Marion County Democrats held their municipal slating convention this morning. As expected, Joe Hogsett was slated as the party's candidate for mayor in an uncontested race. Community leaders in District 1, however, are infuriated over an effort to oust long-time City-County Councilor Angela Mansfield. Leroy Robinson defeated Mansfield at the slating convention this morning by a vote of 28 to 15. While the losing candidates at slating conventions typically drop their candidacy in favor of the party's slated candidate, it is Advance Indiana's understanding Mansfield will buck the party and challenge the slated candidate.
Leroy Robinson has served as one of the four elected at-large members of the City-County Council for the past term, which were eliminated by the state legislature. The newly-drawn council district maps put Jose Evans (R) in District 1 in the same district as Mansfield, who is the current member for District 2. Evans, who had switched from the Democratic to the Republican Party, opted not to seek re-election. Robinson, who hasn't resided in District 1, allegedly moved into the district recently in order to challenge Mansfield in the primary, although some doubt Robinson truly resides in District 1.
Robinson received key support from powerful Democratic lobbyists at today's slating convention, including Greg Hahn and Lacy Johnson, who want the independent-thinking Mansfield attuned to her neighborhood constituents' concerns off the council. Two issues of late that irk these powerful lobbyists include her lack of support for the costly new criminal justice center project and her opposition to a new billboard ordinance allowing digital billboards in Marion County, both of which these lobbyists and their influential law firms are advocating on behalf of. Lobbyists are pouring money into Robinson's campaign to defeat Mansfield. I'm told that former Center Township Trustee Carl Drummer made last-minute appointments of precinct committeemen who showed up to cast the deciding votes at today's slating in favor of Robinson. Drummer is the former Center Township Trustee who works with Lacy Johnson as a lobbyist at Ice Miller.
According to records Advance Indiana obtained from the Marion County Board of Voter Registrations, Robinson has been a long-time resident of southern Pike Township at 4314 Dabny Drive in Indianapolis. Robinson has owned the home at that address since at least 2001. As recently as December 23, 2013, he recorded a new mortgage on his home, and records on file with the Marion County Assessor's Office indicate he still owns that home and has claimed a homestead exemption on it.
Robinson recently changed his registered voting address to an apartment complex located at 2248 Rippling Way South, Apt. #B in the far northwestern corner of Washington Township. The BVR redacted the date of his change of registration from the document it furnished to Advance Indiana, and refused to provide Robinson's voting history in Indianapolis at those two residences in violation of the state's public records law. Under Indiana law, Robinson will be required to show he has resided at the Rippling Way South apartment at least one year prior to this November's general election to satisfy the one-year residency requirement. The Statewide Voter Registration System indicates Robinson changed his voting address on September 19, 2014.
Advance Indiana has filed a complaint with the state's Public Access Counselor regarding the withholding of those records, as well as the same information on Republican mayoral candidate Chuck Brewer. All voting records and voting history information is shared with both political parties in bulk, which is compiled in party-controlled computer databases to which hundreds of party political operatives are provided access. Yet the BVR thumbs its nose at requests by members of the public to access this exact same information. Last year, the state's Public Access Counselor smacked down the BVR after it similarly refused to provide information to Advance Indiana concerning a voter's registration and voting history information. While BVR claims the information is confidential, anyone who knows a voter's name, county of residence and date of birth, can access their registered voting address and the date of registration at that address by accessing the Statewide Voter Registration System ("SVRS"). You can also use that same database to learn what elections a voter has cast absentee ballots, if any, in the past.
Indiana law defines a person's residence for purposes of voting at I.C. 3-5-2-42.5 as "the place where a person has the person's true, fixed and permanent home and principal establishment and to which the person has, whenever absent, the intention of returning." It is a crime under Indiana law to make “a false, material statement under oath or affirmation, knowing the statement to be false or
not believing it to be true" on a person's application for voter registration. I.C. 35-44.1-2-1. A candidate for office in filing a statement of candidacy swears under oath that the information he or she included on the statement of candidacy is true and complete, including the information provided about the candidate's registered voting address.
In light of Robinson's dubious claim to be a resident of District 1, it is incumbent upon someone residing within District 1 to file a complaint with the Marion Co. Board of Elections this coming week to establish whether Robinson truly abandoned his residency at his Pike Township home and now resides in Washington Township within District 1. If Robinson truly resides in Washington Township and not at his home in Pike Township, he should be able to produce evidence of his residency to satisfy the Election Board. The residents in District 1 have a right to know whether the candidates who will appear on the May primary ballot actually reside within their district.
