Durham Watch

We're coming up on the anniversary of the date FBI agents descended on the business offices of Tim Durham's Fair Finance Company in Ohio and his Obsidian Enterprises office atop Indianapolis' Chase Tower. Law enforcement officers have remained quiet as an investor-initiated involuntary bankruptcy proceeding in Ohio has set about to account for nearly $200 million innocent small-time investors in rural Ohio invested in a company that promised interest rate returns of 9% on certificates of investment they purchased under Ohio's securities law. The U.S. Attorney's Office first initiated a civil asset forfeiture action against Durham's assets here in Indianapolis before abruptly withdrawing the case days later with little explanation. Durham's interest in his palatial Geist mansion and a collection of expensive cars and artwork have been turned over to the bankruptcy trustee; however, outstanding debts and attorneys fees will likely consume what little money is recovered.

So what's next? One source says an Ohio official close to the investigation anticipates that seven to eight individuals will be indicted before Christmas. Pardon me if I sound a little skeptical, but a similar rumor earlier this year suggested indictments would be forthcoming by the 4th of July. Suffice it to say that government investigators have offered little solace to the countless number of small fortunes of mostly middle class Amish and Mennonite families wiped out because of one man's greed and determination to prove to people he would become the richest man in the world.

During a recent interview with WTHR News' Anne Marie Tiernon, Durham professed his complete innocence. He confidently predicted he would not be charged and suggested the entire ordeal had just been a bad mistake by the FBI, which he believed was inadvertent. One of his attorneys, Gary Sallee, suggested a former business associate of Durham's, Tim Porter, a British citizen, had a hand in his client's woes. Sallee accused Porter of trying to extort money from Durham a short time before the raid occurred and when he wouldn't pay up, Porter may have gone to law enforcement with a tail of fraud and deceit. Porter denied attempting to extort money from Durham; rather, he only asked him to pay money he thought Durham owed him in a car-related venture. He admitted talking to federal investigators but he told WTHR he would have talked to them regardless of whether Durham paid the money he demanded from him. A number of observers were extremely disappointed by the absence of any tough questions by Tiernon, who seemed totally sympathetic to his financial plight. It must really be difficult having to share that palatial home in the Hollywood Hills overlooking Sunset Drive with rapper Ludacris, while the family of his porn star girlfriend occupies his other L.A. mansion.

There may be one silver lining to Tiernon's interview with Durham. Perhaps her non-threatening approach lured him to let his guard down. One observer closely watching the Durham scandal noted Durham's claim that his parents also lost money in the failure of Fair Finance. Durham's parents reside in Seymour where his father is a dentist. His father abruptly closed his dental practice recently without notifying his patients. His mother, who is estranged from his father, attributed it to just another example of his father's strange behavior. Her son, Timothy, she assured us is a perfect Christian man and blamed others' jealousy of his financial success on the negative perceptions. Of course it had nothing to do with his personal vanity. If Durham's parents lost money in Fair Finance as he suggested, that could pose a problem. Fair Finance was only authorized to issue certificates of investment to Ohio residents and in denominations not to exceed $200,000 in order to qualify for the safe harbor registration under Ohio securities laws. In a new offering for which Durham had sought approval from Ohio securities regulators on behalf of Fair Finance at the time of last year's FBI raid, the company suggested it reserved the right to issue securities in excess of the $200,000 individual limit, which prompted questions from Ohio regulators. Fair Finance withdrew that securities offering when it became apparent the company would be unable to get approval for issuing additional certificates of investment.

Durham blames the FBI raid and the inability of Fair Finance to issue additional securities on the failure of his business empire. The reality was that Durham had plundered earlier investments in the company through loans to his other business activities, virtually all of which were losing money. The likelihood of those loans being repaid was already in doubt before the FBI raided his businesses. Fair Finance lacked the capital to pay back investors as their certificates of investment expired, let alone continued interest payments on those investments. The company's only hope was to dupe more innocent investors to purchase another round of certificates of investment.

If charges are brought against Durham and other key figures, where are those charges likely to be brought? One observer notes recent filings by the bankruptcy trustee for Fair Finance have been copied to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Cleveland. It would make sense that is where the charges would be brought because of a mix of federal and Ohio laws that would be the subject of any criminal indictments.

