Democrats Misfire In Effort To Smear Brizzi

Marion County Democrats are feeling a little uneasy these days with skyrocketing crime in the city and major scandals developing in the sheriff's department, the coroner's office and the Center Township Trustee's office--all offices under their management. They thought they were going to have a one-two punch, starting with Rep. Julia Carson's false accusation that her Republican opponent "beat his wife to a pulp," but the second punch really blew up in their face.

It seems Democrats tried in a press release this week to accuse Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi's office of doling out legal work to House Speaker Brian Bosma's law firm without a contract, and they demanded that an independent audit of his office be conducted. As it turned out, a 10-year contract the office had prior to Brizzi taking office was actually terminated last year. Tucked away in today's "Behind Closed Doors" column in the Star is this little tidbit:

Marion County Democrats nailed Prosecutor Carl Brizzi this past week -- or thought they did. In a news release headlined "Carl Brizzi takes care of his friends," Terry Burns, the party's executive director, blasted Brizzi for paying a politically connected law firm without a contract. More than $60,000 was paid from 2003 to 2005 to Kroger, Gardis and Regas, a firm that includes Indiana House Speaker Brian C. Bosma, R-Indianapolis.

The Democrats, who called for an independent audit of the office's finances, got the information from a public records request.

But Brizzi, a Republican running for re-election against Democrat Melina Kennedy, said they asked for the wrong information.

The Democrats requested any written agreements with the firm. The prosecutor's office replied that it "has no contract or agreement or letter of engagement with this law firm."

Not that it never did.

"We took it to mean current contracts," Brizzi said. His office had a written agreement for the firm to provide guardianship work but terminated it last year, he said. The office hires a handful of outside law firms for some work, and Brizzi said Bosma's firm had worked with the prosecutor's office for 10 years.

"We can only go with what the prosecutor's office tells us," said Burns, adding that he still thought an audit of the office was needed.

Instead of accepting blame for the misfire, the Marion Co. Democrats blame Brizzi's office for providing them inaccurate information. Note that no one in the Democratic Party has called for an independent audit of the Center Township Trustee's office after the Star revealed that Marion Co. Trustee Carl Drummer handed over government-owned space to political insiders to construct a bar illegally without entering into a lease. Note also that the Star relegated this item to its weekly gossip column--no editorials and no newstory. To have done so would have shown the Democrats to have eggs on their face.

Out With Drummer, In With Ivey

If any voter in Center Township wanted to see the contrasting views of the two candidates for Center Township Trustee, you need look no further than today's Star editorial page. On the one hand, you have current Center Township Trustee Carl Drummer defending the "private club/bar" he allowed political cronies to construct in the Julia Carson Government Center without following appropriate legal safeguards as an upscale [establishment] to reflect the upscale standards of its well-dressed clientele." On the other hand, you have Drummer's Republican challenger, Linda Ivey, reminding us that the primary purpose of the Center Township Trustee is to "provide service to the poor and needy", not "spend[ing] millions on buildings."

Drummer's defense of the "private club/bar" would be laughable if it weren't so serious. His entire focus is on how upscale and nice it is, making no attempt to explain why he didn't require the political cronies to enter into a formal lease or abide by zoning and building code regulations to construct it. His obsession with the establishment's appearance is quite telling. He writes:

With its wireless connections, high-tech video screens, well-polished windows and neat décor, it is suitable for hosting corporate events in a smoke-free environment. By conscious design, the 2,200-square-foot facility is upscale to reflect the upscale standards of its well-dressed clientele. Step inside, tables and chairs are neatly arranged, positioned alongside a few pieces of furniture to make for a slightly more relaxed setting.

Contradicting all of his earlier public pronouncements on the subject, Drummer asserts that 300 East is not a bar or lounge, although he concedes alcohol will be served in the "2,200-square-foot-facility", not the 900-square-feet-area described in an earlier Star report. As he puts it, "Alcohol will be served, albeit in moderation, as a complement to a menu of freshly prepared food items." Drummer's prior description of it being only for "African-American professionals" is wisely omitted from his defense. Trying to deceive us on neighborhood support for the facility, however, he says, "The Mapleton-Fall Creek CDC is opening its arms to welcome the new establishment." It is overwhelmingly in support of this endeavor," he adds. Anyone familiar with CDCs in this town know that they are run by political appointees of the mayor and do not always act in the best interests of the neighborhoods they are meant to serve.

