City Produces More Records For "Car 86"

"Car 86" cast members from left to right, Reese Mishler, Sarah Davenport and Paul Woolfolk (Facebook Photo)

Advance Indiana exclusively told you in November about substantial IMPD resources and personnel being made available to the makers of "Car 86," a low-budget film written by former Mayor Greg Ballard's son, Greg Ballard, Jr. An initial public records request made by Advance Indiana generated just a handful of e-mails and an 8-page contract that Car 86, LLC signed with IMPD governing its use of IMPD personnel, vehicles and equipment and its trademarks and images for the movie. This week, the City's Public Access Counselor generated dozens of more e-mails and documents that were generated after the initial response to our request was made in late November.

One of the oddities Advance Indiana uncovered was the fact that IMPD had not signed a contract with the filmmakers until October 30, 2015, days after the film crew arrived in town to begin filming the movie. The newly-discovered documents indicate that any formalities followed by city officials to ensure the city's dealings with Mayor Ballard's son's film-making company were undertaken as an after thought as opposed to following a transparent, arms-length transaction intended to avoid running afoul of the state's conflict of interest and official misconduct laws. While no documents were produced showing the direct involvement of Mayor Ballard's office, allusions were made by the persons directly involved in the filming of the movie that left no doubt they were acting at the direction of the Mayor's Office, and that the Mayor expected IMPD to fully cooperate in any way possible for the filming of his son's movie.

Under the terms of the 8-page contract IMPD entered into with the film-maker, IMPD was required to furnish IMPD vehicles and other equipment (including non-functioning firearms) to be used in the filming of the movie. IMPD reserved the right to designate what vehicles and equipment the filmmakers could use. The company further agreed that "any use of the vehicles or equipment will be under the complete direction and control of IMPD personnel." IMPD also agreed to "allow its sworn employees an opportunity to audition for a role in the movie," and that "any IMPD employee taking part in the filming of the Movie will be doing so in an off-duty, non-law enforcement capacity." IMPD granted to Car 86 a "non-exclusive, nontransferable license" to use IMPD's trademarks, including its badge and seal "in connection with the filming, advertising, promotion, and marketing of the movie."

The contract required Car 86 to maintain insurance, including worker's compensation, damages for bodily injury and personal injury, claims for damages to property and a commercial general liability insurance policy of $1 million per occurrence with an aggregate limit of $2 million, auto liability coverage, excess umbrella liability coverage and employer's liability for bodily injury and disease. The contract also included a general indemnity clause holding the City harmless from any claims arising out of the use of IMPD personnel, vehicles and equipment, including attorney's fees. Remarkably, the contract compensated IMPD a mere $756 for the unprecedented assistance it provided to the private filmmaker while it filmed the movie in Indianapolis.

Advance Indiana previously discussed the prominent role IMPD's Public Information Officer Christopher Wilburn played in the movie in his role as "Marcus Wilder." Wilburn described his character in the movie during recent interviews with local media. "Marcus Wilder, he’s excited about being a police officer," Wilburn said. "He’s been a police officer for quite some time and he’s a season [sic] professional." "There’s a cocky arrogance about his personality, which I hope will play on camera," said Wilburn. The first hint of Wilburn's involvement in the movie is found in a September 9, 2015 e-mail sent by the young Ballard to Officer Wilburn. "Screenplay attached, and our investors' business plan (just to get a sense of how we're approaching this," Ballard wrote. "Let me know what day works best for you--September 12, 13, or 14th--to get together."

The Public Access Counselor, April Schultheis, had copies of the screenplay and the business plan that Ballard included as e-mail attachments to his September 9 e-mail to Wilburn, which she has initially determined should be withheld due to confidentiality/copyright concerns. Advance Indiana has not pressed for the release of those documents, although we were allowed to see Daily Crew sheets for the approximately ten days of filming, which described scene locations, cast members involved in the scenes, props needed for each scene and brief summaries of the scenes. It's not clear from the e-mails and other documents Advance Indiana received that anyone reviewed the screenplay for content on behalf of IMPD, which was one of the concerns raised in our earlier report. Ballard's September 9 e-mail was also the earliest of any communication documented between the filmmakers and IMPD or other city officials.

E-mails Advance Indiana earlier obtained from IPS showed Ballard had communicated at least as early as June 9 with Indy Downtown, Inc.'s Bob Schultz to discuss potential sites for filming the movie in the city, including the Coca-Cola Building on Mass Avenue owned by IPS. Interestingly, within a month of the wrap on filming "Car 86," Mayor Ballard announced a new initiative  undertaken by Visit Indy with $300,000 in new funding, including at least $100,000 he found somewhere in the 2014 city budget despite the fact that he repeatedly vetoed and blocked efforts earlier in the year by the City-County Council to provide millions more in funding for badly-needed equipment needs for IMPD. Remarkably, neither Mayor Ballard nor Visit Indy officials made any reference to the very visible filming of his son's movie in the city not more than a month earlier. Whether any of the $300,000 in funding for the Film Indy initiative wound up in the hands of the son's film-making company is unclear. Regardless, it's quite apparent the City indirectly under-wrote costs the filmmaker would have ordinarily been responsible for paying had city resources not been made available essentially free-of-charge.

Among the newly-obtained e-mails Advance Indiana received in response to the original public records request made two months ago, was an October 20, 2015 e-mail from Greg Ballard, Jr. to Justin Kormann, the movie's producer, discussing the agenda for a meeting with Officer Wilburn. On the agenda were 13 listed items, including: vans, police cars, prop guns, street closures, Alisha, other actors, communications building usage, dispatcher role, ammunition, ammunition belt, helicopter, body cams and balloon light. In addition to being a paid cast member and the department's liaison to the film crew, the film crew relied upon Wilburn for other duties as well, such as procuring props for scenes. In one e-mail from a crew member to Wilburn, he is asked: "Can you make sure we have shot gun shells and ammo belt for tomorrow? . . . They will be just in the trunk for one scene (then again for the final showdown)." The documents indicate other public facilities were used for the filming of the movie, in addition to the IPS Coca-Cola Building on Mass Avenue, including Lucas Oil Stadium, the old IFD fire station at 515 N. New Jersey, IMPD's communications center and district command offices.

An e-mail sent to Commander Taylor by Officer Wilburn confirmed his request to allow the movie crew to use the department's PAL vans. Why the movie company wouldn't just lease vans it needed for the film crew while it was in town filming is anyone's guess. E-mails exchanged that same day between Officer Wilburn and Lt. McClary confirmed the department would be providing the film crew two IMPD 2015 marked Ford Taurus cruisers and 2 vans to transport props and people. Chief Hite, Lt. Richard Riddle, Public Safety Director David Wantz and Deputy Corporation Counsel Ted Nolting were copied on the e-mail communications between Lt. McClary and Officer Wilburn. According to one e-mail, Officer Wilburn waited until October 21 to sign his time cards and submit paperwork to his boss for permission to work on the movie. He accepted responsibility for the care of the police vehicles used to film the movie.

