Ballard Jr.'s Employer Cashing In On Both Ends?

We learned today that Mayor Greg Ballard hired American Structurepoint as project manager for "ReBuildIndy," the name Hizzoner has given the road, sidewalk, and curb improvement effort to be allegedly undertaken with the dollars from a 30-year, $170 million bond issued against expected increases in payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT), and the $262 million in proceeds (paid for by us all through foregoing a decrease in our rates) from the transfer of Citizens Gas. Do me a favor and read the release for what it says. Then I'll tell you what it doesn't.

First, as chronicled by both Ogden on Politics and Advance Indiana, at least one of the company's executives, Willis Conner, was indicted for bribery when the company operated as American Consulting Engineers years ago. (As a quick aside, don't you love how the corporate form allows you to hide from your misdeeds?) Paul Ogden reports that just two executives - Conner and Marlin Knowles, Jr. - donated a combined $55,000 personally to the Mayor. No, you did not misread that figure. And we don't even know how how many other dollars Ballard got from American Structurepoint personnel.

But that's not why I'm here. And, no, it's not because the Mayor is stealing Governor Daniel's playbook by mortgaging our future revenue at a discount for infrastructure improvements that he'll adorn with a catchy title for a political boost ("Major Moves," anyone?), or that it's pretty arrogant to hire a company to manage a project that hasn't even been approved by the City-County Council or the IURC.

And, no, I'm not here to comment on this paragraph from the Mayor's press release:

If the transfer of the water and wastewater utilities to Citizens Energy Group is approved, the city will invest more than $425 million into this program. This is in addition to $88 million already already committed for transporation upgrades.

I'm not here to ask why the Mayor continues to act like this thing is one project when the $170 million bond issue is completely separate, or where this $88 million came from and why, if it's been committed, the money hasn't been spent. If the roads are crumbling and $88 million was just sitting there for upgrades, why wouldn't you, ya know, be building something already?

No, I'm here to talk about this seemingly innocuous part of the release:

After a competitive qualification submittal and review process, DPW selected American Structurepoint’s team of local firms with expertise in engineering, project management, and public outreach for its experience related to Indianapolis infrastructure.

So it's not just an individual bid? It's more like a "team" bid by American Structurepoint and other firms with whom it works?

A synonym for public outreach is "public relations." Wouldn't it be wild if the firm Structurepoint uses for "public outreach" is Hirons and Company, the very firm that employs Greg Ballard's son and is handling the PR for the Cit Gas sale?

Guess who has a reliable source that says it is? (I just texted Molly Deuberry, the Mayor's communications director for confirmation and her explanation of the bidding process. I'll update when I hear back from her).

If this is true, wouldn't that mean that the company for which the Mayor's son works is receiving your tax dollars to lobby for passage of a project that will result in them getting more of your tax dollars to describe that same project? Talk about getting dollars coming and going! Talk about your tax dollars going to promote Greg Ballard's re-election (just like I said, by the way).

As I aluded to above, one thing that is not clear from the press release is how the contract was bid, as it reads like the best "team" was selected. Specifically, I wonder whether American will pay the "team" members out of its overall contract? If so, can you imagine how in demand Hirons will be for similar "team" projects?

Having Hirons would be like having Paul Page as your lawyer on a criminal defense matter in Marion County. You know you'll get a special look.

Ballard Jr.'s Employer Cashing In On Both Ends?

AMENDED: Ballard Hooks Up Son; Unveils New Logo for "Public Works"

Greg Ballard, Jr. is a copyeditor at Hirons and Company, a public relations firm, or so says his "Linked In" page.

Mayor Ballard gave Hirons and Company a non-bid contract worth $10,000 per month with to push the Mayor's transfer of our water and wastewater systems to Citizens Energy Group.

When was Ballard, Jr. hired? August of 2009. When did the City get its responses to the Request for Expression of Interest that started this process? August of 2009. In other word, young Ballard went on the Hirons payroll the same month the City's massive PR campaign started churning.

Is anybody bothered by this?

Or how about this? I've told everybody who will listen that the Mayor's $140 million backdoor tax increase bond issue and separate backdoor tax Citizens Gas transfer will both be used as the Mayor's springboard for re-election. In response, many have said, "Oh, they won't have time to get things built." They'll get $170 million at closing but the other $90 million won't be provided until October of 2010, a month before the election.

My learned critique is as follows: "Bovine feces."

The Mayor doesn't need to build everything (though a good many projects will be cranking the second the dollars are received). All the Mayor needs to do is let people know building is coming and he's responsible for it.

I've said repeatedly that all the Mayor would need is a nifty logo to advertise the repair work coming. Something like....oh, I don't know...how about "Rebuild Indy?"

Take a look at how the Mayor is already spending your tax dollars to advertise his re-election campaign, folks. The Mayor will also claim that these two deals are going to create 10,000 jobs.

That number is ludicrous, but we know at least one job has been secured already by the Mayor's efforts - the one held by his son at Hirons and Company.

UPDATE: We know the $140 million bond issue is for roads and sidewalks, but hasn't the Mayor consistently said that's what the $262 million is for as well? Why does the city have a list of abandoned homes on its Cit Gas deal website now?

Here's why. Because even though the Mayor told us all he'd chop 10% off the City's budget, he hasn't been able to do it. And even though he said he would address abandoned homes, he hasn't been able to do it with general fund revenues.

In short, the Mayor needs to fulfill his campaign promises, but he doesn't have the money to do it. And understand this. We could transfer Cit Gas without forcing them to pay us anything. If we did that, we'd all save money on our rates. But because Cit Gas has no cash reserves, if they pay us, we'll pay, too.

So, here's the short of it. Do you want your sewer rates to go up so Greg Ballard can knock down abandoned homes? It's that simple. You could support the bond issue and get $140 million in sidewalk and road construction and pay for that, too, as a rate increase, but don't think you're ever going to see the entire $425 million going into just roads, sidewalks, and bridges, because it won't happen.

AMENDED: Ballard Hooks Up Son; Unveils New Logo for "Public Works"