Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Doing Its Job In Scrutinizing Parking Meter Deal

While the editor of the Indianapolis Star has chastised blogs like this one as "noise" and defended the Ballard administration against the obvious pinstripe patronage at play in its awarding of a 50-year parking meter lease deal to ACS, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is doing what a good newspaper typically does: it investigates the deal. Unlike the Gannett-owned Star, the Post-Gazette is a privately-held, family-owned media company based in Toledo, Ohio. The Post-Gazette has no trouble discerning troubling ties between key players in Chicago's controversial $1.2 billion, 75-year lease agreement with LAZ Parking and the $451 million, 50-year lease city officials in Pittsburgh recently announced. I have specifically warned about the interlocking ties of the key players in this business and the possibility for collusion among key players in the bidding process playing out in cities across America. The Post-Gazette's Joe Smydo worries about the same thing happening in Pittsburgh:

When Pittsburgh proposed leasing its public parking facilities, the city became a magnet for a passel of firms -- many of them connected to Chicago by blood, politics or business -- that pursues similar deals around the country.

The firms may be partners in one city, rivals or referees in the next. The fluid nature of these business relationships hasn't raised many eyebrows in Pittsburgh, but it's reportedly raised a red flag in Los Angeles, one of the cities now considering a parking lease.

Pittsburgh finance director Scott Kunka said officials here have been careful to make sure that firms participating in the Pittsburgh project have no conflicts of interest.

"We had those questions ourselves" and posed them to advisers at the Downtown law firm K&L Gates, who produced "voluminous" guidance, he said . . .

Chicago officials pioneered the parking lease last decade with a pair of long-term contracts to Morgan Stanley's infrastructure investment arm, which brought in Connecticut-based LAZ Parking to operate four garages and about 36,000 meters.

When Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl proposed leasing 12 parking garages and several thousand meters -- hoping to generate revenue for a troubled pension fund and save it from state takeover -- a high-powered, Chicago-linked crowd landed here.

The participants include:

• Morgan Stanley and Co. infrastructure market and acquisitions team, to be paid about $4 million if the city carries out the project. The team included William Daley Jr., nephew of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley.

• Katten Muchin Rosenman, a Chicago-based law firm that helped the Daley administration in the parking meter deal and is among the lawyers advising Pittsburgh. According to Chicago news reports, Terry Newman, a partner at the firm, is a friend of Mayor Daley.

If the lease goes through, the firm will bill the city parking authority hourly rates ranging from $480 to $620 for each lawyer involved in the project. No bill will be provided until next month.

• Scott Balice Strategies, a Chicago-based financial consulting firm that crunched the numbers for the Pittsburgh project. Before helping to found the firm, Lois Scott served on a budget advisory panel to then-incoming Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was forced from office last year amid allegations that he tried to sell President Barack Obama's Senate seat. Two of the firm's executives have worked for Mayor Daley.

The city's financial terms with Scott Balice were not immediately available.

• Desman Associates, a New York-based parking consulting firm that was part of the Morgan Stanley team that landed the Chicago leases. In Pittsburgh, Desman is on the other side of the project as an adviser to the city and will receive about $560,000 from the parking authority if the deal goes through.

• J.P. Morgan Asset Management and LAZ Parking. At nearly $452 million, the highest of three bids for the Pittsburgh lease came from a consortium led by J.P. Morgan, LAZ Parking and a LAZ affiliate, P4 Partners. In return for the upfront payment, the consortium could realize about $2.4 billion over the life of the lease, according to council's study.

William M. Daley, one of Mayor Daley's brothers and father of William Daley Jr., is an executive at J.P. Morgan's holding company. The company said he has had no role in the Pittsburgh project . . .

The Post-Gazette story picks up on the fact that Morgan Stanley has links to all three parking deals in Chicago, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh, while Desman Associates has also worked with Morgan Stanley on many of these lease deals:

Besides winning the Chicago parking projects and advising Pittsburgh on a parking lease, Morgan Stanley teams have had an advisory role in an Indianapolis parking lease and bid on airport leases in Chicago and Puerto Rico.

Desman Associates has worked with Morgan Stanley on many of those projects. Besides Pittsburgh, Desman is advising Los Angeles officials on a lease. In Harrisburg, Desman helped LAZ and Royal Bank of Scotland pursue a parking lease, a project eventually dropped by city officials.