Drummer devotes considerable time to defending his efforts to find alternative uses for the vacant space in the building. He tried unsuccessfully to lease it to McDonald's and Starbucks, but he was turned down by both. He writes:

Efforts included listing space for lease with Summit Realty for more than a year and frequent self-directed inquiries into the business community. In its commitment to maximize the economic return on township assets, management evaluated and agreed that the recent proposal to invest more then $500,000 by a group of respected community members, now known as 300 East, was a prudent decision.

Remember, the Julia Carson Government Center is a government office building first and foremost. What Drummer doesn't mention is his refusal to move the Center Township Small Claims Court out of the city-county building and into the government center. Instead, he accused County Auditor Marty Womacks of engaging in partisan politics when she attempted to move the court out to make room for newly-added county courts. In fact, Center Township is the only township which had ever been allowed to maintain its small claims court in city-owned property rent-free. Drummer decided he would rather start paying the county more than $12,000 a year in rent for the space rather than utilizing the empty space the township already had in the Julia Carson Government Center.

While Drummer has obviously misapprehended what his official duties as trustee are, his Republican opponent has not. As she explains, "The real story about Polin Park and the bar at the Julia Carson Government Center is being overlooked." She writes:

The real story is that the Center Township trustee spends millions on buildings instead of people. Redeveloping the neighborhood is not the same as feeding, clothing and sheltering the most vulnerable among us.

The Julia Carson Center was bought for about $400,000 and more than $5 million was spent renovating it. Only one of its seven floors is used for township administration purposes. Any operations in the center could be housed in the Massachusetts Avenue building because the top floor and basement are empty. The annex building behind it is also empty.

The latest Center Township purchase, the old Fall Creek YMCA, also has questionable utility. The sport facilities are leased to a members-only health club. Most of its 100 dormitory rooms and apartments remain empty. But there are great plans: $1.8 million was appropriated in the 2006 budget to move the sewer lines (the whole facility cost only $1.5 million). The purpose is to create space for new development: A bank and a fast-food restaurant are envisioned.

Ivey hits the nail on the head. Just when did it become the duty of the Center Township Trustee to buy up buildings and spend millions of taxpayers dollars to develop them for private use? "Under the law and by principle, the primary goal of the trustee must be to provide service to the poor and needy of Center Township," Ivey writes. She continues, "Trustee Carl Drummer seems to believe owning buildings will do this. If elected, I will make sure tax dollars go to help pay for medical care, clothing, utilities and transportation. Our poor relief tax dollars should heat homes, not office buildings and bars."

Linda Ivey gets what the Center Township Trustee is supposed to do. It's time for the voters of Center Township to send Drummer packing. He should have no problem finding employment from one of the political cronies he's gone out of his way to help ahead of the needy people he was elected to help. He'll be more comfortable working under their "upscale standards" with their "upscale clientele."

UPDATE: RiShawn Biddle has added his thoughts on Carl over at Expresso. He finds him to be quite a riot. Here's a sample:

The funniest part about this latest bit of public relations work this government leader is performing on behalf of the proposed bar's investors is what he leaves out: The fact that he allowed the investment group to build out the space without signing them to a lease, a practice most "business people" wouldn't tolerate by half. The attempt -- with the acquiesence of Indy Parks czar Joe Wynns -- to transform part of nearby Al E. Polin Park into a parking lot. The original plan to make the bar a private club for himself and his pals.

Drummer is so funny that he should take his act to Crackers or Morty's; even better, he can start his own comedy tour. That way, he can get out of his current gig of serving Center Township's citizens -- which he's proven to be quite inept at handling -- and let someone else take a crack at doing the job right.

Airport Project For Sale

The Indianapolis Business Journal's Jennifer Whitson reports that "three developers are vying for the chance to build a four-story, 250-to 300-room hotel connected to the new $974 million midfield terminal and garage at the Indianapolis International Airport." And who are the bidders? Whitson reports:

Indianapolis-based Mansur Real Estate Services wants to build a 300-room Westin. Locally based KMI Realty Advisors Inc. would develop a 254-room Hilton to be owned by local developer Al Kite . . . And Merrillville-based White Lodging Services Corp. pitched a 250-room Marriott . . .

Partial funding or low-cost financing from the Airport Authority may prove crucial to the deal's feasibility," said [hospitality consultant Rob] Hunden . .
.

Airport Authority staff hope to make a recommendation to the board on a favorite design in the next 30 to 45 days, according to Jay McQueen, who is supervising the bidding for the authority.

Observant AI readers will recall that the Airport Authority's president is Lacy Johnson, an Ice Miller partner, lobbyist, and close political confidante of Rep. Julia Carson (D). While the Airport Authority contracts with BAA to operate the airport, Johnson is the guy really calling the shots. The winner of this latest deal will no doubt be decided by Johnson as the board's president.

