog posts later, and the hits keep coming...

WRTV-6 reports yesterday that Democratic City-County Councilor Monroe Gray hasn't registered his automobile in three years. This follows the past two years, during which he received a censure for failing to disclose conflicts of interest, shut down an investigation of his alleged ghost employment, and was hit with a slew of lawsuits filed against his construction company. Oh, he also said he didn't know anything about the 300 East project, even though his wife was a principal investor. There's nothing illegal about that, but, boy, it sure tarnished his credibility across the board.

The Gray news follows a police report last month that Democratic City-County Councilor Doris Minton-McNeil, who was recently acquitted on battery charges, had a neighbor complain on a 9-1-1 call that she was intoxicated and nearly hit somebody with her vehicle. I'm not one who sides with police automatically, and I thought from the outset they exaggerated the battery charge. (As an aside, I would have loved it if Judge Christ-Garcia would have entered findings because I'm almost certain the element the prosecution didn't prove was intent. I bet the contact with the officer was the kind that happens when somebody hammered is trying to navigate through a crowded bar on the way to the bathroom).

I also wouldn't automatically rule out a police vendetta. But now I'm supposed to believe police co-opted a neighbor on the scam? Seriously, what kind of adult beefs with a neighbor to the extent the neighbor calls 9-1-1? Are we running a city or auditioning for Jerry Springer?

Here's my question. When does Democratic Party Chair Ed Treacy, Congressman Carson, the other Democratic members of the city-county council, or anybody else who wants to lead this city from the Democratic aisle say, "Enough is enough!" When do we stop enabling?

The notion that significant party heavyweights have not already asked for these folks' resignations, even if behind closed doors, is inexplicable to me, but I cannot find any evidence anyone ever has. (If somebody out there knows otherwise, feel free to correct me).

Mayor Peterson came close. He was livid, and he wanted to distance himself from Monroe. But some in Mayor Peterson's circle told him he couldn't because he would alienate an African-American constituency he was going to need on election day. By the way, how funny is it that the advisors were white guys? Also, anybody know how that strategy worked out?

Anyway, I wanted to see if any of our would-be mayors (Jose Evans, Brian Williams, Kip Tew, Melina Kennedy, and Joe Hogsett) would close the deal on a wayward councilor, so I sent them all inquiries on their Facebook accounts and/or to their e-mails to see if they would ask for McNeil's resignation either publicly or behind-the-scenes. (I would have kept the responses confidential if they said "behind the scenes," of course.)

Two never responded, and three offered comments that required a bit of "reading the tea leaves." For example, while not answering the question directly, Brian Williams reminded me that when former Colts Mike Vanderjagt got liquored up and said some things he shouldn't have, Peyton Manning called him our "idiot kicker."

Williams' remark serves the point nicely. That's leadership folks. Peyton could have had a private conversation with Vanderjagt, but he wanted to remind the public that Vanderjagt's conduct wasn't Colts conduct. Who is the quarterback for our team who will make that point publicly?

What makes it hard for any of these five to step up in a visible way?

First, for a lot of influential Democrats, Monroe Gray is like family and his associations run deep. If you call for putting him out to pasture, you alienate a multitude of political and business folk for whom he's done favors (and as many have done favors for him). Of course, you would get the gratitude of a staggeringly higher number, but you'd never know this because nobody will tell you out loud for fear of retribution. Politics is peopled with the self-interested and terrified.

Ms. Minton-McNeil is equally perceived as "protected." She was widely-regarded as the Congressman's favored choice for filling his former council seat. Anybody want to cross the Congressman when he's swinging the big bat in the mayoral slating contest? Didn't think so.

I know both Gray and Minton-McNeil are party "friends," and I generally subscribe to the notion that if you don't stand with your friends, you stand alone. But I've also heard the saying "with friends like these...."

Some may say, "They haven't done anything illegal, or seriously illegal. Let the voters decide. If the voters want to keep them, who are we to interfere with democracy!?!"