When IMPD signed a contract with Car 86, LLC, one of the focuses of the contract was to ensure that the filmmaker would provide its own insurance, worker's comp and other liability insurance necessary to hold the department harmless from any liabilities that might arise during the shooting of the film. Yet on October 21, 2015, nearly ten days before the filmmaker signed a formal contract with IMPD, the filmmaker's producer, Justin Kornmann, completed an "Employer Liability Statement" on behalf regarding the employment of police officers by the filmmaker. On that form, Kornmann replied "no" to questions asking if it would be providing worker's compensation coverage to the officers it hired for use in the film or salary compensation in the event of long-term injury, which was in conflict with the contract the filmmaker later signed requiring it to have worker's compensation coverage.

As Advance Indiana previously reported, the film company was only formed on August 3, 2015 in the state of California, listing an apartment address on Venice Blvd. in LA. with Kornmann listed as the registered agent. The Indiana Secretary of State's online records database indicates the firm never registered to conduct business in the state of Indiana as a foreign company. Typically, government contracts cannot be entered into with businesses unless they certify they are registered with the Secretary of State to do business in the state.

The latest documents obtained by Advance Indiana also revealed the identities of other officers who had roles in the movie, including Sgt. Ty Van Wagner and Officers Pamela Lee, Jeffrey Stagg, Andrew Hashley and a probationary police officer in her first year on the job, Alisha Bernhardt. Van Wagner was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for Hendricks Co. Sheriff in 2014. Officer Lee and her spouse, Candace Batten-Lee, sued Gov. Mike Pence in 2014 to force the state of Indiana to recognize her same-sex marriage. I don't suppose that had anything to do with her being offered a role in the movie. An October 21, 2015 e-mail from Kornmann described their roles. "Your name is now actually, "Colfax," instead of "Whitfield," Kornmann tells Officer Hashley. "Jeff Stagg you will be our officer we see at the beginning of the movie who walks Brandie into the drunk tank." Kornmann continued, "Ty and Pam, you will be Mariano and Thompson,"

An Inter-Department Communication dated October 21, 2015 sent by Officer Bernhardt to Sgt. Scott Rodriguez indicated that a department e-mail had been sent a month earlier "asking officers to respond if they would like to audition for a move that was going to be filmed here in Indianapolis." The department e-mail sent in September was not among those documents produced to Advance Indiana. "I responded, auditioned and just recently found out that I got a part in that movie which was written by Mayor Greg Ballard's son," Bernhardt wrote. "After speaking with one of the crew members of the movie, I was made aware that this is going to be a very low paid gig," she continued.

Bernhardt had to seek permission to accept the temporary off duty employment since department rules states as she wrote "that officers on their probationary year are not permitted to work off duty employment, but I am asking permission for this original opportunity." Bernhardt explained that she believed the movie presented "a great marketing tool for our department and that my part in it will help to show the community that there is more to the officers of IMPD than just the uniform." It was not until October 27 that someone formally granted Officer Bernhardt permission to perform off duty work on the movie in violation of the department's general order prohibiting probationary officers from performing off duty employment. An e-mail sent by Officer Wilburn to Bernhardt stated that Chief Hite had given her permission to work on the movie from October 29-November 9, 2015 only.

In a separate Inter-Department Communication also dated October 21, 2015, Officer Wilburn wrote to Sgt. Kendale Adams about the movie and the role he would be playing in it. "I was recently contacted by the Office of the Mayor to assist a movie crew scheduled to film here in Indianapolis," Wilburn wrote. There were no communications produced by the Public Access Counselor showing any communications from anyone in the mayor's office to Officer Wilburn or anyone else regarding the making of "Car 86." Wilburn explained that the filming had started on October 19 and would continue until November 9. "The shooting involves IMPD police vehicles, IMPD uniforms and some roll call facilities," Wilburn said. "Lt. Robert McClary has requested utilization from you prior to the release of the IMPD vehicles. Additionally, I spoke with Commander Randal Taylor who has authorized the use of the PAL vans during the production." This is the first communication in which Wilburn informs the department of his role. "Additionally, I was offered the role of Marcus in the film," Wilburn said. "The role is that of the antagonist during this science fiction thriller. I am being compensated for the role. My presence in the movie is strictly showcasing the IMPD and the City of Indianapolis." Wilburn concluded, "Again, I ask for a detail from October 19th-November 9th so I may assist with logistical planning/execution and to assist with the character Marcus."

So it appears Officer Wilburn never sought formal permission to take time off to film the movie and assist with its production until two days into the filming. Wilburn, despite portraying the role of an IMPD officer in the movie, describes his character as a protagonist. Notes from the Daily Crew Call sheets describing the scenes suggests he goes rogue at some point during the movie after the gang, the three lead characters in the movie, decide to go on a ride-along with him. Spoiler alert. Wilburn's character, Marcus, gets shot and killed by one of the lead characters in the end if that's any saving. It remains to be seen how IMPD's image is overall portrayed in the film.

In Advance Indiana's earlier report, e-mails exchanged between the film crew, Officer Wilburn and the Department of Code Enforcement showed that the film crew had failed to obtain the right-of-way permits needed to close off several city streets during the filming of the movie. A member of the film crew waited until late on a Friday to obtain a right-of-way permit to close off streets around Lucas Oil Stadium for filming. On November 2 at 9:53 a.m., Officer Wilburn e-mailed a Code Enforcement staff member the following week informing her that he was IMPD's liaison for the filming of "Car 86." "I spoke with the producers about securing authorization prior to completely shutting off vehicle traffic," Wilburn wrote. "I was advised by [Deputy] Chief [Michael] Bates regarding this issue and communicated this to the "Car 86" executive team." "Unfortunately, the email they submitted to you was too late for your authorization and approval," Wilburn continued. "As a result, I advised them that vehicular traffic could not be completely shut off." "The writer changed the script and the film crew intermediately (sic) shot video."

With respect to the vehicles used by the filmmakers, the documents reveal just one mishap during the filming. According to what is reported in an e-mail dated November 11, 2015 from Lt. McClary to Rhonda Reynolds, Officer Wilburn had requested a supervisor on the scene of the filming to one of the police cars. "When I arrived on the scene I learned that police vehicle 15-0598 was being used in a movie production which was approved by the Mayor's Office," Lt. McClary wrote. "The front windshield of this vehicle had been damaged while doing a stunt. The movie production personnel wanted to pay out of their funds to have the window repaired immediately, so that they could continue with production." Lt. McClary went on to explain that he gave the crew permission to repair the IMPD car at their own expense, which he said was $256.00.

Several private property owners in the Indianapolis area made their property available to the filmmaker. A home at 4936 N. Meridian Street owned by Robert and Jennifer Sloan was used in one scene. Two other homes, one on the north side and one in Speedway, were used, as was a Zionsville home owned by Elisa Whitaker. Pam's Pit Stop Liquors in Speedway was used to film another scene. A final shoot-out scene takes place at Peaper Bros. Farm on South Bluff Road.

One evening near the end of the filming, Ice Miller partner Melissa Proffitt Reese and her husband, Tom Schmidt, hosted a social gathering for the entire crew at their estate on Dean Road on the city's north side. In an e-mail to his "LA friends" Greg Ballard, Jr, wrote, "So you guys don't have to spend all your time in the hotel tomorrow night, someone was kind enough to host a little cocktail get-together box social shindig for us tomorrow in their gigantic estate just for us to unwind with beer and wine." Proffitt Reese accompanied Mayor Ballard and his wife on virtually every junket he took outside the country during his two terms as Indianapolis mayor. Her law firm was awarded millions of dollars in no-bid legal contracts by his administration. The film crew held its wrap party following the conclusion of filming at Sun King Brewery.