Those of you who have read this blog know how much I distust the U.S. Attorney's Office in Indianapolis, which has historically been run by politically-connected appointees who have a tendency to protect people like Durham who have close ties to the political powerhouses in the state. Not surprisingly, I was quite disappointed when Sen. Evan Bayh recently named his close political ally, former Indiana Secretary of State Joe Hogsett, to fill the vacancy that had not been filled since Bush appointee Susan Brooks vacated the office in 2007. After reading Dick Cady's new book from his experience as a former Pulitzer-prize winning reporter for the Indianapolis Star, "Deadline: Indianapolis," my suspicions about Hogsett were only confirmed.

Cady's book recounts the stock fraud case involving Ski World in Brown County, a failed ski resort in which many innocent investors lost their money, and Hogsett's role in that investigation as Secretary of State, which administers a securities division that regulates private placement offerings not subject to federal securities regulations. Cady tells about getting a memo from one of the business reporters at the Star:

"Well, the message said, "attorney Rich Bell, who represents losing investors, told me off the record some very interesting stuff about Bayh and [Bayh's Chief of Staff] Bill Moreau. Bayh was secretary of state and head of the state securities division when the suits started six years ago, but he refused to investigate. You see, his close friends at Lewis, Bowman, St. Clair & Wagner were the attorneys who screwed up the prospectus for Ski World. Lewis, Bowman has since paid a hefty six-figure settlement. Along the way, Bell said Moreau came to him and asked him to drop the suit. Bell respectfully declined." . . . .

Bell was a Democrat who ran unsuccessfully for state auditor in 1986, when Bayh ran for secretary of state. Bell's law firm, Cohen & Malad, was only a block from the Star. On the phone, Bell talked without prompting. He just didn't want to be quoted in any story. I agreed.

The whole thing was pretty disgusting, he said. They had filed their lawsuit in 1987 and took a securities complaint to Bayh in the secretary of state's office. Bayh promised to do everything he could. Beyond some fact-checking, nothing was done. When Bayh's campaign manager, Joe Hogsett, succeeded Bayh, again no action was taken. "We're not going to do a goddamn thing," Bell recalled Hogsett telling him.

Why? Because Ed Lewis was up to his ears in the lawsuit, and Lewis was Bayh's political godfather.

"Did something happen with Bill Moreau," I asked.

"Moreau called me and asked me to dismiss the suit. 'The governor would like you to dismiss this lawsuit,' those were the words he used." I told him in no uncertain terms he was out of line."

Bell said he and his partners got nothing but heat from other Democrats. Moreau had a small amount of stock in Ski World, Bell added. He thought Bayh, at a minimum, had "shirked his duty."

As Cady began digging further into the story, he learned of the lawsuits' allegations of a "fraudulent racketeering enterprise." He learned the initial stock offering had been approved while Republican Ed Simcox had been secretary of state. Although Simcox was less than honest with Cady during his interview of him concerning the offering and his ties to Lewis, Cady eventually learned Lewis had helped raise a substantial amount of money for Simcox to launch his first run for secretary of state. Further stock sales were allowed after Bayh took over the office and named Ann Nobles as his securities commissioner. The persons behind Ski World had enlisted Lewis' legal assistance because of his pull in the secretary of state's office Cady writes. Bell also told Cady an $80,000 bribe had been paid to get a liquor license for Ski World. What's really funny is the grand opening Bell described to Cady:

During the grand opening, Bell said, Lewis' name had been carved in an ice sculpture. He said I would find that Simcox and Rex Early, now the state Republican chairman, had attended the opening festivities.

The more Cady researched the Ski World story, the more interesting the connections became. "But Lewis was a big part of [Bayh's inner circle]," Mary Beth Balika, the Star's State House reporter told Cady. "Sort of a patron. But I didn't know Lewis was a good friend of Rex (Early)," she continued. "I find that amazing. Politics here is such a small world, an endless circle of relationships that reminds me of those Russian Katinka dolls, one outside the next." He tells how Bayh's legal counsel at the time, David Hamilton, had represented Ski World while he was a partner at Barnes & Thornburg. He wondered what Hamilton knew about Lewis given his direct access to Gov. Bayh in his office on a regular basis and Lewis' role in getting persons appointed to key positions in state government. As Cady got closer to the truth, Bell suddenly stopped communicating with him and even wrote a letter denying he had ever told Cady he had been told by Moreau to drop the lawsuit. Hogsett told him there was no action his office could have taken in that matter. Yeah, right. This is precisely why I have no confidence in Hogsett aggressively pursuing any cases out of the Indianapolis office that touches anybody of importance in either the Republican or Democratic Parties.