In Indianapolis, Desman helped LAZ, P4 Partners and Aurora Capital Group pursue a parking lease, according to documents submitted there.

The role-changing was more unusual in Pittsburgh, where the J.P. Morgan group and LAZ started out as rivals but teamed up after LAZ's initial partner, Aurora Capital, backed out.

The switch occurred after the city had qualified seven teams of bidders, with J.P. Morgan on one team and Aurora Capital and LAZ on another. The city's advisers approved the change, partly because both firms already had been vetted and because it kept the bidding process competitive, said Tom Morsch, managing director with Scott Balice Strategies.

Despite the firms' business relationships in other cities, it was not a conflict for Morgan Stanley and Desman to advise Pittsburgh on a deal involving LAZ, Mr. Morsch and others involved in the project said.

Mr. Morsch said the Morgan Stanley investment group that hired LAZ in Chicago is a different entity from the merger and acquisitions group serving as Pittsburgh's advisers. Mr. Kunka said large financial firms erect information walls between business groups.

"As far as the process in Pittsburgh, no, there was no advantage" for LAZ, said Shannon Baker, spokeswoman for Pittsburgh Parking Partners LLC, the name of the J.P. Morgan-LAZ Parking consortium. She called Pittsburgh bidding process a "model of transparency."

With key players flipping sides on different deals, I think there is a legitimate concern to believe collusion may be taking place in these deals. Indianapolis has additional concerns because Mayor Ballard's own legal advisor, Joe Loftus, is a lobbyist for ACS, and CCC President Ryan Vaughn, an employee of Loftus' law firm, Barnes & Thornburg, has also lobbied in the past for ACS. I believe the Justice Department needs to step in and start investigating these deals before taxpayers in all of these cities are taken for one costly ride while the political insiders line their pockets.

HIt-And-Run Suspect In Greenfield Police Officer's Killing Surrenders To Police

A 61-year-old woman, Sue Ann Vanderbeck of Indianapolis, has surrendered herself to Henry County authorities late this afternoon in connection with last Wednesday's fatal hit-and-run collision with a bicycle upon which a Greenfield police officer, Will Phillips, was riding at the time along U.S. 40 near Knightstown. Greenfield police officers began openly questioning the investigation of the case led by Henry Co. Prosecutor Kit Crane and Sheriff Butch Baker. According to WTHR, Vanderbeck claims she was distracted by her three young children riding in her car at the time she collided with Phillips' bicycle and not under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Henry County authorities say the driver in a hit-and-run crash that killed a Greenfield police officer turned herself in Monday night.


Police say Sue Anne Vanderbeck, a 61-year-old woman from Indianapolis, surrendered Monday for her role in the crash that ended in the death of 32-year-old Officer Will Phillips.

The Henry County prosecutor says Vanderbeck was driving westbound on US 40 with two young children in her vehicle when she struck Officer Phillips, who was on a training bike ride with two other officers.

The prosecutor says Vanderbeck became distracted by the children in the back seat, and also that she shows great remorse.

Police say Vanderbeck contacted her attorney hours after the accident. The attorney contacted police, who examined her car last Friday.

The prosecutor said the accident was horrendous, but he commended her for reporting it.

Also, the prosecutor says police do not believe alcohol or drugs were involved based on Vanderbeck's statement and her appearance. Blood tests will likely be inadmissible since it was not possible to take samples from Vanderbeck at the time of the crash.

Vanderbeck, who has three children, was released on bond. She was visibly upset as she left the jail and avoided answering reporters' questions.

UPDATE: New information on nightly news reports. Vanderbeck is a nurse. She knew she hit a bicycle but didn't think she seriously injured the person on the bike. She saw two other persons at the scene so decided to drive off. She showed the damage to her view to her husband when she got husband and decided it couldn't have been that bad because her car wasn't badly damaged. She later listened to a new report about Officer Phillips' death and figured out he was the person her car struck. That's when she decided to contact an attorney. She is represented by Steven Litz, an eccentric lawyer who describes himself as The Best Criminal Defense Attorney. He was also just disciplined for carelessly attempting to dispose of old client files.

