tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post3561432471077419545..comments2024-03-13T14:53:25.892-05:00Comments on Advance Indiana™: City-County Council Committee Postpones Vote On Subsidized Luxury Apartment Building To Ensure More Kickbacks To Minority FirmsGary R. Welshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15185079937305083438noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-18854476321541090702014-01-15T15:36:39.542-05:002014-01-15T15:36:39.542-05:00Hey, anon, do your homework. We're not just ta...Hey, anon, do your homework. We're not just talking about direct contracts with the City of Indianapolis. You have to include all work for any developer who is receiving public funding from the various governmental entities and who, in turn, hires various professionals to perform the work. That's the fulfillment work Osili is concerned about in this discussion; not who the city is hiring for work. He wants to dictate to Flaherty & Collins that in order to receive public funding for their high-rise building, you have to hire X percent of minorities for fulfillment of work on this project. On a project of this nature, just how many qualified minority contractors are available for hire in the local community, particularly when we're talking about the architectural/engineering component of the project? It's the same small group of minority contractors with the same undisclosed members/shareholders who are winning the lion's share of this work. The Chicago U.S. Attorney's office has exposed all sorts of corruption in this arena. This lousy, poor excuse for a U.S. Attorney's Office we have here in Indianapolis won't do to a damn thing about any of the corruption reported to it. They're more likely to go back and tell the people involved in the corruption who is ratting them out than conducting a serious investigation. Gary R. Welshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15185079937305083438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-22614687112512510982014-01-15T14:45:18.697-05:002014-01-15T14:45:18.697-05:00Hey Gary,,you really do need to do your homework…....Hey Gary,,you really do need to do your homework….Guess the last year that Osili got a contact with the city of Indianapolis? <br /><br />Hint: Ballard was not Mayor,,,but,nice tryAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-44956985950515464002014-01-14T22:20:13.799-05:002014-01-14T22:20:13.799-05:00Be safe dear sir...It's coming some and many h...Be safe dear sir...It's coming some and many hope...This drama needs to stop at so many levels...Whom is willing besides you to end it all..We wait and watch...All Hoosiers do and many from my research and more are fed up..FED UP. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-47400214453598486752014-01-14T20:27:32.223-05:002014-01-14T20:27:32.223-05:00IHCA, MCHH, Roads, highways, tolls, parking, TIF&#...IHCA, MCHH, Roads, highways, tolls, parking, TIF's, Referendums, and more of these special interests all around over the last 10 years with knowledge of many....<br />Speak up louder Gary!!! Keep it up.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-10765692218465760882014-01-14T18:37:30.406-05:002014-01-14T18:37:30.406-05:00I thought Gray no longer owned a concrete business...I thought Gray no longer owned a concrete business.Gary R. Welshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15185079937305083438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-59938495119058125582014-01-14T16:18:19.571-05:002014-01-14T16:18:19.571-05:00Will "Sweet Pea" Monroe Gray be making o...Will "Sweet Pea" Monroe Gray be making out like he did with the no-bid airport contract? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-57314966782878885862014-01-14T15:43:52.165-05:002014-01-14T15:43:52.165-05:00I should add that this committee's membership ...I should add that this committee's membership has a history of feigning objections to someone's economic development project for specious reasons until the developer grovels at their feet, throws them a few bones (i.e, campaign contributions, free tickets to sporting events, jobs for relatives, etc.) and then the pumpkin suddenly turns into a golden carriage and the previously questioning members heap praise on the same developer they had just recently served up a helping of criticism all for show. This ain't my first time at the rodio. I saw firsthand how the shakedowns happen during my six years working for the Illinois legislature. I witnessed the same thing happening over at the State House as a lobbyist, and I've watched the same thing repeatedly happen before this corrupt city-county council we have. Both parties actively seek to block anyone who would attempt to get elected to this council who would serve out of civic virtue. They only want people beholden to them who can be bought to serve on the council, and with the exception of a few, that's pretty much the sum of what we have on this council.Gary R. Welshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15185079937305083438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-85941584634040272572014-01-14T14:08:57.331-05:002014-01-14T14:08:57.331-05:00It