Murray's Story On 2011 Mayoral Race Belies Ballard's Real Challenge

Democratic political consultant James Carville is known for his famous line in the 2002 presidential campaign: "It's the economy, stupid." In the 2011 Indianapolis mayoral race, the line should be: "It's the numbers, stupid." That is the shifting demographics of Marion County in favor of the Democratic Party. The Star's Jon Murray previews the 2011 election today, but more important over whether Greg Ballard is liked or is perceived of doing a good or bad job are the unmistakable voting trends in Marion County over the past decade.

The Democrats' advantage in straight-party voting in this year's election underscores this point. Democrats held a more than a 20,000-vote advantage in straight party voting, winning 79,125 votes to 58,140 votes cast for Republican candidates out of 215,000 votes cast. Nearly two-thirds of the people who cast votes voted by party and not individual candidate, leaving only a little more than a third of the electorate in play. That meant a very well-funded Republican candidate for prosecutor in Mark Massa, who easily outspent his Democratic opponent, managed to get only 48% of the vote. In fact, not a single Republican candidate won a countywide race this year, including both statewide and countywide candidates. And lest we forget this was one of the biggest wave elections for Republicans in decades. Even in the 2007 mayoral election, in which there was a lot of anti-incumbent sentiment against the Democrats, Democrats managed to outpoll straight-party voters by about 2,500 votes with voter turnout up for a municipal election. Ballard won a bare 50.5% of the vote compared to Peterson's 47.2%, or a 5,300 vote margin.

If you compare the results in the 2003 municipal election when there weren't any big issues in the campaign, things look even more ominous for Republicans. In that election there were 16,000 fewer votes cast. Democratic straight-party voting favored the Democrats by 17,000 votes. Again, two-thirds of the votes cast were straight-party votes, leaving only about a third of the votes in play. Mayor Bart Peterson swamped his Republican opponent, Greg Jordan, by more than 37,000 votes, 92,763 to 55,354. A key point in Murray's story is this:

One wild card is whether Ballard can successfully transform his earlier insurgent anti-tax campaign into an incumbent's drive for re-election, given the decisions and compromises that come with governing.


Democrats already are targeting independent voters who flocked to Ballard last time, arguing he has done "things he said he would never do when he was running for office," as county Democratic Party Chairman Ed Treacy puts it.

How that one-third of the electorate that votes independently is the key. In 2007, Ballard overwhelmingly captured independent voters because of voters' anger over rising property taxes, crime and perceived ethical issues with the Democrats. Republicans, even on a shoe-string budget, were able to parlay the anti-incumbent sentiment to win a very narrow mayoral election and control of the council. There is absolutely nothing on the current political horizon to suggest any similar sentiments that will work to the advantage of Republican candidates. Indeed, Republicans have squandered their anti-tax message with  tax increases for the CIB, utility rate increases for the sale of the water company and a plethora of fee increases. The recent sale of the parking meter assets with its doubling of parking meter rates could really bite Republicans hard in the 2011 election. And Democrats have found an even larger poster child for the unethical in City-County Council President Ryan Vaughn than Monroe Gray offered the Republicans in 2007.

During the 2007 election, Ballard repeatedly uttered the refrain, "public safety is job one." He wanted control of the police, and his Republican-led council gave it to him. Since taking control of IMPD, the department has been plagued by one police scandal after another. Distrust of the police has increased significantly under Ballard's leadership. While Ballard enjoyed overwhelming support of police during his 2007 election, many police officers are openly at war with his administration, not unlike what we saw with Peterson when police were angered he had ceded control of the department to Sheriff Frank Anderson in the merger of the two department's law enforcement responsibilities. Ballard's administration cites crime statistics that purport to show an improvement in the crime problem, but to the average person, crime is worse than ever, particularly with the number of home invasions on the rise.