Some people may also recall Litz' role in helping a New Jersy man secure a controversial adoption of twin infant girls. That adoption was eventually set aside by the Indiana Supreme Court. As the Star's Jon Murray reported at the time, "The case had attracted controversy nearly from the start." "Melinger, then 58 and an elementary teacher in Union City, N.J., sparked concerns when he arrived at Methodist Hospital in April 2005 with a live bird up his sleeve. And he planned to drive the premature infants back to his home just outside New York City, prompting the involvement of DCS." Noted retired IU School of Law Professor Henry Karlson said a fraud had been perpetrated on the court to procure the adoption in the first instance. According to Murray, Litz agreed his "understanding of some facts in the Melinger case shifted throughout the adoption proceedings."

It's All About One Super Bowl Game

Once again, our city leaders are demonstrating that they will make us pay any price, bear any burden and meet any hardship when it comes to hosting one f____ing football game at Lucas Oil Stadium in February, 2012. "Indy shifting police operations to prepare for '12 Super Bowl" reads the headline of a story by John Touhy in today's Star.

A new fire headquarters and a training academy for inner-city teenagers are among a flurry of changes planned by the Indianapolis Department of Public Safety next year.


The department also will move its Emergency Operations Center to an abandoned mall at Shadeland Avenue and East Washington Street and relocate two hard-to-find police stations -- the East and Downtown district offices.

Public Safety Director Frank Straub said the moves are designed to bring city services closer to residents, prepare for the Super Bowl in 2012 and harness economic development . . .

The city also plans to move its fire headquarters from 555 N. New Jersey St., abutting the popular Mass Ave. cultural district, to the shuttered IPS School 97 at 1401 E. 10th. The old building will be rented or sold for commercial development.


Fire Station 7, which is on Massachusetts Avenue next to the headquarters, also will move to an undetermined site in the neighborhood.

The John H. Boner Community Center plans to form a company to buy School 97 from IPS and then rehab it for the fire headquarters, Straub said.

Attached to the headquarters will be a new public safety academy for teens. Straub said the academy will give youths an early start at training for a career in police, fire or ambulance work.

"It would be considered cadet training for younger kids and would expose them to these professions," Straub said.

Also next year, the Department of Public Safety plans to move the East District from the 2400 block of North Shadeland Avenue to the former IPS School 78 at 3734 E. Vermont St. The current site is in an industrial mall near a busy street.


The new building will be in a more populated area and could stimulate commercial development.

Finally, the city plans to move the Downtown District to Union Station from 25 W. Ninth St . . .

"That puts it in the heart of Downtown, which is preferable anytime but especially for a big event like the Super Bowl," Straub said.

I hope someone keeps the full running tab for what hosting this Super Bowl in 2012 is going to wind up costing Indianapolis taxpayers. It looks to me like we're easily going to surpass the $100 million figure. Absolutely none of these changes will reduce crime, improve economic development or enhance cultural life in this city. It's all about putting on our best face for a group of elitists outsiders who could care less about this city. They'll fly into the city on their private jets--many of them not even bothering to stay overnight--before leaving and urging the NFL owners never to schedule another Super Bowl game in Naptown again. Look how well Detroit has fared since it hosted its Super Bowl game a few years ago. Meanwhile, Fox59 News reports on the record number of water main breaks that have occurred in this city this year, 400 and climbing, because we've chosen to spend billions on sports facilities over the past four decades rather than repair our city's crumbling infrastructure.

Handling Of Hit-And-Run Death Investigation Of Greenfield Police Officer Troubling

Police officer Will Phillips of the Greenfield Police Department died tragically this past Wednesday night after his bicycle was struck by an automobile. The driver of the automobile fled the scene without stopping. Phillips, along with two other police officers, were bicycling along U.S. 40 near Knightstown High School on a training mission when his bicycle was struck by the hit-and-run driver. The investigation of his death by the Henry County Sheriff and Prosecutor have caused a great deal of concern.

It turns out the driver of the hit-and-run vehicle is a prominent woman in the local community. Although she met with investigators on Friday at a meeting scheduled by her attorney to give her statement, Henry Co. Sheriff Butch Baker and County Prosecutor Kit Crane ordered her not to be arrested. Fox59 News' Kimberly King explains:

Fox 59 has learned the female suspect in the hit and run that killed Greenfield Police Officer Will Phillips turned herself in on Friday.