The Indianapolis news media has shown no interest in learning whether city resources were improperly used to aid Mayor Ballard's son in the filming of this movie. Local news reports throughout his two terms in office have ignored multiple transgressions he committed while in office, including some that clearly crossed legal boundaries, and a number of which cost Indianapolis taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. Today's news coverage of his last day in office was no different. Multiple media reports talked about Ballard performing a same-sex wedding ceremony as one of his last official acts, and, no, it wasn't his son's wedding.

Ballard Announces Funding For Films Weeks After Son Completed Filming Of Movie Using City Resources

He's been in office for nearly eight years, but it took his son coming to town to film a movie he wrote, "Car 86," for Mayor Greg Ballard to decide public subsidies to promote filming in Indianapolis was needed. Ballard announced $300,000 in funding for Film Indy, an entity that will operate within the taxpayer-funded Visit Indy. Ballard found $100,000 somewhere in the city budget to kick into the project, while Visit Indy and CICF are kicking in $100,000 each. "Film Indy represents the first proactive, unified effort to attract television commercials, shows, and movies to our city," Mayor Ballard announced at the launching of this morning's event.

Only Advance Indiana told you about how IMPD resources, including officers, vehicles and equipment were made available to the makers of "Car 86," which was filmed just weeks ago in the city. City officials belatedly slapped together a contract with Car 86, LLC after Advance Indiana submitted a public records request for any contracts or correspondence between city officials and the film's makers. The city's public access counselor produced only three e-mails exchanged between IMPD Public Information Officer Christopher Wilburn, who had a paid supporting role in the movie, discussing the film makers' failure to properly obtain a permit to close off streets around Lucas Oil Stadium for filming scenes in the movie. The contract between IMPD and the filmmakers charged a fee of just $756.

A spokesman for Visit Indy, Chris Gahl, claims the film initiative will generate more than $6 million in incremental economic impact on an annual basis. At least that's what it said on the piece of paper he just pulled out his ass. Naturally, there's hand-wringing thrown it about how Indiana is way behind its neighboring states in offering generous incentives to Hollywood types to come out to the Heartland to film a movie. From the IBJ:

Indiana’s neighbors are much more generous. Michigan offers a tax credit of up to 42 percent of a production company’s expenses related to a film project. Ohio offers a tax credit of up to 25 percent of expenses and 35 percent of the wages paid to state residents. Kentucky offers a 20 percent tax credit. 

In a recent example of how Indianapolis has been at a disadvantage for attracting filmmakers, the 2014 movie "The Fault in Our Stars" was filmed in Pittsburgh, although the novel is set in Indianapolis, in part to take advantage of tax incentives offered by Pennsylvania. 

Indianapolis does not offer incentives for films . . . 

Well, you can see where this is headed. "Film Indy's founders hope the initiative will help make the argument for state incentives," the IBJ reports. Sigh. Visit Indy says the $300,000 will be used to build a website, hire a film commission to market the city and handle hospitality arrangements for film crews visiting the city. Who wants to make a bet that part of that $300,000 has already been paid to the makers of "Car 86"? Visit Indy was one of the first places Greg Ballard, Jr. hit up when he was looking for help with the filming of his movie according to e-mails Advance Indiana obtained from IPS discussing the use of the Coca-Cola Building for filming purposes. Don't look for the useless local media folks to delve into those matters any more deeply. They long ago decided to give our mayor a pass on his corrupt, self-dealing ways.

Indianapolis City-County Council Ratifies Illegal, No-Bid Justice Center Contracts

Many readers of this blog have questioned the necessity of having a City-County Council for Indianapolis' municipal government given its track record the past few years of ceding its legislative authority to an imperial, dictatorial mayor. Mayor Greg Ballard undertook on his own a decision to acquire a $1.6 billion criminal justice center through a public-private partnership agreement. To support those efforts, he encumbered nearly $18 million in unappropriated funds to enter into no-bid contracts he awarded to law firms, consultants and the three hand-picked bidders themselves for participating in a project the City-County Council would ultimately turn down. Indiana law could not be more clear that those contracts are null and void on their face. Yet lame duck members of the Indianapolis City-County Council voted on a 16-9 vote last night to effectively ratify all of the law-breaking engaged in by outgoing Mayor Greg Ballard.

Proposal No. 339, sponsored by Councilor Will Gooden, authorizes the City to borrow $12 million to pay off the balance of the fees owed to the corrupt cabal of thieves who participated in the latest attempt to turn over another essential role of government to the politicians' favorite corporate cronies to exploit for their own profiteering purposes. Adding insult to injury, the borrowed money includes $2 million in fraudulent legal billings submitted by the two law firms in excess of the maximum billable amount they agreed to charge city taxpayers when they entered into the illegal, no-bid contracts with the Ballard administration. Bingham Greenbaum Doll agreed under the terms of its original contract it would bill city taxpayers no more than $1.5 million, while the Los Angeles law firm, Noosaman, agreed it would bill city taxpayers no more than $2.5 million. Despite the fact that neither law firm performed the anticipated heavy-lifting role on the tail-end of the project for closing the deal, both firms billed city taxpayers substantially more than the original contracted amount. Bingham tacked on another $1.5 million, doubling its original fee, and Noosaman tacked on more than $600,000 to its bill. The two firms have already been paid the original $4 million the City agreed to pay the firms to nobody's surprise. How do you think they afford those six-figure campaign contributions they make to these corrupt politicians and their luxury suites at our professional sports facilities to entertain them?

Council members agreed to borrow money to pay more than $11 million in unpaid bills incurred by the Ballard administration for its failed attempt to auction off our criminal justice system, including the more than $2 million in padded bills submitted by the two law firms. The corrupt Ballard administration claimed it had entered into amended agreements with the two law firms permitting them to pad their bills, but they failed to deliver proof of the amendments to the council's staff prior to last night's meeting. If the past is any indication, the administration had its attorneys rush out and draft documents, sign and backdate them to make it appear they had been executed in a kosher manner. Why not? They know our worthless federal and state prosecutors have granted them immunity from prosecution for engaging in criminal acts to allow for the theft of public funds and public assets. While Mayor Ballard deserves the most blame for this tawdry affair, Mayor-elect Joe Hogett shares blame as well. He told whistle blowers to buzz off when they went to him with incontrovertible evidence of corruption being committed by this administration during his tenure as federal prosecutor. He used that information to leverage his way into the mayor's office in diabolical fashion. He wanted these bills paid, too, because it included a $750,000 payment to his own law firm, which was essentially a pay off to his firm to cover the cost of employing him in a big six-figure, no-work, no-show job while he campaigned full-time for Indianapolis mayor over the past year.