As someone who fought hard for Ballard and as an elected precinct committeeman, I can tell you that Ballard enjoys the support of very few of the activists who led him to victory in 2007. In fact, he has gone out of his way to alienate those key supporters. Most are no longer on speaking terms with him. Many have vowed to vote against his re-election. Even "Flipper", his reliable driver during the 2007 election, has vowed not to support him. When I receive better treatment from Andre' Carson than I do Ballard, after all of the aid I provided him on this blog when his own party leadership was working against him, it speaks volumes of his character and lack of loyalty. So much for Semper Fi, eh?

If you believe the 2011 mayoral election will be close, then it's worth considering the Libertarian factor. In 2007, the Libertarians nominated a guy to run who spent most of the year out of state and only returned to campaign towards the very end. Even with Fred Peterson's lackluster effort, he still managed to garner 2.3% of the vote, or 3,787 votes. Presumably, Libertarians will be more inclined to field a stronger field of mayor and council candidates. One elected at-large city-county council candidate, Ed Coleman, switched parties to become a Libertarian and will offer them something they haven't had before, a current officeholder with some name identification running for re-election. If the 2010 elections are any indication, Libertarians could easily capture 5% of the vote in the mayoral election, which could be enough to doom any Republicans' chance of winning in this county.

It's also pretty much a sure bet Democrats will regain control of the council, which Republicans currently control 15-13-1. Typically, the party which wins the mayoral election will carry the four at-large races. Republicans lost one of those races in 2007 because the party's leadership had written off the mayor's race and only backed one of its at-large candidates, Kent Smith. The Libertarian candidates siphoned off enough votes to deprive victory to the one lone Republican who lost, Michael Hegg. In the 25 district races, Republicans will have to work hard to hold five seats it currently holds, including seats held by Christine Scales, Mike McQuillen, Marilyn Pfisterer, Janice McHenry and Susie Day. Scales is the only one of those councilors who has sought to put some distance between herself and Mayor Ballard, in particular on controversial votes to bail out the CIB and to sell off the parking meter assets. Her district is one of the most competitive of all of those districts, and she is wisely seeking to separate herself from Mayor Ballard, although in a wave election, even that separation may not be enough to save a Republican in a vulnerable district.

Past elections have indicated among Democratic-held seats, the two Mahern seats and the districts represented by Angela Mansfield and Mary Moriarty Adams are competitive; however, those seats will likely be safe for their party if the Democrats are united behind a well-funded candidate. The forces that made those races competitive in 2007 aren't going to be present in 2011. In addition, Brian Mahern smashed Republican Scott Keller in 2007 because of his support for Bart Peterson's unpopular income tax increase. The Democratic Party seems to be close to reaching that point with many of its leaders supporting former Deputy Mayor Melina Kennedy, who narrowly lost to Marion Co. Prosecutor Carl Brizzi before he became plagued by personal scandals. My party seems only interested in its pursuit of pay-to-play politics, abandoning all of the principles on which it relied for its victories in 2007. Yes, Ballard and the Republicans will be well-funded, but as the 2007 election proved, all the money in the world won't matter if the issues aren't on your side, particularly when the numbers are definitely not on your side.

Scandal Rocks Wayne Township Schools

Fox59 New's Russ McQuaid reveals a major scandal developing within the Wayne Township School system involving sex and money. At the center of the scandal is John Maples, Chief of Operations for the school system, who abruptly announced his resignation effective at the end of the year and is on leave from his job. McQuaid reports of inappropriate relationships with students by Maples, as well as indications of financial misconduct. McQuaid reports on the unravelling scandal after a sexual harassment complaint was lodged against Maples:

John Maples' abrupt decision this week to retire as chief of operations for Wayne Township schools has led to revelations of other alleged misconduct.


District Spokeswoman Mary McDermott-Lang told Fox59 News that Maples' retirement becomes effective December 31st and he is currently on hiatus. Simultaneously, the district is investigating a sexual harassment complaint lodged against a supervisor by an employee.

A source familiar with operations in Wayne Township schools tells Fox59 News that it is common knowledge within the district that Maples often carried on inappropriate relationships with teenage girls, including visits to his home, Florida vacations, signing students out of classes to accompany him on his rounds and, in at least one case, provided a graduating student with a job within the operations department.

"Everybody knew about it. Former employees and people went to the administration several times and nobody would do anything," the source claims.

This source also indicates that Maples would utilize district employees and contractors to make improvements to his personal property and pad purchase orders to provide furnishings to relatives.

