Media's Memory On Carmel High School Short

Local media and Carmel High School parents have expressed shock at the sexual abuse allegations of senior members of Carmel High School's boys basketball team against freshmen team members. The current story involves allegations that several seniors on the basketball team stripped the pants off of two freshmen team members on a bus while returning from a trip to Terre Haute in January and fingered their anus. A separate but similar allegation has been made by a freshman who says he was sexually assaulted by another senior on the boys basketball team in early January. What the local news media has missed is a similar assault that occurred several years back to a freshman on the school's swim team. Several seniors stripped a freshman swimmer in the locker room and took turns shoving objects up his anus.

As bizarre as this behavior may seem, this type of activity is probably less uncommon than what you might think. I recall reading several years ago in a magazine article about strange hazing methods at elite private schools, particularly all boys schools. A common form of hazing is to strip a freshman of his clothes and finger him. I guess you have to come from a privileged, elitist background to think that such actions are acceptable. I couldn't imagine something like this happening at the public school I attended.

It seems to me that Carmel school officials have blatantly turned a blind eye to these activities over the years. The swim team incident put them on notice that there might be a problem and yet the problem persists after all these years. I credit the local media digging into the story for any action being taken at all. The three coaches on the bus filled with freshman bear some culpability for allowing the three seniors to ride on the freshmen bus and managing not to notice that two freshmen were being sexually assaulted by the seniors. The principal didn't take the allegations seriously until he realized the media was going to report on it. He claims he didn't know about the incidents until nearly a month after they occurred. Yet, almost every student at the school had heard stories about it for weeks. If I were the Carmel school board, I would be thinking seriously about firing the coaches and the principal. One expects more of the administrators at the state's most elite public school.

UPDATE: A reader raises a valid issue over whether Carmel police have jurisdiction over the alleged crimes. The incident occurred on I-70 shortly after the bus left the Cloverdale exit. I'm sure school administrators prefer having Carmel police investigate it rather than the State Police or the jurisdiction where the crime actually occurred. If the victims' parents don't like the police handling of this case, they may want to raise the jurisdiction issue.

At-Large Race Heating Up

No fewer than eleven candidates are vying to replace At-Large City-County Councilor Kent Smith, who resigned due to his military service. One of the candidates hit a bit of a roadblock tonight when he was forced to admit that he had voted in the Democratic primary in 2008. I'm told jaws dropped to the floor tonight when Aaron Williams, son of Deputy Mayor Olgen Williams, told GOP ward chairs that he voted in the 2008 Democratic Primary for Hillary Clinton in furtherance of Rush Limbaugh's Operation Chaos. Williams is a GOP ward chair and precinct committeeman. Party leaders sacked ward chairs in Washington Township for supporting Scott Schneider over Ryan Vaughn after last year's caucus to replace Sen. Teresa Lubbers. How could Williams remain a ward chair and PC after voting in the Democratic primary? You just can't make this stuff up. And for the record, Williams says he won't give up his "community liaison" job with IMPD if he's appointed to the council.

Here's the full list of candidates who will compete in next Monday's caucus vote:

Aaron Williams
Dorothy Henry
Michael Jezierski
Bruce Schumacher
Eric Smith
Michael Kalscheur
Jackie Cissell
Angel Rivera
Avachino Reeves
Kevin Green
Gary Conner

Ballard Wastes Millions More On Crime Prevention Grants

In an utter display of fiscal irresponsibility, Mayor Greg Ballard announced that he's giving away $4 million of your taxpayer dollars to various nonprofit groups and church-related organizations for the purpose of crime prevention. Take a look at some of the groups he's funding with these grants:

100 Black Men ($37,000)
Andrew J. Brown Academy ($46,500)
Bethlehem House ($56,000)
Christamore House ($37,000)
Church of Acts ($74,000)
Concord Center ($39,000)
Dove Recovery House ($75,000)
Ebenezer Retreat and Camping Institute ($59,000)
Fathers and Families ($94,000)
Forest Manor Multi-Service Center ($46,500)
Greater Commission Church of God ($64,000)
Indiana Black Expo ($39,000)
Indiana Latino Institute ($20,000)
Indianapolis Downtown, Inc. ($139,000)
Indianapolis Ten Point Coalition ($124,000)
Indianapolis Urban League ($84,500)
Jamal Abdullah Martial Arts Center ($37,000)
Mt. Carmel Community Center ($69,000)
New Light Christian Church ($32,250)
Peace In The Streets ($99,000)
Tanniehill Wrestling Academy ($49,000)
The Mind Trust ($117,500)
Use What You've Got Ministry ($46,500)
Wailing Women Win ($46,500)
Wishard ($169,000)

Reading through the list of grantees, you can quickly pick up the hand of Deputy Mayor Olgen Williams. A number of them are directly associated with his activities prior to joining the administration. Williams was one of the black ministers who threatened to shut down construction of Lucas Oil Stadium if then-Mayor Bart Peterson didn't agree to give them $25 million over five years in crime prevention grants. Funding for these grants were included in Peterson's 65%, $90 million a year income tax increase as a payoff to the black ministers. Peterson actually received a higher percentage of the black vote in his losing re-election bid than Andre Carson got during his 2008 special election win. Yet, that didn't stop those same black ministers from running to Ballard after the election to claim credit for his victory. You won because we convinced our people to stay home on election day. Ballard bought it hook, line and sinker. He quickly hired Olgen Williams has his deputy mayor of neighborhoods and began passing out money to the same people who conducted a public shakedown of our City's mayor in 2007.

Ballard has convinced himself that he's going to do better than other Republican mayors in winning support in the black community in the next election by spending millions on these useless grants. Any intelligent Republican should know that it is nothing more than a scam. Many years ago when I was working in a state legislative race in Illinois, our campaign was visited upon by a prominent black minister. He told us $10,000 in cash could help our candidate win considerable support in the black community on election day. My candidate turned him down. The candidate told me later that he wouldn't play the game because he knew if he gave him the money that the minister would run down to his opponent's campaign and take twice as much from him. That was campaign money. Mayor Ballard is using our taxpayer dollars to play this game. Think about that long and hard when Mayor Ballard has to tell us in a few months that $20 to $30 million will have to be cut from the City's budget to make up for smaller reimbursements from the state.

Also, the last time I checked the Indiana Constitution it still has a provision barring the use of public funds for religious purposes. Yet our city is giving out grant money to churches? Mayor Ballard made his announcement of this year's grant recipients at Light of the World Church. That would be the same church where The Bishop delivers sermons mocking gays and otherwise promoting hate towards people based on their sexual orientation. Here's a little of what The Bishop at Light of the World has had to say on the subject:

The most dastardly thing about homosexuality is silly silly homosexuals going around trying to convince people that what they're doing is normal. That’s the sin; the abomination. Instead of saying I have a serious problem and I am struggling with it and I know that it is wrong . . . Homosexuality is a spirit of the underworld and you who collaborate with that spirit collaborate with the devil himself. But be careful on who you think is a homosexual and who is not. Everybody that is effeminate is not a homosexual, they just didn’t have the kind of parenting where a father said ‘son take that switch out yo' walk boy, son we don't walk like that, or bend like that either.’ The first time a father sees his son do his wrist like this he needs to take his hand and say
.....uh............uh...........here. Your wrist goes like this. Men don’t talk up here (high). It’s a choice, you can change, you can choose, you can choose. Every effeminate person is not gay and every weight lifter is not straight. He might be the biggest girl in the city.” Uproarious laughter breaks out in the congregation.