First, I can't be content with my party using "Anything Not Illegal" as it's guidepost for acceptable conduct. Second, the "let the voters decide" approach is so staggeringly naive that no serious person could say it if (s)he cared about his or her party. I don't want to rehash my "brand" speech, but a stain on one on the Democratic ticket is a stain on all.

Don't believe me? Ask South Carolina Republicans how they're doing waiting for Mark Sanford's term to end. Do you think their fund-raising is up this year?

Of all the mayoral candidates, the one whose response gave me the most confidence that he would take action was Jose Evans. He seemed most invested in reforming the image of the party. This makes sense because as a member of the council, he's probably tired of being in the WRTV B-roll for every scandal, and he's probably tired of fielding questions about whether he stands by scandal-plagued colleague x or y. It has to be exhausting.

Also, Jose is the only one who can ask for Monroe Gray and Doris Minton-McNeil's to step down without looking like a racist, though I'm sure some wouldn't be above accusing him of being a white sock puppet were he to do so.

Why would a call for a step-down be viewed in racial terms? Because the replacements would be uncertain, and while you shouldn't expect anybody to say this out loud, a core group of the Democratic movers and shakers in the African-American community have done a sterling job hoisting an unspoken edict on the Marion County Democratic Party, and it is this: no depletion of African-American political power. Were I a historically disenfranchised minority, I'd see this as both understandable and shrewd bargaining.

But what I'm talking about doesn't require a depletion of African-American political strength. It just requires better African-American talent. Were I Ed Treacy, I'd go through every poll book in Gray and Minton-McNeil's districts, and I'd find African-American replacements who I'd then vet on every conceivable issue. Once I was convinced of the reasonable likelihood they wouldn't humiliate the party, I'd commit every resource available to ensuring their victory. I would do everything I could to convince every African-American elected officer in the county - be it a township trustee, judge, auditor, state representative or state senator - that none of this was racial, and all of it was practical and prudential. I might even spread contributions to those elected officials to emphasize the point.

In other words, I'd put my money and organizational heft where my mouth was, and if somebody of another race came out of the woodwork to challenge the natural order of things, I'd put him or her down. You have to give something to get something, and getting rid of this bad PR will pay for itself three times over.

I've now heard repeatedly about a meeting of influential Democrats during which a suggestion was made (and, no, I'm not going to say by whom) to have Democrat PR experts and attorneys on the ready in case someone got into trouble again.

Tell me, dear IPOPA reader, isn't your reaction to this suggestion precisely the same as every other human being's reaction...except for some of those in the room that day? Weren't you thinking, "Wouldn't it be easier just to NOT get in trouble?" If so, welcome to the surreal world that is not very often, but still far too many times, the mentality of some key personnel within the Marion County Democratic Party.

Democrats Won't Clear Up Gray Skies

Does Tully Read IPOPA or Do We Share the Same Brain? You Decide!

A reader told me I suffer from "keyboard diarrhea." Unfortunately, my brain is about to explode with “I told you so," and I can't explain why quickly. Grab your mental TP.

Matt Tully had a fascinating column in the Indianapolis Star last Friday. But for the fact it’s Hoosier common sense and many people can have identical thoughts independently, I’d tell Tully that, while imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, God also said, “Thou Shalt Not Steal.” The jist of Tully’s column is that the Democratic Party “brand” is tarnished at the city-county level by a run of ethical lapses and public embarrassments. I've heard this “brand” idea before? Where was that? Oh, yeah. I’ve said it for the past three years to anybody who would listen.

The Marion County Democratic Party’s greatest failing is poor candidate recruitment (Ken Ackles, anyone?!?) that leads to embarrassing PR problems, which we follow up by a “circle the wagons” mentality that plays like cover up. And, because Marion County Democratic politics is seen through such a racial prism now, any allegation against an African-American elected official is met with defensiveness, whether the charge comes from inside or outside the party. In fairness, this response is caused, in part, by critics' phraseology. Have you ever noticed how Republicans use the phrase "thug" (which has prevalency in hip hop culture) to describe Andre Carson's followers? You never hear this phrase to describe the Congressman's white supporters, I assure you.