This source also claims some of these allegations have been known to Superintendent Tony Thompson who recently announced his plans to retire. District spokesperson Mary McDermott-Lang told Fox59 News that Thompson said he was unaware of the allegations.

Our source says many employees were afraid to speak out against Maples because of his perceived power in the district and his close relationship with Thompson.

When Fox59 visited Maples' home Thursday, a woman emerging from a recreational vehicle in the driveway said Maples was not there.

One source tells me complaints about Maples' activities to the Indiana State Police and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Indianapolis have been ignored in the past. Will they finally start taking this case seriously?

Convicted Youth Minister Out And About With Mayor Ballard, Al Sharpton And Amos Brown This Week

A youth minister who pleaded guilty to criminal confinement charges arising out of allegations of sexual battery made against him last year by women who had applied for jobs with the nonprofit agency funded in part by Mayor Greg Ballard's crime prevention grant program appears to have violated the terms of his probation just days after reaching a plea agreement in his criminal case. WRTV's Jack Rinehart says Byron Alston showed up at Mayor Ballard's meeting with members of the concerned clergy this week, was a guest on Amos Brown's talk show and attended Rev. Al Sharpton's rally all while he was supposed to be home under house arrest.

An Indianapolis youth minister who pleaded guilty to charges in connection with a sexual battery case may have violated the terms of his home detention by attending a meeting between clergy and city officials this week.


Byron Alston, the former executive director of Save The Youth Ministries, pleaded guilty to felony criminal confinement and habitual offender charges in exchange for sex-related charges being dropped in the case.

Two women had accused Alston of exposing his genitals and offering them jobs at the organization in exchange for sex in separate incidents in June and August 2009.
 
Pending the approval of the plea deal, Alston was placed on house arrest last week, 6News' Jack Rinehart reported.


But on Wednesday, Alston went to Barnes United Methodist Church, where the 10 Point Coalition hosted a meeting with Mayor Greg Ballard, Public Safety Director Frank Straub and Chief Paul Ciesielski to talk about recent issues within the Police Department.

City officials and clergy members told 6News on Thursday they were shocked to learn that Alston, who had always maintained his innocence, had taken a plea, and that he didn't tell anyone at the meeting.

"I'm a little embarrassed and disappointed that he didn't let us know," said Deputy Mayor for Neighborhoods Olgen Williams.

"He probably wouldn't have been allowed into the church had we known" about the plea, said the Rev. Charles Harrison, president of the 10 Point Coalition. "I'm saddened that Byron has placed himself in this situation. He's done some good things for this community, but for him to get himself into this kind of situation, is disappointing to a lot of people."

Records show Alston attended the meeting wearing his home detention ankle bracelet.

Afterward, Alston went to a near-north side soul food restaurant for lunch and sat in as a guest on the Amos Brown radio show. Later in the evening, Alston was also seen attending a rally at the Eastern Star Church featuring the Rev. Al Sharpton.

Sylvester Coleman, the executive director of Electronic Monitoring Service, the company handling Alston's home detention tracking, said officials will investigate the incident.

"This issue came to light this (Thursday) morning," Coleman said. "I have no other choice but to address this. I don't like it and it's uncomfortable."

Alston beat some rather long odds growing up in Indianapolis. He admitted to selling drugs as a young gang member and went to prison several times in the `90s for armed robbery, theft and confinement.

But he then turned his life around and became and anti-gang activist and minister, receiving crime control funding from the mayor's office.

He resigned from the Save The Youth Foundation in November of 2009. The 10 Point Coalition said that Alston played a very limited role with the organization.

If the judge accepts Alston's guilty plea on Jan. 12, he will serve six months on house arrest and three years on probation.

Imagine Deputy Mayor Olgen Williams being embarrassed Alston hadn't disclosed his plea agreement. News of the charges against him are more than a year old. Some of us are embarrassed Williams, a convicted felon, is a deputy mayor, and how the Ballard administration continues its incessant political pandering to this group of ministers. I thought if you were wearing one of those ankle bracelets, it alerted the monitoring service of your whereabouts so it detects whenever the offender leaves his or residence. Sylvester Coleman at Electronic Monitoring Service tells Rinehart the service will investigate the incident. Great monitoring servicing we're funding, eh?

