The Indianapolis City-County Council gave approval to the first merger of a township fire department with the Indianapolis Fire Department. By a vote of 17-10, the council approved the merger of Washington Township's fire department into IFD next year. Republicans Scott Keller, Marilyn Pfisterer and Ike Randoloph joined the council Democrats in supporting the merger.
The Star's Brenden O'Shaughnessy reports that GOP Minority Leader Philip Borst "said he didn't think supporters had made the case that a merger will create efficiencies or savings, especially without any station closings or layoffs." "I'm just not convinced," he said. "It doesn't make sense that we're enhancing public safety by doing what it already sounds like we are doing." His logic ensures continued minority status for the GOP on the council. Remember Mr. Borst, it was the Republican Party that brought us consolidated government in Marion Co. Are you saying that was a bad idea?
Ike Randolph is making much of his decision to vote in favor of the proposal as if it represented a profile in courage because he was going against his GOP colleagues in supporting it. Randolph voted for job security and nothing else. He's a long-time employee of IFD. And just what is up with Greg Garrison having this has-been politician on his WIBC radio program every morning? Nobody cares what Ike Randolph has to say Garrison.
7 comments:
I don't know if your argument that Randolph voted for the plan to preserve his job makes sense. As an IFD firefighter, his job is already secure. Even if he was voting for the merger to secure his job, it doesn't negate the fact that he made a smart move in supporting a plan that, if completed, will eventually improve fire service throughout the county. Motivation rarely matters; benefits and drawbacks always do.
I would also have to argue with your contention that no one cares what Randolph has to say on the matter. As an editorialist whose paper is supportive of consolidation, the thoughts of a possible -- if unlikely -- mayoral candidate is certainly of interest. And others would probably agree on that score.
So you don't think his boss has any leverage when it comes to votes pertaining to the fire department? Think again. IFD will benefit greatly from that bigger tax base. It will come in handy in helping to pay for that huge unfunded pension liability.
As to his mayoral ambitions, I don't think anyone takes him seriously other than himself. That should have become clear after the rank-and-file GOP workers revolted against his attempt to step into Murray Clark's senate seat. It seems he has a problem keeping his word.
RiShawn Biddle: delightfully self-righteous; amusingly ill-informed.
Randolph's boss may have leverage, but Randolph is also a civil servant who's job is secure; the fire chief isn't going to be so stupid as to mess around with a city-county councillor without some sort of real cover to do so. There are two political players involved here and one of them actually is elected by his citizenry. The latter beats appointed bureaucrats in most cases. What do you think would happen to Council President Monroe Gray, another firefighter, if he decided to oppose? We know the answer to that one.
Whether or not he should be the only one taking his own word seriously about his political ambitions isn't the question at the end of the day. If others are giving him at least grudging acknowledgement on that score, than it should be given consideration. One is entitled to their own opinion, but reality must also be acknowledged.
In the case of the Murray Clark debacle, Randolph's bid fell apart mostly because 1) the Hamilton County contingent had their own candidate, Mike Delph, and they wanted him in and 2) the Marion County delegation was divided, with most opposed to Mike Murphy crowning Clark's successor without their consent. Randolph was more victim of being chosen by an ineffective Republican party chairman than of his own efforts.
And Gary, let's not forget the matter of racial bigotry in all this. Many rank-and-file Republicans were annoyed that Randolph was picked as a sort of Black standardbearer for a rather White political party. Also, there were plenty of rumor-mongering about Randolph, claims that he was lazy and unwilling to do the work. Anyone who is Black can tell you that when such rumors are made, they are as likely to be racially motivated smears as they are likely to be true. To think that race didn't factor into any of this Gary is to be blind, deaf and dumb to the reality that is Indianapolis' political scene.
Randolph and (if there were a tie vote) Mr. President on this issue...
Lincoln Plowman (another mental giant), Sherron Franklin and Dane Mahern on police consolidation...
Why in the world should someone whose income is derived from the department(s) in quesiton, be allowed to vote?
Mr. Randolph can run for anything he wants. The radio talk hosts have logged more time with this guy than almost any other guest. And it's always inane.
I've heard IR married a chemist or scientist at Lilly. If so, he out-married himself intellectually.
His 15 minutes were up last year.
Boring.
Say, RB, great comments...and why does Amos Brown hate you so much? I might wear that like a badge of honor.
I'm not going to dispute your narrative as far as it being a part of an overall narrative of what happened last year. But your narrative fails to deal with the other events that happened that had little to do with Indy's gay community: The lack of good groundwork by Mike Murphy in getting consensus on who he should name to succeed Clark. The antipathy between Randolph and some of the Republicans in the party, including those who worked for Randolph during the campaign. The desire among Hamilton County Republicans, a small contingent in the district, to have their own guy in the spot and the willingness on their part to battle for it. And, without question, the racial element surrounding both Randolph's selection by Murphy and the antipathy from folks who are as likely to have made a race an unspoken reason for opposing him, but aren't stupid enough to admit it in public.
This isn't saying that the gay rights element didn't play a role in this. But saying that the Randolph debacle is a matter of "content of character" issues based on a series of political positions is as overly simplistic as claiming it was all about race. Both issues may have played a role in all this, but neither was absolutely dominant.
Chris' analysis of Randolph is quite accurate. Aside from the gay rights issue, though, you will find a similar sentiment from rank-and-file Republicans who busted their asses to help get him elected, while he felt no obligation to lend assistance to anyone else in the party after he got elected. Rishawn--you are way off the mark to think the GOP has in any way been racist towards Randolph. They've bent over backwards to help him more than just about anyone. He got more assistance with his council race from the party than many state house candidates get from the party. Any problems he has within the party are of his own making and have nothing to do with the color of his skin
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