At the end of the day, though, your elected council members had the right and duty to say no to all of it and pursue a legal remedy to bring Mayor Ballard and members of his administration to justice for all of their corrupt acts to defraud Indianapolis taxpayers. A majority of them proved they care more about taking care of their corporate cronies who wine and dine them and stuff money in their campaign wallets. The sixteen members who earned the right to have their pictures hanging permanently in the hall of shame include the following:

Jose Evans (R)
Aaron Freeman (R)
Will Gooden (R)
Pamela Hickman (D)
Jason Holiday (R)
Ben Hunter (R)
Maggie Lewis (D)
Bob Lutz (R)
Janice McHenry (R)
Jeff Miller (R)
Mary Moriarty-Adams (D)
Mike McQuillen (R)
Marilyn Pfisterer (R)
LeRoy Robinson (D)
Jefferson Shreve (R)
Jack Sandlin (R)

The nine council members who stood on the side of the rule of law and the taxpayers of Indianapolis in voting against the Proposal 339 are:

Zach Adamson (D)
Stephen Clay (D)
Monroe Gray (D)
LaKeisha Jackson (D)
Frank Mascari (D)
Bill Oliver (D)
Vop Osili (D)
Christine Scales (R)
Joe Simpson (D)

Kip Tew (D) abstained from voting due to a conflict of interest. His campaign treasurer is a partner at Bingham. The attorney council members who voted for this proposal should be holding their heads in shame. You are truly a disgrace to the legal profession of this state Freeman, Gooden and Lutz. I'm sure you all will be well-taken care of for putting the interests of the big law firms ahead of your constituents.

Mayor Ballard's Son Able To Film Low-Budget Film With IMPD's Help

CITY CHARGED FILMMAKER JUST $756 TO USE IMPD RESOURCES

"Car 86" cast members from left to right, Reese Mishler, Sarah Davenport and Paul Woolfolk (Facebook Photo)

UPDATE: This year's near-record crime wave did not stop the City of Indianapolis and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, in particular, from rolling out the red carpet to aid Mayor Greg Ballard's son, Greg Ballard, Jr., in the filming of his first movie in the Circle City. In fact, several IMPD officers have speaking roles in the movie, including IMPD Public Information Officer Chris Wilburn, who landed a lead supporting role in the movie.

The mayor's son, who studied film at Indiana University and now works for Warner Bros. in Los Angeles, says he got the idea for writing the script of his new movie, "Car 86," after going on a ride-along with IMPD one night before he moved out to L.A., leaving his job with a local PR firm, Hirons & Co. You may recall that Hirons was awarded several large no-bid contracts by Mayor Ballard after the firm gave the younger Ballard a job.

The movie's plot takes place in Indianapolis and centers around a group of recent college graduates who go for a ride-along with an IMPD officer that turns into their worst nightmare. It features several little-known actors, including Reese Mishler, Paul Woolfolk and Sarah Davenport. The movie's title, according to Ballard, gets its name from the slang term "86" as the number is used in its pejorative form--to be cast out or expelled.

Ballard made numerous appearances on local TV news and radio programs while in town recently with the movie's cast and crew filming the movie, promoting it and the opportunity for locals seeking a role as an extra in the movie's filming, which took place over a two-week period earlier this month. Another fellow Hoosier, Justin Kornmann, is producing the movie, which has the backing of its high-profile executive producer, Jeffrey Reddick, best known for his "Final Destination" movie series. Ballard said the movie's low budget made Indianapolis an attractive place for its filming, especially since its theme revolves so closely around the city's police department. By all appearances, IMPD made human and other resources generously available to the filmmakers for a bargain price of just $756.

Advance Indiana submitted a public records request to the city's public access counselor on November 4 after seeing numerous local news reports about the movie's filming, noticing that IMPD cars and officers were being used to film the movie. We asked for any written agreements with the filmmakers, along with any correspondence between city officials and the filmmakers discussing the making of "Car 86." The public access counselor produced an 8-page contract dated October 30, 2015 between Car 86, LLC and IMPD detailing the terms of the city's agreement between the filmmakers and IMPD. IMPD Chief Deputy Brian Mahone signed on behalf of IMPD, while Justin Kornmann signed on behalf of Car 86, LLC, a company formed on August 3, 2015 in the state of California, and which conducts business at an apartment address on Venice Blvd. in LA. with Kornmann listed as the registered agent. The Indiana Secretary of State's online records database indicates the firm never registered to conduct business in the state of Indiana as a foreign company.

Under the terms of the contract, IMPD was required to furnish IMPD vehicles and other equipment (including non-functioning firearms) to be used in the filming of the movie. IMPD reserved the right to designate what vehicles and equipment the filmmakers could use. The company further agreed that "any use of the vehicles or equipment will be under the complete direction and control of IMPD personnel." IMPD also agreed to "allow its sworn employees an opportunity to audition for a role in the movie," and that "any IMPD employee taking part in the filming of the Movie will be doing so in an off-duty, non-law enforcement capacity." IMPD granted to Car 86 a "non-exclusive, nontransferable license" to use IMPD's trademarks, including its badge and seal "in connection with the filming, advertising, promotion, and marketing of the movie."

The contract required Car 86 to maintain insurance, including worker's compensation, damages for bodily injury and personal injury, claims for damages to property and a commercial general liability insurance policy of $1 million per occurrence with an aggregate limit of $2 million, auto liability coverage, excess umbrella liability coverage and employer's liability for bodily injury and disease. The contract also included a general indemnity clause holding the City harmless from any claims arising out of the use of IMPD personnel, vehicles and equipment, including attorney's fees.

As stated above, the compensation paid to IMPD for the use of its vehicles and equipment was just $756. This is the same police department for which Mayor Ballard repeatedly vetoed millions of dollars this year to purchase much-needed equipment, including new vehicles. Presumably, Screen Actors Guild rules governed the payment of any compensation paid to IMPD personnel like Officer Wilburn who had speaking roles or served as extras or supporting roles during the filming. The contract contains a few boilerplate clauses, but it has no restriction on the content of the movie or how IMPD and its officers are portrayed in the film, provisions that might have been prudent to ensure a favorable portrayal of the City's police department.

The agreement said nothing about any special permits the filmmakers were required to obtain while filming the movie, including the closing of city streets that were to have occurred at least at some locations in the city, including Kentucky, West, Henry and Merrill Streets adjacent to Lucas Oil Stadium. An employee of the City's Department of Code Enforcement, Dana Brill, who holds the title of Project Compliance Analyst Supervisor, e-mailed a representative of the filmmaker, Travis Berens, on November 2 inquiring if the movie filming had been completed after receiving an a-mail from Berens on Friday, October 30 at 5:45 p.m. in which Berens inquired about the process for closing off streets. "It states that you will be filming on 10/31 and 11/1," Brill wrote. "Permits are to be obtained prior to the start of any type of work and/or use of the public right-of-way," Brill added.

In Berens' October 30 e-mail, he first advised Brill of their need to close Kentucky, West, Henry and Merrill Streets for filming on 10/31 and 11/1. "We have the support and assistance of the IMPD with our film as it is an intricate part of our story," Berens said in making the belated request. "In addition to the support and help of the Mayor's office," Berens added. Berens said in his e-mail that he did not learn until the day before that he was required to contact the City's Department of Code Enforcement to obtain a right-of-way permit. Berens included a completed application with his e-mail, which he was uncertain how to complete since it didn't seem to apply to his requested use. "Our plan is to hire 2 police officers who are off duty to assist us in holding any vehicular traffic momentarily while we're filming for safety reasons," Berens stated.