Amos On New Arbitron Ratings

Radio talk show host Amos Brown says the new electronic metering system utilized by Arbitron to measure the size of radio listening audiences has been challenging for black radio stations, but he is pleased with how his own show has fared thus far. Brown writes in his column in the most recent edition of the Indianapolis Recorder:

Not only have Black broadcasters faced challenges with the new system, so have radio talk shows. The new methodology shows that right wing talkers like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck aren’t as dominant as the old measurement showed.


This has been the case here in Indianapolis, where under the new system; ratings for those programs have eroded.

But, here in Indianapolis, a Black-oriented talk show is thriving and surviving under the new system.

Our seven-year-old “Afternoons with Amos” on WTLC-AM (1310) continues as the second most listened to local radio talk show (behind a slipping Greg Garrison on WIBC-AM 1070) and the third most listened to radio talk show overall behind Rush Limbaugh and Garrison.

The city’s other locally-oriented talk show hosted by Abdul Hakim-Shabazz on WXNT-AM (1430) ranks last among the city’s weekday talk shows.

“Afternoons with Amos” received another top honor last Saturday when the Indiana Broadcasters Association honored the program with a Spectrum Award as the Outstanding Community Service Radio Program in Indiana. The second straight year the program has received this prestigious statewide honor.

Yep, Abdul is dead last in the ratings as Amos delights in noting.

Attorney General Accuses Southport Mayor Of Deception In Dental License Applications

More than a year ago, I told you how Southport Mayor and dentist Rob Thoman had been accused of deceiving the state Board of Dentistry by failing to mention former criminal charges he faced as a student in Colorado many years ago. WRTV is now reporting Attorney General Greg Zoeller has filed a complaint against Thoman alleging fraud and material deception in his dental license applications spanning two decades. Here is Rafael Sanchez's report on the complaint filed against Thoman:

Thoman, who has an office at 7007 U.S. 31 S. in Indianapolis, failed to disclose on his 1987 application that he had pleaded no contest to felony embezzlement charges relating to school funds in 1981, the AG's office alleged. At that time, Thoman was student body president at Colorado State University.


The complaint filed with the Board of Dentistry also claims that on a question asking about military service, Thoman answered "not applicable."

The state said Thoman served in the U.S. Army as an operating room specialist from 1977 to 1980 and that he "separated from the service under other than honorable conditions; administrative discharge conduct triable by court martial."

The AG's office claimed that Thoman also failed to disclose the Colorado incident when he filled out his application in 2003 to be able to administer anesthesia and sedation.

The Board of Dentistry was asked to consider sanctions against Thoman. He could face censure, a letter of reprimand, suspension or a revocation of his medical license, along with a maximum fine of $2,000. A hearing date was not immediately set.

Thoman told 6News' Rafael Sanchez that he was unaware of the complaint and will have his attorneys review it. Thoman's term as mayor has been controversial, including several disputes with councilors and other city officials.

As Sanchez' report indicates, Thoman's relationship with the council in Southport has been quite strained. Council members called for his resignation last year, but he refused to give up his post. News of Thoman's troubled past in Colorado and his dishonorable discharge from the military did not surface until long after his election as mayor. It likely will become an issue if he seeks re-election next year.

Star Whitewashes Death Of Corrupt Former IPD Chief

In the 1970s, veteran Indianapolis Star reporters Dick Cady, Harley Bierce and Bill Anderson  performed in-depth investigative journalism into the corruption of the Indianapolis Police Department won them a coveted Pulitzer Prize. The three men placed their lives in great danger and Anderson and Cady were even subjected to phony criminal charges cooked up by the corrupt department and former Marion Co. Prosecutor Noble Pearcy. This month the man at the center of that investigation, former Indianapolis Police Department Chief Winston Churchill, died earlier this month after suffering a long illness. A memorial service is being held in his honor. This was all the Star could muster up to write about the life of Churchill:

A memorial service for a former Indianapolis Police Department chief will be Thursday at the local police union hall.


Visitation for Winston Churchill will be from 5 to 6 p.m., followed by the memorial service and a flag presentation, at the Fraternal Order of Police hall, 1525 Shelby St.

Churchill died Nov. 1 after a long illness.

"He served the Indianapolis Police Department from 1957 until his retirement in 1977," said Sgt. Linda Jackson, an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman, in an announcement of the service. "He rose through the ranks, becoming chief of police on Feb. 23, 1968, and he led the department until relinquishing the position in March 14, 1974."

