Monday, April 07, 2014

ROC Investigating Committee Approves Resolution Seeking Court Order To Enforce Subpoena

It's been close to a month since the full Indianapolis City-County Council approved a resolution authorizing the issuance of a subpoena to the Indianapolis corporation counsel's office requesting production of documents the ROC Investigating Committee has sought from city officials for the past five months. Tonight, the committee voted on party lines to send a proposal to the full council seeking permission to file an action in the Marion Circuit Court to compel production of the requested documents regarding the controversial 25-year, $20 million lease agreement for the regional operations center.

According to information provided to the committee by the council's counsel, Fred Biesecker, the City has failed to produce close to three-quarters of the dozens of documents requested by the committee either because it says it doesn't have the documents or has just failed to produce them. The building's landlord, Alex Carroll, produced those documents that he says he alone possessed and that the City did not have. His attorney said the council should seek the balance of the documents from the City because they are public records in its possession. If tonight's resolution is approved by the full council, Circuit Court Judge Louis Rosenberg will be asked to determine whether an order should be issued to compel production of the documents. Republicans continued to challenge and question the motivations of Biesecker and Democratic council members in seeking production of the documents. They believe the City will eventually produce the documents if given more time.

Interestingly, Councilor Ben Hunter, who sits on the committee despite sponsoring the original resolution approving the controversial lease and collecting campaign contributions from the politically-connected owner of the ROC building, suggested tonight that the committee should back off its push to investigate the lease because of a separate criminal investigation that he says has been launched. Hunter said he was surprised the media had not yet reported on the criminal investigation. Councilor Joe Simpson, who chairs the committee, said he had not been apprised of a criminal investigation when Hunter queried him about it. Apparently, the Indiana State Police is investigating, which could mean a political cover up is underway. ISP, a highly-political law enforcement agency that operates at the whims of the state's governor, might give a pretense of a serious investigation simply to clear everyone of any criminal wrongdoing so the Ballard administration can argue case closed. These people are too predictable.

Hunter also pushed the idea of passing an ordinance to modify the process for entering into leases to prevent city officials from ignoring long-standing practices followed prior to the ROC lease, which he said should include a requirement that the services of commercial brokers be retained for the negotiation of any city leases. Of course, the commercial real estate brokers are stuffing a lot of money in the politicians' pockets so that idea from Hunter comes as no big surprise. The use of a commercial broker for the redevelopment project for the Mass Avenue block now home to IFD headquarters and IFD Station 7 has turned into a total boondoggle that is costing taxpayers a fortune, while rewarding the broker more than a $1 million fee for performing the absolute worst negotiations possible from the public's standpoint.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

LOL…the criminal investigation, if there really is one…will be "ongoing" as long as it takes to be used as an excuse not to access the docs through civil means that may "interfere" with it. It will just fade away unreported and the docs will never be retrieved. Those who keep bringing it up will be told one day to 'move on' or that 'it's not news'.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the update. Needed this kind of information to prove co-mingling and more on some matters over the years re: justice on some matters. Knew we were right, ...Hunter was a great help in making himself a hero (so he thinks...) and many of us wanted proof of collusion...Shame on many...

Anonymous said...

I am not surprised that this has finally resulted in a criminal investigation; it smelled dirty from the start. Not only should Judge Rosenberg order production of documents by the city immediately, it should also require Carroll to produce the balance of his docs, and not just the ones he says the city doesn’t have. That’s the argument of someone with something to hide. Rosenberg ought to order all docs produced by all parties and appoint an outside person to categorize them and make sure nothing is being hidden. The public has a right to know. I personally favor a class action by nearby businesses and neighbors who have been adversely impacted by the blight of the unfinished property renovations. If criminal activity is the root of this dysfunction a lot of east side local businesses have been victimized and suffered loss. Ben Hunter doesn’t act like a guy who supports these local businesses, more like a guy worried about litigation and investigation. Those of us who support the neighborhood interests believe there is fraud, fraud and more fraud afoot, and not nearly enough people we can call the good guys.

Anonymous said...

This calls for a Federal Grand Jury by the DOJ's Public Integrity Task Force in Washington!

Indianapolis has already shown NO CONFIDENCE in Joe Hogsett!

Anonymous said...

Safe dose.com Rosenberg...time for justice....Who's side is Rosenberg really on and connect the dots...