On November 2 at 9:53 a.m., Officer Wilburn e-mailed Brill informing her that he was IMPD's liaison for the filming of "Car 86." "I spoke with the producers about securing authorization prior to completely shutting off vehicle traffic," Wilburn wrote. "I was advised by [Deputy] Chief [Michael] Bates regarding this issue and communicated this to the "Car 86" executive team." "Unfortunately, the email they submitted to you was too late for your authorization and approval," Wilburn continued. "As a result, I advised them that vehicular traffic could not be completely shut off." "The writer changed the script and the film crew intermediately (sic) shot video." So it appears no permits were acquired from the city for filming on city-owned property. The City of New York's film office, which is considered a very film-friendly city, requires filmmakers to obtain a $300 permit for filming in the City's right of ways. It also charges a fee of $3,200 to film inside any city-owned properties.

Other than those three e-mails and the contract, the City's public access counselor indicated no other records were found that were responsive to our request. That claim seems dubious in light of a similar response we received to a public records request made of IPS. That public records request was made after the city public records request and shortly after learning the Car 86 crew was filming at IPS' Coca-Cola Building property on Mass Avenue earlier this month. Unlike the nearly one month it took the City's public access counselor's office to produce responsive records, IPS took less than 48 hours to produce nearly two dozen responsive e-mails, along with an application and permit Ballard obtained to use the IPS-owned property for filming "Car 86." According to IPS' records, Ballard began communicating about potential property locations last June. If the City of Indianapolis' records response is to be believed, there was no prior city correspondence between the filmmakers and city officials prior to the execution of the October 30 contract after the film crew had already arrived in town and began preparing for the filming and promoting it through local media.

From e-mails produced by IPS, it appears Ballard first reached out to Bob Schultz at Downtown Indy for help in securing the Coca-Cola Building. Ballard had e-mailed Schultz on June 9 belatedly thanking him for meeting with him at the Happy Hour on Georgia Street. Schultz responded back the same day indicating his willingness "to help [Ballard] in any way you need when you come back to shoot your production here." Ballard followed up with another e-mail to Schultz on September 16 indicating he was a month away from starting production of his movie. Ballard indicated the filming crew fell in love with the Coca-Cola Building while scouting filming locations and wondered who he needed to contact to secure its use. Schultz referred Ballard to Abbe Hohmann, whom he indicated was the real estate consultant for IPS. Hohmann, incidentally, was hired by the City of Indianapolis for her assistance in determining space utilization for what turned into the costly Regional Operations Center Project. [Note: Hohmann indicates her contract with her former employer, Colliers Turley Martin Tucker, on that project was terminated by Public Safety before any final lease agreement was worked out for the ROC and she received no compensation from the City for that work as indicated in an earlier version of this story. We apologize for the error.]

Ballard followed up with an e-mail that same day to Hohmann asking about using the exterior of the property for one day's filming work for the movie. In an e-mail exchange, Ballard indicated the film crew was interested in using the property for a day or two around Halloween. Hohmann indicated that it would be okay to use the property at that time. Ballard indicated to Hohmann that the film crew would be accompanied by a police officer for security purposes. Hohmann put Ballard in touch with Scott Martin, IPS' Deputy Supt. of Operations to work out the logistics of using the property. Martin's assistant, Robyn McCray followed up with an e-mail to Ballard on October 15 providing him an application to complete for use of the property and requesting he return it, along with the required certificate of insurance. Ballard responded to McCray by e-mail on October 22 with an application and certificate of insurance attached to his e-mail.

The application for use of the Coca-Cola Building is signed by Ballard on August 22, 2015 seeking to use the property on September 1, 2015. I'm assuming the dates written on the application was an error on Ballard's part since he wasn't sent the application until October 15 and had originally inquired about using the property on October 31 or November 1. Ballard identified himself on the application as the applicant and affixed his signature to it, using his father's residential address in Pike Township. Ballard indicated on the application that IMPD would be providing security during the filming in responding "No" where the application inquired if security would be needed. IPS issued a permit to Ballard on October 22, 2015 authorizing him to use the Coca-Cola Building for filming on November 1. The permit contained a disclaimer that IPS was not endorsing, supporting or advancing the activities or goals of the organization using its facility. The permit further prohibited the use of tobacco or alcohol on the property. IPS did not require Car 86 to pay anything for the use of the property.

Wilburn has described his own role in the movie as Marcus Wilder during interviews with local media. "Marcus Wilder, he’s excited about being a police officer," Wilburn said. "He’s been a police officer for quite some time and he’s a season professional." "There’s a cocky arrogance about his personality, which I hope will play on camera," said Wilburn.

Advance Indiana, by chance, captured a couple of photos of the "Car 86" film crew filming a scene in the downtown area with Wilburn early on the morning of November 10, about the same time local Pastor Davey Blackburn reportedly returned to his northwest side home on Sunnyfield Court and discovered his wife, Amanda Blackburn, laying face down on the couple's living room floor in a pool of blood, dying from a head shot wound she suffered at the hands of a serial home invader, Larry Taylor. News reports would later indicate Blackburn's killing was the culmination of a months-long crime spree by Taylor and two accomplices during which the trio committed multiple home invasions without being apprehended.

On November 10, the "Car 86" crew was filming a scene with Officer Wilburn at the Indiana War Memorial. It's unclear what other IMPD officers had paid roles in the filming of the movie as the scant records produced by the department indicated only Wilburn's participation by name, in which he identified himself as the department's liaison to the filmmakers, in addition to having a paid role in the film. Advance Indiana is left wondering if the October 30 agreement between IMPD was backdated after our public records request was made on November 4. It wouldn't be the first time city officials under this administration have been caught backdating documents, particularly in response to public records requests. There's little doubt the City did not produce all records responsive to our request, which included any e-mails or other correspondence from the mayor's office concerning the filming of "Car 86," in addition to IMPD, the Parks Department or Department of Code Enforcement.

"Car 86" film crew filming scene outside Indiana War Memorial with Officer Wilburn in his role as Marcus Wilder

Greg Ballard, Jr. and Officer Chris Wilburn appeared on the Indiana State Police Road Show on November 1, 2015 to discuss their respective roles in the filming of "Car 86."

Blue Indy Commandeering More Valuable Parking Spaces On Michigan Street

I came home today to find a letter in my mailbox from Blue Indy. The purpose of the letter was to provide notice to nearby neighbors in the historic district that Blue Indy planned to install yet another Blue Indy station with an enrollment kiosk on the right-of-way along Michigan Street where it intersects Mass Avenue in front of the inappropriate apartments known as Millikan On Mass that now surround Barton Tower.

There is currently angled-street parking at that location used primarily by the heavily-trafficked Athenanuem Building where the YMCA, Rathskeller and American Cabaret Theater are located. The notice said this Blue Indy station will replace one originally proposed to be installed on the west side of New Jersey Street near this same busy intersection. A hearing before IHPC has been scheduled for December 1 at 12:00 p.m.

This has gone way too far. Mayor Greg Ballard entered into a one-sided, corrupt, illegal agreement with this French-owned company that has permitted the theft of tens of millions of dollars worth of public assets. What in the hell is wrong with a City where there is no person with responsible legal authority who will step  forward to uphold the rule of law?

Mayor Ballard and other key members of his administration responsible for this and other corrupt contracts awarded to political insiders should have long ago been indicted for the multiple felonies they've committed. Other officials in other cities have gone to jail for less. Yet nothing happens while we watch our city being plundered by these thieves. Our City-County Council members sit and  twiddle their thumbs. Our local news media ignores the corruption and, instead, writes press releases about how the unwanted electric car sharing program makes us look like a world class city. Marion Co. Auditor Julie Voorhies is the only public official in Marion County who has taken legal action to block the use of public dollars for Blue Indy, a move she's gotten little, if any, support from other public officials for initiating.