The latest news? An “ethics committee” (well, actually, two Republicans, as Paul Bateman resigned and Bill Oliver didn’t show up) voted to censure Monroe Gray and referred him for criminal investigation by Carl Brizzi.

The committee recommendations were a long time coming. Though the resolution to investigate Gray was sought in March of 2007, my own party sadly voted against an investigation twice. The investigation only passed on October 27, 2008, when the committee was made truly bi-partisan by a Sherron Franklin amendment.

But if the composition of the investigating body was the sticking point, this could have been addressed in March. Had the Democrats simply done then what they ended up doing anyway, they would have preserved their at-large city-county council seats and avoided back-handed compliments from Republican Party Chair Tom John.

Gray’s censure was based on his failure to disclose that his cement company was receiving money as a subcontractor for a major city contractor. This is the same company that has been the subject of several lawsuits, at least one default judgment (where a verdict is rendered against you because you don't even show up in court), and complaints for shoddy workmanship. Gray also suffered a major brain fade over 300 East when he told the Indianapolis Star that he knew nothing about the project, even though his wife, Teresa Gray, was a major investor. Does anybody breathing believe he really didn’t know?

The criminal referral is more troubling. Councilor Gray received a salary from IFD for...well, we’re not sure what he did for IFD, though critics say he was drawing a city salary to lobby the council on behalf of the IFD. We also know that Gray has was not willing to provide a single document – no e-mails, no meeting notes, no correspondence, no day planners – to prove his work for the IFD. The alleged charge, accordingly, is ghost employment. The fact Gray accepted this IFD “job” (and that he voted on a resolution to investigate himself) is terribly troubling.

For Bateman’s part, he resigned from the Committee after he found himself in a firestorm regarding a not-for-profit which is being investigated for a laundry list of financial improprieties. Word is that Bateman is fully cooperating with this investigation, so it is premature to paint him with ANY type of “criminal” brush. He is entitled to the benefit of the doubt. But how can you not paint him as being at least naive?

Paul Bateman is one of the nicest men I’ve ever met in politics. I’ve known him since he helped Pam Carter get elected in 1992 when he was working with the UAW. But I can’t change my approach because I like somebody. That's what gets us in trouble as a party.

When we let you wear the elected Democrat uniform, your obligation to avoid trouble intensifies. Your obligation to pay attention to what those around you are doing intensifies, in particular if you lend your name to their cause. NOBODY believes, “I didn’t know,” even if true. If you cannot handle that reality, DON’T run for office. You will quickly find yourself in a situation that detracts from what the rest of us are trying to get done for Marion County residents.

Tully used another of my frequent metaphors when he said the Marion County Democratic Party was becoming just like the Indiana Pacers. Let me finish the analogy for you since Mr. Tully didn’t.

Jamal Tinsley was shot at outside the Conrad Hotel. Was it Tinsley’s fault?

The public responds in unison: “WHO CARES!?!? It was 3 a.m., Tinsley was a wealthy celebrity, and he drove with a group of friends to a bar where the collective net worth of all the patrons was probably less than the value of one of the flashy cars in which he arrived. What did he THINK was going to happen?”

Nobody cares about the "fairness" of the situation when it comes to pampered players and politicians, except for pampered players and politicians. If you can't deal with THIS fact, don't run for office.

Smart political figures, like wealthy celebrities, do not put themselves in positions where controversy CAN follow. Are you listening, Ron Gibson? They don't associate with people who will get them into trouble? Are you listening, Councilor Bateman? As Gibson now knows, being exonerated of all criminal wrong-doing is NOT the public relations battle. AVOIDING the public relations battle altogether is the battle.