Mayor Richard G. Lugar asked Churchill to resign, praising his work, but saying a change was needed to "restore the good morale and proud posture" of the police force following charges of corruption.

Mayor Lugar removed him from his position "following charges of corruption." Was that all day after day of front-page news stories was about back in the early 1970s? I guess if you want to know the real story you'll have to buy a copy of Dick Cady's new book, "Deadline: Indianapolis" on amazon.com. As I've often mentioned before, the Indianapolis Star's reporters today don't believe in reading the newspaper's own archives when compiling stories. Apparently that takes too much effort. And there's nobody left in the newsroom who remembers those days. All are long gone following the newspaper's slow demise after the Pulliam family sold it to Gannett. How sad. Sen. Lugar is ever so grateful of the short memories at the Star. He certainly doesn't come out looking very good in Cady's book. He was hardly leading the reform to clean up one of the nation's most corrupt police departments when he was mayor despite the mythology you hear from the people in Indiana Republican politics who worship him today about his years as mayor.

Straub's Tough Love Speech

As many of you know, I've been a frequent critic of Public Safety Director Frank Straub. He has been back in the news after he delivered an impromptu speech to about 50 IMPD officers at the police training academy that got leaked to the press. Straub was apparently irked that the FOP was circulating a "no confidence" survey among its membership concerning his and Chief Ciesielski's leadership. Initially, the focus of the leak was on the revelation Straub had told the police officers last Friday before the end of the day one of their own would be arrested for strong arm robbery. As it turned out, the investigation was still in its infancy and not all the facts known to determine whether the allegations a stripper made against Officer Dwayne May could be corroborated. Five days later, still no arrest has been made since Straub made that impromptu speech to the police officers. The FOP leadership suggests no arrest will ever be made.

Regardless of the debate over whether Straub should have made those comments to the group of police officers on a pending investigation, it's hard to argue with what he had to say in that impromptu speech. You could also argue police officers should have kept his comments about the ongoing investigation confidential themselves as Straub argues. Call it tough love or whatever, it was a speech that needed to be made by someone. It was an excellent speech. It's not "all about us" as Officer Jerry Piland inappropriately suggested after being cleared of using excessive police force by the police merit board as Straub points out. It probably should have come from Mayor Ballard since he wanted control of the police department so bad when he ran for office in 2007 but now doesn't want to own the responsibility. Straub was reportedly miffed that his comments were recorded and leaked to the news media. Supposedly he has even launched an internal investigation to learn who leaked it to Fox59 News' Russ McQuaid. I actually think Straub should be thankful the recorded speech got leaked to the media. It is hard to argue with most of what he says in the speech. It had to be said by someone, and he just happened to be the guy who said it. If Straub really wants to improve relations between himself and the rank-and-file police officers, though, he should give up on his hunt to learn who leaked the information if it is his intent to punish that individual. The person did you a big favor, Mr. Straub. Let it go.

The Star has published a transcript of Straub's entire speech, which you can read by clicking here. Fox 59 News has also uploaded the entire audio recording, which lasts about 25 minutes, which you can hear by clicking here.

Tully Still Stuck On Stupid

Nobody will ever accuse Star political columnist Matt Tully of being a friend of the taxpayers. Whether it's raising income taxes 65%, levying double digit rate increases on utility users by pretending to sell a public utility to fund short-term public infrastructure improvements ratepayers will be paying off for 30 years or doubling parking meter rates and giving away hundreds of millions of dollars in potential tax revenues to a politically-connected company with a bad track record, Tully will conclude is just makes sense. Here's Tully's musings on the City's decision to turn over control of our parking meter assets to ACS for the next 50 years:

After listening to the final round of debate, I walked out of the meeting thinking the council had made the right decision.


Here are five reasons why:

1. First, look at what the deal tackles -- the city's massive backlog of unfunded infrastructure projects. As I wrote about the sale of the water and sewer utilities this year, the profit from which also will go to infrastructure, fixing roads, sidewalks, alleys and bridges is as crucial an issue as there is in this city. It's also a fundamental responsibility of local government.

Hold on, Matt, you used the excuse of increasing utility rates by double digits to fund those infrastructure projects already. Are you telling us that there is a backlog of infrastructure projects in Downtown or Broad Ripple? Because that's the only place the paltry sum raised from this deal will be used to fund.