Hey, Terry Curry and Josh Minkler. How about you start doing your jobs or resign? I've said it before, and I'll keep saying. Every damn corrupt politician in Chicago should relocate to Indianapolis where you can steal as much as your heart desires without any worries of being held to account for breaching the public's trust.

Marion County Auditor Sues To Block Illegal Blue Indy Deal

Marion Co. Auditor Julie Voorhies

At last, there is one elected official left in Indianapolis City-County government who still believes in the rule of law. Marion Co. Auditor Julie Voorhies filed a lawsuit against Blue Indy, LLC, the City of Indianapolis and Regions Bank to block payment of $6 million the Ballard administration illegally transferred into a trust account for Blue Indy's benefit in fulfillment of a contract, under which Mayor Greg Ballard's administration broke numerous state and local laws to enter into with the French-owned company. The case filed by Voorhies, a Democrat, has been assigned to Marion Superior Court P.J. Dietrick's court, a Republican judge who formerly sat as a member of Marion County Election Board prior to running for judge.

The Indianapolis Business Journal is reporting the case was filed in the Marion Circuit Court; however, the state's court system is showing the case filed in Civil Court No. 12 as 49D12-1510-PL-035457. According to the IBJ, the complaint seeks to halt payment of the $6 million being held in trust by Regions Bank for Blue Indy's benefit and any additional construction of power charging stations on city-owned property for use by Blue Indy's electric car sharing business, a 15-year monopoly business Mayor Ballard awarded to the company without undertaking any competitive bidding process or without council approval. The lawsuit seeks a declaratory judgment that the contract entered into with Blue Indy is illegal.

“Not only did the city fail to publicly bid the $6 million BlueIndy construction project, but the city also failed to obtain the necessary budget appropriations from the City-County Council and circumvented the approval of the Marion County auditor in issuing payment to BlueIndy,” according to a press release from the auditor’s office.

The Marion County Auditor should be praised by all Indianapolis taxpayers for having their backs. That's more than can be said for any other elected officials or the Democratic and Republican mayoral candidates, both of whom applauded the illegal deal and indicated they would enforce what is so clearly an illegal contract should either be elected mayor. All evidence points towards there being a corrupt motivation for breaking so many laws to enter into the agreement, making it all the more outrageous that Joe Hogsett, a former federal prosecutor, finds nothing wrong with so many laws being broken in order to steal tens of millions of dollars in public assets from Indianapolis taxpayers. So much for Hogsett's phony campaign meme about his plan to put a stop to "downtown insiders," whom he accuses in campaign ads of "cheating the system" and "stealing our tax dollars."

The Indianapolis media has completely fallen down on their job in reporting on this major public corruption scandal, which not only results in the theft of tens of millions of dollars in city assets, but which also poses a great risk to the public. Blue Indy is pawning off on Indianapolis residents an electric car sharing system that other countries in the European Union refused to allow to be operated in their countries. The billionaire owner of Blue Indy, Vincent Bollore', was only able to convince his home country of France to buy into the system. Bollore came to Indianapolis after he was first turned down by San Francisco officials.

The electric charging stations rolled out across the city are not UL-certified and potentially pose a risk of harm or death to people who use the electric cars charged by those power charging stations in the event of a malfunction. Even more concerning is the fact that the cars themselves have never been approved by the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration for use on American highways. Bollore was allowed a waiver to import the cars for demonstration purposes only. News reports indicate that a number of the electric cars in use in Paris have caught fire and burned since they began operating. Bollore publicly blamed the burning cars on vandals. These facts have been completely ignored by other public officials and the media. Apparently the two candidates for mayor and the media are more interested in protecting the corrupt local business insiders who stand to make a lot of money off the one-sided deal with Blue Indy than the general public.

To view the text of the complaint, click this link here to view a copy made available by WTHR-TV.

Check out this free advertising the Ballard administration is giving Blue Indy using our tax dollars on our local public access TV station, WCTY.

Marion County Taxpayers Surprised By Another Backdoor Tax Increase

There isn't a tax or fee Mayor Greg Ballard and our Indianapolis City-County Council haven't seen fit to raise during the past eight years, which is a bit ironic given that Ballard was swept into office in 2007 amidst an anti-tax fervor. As property tax bills began arriving in residents' mailboxes this past week, they realized they were being socked with yet another gigantic tax increase in the form of storm water fees tacked on to their property tax bill. WTHR's Mary Milz says the Marion Co. Treasurer's Office is being swamped with phone calls from angry taxpayers about the surprising tax increase.

Talk about sticker shock. More than a quarter-million homeowners in Marion County have seen a huge jump in storm water fees. According to the Marion County Treasurer's Office, the average hike is 113%. (Just under 37,000 homeowners saw rates drop, an average of 11%.)

That news has flooded the treasurer's office with more than 2,500 calls the last two days and hundreds of walk-ins.

It began after property owners got a second property tax bill this week. Storm water fees are tacked on to the spring bill, but since the new rates didn't take effect until July 1, a second bill was required.

The rate changes were approved by the City-County Council and mayor last fall to help pay for upgrades and improvements to the city's aging storm water system.

Instead of paying a flat $2.25 a month, the new rate is based on the amount of impervious surface a homeowner has.

Last month, Department of Public Works Spokesman Brian Easley told us "impervious surface is anything rain has to run off of. That includes a home, garage, driveway, sidewalk, patio, deck and pool. The more impervious space a homeowner has, the more he or she will pay.

Anthony Hoffman was one of the homeowners who saw his bill spike to $12.10 a month or "six months higher." Seeing how much more he was paying, he half-jokingly said, "wow, I should tear out my driveway."

Officials in the treasurer's office said most of the calls were from people wondering why they were getting a second bill and why their rates had gone up.

"We did advise them last spring that this would be happening, but I don't know if they just did not anticipate that. Our phones are very busy right now," said Cindy Land, stressing, "the treasurer is merely the collector, the treasurer is not who established those rates."

In his last few months in office, Ballard has been busy beating the bushes talking to folks his administration has handsomely rewarded with your taxpayer dollars, reminding them they better not forget what he's done for them as he goes in search of his post-mayoral lucre. A prison cell in the Terre Haute federal penitentiary is the only appropriate spot for this man to land after the way he's raped and plundered the City of Indianapolis during his eight years in office.

Blue Indy Triggers Neighborhood Parking Wars On Old North Side

Mayor Greg Ballard's decision to illegally appropriate hundreds of valuable public parking spaces all over the City of Indianapolis for Blue Indy's exclusive, for-profit use is now turning neighbor against neighbor. In the Old Northside neighborhood, Blue Indy has consumed dozens of what had been free, on-street public parking for area residents. That's forced some residents, most of whom are apartment dwellers, to find new public parking further away from where they live. Single family homeowners are taking matters into their own hands and issuing faux warning tickets to motorists parking in front of their homes threatening to have their cars towed.