Securatex Contract With Washington Township Schools Raises Concern

Fellow blogger Diana Vice has an intriguing post on her blog, Welcome To My Tea Party, about a $900,000 annual security contract Washington Township Schools has with Securatex, a private security firm at which former Marion Co. Sheriff Jack Cottey serves as a business services advisor. The contract has not been renegotiated for years according to Vice. Securatex's contract came to light after board member Greg Wright began asking questions about it. School administrators did not have a copy of the contract and only produced it after obtaining a copy from Securatex. Vice writes about how this story is expected to grow in the coming days:

In addition to the allegations of poor record keeping, many are left wondering why such a high contract item was not put out for public bid over the years, including competitors of Securatex, one of which reportedly claims the security services could be contracted for much less than what the school district is currently paying. Taxpayers also raised the issue that local companies are being shut out of the competition in favor of the politically-connected Securatex.

Perhaps this is an issue that the State Board of Accounts should look into.

When asked about the fact that the security contract was not put out for public bid, taxpayers were reportedly told that school officials had a good relationship with Securatex management . . .

What is known about Securatex? According to information received from the Secretary of State website, it is a for-profit foreign corporation based in Illinois. The Business Service Advisor listed for Securatex is former Marion County Sheriff Jack Cottey.

As a side note, here is a link to March, 2007 Advisory Minutes for the Marion County Community Corrections Department, which reports that Securatex was approved for a multi-million dollar contract for the department even though it was not the low bidder. More than one of the board members listed have been linked to a corruption investigation involving Tim Durham, who has also reportedly hired the firm to provide security for lavish parties that he has hosted.

Sources say that more shocking details about this situation will be forthcoming in the days and weeks ahead as members of the local media have reportedly been asking questions about the controversy.

IMPD Shakeup

Mayor Greg Ballard is shaking up the leadership of IMPD that he appointed after assuming control of IMPD in 2008 from Sheriff Frank Anderson. WTHR is reporting that Chief Michael Spears is out as chief and will be replaced by Maj. Paul Ciesielski. Despite a promise to clean up the department, IMPD has been plagued by internal scandals during the Ballard administration. More recently, a high-ranking officer, Lincoln Plowman, also a member of the City-County Council, was suspended by the department after he refused to answer questions posed to him by FBI agents.

State Law Creates Snag For Democrats In Replacing Bayh

The Indiana Democratic Party had planned to conduct a meeting of its state committee within a week to pick a replacement on the November ballot in the U.S. Senate race following Evan Bayh's last minute decision to drop out of the race. No other Democrat qualified to be placed on the May 4 primary ballot. Speculation has centered on two Southern Indiana congressmen, U.S. Rep. Brad Ellsworth and U.S. Rep. Baron Hill. The Star's Mary Beth Schneider reports today that lawyers for the state party have determined that a state law prohibits the state committee from appointing a replacement for Bayh until after the May 4 primary. That means Ellsworth and Hill will have to pretend to be running for re-election to the House, while actually jockeying for the Senate vacancy appointment. More importantly, it means the Republican candidate won't be disadvantaged by an early decision on the Democratic candidate. It also looks that like the state party will have to contend with strong objections to Ellsworth's candidacy from the GLBT community, which points out that Ellsworth has one of the worst voting rights on GLBT issues of any Democratic member of Congress.

There are plenty of candidate on the Republican side. It appears all of the announced candidates will make the ballot, including for Sen. Dan Coats, State Sen. Marlin Stutzman, former U.S. Rep. John Hostettler, businessman Don Bates and tea party activist Richard Behney. Although Coats has a big advantage in name recognition because of his earlier years in the Senate, he by no means has a lock on the race. Many party activists resent his late decision to enter the race after spending more than a decade living and working in D.C. as a lobbyist. Coats has not voted in Indiana since leaving the Senate. He only rented a home in Indianapolis a couple of weeks ago that he has declared as his official residence.

Meanwhile, I'm picking up strong indications that Bayh intends to return to Indiana after serving in the Senate to begin laying the groundwork for a 2012 gubernatorial bid. That prospect has many Democrats smiling because of Bayh's past electoral successes in statewide races. Republicans have no clear front runner for that office at this point, although there is speculation that Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman and U.S. Rep. Mike Pence want to run for the office.

