This has to be the most ill-conceived plan to discredit a critic ever concocted by the Republican City-County Council leader Mike McQuillen. Yesterday, McQuillen put out a press release which read:
This evening’s City County Council Ethics Committee will review and decide whether Councillor Joe Simpson violated ethics rules when he refused to recuse himself from voting on public safety issues – despite having an open lawsuit against the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. This will be the first time the public has the opportunity to hear the charges and voice their concerns with Councillor Simpson’s behavior. Councillor Pam Hickman, the Ethics Committee Chairwoman, canceled a previously scheduled Ethics Committee meeting.
“Councillor Simpson has refused to act in accordance with the guidelines set forth by the City Code. An elected official voting on issues directly related to an agency they are currently suing is a clear conflict of interests and I am glad Councillor Hickman has finally realized this needs to be addressed”, said Council Minority Leader Mike McQuillen.
Some of you may recall that Councilor Simpson was arrested by IMPD a couple of years ago under rather bizarre circumstances for inquiring about a police investigation of a break-in of a home next to his home. Simpson was later acquitted of the charges and sued the department for violating his civil rights. Simpson chairs the ROC Investigating Committee, which is charged with trying to determine how the Department of Public Safety could have possibly entered into such a one-sided, $20 million long-term lease at a run-down, ill-suited building owned by an individual with close political ties to Mayor Greg Ballard. As more and more damning information about the deal came to light during the course of the investigation, Republicans began a push to discredit Simpson by saying he had a conflict of interest in chairing the committee investigating the deal. The committee member pushing Simpson to recuse himself was Councilor Ben Hunter, who is a former, long-timer IMPD police officer and one of the key backers and sponsors of the proposal to locate the ROC at Eastgate Mall, whose owner contributed generously to Hunter's campaign. WRTV
reports on how this call for an ethics investigation of Simpson ended:
Ethics charges against an Indianapolis city-county councilor were dropped Thursday in a unanimous decision by the ethics committee.
District 9 Councilman Joe Simpson (D) was accused of committing an ethics violation when he refused to recuse himself from voting on public safety issues despite having an open lawsuit against the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
An ethics committee meeting scheduled to discuss the matter Thursday lasted just minutes, ending in a unanimous vote to drop ethics charges against Simpson.
The meeting followed a closed-door executive session by the ethics committee.
No public comment was heard at the meeting, and councilors did not discuss reasons for dismissing the charges.
The committee is made up of three Democrats and three Republicans, and chaired by Council Member At-Large Pamela Hickman (D).
It's too bad my fellow Republicans weren't as interested in investigating former City-County Council President Ryan Vaughn for the blatant manner in which he used his council leadership position as a profit center for his law firm and its clients.
Yes it is too damn bad our fellow Republicans “weren't as interested in investigating former City-County Council President Ryan Vaughn for the blatant manner in which he used his council leadership position as a profit center for his law firm and its clients.” And it’s a damn shame Mike McQuillen had zero interest investigating his former Council President, Ryan Vaughn, for turning over to attorney David “Mrs. Susan” Brooks $225,000 for “precinct reconciliation” (which I have read could have been done for free using a simple computer tool} without the full knowledge of his Council or his party members. It’s a damn shame David Brooks isn’t being investigated for writing the lease for his friend, and Susan Brooks’ friend, ROC-site owner Alex Carroll… a one-sided David Brooks authored lease which is a financial brutal rape of Marion County taxpayers for years to come. It’s a damn shame than no one sees the inherent conflict of interest with brew-guzzling David Brooks direct involvement with north side Indianapolis precinct reconciling and his wife’s shortly-thereafter run for the US House- obtaining votes from some of those same north side Indianapolis precincts. There is so much more…. more involving TJ, maybe KW but we all know Kyle’s little more than a fool doing what he is told, but what’s the use? Ryan Vaughn was one of the first rats moved off the sinking ship known as Greg Ballard so that the all-male Wabash university grad can be placed as a pawn elsewhere in the near future. I am told that Bob Grand is also an alum of the all male Wabash College and it was Bob Grand who has steadfastly been Vaughn's BFF and pushed Ryan Vaughn and it was David Brooks who helped carry out Vaughn’s eventual elevation to the City Council.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the foppish Mike McQuillen is concerned, I say open the closet door to the truth. Just like the truth about the ROC, we know more than you think we do. People like McQuillen seem to like to keep some things closeted and to do so they try to point others in the wrong direction- as in pointing fingers at Simpson. Mike McQuillen, let me be the one to be out loud and proud in saying I am one Marion County Republican who hopes you are defeated in any elected office you seek.