The homeowners are citing a city ordinance prohibiting motorists from parking for more than 6 hours at a time in public parking spaces abutting a homeowner's residence without the consent of the impacted homeowner or tenant. "[H]omeowners proximate to Englewood Lofts have been waging a battle of bullying and 'faux police' parking tickets to intimidate and force residents away from the curbs in front of these homes and 'their' parking spaces," neighborhood activist Chas Navarra tells Advance Indiana.

Blue Indy Claims Electric Car Sharing Service Has Exceeded Expectations To Date

You have to go searching to find one of those Blue Indy cars being driven around town by anyone other than an employee ambassador of the electric car sharing service, but the company says the mostly-idle cars parked around downtown and elsewhere consuming the most valuable public parking spaces stolen from Indianapolis taxpayers has so far "exceeded expectations." At least that's what the folks at the French-based Bollore are telling Bloomberg.

. . . Its BlueIndy car share, backed by the same French company that runs Autolib', was launched on Sept. 2 with an initial fleet of 52 cars, which will expand to 500, with 200 recharging stations planned. BlueIndy's general manager, Scott Prince, says demand has "exceeded our expectations," with more than 500 people signing up in the first two weeks. BlueIndy users register on its website, then can opt for a one-time rental costing $8 for the first 8 minutes and 40¢ a minute after that, or a weekly, monthly, or annual membership offering per-minute costs as low as 20¢. 

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard has said he's "delighted to welcome BlueIndy as a clean, affordable transit option" for residents and visitors to Indiana's capital, which like many midsize U.S. cities doesn't have much mass transit. Ballard ponied up $6 million in city funds to top off the $41 million being spent on the program by Groupe Bolloré, the French manufacturer of the four-seat, battery-powered cars, which have a range of 150 miles between recharges.

BlueIndy will be an important test for Groupe Bolloré, which hopes to create a worldwide market for the lithium metal polymer batteries that power the cars. Bolloré spent more than €3 billion ($3.4 billion) to develop the technology, and Vincent Bolloré, the chairman and chief executive, has said he is keen to test its performance in Indiana's cold winters and hot summers. "Indiana shouldn't be more complicated than Paris," he told Bloomberg News this year . . . 

The story goes on to concede there has been local opposition to Mayor Ballard breaking numerous state and local laws before trying to illegally wire $6 million in city funds to the company as additional start-up capital, although the Bloomberg story doesn't describe it in those terms.

BlueIndy has gotten off to a bumpy start in this city of 850,000, host to America's most famous auto race. Local business owners have groused about recharging stands taking up parking space outside their establishments, while disgruntled taxpayers complain about the expenditure of public funds on a project run by a French company. Some city council members, angry that the mayor didn't seek their approval for the outlay, have even threatened to have BlueIndy cars towed off the streets. Autolib' has drawn little criticism in France.

Bollore tells Bloomberg the local opposition will "die down" once people see the benefits of the "silent, zero exhaust" cars on the streets. There's no mention of the problems people are having in communicating via satellite hook-up to the support staff in Paris since the company won't spend any money hiring local employees to provide support services. When does the Indianapolis media plan to investigate the use of a nonprofit's employees to serve as ambassadors for the electric car sharing service? I'm pretty sure that's not kosher. But then again our local media has shown little interest in investigating the fact that officials would have been indicted in almost any other city in America for doing what Mayor Ballard and members of his administration did to foist this electric car sharing service on Indianapolis residents. Politicians don't break a bunch of laws just for the hell of it unless there's something in it for them.

Check out the Lindedin profile of Blue Indy's GM Scott Prince:

Vice President and General Manager

BlueIndy

2015 – Present (less than a year)Indianapolis, Indiana Area

Owner/CEO

Expansion Resources LLC

1998 – Present (17 years)Carmel, IN

Single member LLC to manage secondary affiliations below

General Manager / AVP Sales / VP Strategic Sales

Shoutlet

2013 – 2015 (2 years)

Shoutlet enables clients to manage and measure their social marketing efforts to enhance their brand, provide a personal level of customer care, gain market insights to ultimately drive increased revenue and customer conversions.

EVP, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer

Blue Pillar, Inc.

2011 – 2013 (2 years)Indianapolis, Indiana Area

Executive Director

EnerTech Capital (Co-Founder Clean Wave Ventures)

2006 – 2011 (5 years)

Auditor Attempts To Block Ballard From Illegally Wiring $6 Million To Blue Indy

WISH-TV is reporting that Mayor Greg Ballard's office illegally initiated a $6 million wire transfer from city accounts to a Regions Bank escrow account for the benefit of Blue Indy without first obtaining Marion Co. Auditor Julie Voorhies' authorization and without an appropriation made by the City-County Council for that purpose. Voohies sent a letter to Regions Bank advising it the administration had not followed Indiana law and requesting that it freeze the account.

The Ballard administration attempted to circumvent the clearly-established legal requirements by having the rubber-stamp Board of Public Works approve a $6 million payment from excess funds it says was already appropriated in this year's budget from several accounts, including the city's parking meter fund and not spent for other purposes within its budget. The council insists the Department of Public Works' current appropriation authority does not authorize such an expenditure.

WISH-TV's Bennett Haeberle has a hilarious conversation with two of my neighbors, Helen and Bobby Small, who had twice unsuccessfully attempted to test drive a Blue Indy car. Helen explained to Haeberle that Blue Indy has no local call center to support the service and when she tried to communicate at one of the electric car sharing service's kiosks via Internet satellite hook-up to Blue Indy support personnel in Paris, France to sign up for the service, the connection froze and prevented her from completing the transaction. I think I've only seen three of these cars in use in the downtown area since the service went live on September 2, and I'm unsure whether the cars were being driven by a Blue Indy employee.

Council Approves Resolution Calling For Towing Of Illegally Parked Blue Indy Cars

In a largely symbolic vote, the Indianapolis City-County Council voted 17-11 tonight to approve a resolution co-sponsored by Councilors Zach Adamson and Christine Scales calling for the appropriate authorities to tow Blue Indy cars that are illegally parked in a no-stop, no-parking zone on Washington Street. Mayor Greg Ballard, responding to tonight's vote, suggested towing the cars would be comparable to theft. No, theft is when you, Mr. Mayor, entered into a 15-year, one-sided agreement with Blue Indy in violation of multiple state and local laws granting the company the right to operate a monopoly electric car sharing business in Indianapolis under which you appropriated hundreds of the City's most valuable public parking spaces and public lands without any legal authority for Blue Indy's exclusive, for-profit business, along with $6 million in public tax dollars. If the rule of law still existed in this City, federal prosecutors would have long ago convened a grand jury and indicted you, members of your administration and your political cronies on multiples counts of wire fraud, honest services fraud, theft and bribery. To think you are talking to folks about running for governor next year when the only suitable place for you to sit your fat butt after you leave the Mayor's Office is a federal penitentiary.

The Star Suddenly Discovers Neighborhood Opposition To Blue Indy

After months of cheer leading for the illegal monopoly Mayor Greg Ballard unilaterally gave to Bollore's Blue Indy electric car sharing program through the theft of public assets, The Star's John Tuohy finally acknowledges in a story tonight that there is legitimate neighborhood opposition to Blue Indy that's not driven by the partisan politics he's assigned to the criticism to date from members of the Indianapolis City-County Council.

“They just showed up one day tearing up my front yard and put these chargers in,” McCarthy said. “I feel like these cars, parked there all day, are going to devalue my property. I put a lot of money into this house.”