2. Indiana has entered the era of property tax caps. I didn't vote for the caps, but most Hoosiers did. And whatever your view, the reality is clear. Local governments will have fewer property tax dollars to fund everything from pothole repairs to libraries. "We have to start getting as creative as possible with the assets we have," said Michael Huber, deputy mayor and Greg Ballard's point man on parking meters.


This deal will raise up to $620 million over the next 50 years. Without these types of moves, the city would be in for a long period of painful budget cuts. And here's a warning for the anti-spending crowd: There simply isn't much fat left in the city budget.

The opponents of the deal, Matt, proved the funds are sitting out there in TIF funds, which are property tax revenues, to be spent to upgrade our system with the latest and greatest in technology without giving up control to ACS. Furthermore, by keeping control, the City would reap at least $300 million above that $620 million you cite, which I believe is a fantasy figure made up by Huber and ACS to sell the deal, that will be returned to the City after ACS gets its hands on the parking meter assets.

3. Ballard's team listened to concerns about the deal. The plan now includes a series of termination provisions and indexes rate increases after 2012 to inflation. Penalties for the city removing meters were eased.

Huh? Are you that stupid, Matt? The termination fees ensure the City won't terminate the damn lease because it is so cost-prohibitive. The City would have to pay ACS more than it got from it simply to unwind the deal after the first 10 years. You call that listening to the public's concerns? Were they listening to the public's concerns when they waited until after approval of the Citizens Energy deal to tell us they were paying $29 million to Veolia to break up that privatization agreement, which is coming directly out of the taxpayers' pocket, a contract we were told before the fact couldn't be broken?

4. Council Democrats spent the meeting picking at the plan, and that's fine. They argued the city should upgrade the meters in-house, and that's fine. But most of the Democrats have been on the council for many years. And until Ballard came along, they ignored the antiquated meter system and the paltry revenue it produced.


At least Ballard had a plan and was willing to spend political capital to address the issue. It's easy to attack a person who offers an idea. Coming up with the idea is the challenge.

Sorry, Matt, but this isn't a Democrat versus Republican issue you make it out to be. I'm a life-long Republican. Paul Ogden is a life-long Republican. Aaron Renn is an urban planner with no political axe to grind. MCANA is a nonpartisan, neighborhood organization. We all reached the same conclusion. You blame Democrats for not forwarding a plan before now to modernize the meters? Sorry, Matt, but Mayor Ballard won the election in 2007 and the Republicans control the council. Instead of running the system into the ground so it would not generate sufficient revenues, why didn't they do anything to improve the system short of giving control of it to Ryan Vaughn's client? And if you're going to tell your readers they should all pony up double the amount they will need to pay to park to come downtown, at least have the decency to tell them you get to park for free. UPDATE: As a close observer reminded, the Peterson administration conducted a demonstration project in 2006 that showed the City could boost parking meter revenues by at least 15% simply be installing the smart meter technology. Why did Ballard's administration ignore their findings in concluding the asset had to be leased out?

 5. Nearly everyone agrees a meter update is needed. Rates haven't increased since the latter days of Elvis Presley. Extended hours for enforcement also will encourage turnover of parking spaces, which helps businesses.

Other cities have meters with wonderful new technology. Ours, however, are on the verge of becoming museum pieces. The private contractor will be charged with spending millions to upgrade the system and then managing it.

This change is necessary. And although valid questions were raised along the way, the mayor's plan makes sense.

Yes, other cities have implemented this technology without giving up control to a private company for the next two generations. And as a political reporter at the State House who has witnessed first hand the mess ACS and its partner IBM made of the state's welfare privatization you have not one issue with giving the company control of our parking meter assets? Did you read the D.C. audit? Do you study state lobbying records? Do you have a clue? Or is your head so far up Ryan Vaughn's ass you can't see anything wrong with him strong arming his fellow councilors to vote for a deal that will make hundreds of millions of dollars for his client, or have any concerns that the Mayor's personal paid adviser, Joe Loftus, is a lobbyist for ACS? Where do these journalists earn their degrees these days? For God's sake, bring back Dick Cady. This is insanity. And then they whine about people dropping their subscriptions to the Star. If this is as good as you can produce, then your newspaper deserves to go out of business. For good.