This is a lesson Doris Minton-McNeil needs to learn as well. I do not believe she will be charged with any criminal conduct, nor do I think she intentionally pushed the officer. But anybody who thinks that this is all that matters in politics is delusional.

And the “defensiveness” of which I spoke is best exhibited by a story making the rounds that the IMPD officers who went to Doris Minton-McNeil’s home were "out to get her." The true part of that story is that McNeil apparently met with the district commander for her neighborhood and said some not-too-kind things. But even if you buy the motive part of this story, SHE CALLED THEM. Am I supposed to believe that the officers who were dispatched by the 9-1-1 operator were able to hatch an elaborate conspiracy to make Minton-McNeil look bad before they even knew who she was? If so, that’s seriously quick thinking.

The truth usually lies in the middle. I’m told that Ms. McNeil tried to show the officer’s her business card because she did not believe they were taking her seriously. I can see that. But because McNeil was flashing her business card, who believes she didn't pull the "you can't arrest a city-councilor" card when they tried to place her under arrest. And as a city councilor, she has to know better than anybody the appropriate way to make a grievance about police conduct known. She could have NOT confronted the police, gone to the caucus and formulated a public response, and avoided this entire embarrassment for herself and every other Democrat in the county.

Anybody who heard the 9-1-1 tape (in which she says there is a “pedophile motherf-----” in her house) knows Ms. McNeil was very clearly amped up and/or intoxicated before police got there. Nobody who heard that tape will believe she was not confrontational with the officers in some way, even if they believe she didn't call them racists. Nobody who has ever hung out with an intoxicated friend will doubt that McNeil bumped into the officer by virtue of alcohol-related loss of coordination.

Ms. McNeil could have probably made this whole thing go away by issuing a public apology (without admitting criminal liability). Instead, she opted to put the entire caucus in the spotlight with her.

As for Councilor Bateman, while I doubt the criminal investigation leads to anything, only he KNOWS what it can turn up. If he knows there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING illegal or unethical, then by all means, Councilor, dig in and weather the storm.

But if anything questionable can materialize, Councilor Bateman should vacate now before every sordid revelation becomes "council business." Otherwise, the media will be there, photographing him and the caucus, just as they did with McNeil, and asking all its members for their position on "the Bateman matter."

In short, Bateman, too, decides whether his colleagues avoid the spotlight or get put squarely in it. Don't put them there, Councilor, unless you KNOW there's no way they can get burned.

All elected officials owe at least that to their party.

Does Tully Read IPOPA or Do We Share the Same Brain? You Decide!

With Family Like This, Who Needs Enemies?

Kudos to Jen Wagner at http://www.hoosierpoliticalreport.com/ for catching that Sam Carson, cousin to Andre Carson, is running against Ed Treacy to fill the vacancy for Marion County Democratic Party Chair. Sam Carson has no political track record that anyone can find, so why he is doing this is a mystery. What we do know is that the Congressman is strongly supporting Treacy, which shows that Carson is politically astute.

Some will say, “Let Democracy work. Treacy will win easily with the Congressman’s support.” Unfortunately, it’s a sad reality that a single contest for county chair might not draw a quorum among precinct committee folks for the meeting, which is this Wednesday. If the county fails to fill the vacancy, by state party rules, the Indiana Democratic Party takes over and selects the next Marion County Chairman. That would be quite embarrassing for Marion County (though I suppose most Marion County Democrats have grown somewhat accustomed to this feeling over the past two years).

City-County Council legal counsel and Monroe Gray attorney, Aaron Haith, was also making phone calls to gauge support for his candidacy, but he smartly opted not to challenge Treacy. Though Haith is likeable and well-known for supervising GOTV efforts for the party, had he prevailed (he wouldn't have), he might as well have painted a bull’s eye on his chest for Republican County Chair Tom John. If Haith is interested in moving up the political hierarchy, he needs to wash the Gray out of his hair.

With Family Like This, Who Needs Enemies?