Shocker: Bayh Drops Bid For Re-election

The Star's Mary Beth Schneider has a breaking news story that will send shock waves throughout Indiana's political world. Sen. Evan Bayh has decided to drop his bid for re-election to the Senate because of the increasing partisanship in Washington she reports. She attributes the following quotes to his decision:

“After all these years, my passion for service to my fellow citizens is undiminished, but my desire to do so in Congress has waned,” he said.

“My decision was not motivated by political concern,” he added. “Even in the current challenging environment, I am confident in my prospects for re-election.”

"But running for the sake of winning an election, just to remain in public office, is not good enough,” Bayh said. “And it has never been what motivates me. At this time I simply believe I can best contribute to society in another way: creating jobs by helping grow a business, helping guide an institution of higher learning or helping run a worthy charitable endeavor.”

“Two weeks ago, the Senate voted down a bipartisan commission to deal with one of the greatest threats facing our nation: our exploding deficits and debt. The measure would have passed, but seven members who had endorsed the idea instead voted ‘no’ for short-term political reasons,” he said. “Just last week, a major piece of legislation to create jobs — the public’s top priority — fell apart amid complaints from both the left and right. All of this and much more has led me to believe that there are better ways to serve my fellow citizens, my beloved state4 and our nation than continued service in Congress.”

Bayh's shocking decision will leave the Indiana Democratic Party in a mad scramble to find a candidate and collect enough signatures to get a candidate on the ballot before Friday's filing deadline. Perhaps Dan Coats had some clue that Bayh's decision may be coming and would explain his late entry into the race. This race is going to get real interesting.

UPDATE: U.S. Rep. Brad Ellsworth is not ruling out the possibility of running for the Senate according to a statement posted by WTHR. He could be appointed to fill Bayh's spot on the ballot if no candidate meets this week's filing deadline, which seems unlikely at this point.

Plowman Investigation Leaves Many Unanswered Questions

The Star's Francesca Jarosz has a lot of good questions about the investigation of City-County Councilor Lincoln Plowman and his recent suspension as a high-ranking IMPD officer for failing to cooperate in an ongoing FBI investigation. Everybody wants to know the nature of the investigation. Public Safety Director Frank Straub knows the nature of the investigation but won't tell reporters what it is. He cites Plowman's right to privacy and right to a fair process. But this poses a problem for his fellow councilors, who are still in the dark and don't know what if any potential matters he should be recused from voting on. As it stands, there is no confirmation whether the investigation relates to his work on the council or as a police officer. People can only speculate.

An ethics specialist tells Jarosz that Plowman should either disclose the nature of the investigation or step down from the council until it is concluded. The council has had numerous examples of other councilors facing criminal charges. Former Councilor Ron Gibson was charged with shoving a police officer as was Councilor Doris Minton-McNeill. Councilor Paul Bateman is facing charges he misspent over $1 million of a nonprofit's money. Councilor Monroe Gray faced charges that he failed to disclose contracts his minority-owned business had with city entities. As Jarosz points out, in each of those cases, other councilors knew of the specific allegations against their fellow councilor.

Frankly, I think it is an outrage that the Ballard administration won't disclose the nature of the investigation. This suggests to me that officials in the administration are going out of their way to protect Plowman, or they fear the investigation points to corruption or malfeasance within the administration. In any other major city in this country, an official would have clued reporters into what was taking place. How many times do you turn on the news and hear about details of charges against a school teacher at one of our public schools long before any criminal charges are brought, if they are brought at all? Plowman is a public official in two capacities. We have the right to know why he wouldn't answer questions posed to him by the FBI. He and the Ballard administration only raise further suspicions in the public's mind when they choose to stonewall on this matter. Let me remind people that this problem wouldn't exist at all if public employees of the city-county were barred from serving on the council as our state constitution mandates.