Despite the protests of McCarthy and other residents, businesses and City-County Council members, Ballard and BlueIndy will roll out the controversial electric car rental service during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Downtown on Wednesday . . .

The program has been 16 months in the making and dogged by criticism, much of it from council members who contend the city is illegally ceding right of way to the private company and inappropriately subsidizing the operation with $6 million in city funds.

But most of the recent complaints have bubbled from the neighborhoods as work crews — without warning — began digging trenches on prime parking spots to make room for electric cables, chargers and kiosks. Each of the stations has five spots reserved for the compact, four-seat plug-ins.

Chas Navarra, a 60-year-old health care worker, was alarmed when a station went up near his home in the Old Northside neighborhood at 13th and Alabama streets.

“I live in a historic neighborhood, and I’ve got a rental car business in front of my house,” he said. “What’s the difference between having this and Hertz or Avis parked out there? How is this going to be good for my (property) valuation?”

Navarra has organized a petition drive on Facebook called “Stop BlueIndy NOW” with 32 likes, and he has contacted council members Joe Simpson, Zach Adamson and Christine Scales, all critics of the way the city has implemented the program.

Navarra said he was never told the chargers would be built on his block and was shocked by the size of the operation.

“When it smacks you on the forehead like that, it’s really something,” he said. “Do we even know if these chargers are safe or if children should be playing around them?”

Several Democratic council members held a press conference this morning to express their opposition to the deal. Talk is cheap. Mayor Ballard accused the council members of just making stuff up when they suggested spending on program like Blue Indy has resulted in fewer dollars being spent on public safety despite the 10% income tax increase that took effect for that very purpose in January, the umpteenth time Ballard has raised taxes and fees during his two terms as mayor. It's hard to believe this phony got elected originally on a anti-tax message.  

Board Of Public Works Approves $6 Million Theft Of City Assets For Blue Indy

BOARD CHAIRMAN WOULD NOT ALLOW PUBLIC TESTIMONY
The string of law-breaking to benefit the French-owned company Bollore and its Blue Indy electric car sharing business continues unabated. With virtually no public notice, the Board of Public Works controlled by useless stooges of Mayor Greg Ballard added as its last agenda item on today's board meeting approval of the use of $6 million from the parking meter fund for the private company's monopoly car sharing business. With very little debate and a refusal by Board Chairman Andy Lutz to allow for any public comment on the agenda item when it was called for a vote after I requested it, the board quickly approved the item and adjourned the meeting with only the council's appointee to the board voting no.

The City-County Council's CFO, Bart Brown, who did not learn of the planned vote until late yesterday, appeared to testify at the request of the council's appointee to the board and took issue with Chairman Andy Lutz' contention that no City-County Council approval is required for today's action. Brown insisted that the Department of Public Works' 2015 budget contains no authorization to spend public dollars from the parking meter fund or any other city fund this year, a contention Lutz flatly dismissed. As a result of today's action, the Department plans to unilaterally authorize the transfer of $6 million to an escrow fund at Regions Bank where it is expected to be spent to help pay for the 50 public charging station sites Blue Indy plans to complete work on around the city before year's end.

Not a single City-County Council member or other member of the public besides myself was present and ready to testify in opposition to the blatantly illegal, 15-year contract the Ballard administration entered into with Blue Indy, which grants the company a right to operate a monopoly business on City-owned property without paying a dime for the use of that publicly-owned property. The administration relied on the granting of dozens of encroachment licenses to allow the private company to seize hundreds of public parking spaces and right-of-ways for its exclusive business use in clear violation of the law. There was no public bidding process whatsoever, and the contract waives all fees and taxes that any other business operating within the City would have been required to pay. The administration's representative, David Rosenberg, said the City allowed IPL to handle the public bidding of all of the work on the installation of the charging stations and kiosks required for each site instead of publicly-bidding that work. Other companies interested in offering car sharing services were turned away by the Ballard administration, which refused to consider their proposals.

It is absolutely incredible how many civil and criminal laws the Ballard administration has been allowed to break to achieve the theft of tens of millions of dollars' worth of public assets. Mr. Rosenberg gave board members the impression the $6 million it approved today was the City's only investment. That's only true if you omit all of the forgiven fees and taxes, assign no value to the use of the City's public assets and ignore the loss of parking meter revenues the City will have to reimburse the private operator of those city assets to offset their revenue losses. That's to say nothing of the untold business losses that are and will continue to be occasioned by the displacement of the the City's most prime public parking spaces to accommodate the unwanted electric car charging stations and kiosks, which will primarily benefit out-of-town visitors to the City.

Ballard Plans Launch Of Blue Indy Complete With Police Escorts In Downtown Indy

Councilor Christine Scales (R) has taken to Facebook to protest a plan by Mayor Greg Ballard to force IMPD officers to provide a police escort service through the busy streets of downtown to launch the Blue Indy electric car sharing service on September 2. Councilor Scales is the most vocal critic of Mayor Greg Ballard's highly illegal contract with Bollore's Blue Indy under which the French-owned company was granted a monopoly to operate an electric car-sharing business utilizing hundreds of public parking spaces and right-of-ways Mayor Ballard stole from the City and gave to the company for its exclusive use. Scales writes on Facebook about the Mayor's plans for September 2:

The Mayor plans a full blown police escort to accompany BlueIndy cars in parade like fashion down a major downtown artery to mark the official opening on Sept. 2nd of the illegal and expensive BlueIndy car share program. The past violent 5 days of homicides demand the manpower of a limited IMPD officer workforce be used for more important purposes. Call the Mayor and City Councillors. Tell them to demand an immediate halt to the Blue Indy car share program. Contact Sheriff Layton and Chief Hite and demand that their officers enforce the law they were sworn to uphold by citing the illegally parked BI cars on E.Washington Street. Layton and Hite should have the courage to fight political pressure, not just criminals.

Council members have been throwing up their hands at what they say is their inability to stop Mayor Ballard from carrying out what amounts to a theft of tens of millions of dollars in public assets. A council resolution sponsored by Councilors Zach Adamson (D) and Scales was postponed while they said negotiations with Blue Indy took place to address concerns council members had with the contract, in particular, the lack of a formal franchise agreement the council's attorney maintains is a legal requirement for such an arrangement.

Incredibly, the local news media has been doing nothing but cheerleading the Mayor's Blue Indy initiative and ignoring the unequivocal evidence his administration broke numerous state and local laws to aware the monopoly business to Blue Indy. Ballard committed $6 million to the privately-owned company out of the parking meter fund to help pay for the new power charging stations that are being illegally installed in the City's most highly-trafficked areas without any prior notice to the affected business owners and residential neighborhoods that are being adversely impacted by the loss of public parking. Council members say their pleas to Marion Co. Prosecutor Terry Curry to open a criminal investigation of the Mayor's actions have fallen on deaf ears. Local law enforcement will not enforce existing no stopping, no parking zones designated by city ordinance where Blue Indy cars have been illegally parked for the past 18 months.

Those involved in the deal refuse to answer questions about local persons who may have a beneficial interest in Blue Indy. Mayor Ballard's two terms in office have been marked by shady deals that are clearly conceived as nothing more than schemes to line the pockets of his campaign contributors at the public's expense. Pay to play is the Ballard way.