A couple of years ago the Star reported about a lawsuit the former airport director for BAA, David Roberts, brought after he was forced out of his job because he allegedly didn't follow Johnson's orders. The Star wrote on June 4, 2004:

The former airport director at Indianapolis International Airport alleges he was fired last year for calling attention to "political opportunism" in airport hiring and contracts by an influential Democrat that Mayor Bart Peterson named as airport board president in 2000.

Indianapolis Airport Authority board President Lacy Johnson and board members attempted to influence airport staff to hire political favorites of Johnson, including an embalmer for whom there were no suitable job openings, according to a five-page notice of the former director's intention to file a lawsuit, which was recorded with the state and obtained by the Indianapolis Star.

"Johnson attempted to influence employment of minorities, unionization of employees, allocation of space to airlines and concessionaires . . . engagement of favored contractors and suggested removal of BAA employees who were considered politically too Republican.

The former airport director, David Roberts, claims that in 2001 Johnson asked him to employ a "female state representative who was unqualified as an embalmer and who was a protege of Mr. Johnson's godmother."

The godmother "is also a Congresswoman," the complaint states, in an apparent reference to Indiana's only congresswoman--Julia Carson, a Democrat who represents Indianapolis.

When Mr. Roberts told Mr. Johnson there were no suitable vacancies, Mr. Johnson said, "Other companies do this," according to the complaint.

Johnson, an attorney at prominent Indianapolis firm Ice Miller, was out of the office and could not be reached for comment Thursday . . .

AI is told that the lawsuit was quietly settled to avoid embarrassment to the Peterson administration. The Indianapolis FBI office apparently missed this one as well. A lot of federal dollars are pouring into the work out at the airport and somebody should be checking up on how the dollars are being doled out.

Johnson has long been rumored to have a financial interest in various minority firms which have participated in government contracting opportunities elsewhere. As the president of the Indianapolis Airport Authority, he should be required to fully disclose every single business in which he has any financial interest, and that disclosure should be made publicly available. Until that is done, we have every reason to be suspicious of what is transpiring out at the airport under his leadership based upon the assertions of Roberts and Johnson's penchant for getting rich off insider deals--his latest deal--300 East at the Julia Carson Government Center. Absolutely no business in which Johnson has an ownership interest, or which is represented by his law firm, should be allowed to do busines with the airport authority.

Team Carson

I'm providing in this post a list of the people on the payroll of Rep. Julia Carson (D), indicating their positions and respective salaries based upon the latest publicly available data.

Alfreda Carter, Staff Assistant ($30,266.64)
Kyle Chapman, Intern ($20,833.32)
Chad Chitwood, Press Secretary ($34,000)
Mya Clarkson, Legislative Aide ($40,666.64)
Jarnell Craig, District Director ($47,819.96)
Martha Doneghy, Legislative Director ($55,666.64)
Dani Dotson, Staff Assistant ($35,320)
Charles Ford, Jr., Staff Assistant ($11,640.00)
Adairius Gardner, Communications Director ($43,955.52)
Daniella Gratale, Legislative Assistant ($32,333.32)
Chris Goldfarb, Staff Assistant ($32,257,78)
John McNulty, Staff Assistant ($25,255.52)
Arati Nayak, Executive Assistant ($48,044.48)
Catherine Noe, Staff Assistant ($10,333.32)
Michael Snavely, Legislative Assistant ($48,044.48)
Clydonna Surrett, Staff Assistant ($30,266.64)
Hilary Swab, Staff Assistant ($32,466.64)
Sarg Visher, Chief of Staff ($85,333.32)
Sara Williams, Staff Assistant ($40,666.64)

A few of them seem to have a lot of time on their hands to troll the blogosphere and post comments on behalf of Rep. Carson's re-election campaign.

Bowell's Guilty Plea

Earlier this week AI commented on how quickly Marion Co. Prosecutor Carl Brizzi's office was able to obtain a guilty plea from former Marion County Public Library board member Mark Bowell under the state's conflict-of-interest statute after the Star's Kevin Corcoran's initial report earlier this summer. I ran into Carl Brizzi last night at the Lambda Legal dinner, and he wanted to correct the impression I left that his office's investigation was triggered by Corcoran's investigative story.

Brizzi explained to me that his office began investigating Bowell's relationship with Turner Construction nearly a year and a half ago, long before Corcoran began asking any questions. He further indulged me to understand that these types of investigations often take a long time, and that his office takes public corruption cases very seriously. I was encouraged by Brizzi's comments.

