Sunday, October 25, 2015

Brewer Finally Says Something To Distinguish Himself

It comes pretty late in the campaign, but Republican Chuck Brewer finally said something to distinguish himself from his Democratic opponent, Joe Hogsett. Brewer thinks it's time to end the practice of offering big tax breaks and incentives to attract large companies, and he thinks we've done enough already to promote development downtown. Here's the quote from his joint appearance with Hogsett on WTHR this morning:
“As a business owner, I can tell you what I think about giving away tax abatements or tax dollars to companies to attract them here,” said Brewer during a half-hour roundtable discussion with Democrat Joe Hogsett on WTHR-13. “At the end of the day, this is a race toward the bottom. Every city in America does it, and it’s OK if you are trying to develop something — but our Downtown is doing just fine.” . . . 
“The real focus we need to have as a city is to create the kind of place, the kind of success that companies want to locate here not because we are giving away the farm but because this is a great place to find talented workers and this is a great place to live and raise a family,” Brewer said. “I think we’ve given away enough tax dollars and now is the time to focus on creating a great quality of life.”
Brewer passed up an opportunity to challenge Hogsett on what he means when he says in his campaign ads that the "downtown insiders" are "cheating the system" and "stealing our tax dollars." It is absolutely stunning that neither Brewer nor a single member of the local media has seen fit to question Hogsett about what he meant by that statement, and if he believes what he says, why he didn't do anything about it when he was in a position to do something about it as federal prosecutor.

Brewer also passed up the chance to take Hogsett to task for saying he couldn't comment on the Covanta contract because his law firm represents the company, even though that didn't stop him from weighing in on the criminal justice center with an opinion when his law firm was being paid $750,000 by the City to convince the City-County Council to pass it.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

This isn't much and it isn't enough for me to reconsidering a refusal in casting a ballot for a newbie (Brewer) served up by the corrupt Marion County Republican machine. Lying Joe won't get my vote, either.

Jen and Kyle can both go pound sand. Or count the stacks Jen receives monthly.

Anonymous said...

Brewer is grasping at straws at this point. I don't believe a word he says. Besides, everybody does this sort of thing but here's something my fellow Hoosiers may wish to ponder. I recently had lunch with an economic development official in another state. He works to attract business to a mid sized city that not too long ago was down and out but has managed to reposition itself in a somewhat unique way. For obvious reasons, I don't want to name it. During the course of our lunch, he said "we have to be picky about who we reach out to. There are a lot of companies we simply do not want to do business with." He even laughed and casually threw in that some of the cities he competes with will take anybody who comes calling.

I question why government needs to be in the "attracting business" business at all, but if they are it seems to me that this is a critical consideration and this is where Indiana and Indianapolis in particular fall way short. We'll dance with anybody who asks us to dance. It doesn't much matter if they have money, investors, a track record, anything. All they have to so is say the words "high tech" and promise to create jobs and we'll give them anything they want. You have to have a little pride. You have to protect and build your brand. Otherwise you look desperate. It's okay to be desperate, but it's never okay to communicate that. Right now, Indy's brand is "We're desperate." Given that, we shouldn't be surprised. I see nothing in Chuck Brewer the man to suggest that he has the stones or even the understanding necessary to change this.

Anonymous said...

Brewer would be a tool of the current corrupt administration.

Anonymous said...


For those of you who believe in Hogsett, you need to read Dick Cady's book, Deadline: Indianapolis.... I don't have a dog in that fight, financial or otherwise but the information certainly removes Hogsett from consideration for ANYTHING.

Perhaps Chuck Brewer should be given a chance to perform? Hogsett has had his day in the spotlight.

Anonymous said...

No more giveaways? Tell it to the Governor; tell it to the Capital 'Improvement' Board; tell it to the Mayor, but don't tell it to us. Feeding at the trough is the new business model for those with connections. Sports stadiums come, sport stadiums go, but the debt lingers on. And now it's just about time for another Turkish bath.

Greg Wright said...

Anon 8:29, what pages should we read. Cady's excellent book does not have an index and it has been some time since I read it.

Anonymous said...

You can start at p. 339 but you might want to go back a chapter to get the drift.
341, 345, 346, 350