Coats Is A Fish Out Of Water

When I first moved to Indianapolis to attend law school, Sen. Dan Coats was seeking re-election to the seat to which he had been appointed by Gov. Robert Orr against then-Secretary of State Joe Hogsett. Coats lambasted Hogsett for running for another office without serving out his full term as secretary of state. My strongest memory of that campaign was a TV spot Coats ran over and over again, which I've dubbed the "He's not one of us" spot. Looking straight into the camera, Coats warned Hoosiers, "My opponent has no wife, he has no children." In short, he doesn't share our Hoosier values Coats said. Although he didn't say it directly, the clear implication he was sending to voters was that you shouldn't vote for Hogsett because he might be gay. Coats' attacks on Hogsett worked. He won 57% of the vote at the same time Evan Bayh was handily re-elected to a second term as governor.

Six years later, Coats chickened out of a race against Evan Bayh in 1998. Coats had become the ultimate Washington insider. Prior to serving in the House of Representatives, Coats worked on the congressional staff of Dan Quayle, a politician to whom he owes his political career. When Quayle moved up to the Senate, Coats took his his old congressional seat in northeastern Indiana. When Quayle became Vice President with President George H.W. Bush, Gov. Orr appointed Coats to Quayle's senate seat at his urging. Many of Orr's staffers had urged him to appoint a young up-and-comer, Mitch Daniels, to the seat instead. Orr's desire to win an ambassadorship from the Bush administration may have given him an extra incentive to go with Quayle's choice.

After Coats left the Senate in 1998, he chose to stay in Washington. He later accepted an ambassadorship appointment to Germany from President Bush. Later, he took up the trade of so many former Members of Congress: he became a lobbyist. Hoosier Republicans have scarcely seen Coats since he retired from the Senate. By all accounts, he considered Washington his home and had planned to retire to a lovely home in North Carolina. Then came a Rasmussen poll showing Evan Bayh vulnerable for re-election and the timely intervention of Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) who leads the Senate Republican Campaign Committee to convince Coats that none of the Republican Party's current crop of candidates for that seat cut it and that he should return to Indiana to run for the seat. To the surprise of almost everyone, Coats jumped at the opportunity. We're told Coats quickly rented a home on the Indianapolis' northside to claim as a residence for voting purposes. Not to worry about the late date of rounding up enough signatures to get on the ballot, Coats will simply rely on paid workers to collect his signatures absent any grassroots support for his candidacy.

Seeing Coats greet Marion County GOP precinct committeepersons and volunteer workers at this weekend's slating convention, I sensed that Coats believes he's our savior coming to the rescue to ensure us a victory in November over Sen. Evan Bayh. Nothing could be further from the truth. Many of the younger folks remember little about him other than he had a very bad comb-over, which he has wisely lost. I sense real resentment towards Coats from many of the party faithful that he has the audacity to think that he can waltz into the state on the eve of the filing deadline for the May primary when other candidates have been out on the hustings for the better part of the past year seeking support for their candidacies. Beyond that, Coats has to be living in an imaginary world if he doesn't appreciate the resentment average Hoosiers have towards Washington insiders these days. How can you say you're part of the solution when you've been lobbying for Bank of America, Yemen and Venezuelan interests? He even had a lobbying contract with the Indian government to arrange a speech for that country's prime minister before a joint session of Congress. Gee, what does an ambassador do? Coats can argue all he wants over the characterization of his lobbying work, but in the end he cannot escape his ultimate Washington insider status.

All of Coats' potential primary opponents resent his entry into the race at this late date. Clearly, Gov. Daniels is not happy with his entry. The only people clamoring for him to run are all Washington insiders. Despite the fact that his entry has gone over like a fart in church, Coats shows no signs of retreating. And why should he? He sees four underfunded primary opponents with little name recognition. Because of Indiana's alphabetized system of placing candidates on the ballot, Coats knows his name will appear near the top in a long list of candidates (assuming Richard Behney fails to secure enough signatures). Turnout in the primary election may be very low. That gives one of the other candidates who is short on funds but has built a strong base of grassroots supporters to emerge victorious. If Coats wins the nomination, we're stuck with a race between two Washington insiders, leaving voters little in the way of choices.

Sorry, Dan, but you are not one of us. If only someone could convince him that he would be doing the party a big favor if he simply returned to his retirement home in North Carolina.