Ballard Accuses Republican Council Members Of Voting To Sue Him Over Vision Fleet Deal Because Of Gay Pride Support

Mayor Ballard and Winnie at gay pride parade (Star Photo)

Just when you thought Mayor Greg Ballard couldn't stoop any lower, he goes and proves you wrong. During an interview this week with radio talk show host Abdul-Hakim Shabazz, Ballard attributed a majority of the Republican caucus' decision to abandon him on his controversial Vision Fleet deal to a retaliatory move on their part over their supposed anger that he agreed to serve as grand marshal for this year's gay pride parade.

For those of you who haven't been following the discussion of this issue, Mayor Ballard's administration illegally entered into a contract to lease a fleet of electric and hybrid vehicles. Upon realizing the errors of its way, his administration made matters worse by executing a new contract that attempted to recast the same agreement as a contract for services instead of a lease agreement to circumvent public bidding requirements. It then backdated signature pages on the new contract to make it appear it had been executed at the time the original contract was signed without actually rescinding the original contract. When council members attempted to obtain copies of the contract, the administration heavily redacted it to the point nobody could understand what was in the contract. Under mounting public pressure, the administration finally released the multiple copies of the agreement without redaction. Compounding those missteps, the administration illegally transferred money from the storm water fund to make payments under the contract.

The council's attorney, who opined the contract was either void or voidable, found there had been no fewer than five state and local laws broken in the process. The council voted 23-6 to take the administration to court to overturn the illegal contract. That bipartisan vote included the votes of 8 Republican council members. To hear Ballard explain it, those eight Republican members acted out of politics as opposed to the need to uphold the rule of law.

There are a couple who just really hate electric cars . . . They don't understand where the world is headed on this . . . There's been talk a few of them didn't like me being grand marshal of the parade and this is all retaliatory . . . It was not about the real process . . .  I don't know how we could have been more open. . .  Here we are five months from the election and they do this . . . To me it's pretty obvious . . . We all know what the Dems are trying to do.

Ballard went on to describe Indianapolis as earning a "business unfriendly" reputation because of the actions of the City-County Council in killing his controversial P3 plan to develop a new criminal justice center and its decision to take him to court over the Vision Fleet deal he insists is "highly innovative." "The whole country is talking about [the Vision Fleet deal]," he said. "They do what they do . . . They're trying to score political points." I can think of more than a couple of those Republican council members who have to be infuriated by Ballard's insinuation they voted to sue him over the Vision Fleet contract because of their alleged disapproval of his participation in the gay pride parade. You can hear Shabazz' full interview with Ballard by clicking here to here the musings of a sad and pathetic man who is unfit to hold public office.