I have asked Angela Mansfield to respond to a community concern and she really stepped. If I lived in her district I would definitely cross parties to vote for her. This city actually needs more councilors like Mansfield.
ReplyDeleteIntelligent, well-spoken, and logical. No wonder the democrats wouldn't want her there.
Ridiculous. I've known Angela for over a decade since I worked with her on the smoking ordinance, and am one of her former constituents. She's smart, friendly and one of the few councillors who knows what constituent service is all about whereas a lot of other councillors will never reply to an email or return a phone call.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that she is her own woman and thinks for herself has angered those who just want a drone who'll take marching orders from party hacks and special interests.
Let's hope the folks of District 1 see through the smoke and mirrors of Leroy Robinson and the loathsome characters surrounding him.
Angela is decent- her opponent on the other hand...
ReplyDeleteIt seems the parties ousting the good in favor of the bad is in vogue for both parties - Angela Mansfield on the Dems, Christine Scales for the GOP
ReplyDeleteRemember what LeRoy "I wanna be like Al Sharpton" Robinson did at a City-County Council Meeting that had on the agenda an act to remember the murder of Indianapolis Police Officer Jake Laird?
ReplyDeleteWell, here is the report, you can click on it...LeRoy's actions disgusts me. Furthermore, how can a school employee promote racism like this? Is moral turpitude encouraged in Pike Twp Schools by its staff?
"The phrase 'hands up, don’t shoot' has become a rallying cry in Ferguson, Missouri and it has led to a public outcry by our elected officials in Indy. Signs bearing that phrase were taped to the desks of five Indianapolis City-County Council members and visible during a Council meeting.
The signs have raised questions about what kind of message those Council members were trying to send.
August 18 marked 10 years since IPD Officer Jake Laird was killed in the line of duty.
So, would it be safe to say that LeRoy supports killing of police, our last line of defense? It has now been documented that Michael Brown tried to kill a policeman, attacked him, tried to get his gun, and now LeRoy Robinson is at an Indianapolis City-County Council meeting advocating same????
Sickening. That expression is anarchy at its worst.
Leroy hasn't work at Pike Township schools for quite awhile. I thinks someone told he now works for the Department of Education.
ReplyDeleteCarl Drummer's and Lacy Johnson's appointments of "stiffs" or "mummy dummies" lacked diversity. Appeared racism at play. She didn't stand a chance with this type of mentality. What does this say about dems?
ReplyDeleteShame on democrats for not supporting women especially one with such a strong democratic record.
ReplyDeleteDo democrats really care about diversity or is it only lip service? Look at the lack of women they endorsed. Look at the lack of white women. Sad, sad, sad!
ReplyDeleteWhy would any thinking, informed person be surprised by any of this?
ReplyDeleteIt is accepted that liberals don't have to follow laws, rules, or regulations. They are allowed to do whatever makes people "feel good."
But never fear, friends. The RINOs on the Council are close behind, attempting to catch up. You no longer can tell the players without a program.c
Dems only endorsed 2 white women out of 25 seats! That's only 8%. That does not reflect our democratic base; let alone the district or the city.
ReplyDeleteYes, for all their completely unearned claims of moral superiority, we see that our liberal Democrats are hardly an iota different from the establishment Republicans. Are the liberal Democrats any less bought and paid for by special interests, any less motivated by self interest and greed, any less willing to do whatever it takes to gain advantage (ZA, anyone?) even if that means throwing another Democrat under the bus, as in Mansfield's case ... uh, no.
ReplyDeleteIt's the One Party, that's all there is. One wing works the right aisle, the other works the left.
We have Master Gardeners controlling the Political Operations. You are selected not for your abilities but, for your Political Genes in this case a strict genetic adherence to Crony-Capitalism. What plants grow in the political garden are strictly controlled. They can call themselves Republican or Democrat, but they are parasites, with few exceptions. The exceptions like Scales or Mansfield are targeted.
ReplyDeleteSwarens I see had a totally useless column about Smoking Joe Hogsett on Jan 30th. What are Joe's opinions are on the ROC Investigation, the New Criminal Justice Building, or Corporate Welfare for the Colts, and Pacers were not asked. How will Smoking Joe pay for repairing our crumbling streets, roads, bridges and sidewalks?? Not asked by Swarens. If you want to read Glittering Generalities about Hogsett by all means read Swarens Column.