is an undisputed fact that he has received gove...It is an undisputed fact that he has received government-funded work in the past based on his status as a minority contractor. He doesn't dispute that. What the post criticizes him for doing is basing his support on publicly-funded projects like this one on the basis of a high percentage of the work being set aside to be fulfilled by minority firms. The commenter raised the question of whether he has received any government funded contracts since he's been on the council. I can't answer that question because there are so many ways he could receive work that would never be disclosed on any public document. Firm A could subcontract work to Firm B, which could, in turn, subcontract some work to him. The fact is that's how he makes his living and he's sticking his neck out demanding that a certain percent of the work be awarded to a subset of firms like his own as a condition to supporting the project. The whole Monroe Gray debacle centered around non-disclosure of work he had received as a subcontractor on a government-funded project. As we saw in that case, there is no legal consequence for not disclosing. I hear minorities complain all the time about the fact that only a select group of firms controlled by the same usual suspects wind up getting all of the set-aside work for minority firms. Gary R. Welshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15185079937305083438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-81157722913707959072014-01-14T13:59:59.079-05:002014-01-14T13:59:59.079-05:00It may have started before the Construction of Hoo...It may have started before the Construction of Hoosier Dome, but that IMHO was the beginning point in the Corporate Welfare, Crony-Capitalism schemes that are wrapped all around Marion County now. When our elected officials past and present can justify building stadiums for the Mega-Billionaire Owners of Professional Sports Teams, you have laid the foundation for further Corporate Welfare Schemes. <br /><br />It is positively breath taking and sickening at how easily Crony-Capitalism functions in this County. Some get the Goldmine of Corporate Welfare and the bulk of us living in Marion County get the shaft. <br /><br />No matter who the Democrats nominate for Mayor in the next election you can bet the nominee will be carefully vetted. There will be no discussion of this Web of intrigue. <br /><br />The only hope might be is if the Libertarian Party nominates someone with enough fire in their belly at this outrageous behavior that they make Corporate Welfare a Campaign issue and force the Republicans ,and Democrats to defend it. Floggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10383015097067413086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-37740596734183762592014-01-14T12:45:21.970-05:002014-01-14T12:45:21.970-05:00So your answer means you don't have an example...So your answer means you don't have an example, right? You claim the burden is on the other party to show your unsubstantiated claim is false but as a lawyer you know that you can never prove a negative. I would not call this being a watchdog.Veracityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15838693892583953431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-5389197347104717842014-01-14T11:25:32.784-05:002014-01-14T11:25:32.784-05:00I'm assuming you mean "contract." Th...I'm assuming you mean "contract." The burden of disclosure is on him to remove doubts. I've previously pointed out older projects that his former firm worked on shortly before he joined the council. The financial disclosure law for council members is so weak that the statements they file with the city are of little value to the public. Even if he didn't receive work on a project funded at least in part with government funding, how would we know he's not performing work for a developer or subcontractor who receives public funding on another one of its projects that is not paid with government funds? There is more than one way to crack the nut. When you are in a particular line of business while serving as a council member, taking a very active interest in an area that benefits your vocation in general is naturally going to raise suspicions with anyone trying to be a watchdog. I find it appalling that he would sit there and demand that a certain percentage of these projects be fulfilled by people with the same skin color as him without regard to qualifications or economics as a condition. So much for judging someone by the content of their character as opposed to the color of their skin.Gary R. Welshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15185079937305083438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-5622603017545833652014-01-14T10:30:57.960-05:002014-01-14T10:30:57.960-05:00 Show us one contact that Osili has won since he ... Show us one contact that Osili has won since he has been..come one,show us just one….Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com