Why Isn't This Happening Here?

You might call it politics as usual in Chicago, but at least there's some attempt to hold people accountable there. From the front-page of today's Chicago Sun-Times:

FBI agents raided at least seven Cook County offices Thursday morning looking for evidence that officials were illegally doctoring tests or otherwise cheating to give government jobs and promotions to politically connected applicants.

"Step away from the computers," one of the 25 FBI agents who massed at the county's Human Resources Department told employees. The agents arrived at 9 a.m. and stayed long past dark poring through records, taking some with them.

The raids came a month after a Sun-Times story quoted county department heads as saying former Cook County Board President John Stroger's patronage chief Gerald Nichols pressured them to hire clouted people for jobs in which political hiring was prohibited. And the raids followed several years of news reports detailing alleged corruption, mismanagement and patronage hiring in county agencies.

FBI agents also appeared at Stroger Hospital, Oak Forest Hospital, the downtown Cook County Forest Preserve offices, Provident Hospital, Cermak Hospital and the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center to serve subpoenas for records.

Does anyone at the Indianapolis office of the FBI actually notice what's happening under their own noses? They might want to start by doing what their Chicago counterparts are doing at the Center Township Trustee's office, the Indianapolis Airport Authority and Rep. Julia Carson's office to name just a few. And by the way, how many people in Carson's congressional office actually perform legitimate congressional work? It seems some Carson staffers have nothing to do but log on from their www.house.gov web server to play politics by monitoring what's happening on the blogosphere and hiding behind anonymous comments to spin their pathetic message.

My Daily Constitution

As a reminder, the My Daily Constitution event on GLBT rights is tomorrow, Friday, at the Out Word Bound bookstore on East Street next to Aesop's Tables from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. The constitutional cafe will give participants an opportunity to discuss liberty and equality for GLBT citizens under our constitution. Please come out for the event. The discussion promises to be thought-provoking and will involve a great deal of audience participation.

Posting Comments

Due to the unfortunate mischief of some disturbed individuals who have nothing better to do than spam this site, extra hoops will have to be jumped through to post comments, at least for the time being. Sorry for the inconvenience, but the uncivil leave me no other choice.

In Her Own Words

Following the arrest of her husband more than 15 years ago on domestic abuse charges, Paula Dickerson wrote to prosecutors within days of the incident to urge them to drop the charges against her husband. She followed up with another letter later on after prosecutors continued to pursue the case over her objection. You won't find this part of the story in the Indianapolis Star or on any of the reports on the television news stations around town. You read and you decide whether Eric Dickerson criminally abused his wife 15 years ago on one occasion. Here's what she had to say a few days after the arrest on August 31, 1991, in her own words:

During this past week I have spoken with various people both in your office and with the police department who have claimed that I am a "battered woman living in a violent situation."

I appreciate laws that have been legislated to protect women who are being abused. However, these laws are instituted to help women, not to destroy marriages or the family structure.

This past weekend my husband, Eric Dickerson, was arrested. I have been read the police report over the phone and have found instances of assumption made on the police officer's part who filed the report.

I am not a battered woman; I am not living in an abusive environment; nor are any of my children neglected or abused.

One incident has taken place last weekend that has catapulted our whole family into a category where legally we do not fit, or belong.

I have been told that an "angry touch" constitutes not only battery, but abuse.

Be for real! If that were the case, every husband and wife would be behind bars at one time or another. And not only that, but the public school systems would be closed down due to gross amounts of profanity and abusive behavior directed against students and teachers alike.

This is a sick society we are living in and it becomes nauseating when a woman is told that she is a "state's victim" for the prosecution against her husband of 20 years who is a good husband to her and good father unto their children.

I am writing this letter to let you know that I am not a battered wife and am not going to promote you or any police officer who was called to the scene, not by myself, because of a situation that got out of hand and because angry words were spoken between my husband and myself. Neither am I going to testify as "state's witness" against my husband for him "touching me" while angry.

Both Eric and I will be showing up in Municipal Court , Room #16, September 16, 1991 at 9:00 a.m. as husband and wife and we both will be leaving as husband and wife.

You can find this letter and another letter Paula Dickerson wrote, along with what remains of the court file over at Taking Down Words, which is apparently turning this incident into a crusade against domestic violence. Fits right in with Melina's charge that Brizzi's soft on domestic violence. That's fine. Let's just see if Taking Down Words will have the same point of view when similar reports surface having to do with Democratic party office-holders and candidates.