Sources tell Fox 59 the woman is reportedly a prominent person in the community and gave police a statement Friday.

The source says the suspected confessed that she struck the officer and left the scene late Wednesday night on U.S. 40.

A Sheriff's detective and State Police detective met the woman Friday at an undisclosed location to take her statement.

Fox 59 also learned that investigators were ordered to not arrest the woman by Henry County Sheriff Butch Baker and Henry County Prosecutor Kit Crane, who has been handling the negotiations.

A 2002 Toyota Corolla has also been recovered in connection to the deadly hit and run. The source says that there was evidence on the car coinciding with evidence from the accident scene.

Early in the investigation Fox 59 reported that a headlamp belonging to a 2002 Toyota had been found at the crash site.

Both Henry County Sheriff Butch Baker and Henry County Prosecutor Kit Crane told reporters Friday that they expected the woman to turn herself in next week.

Neither the Sheriff or Prosecutor disclosed that the woman has already given a statement to investigators or that a car involved in the crash has been located.

Those close to the investigation are concerned the woman is getting special treatment because of her apparent connections and negotiations, according to our source.

Investigators have been told that the woman was not being arrested as a condition of negotiations to get her statement by Prosecutor Crane. Also an interesting note, Sheriff Butch Baker used to work for Henry County Prosecutor Crane as his Chief Investigator.

King notes this is not the first time Crane has taken active steps in handling investigations normally left to police when a prominent local resident is suspected of committing a crime. She cites the questionable way he handled fatal DUI crash involving State Senator Tom Saunders' son:

Crane has handled other criminal negotiations in the past that are usually left to the police.

One case involved former State Senator Tom Saunders whose son hit a driver and killed him and then fled the scene.

Crane negotiated this case through his Deputy Prosecutor.

That case took about two weeks to resolve and Saunder's son to turn himself in.

In that case, Butch Baker, was working for the Prosecutor at the time and is also Saunder's cousin.

The sheriff and prosecutor learned the morning after the fatal collision the female driver of the car had retained an attorney, who then contacted Henry Co. officials to discuss the conditions for his client to make a statement to them. At that time, they claimed only the attorney knew the identity of the client. As King notes in her report, both the prosecutor's and sheriff's offices neglected to mention to the media on Friday when they announced the woman would likely turn herself in next week that they had already met with her and taken a statement from her. Clearly this woman is being afforded special treatment not typically afforded to someone who has committed a crime as serious as the one she committed. Coming on the heels of IMPD's mishandling of the fatal DUI crash involving Officer David Bisard, the public is naturally suspicious of any special treatment accorded to public officials and prominent members of the community by government investigators.

Portage Teacher Seeks Election To School Board In Violation Of Statute

Unlike firefighters and police officers, who by statute are permitted to serve as elected members of councils, teachers are prohibited from serving on school boards in the districts which employ them. Nonetheless, Bruce Sawochka, a teacher for the Portage Township Schools, is a candidate for an at-large seat on the school's board in this November's election. The Northwest Indiana Times' Joyce Russell writes:

Bruce Sawochka has been a teacher in Portage Township Schools for 17 years.


He decided this summer to run for the at-large seat for the Portage Township Schools board in the Nov. 2 election.

However, according to state law, a teacher cannot sit on that same district's governing body, said Dale Simmons, co-legal counsel for the Indiana Election Division, citing Indiana code 20-26-4-11.

"The statue says he cannot do both," said Simmons, adding that it is not illegal for a teacher to run for the School Board seat, but it is illegal to hold dual roles.

It's something Sawochka, who teaches social studies at Fegely Middle School, is aware of, but he doesn't believe it's fair.

"There is really no way to enforce that law," said Sawochka, adding that if he wins, the only two people who can challenge his eligibility are his two opponents, incumbent William Fekete and Robert "Ben" Wilson.

Simmons said that's not completely true.

"It provides a procedure that allows the county prosecutor to remove anybody for illegally holding an office," Simmons said, citing another state statute.

If Sawochka wins and doesn't resign or retire from his teaching position, he would be holding the School Board office illegally, said Simmons, adding his office "would encourage the county prosecutor to act."

Sawochka said he doesn't see a conflict. He would, he said, recuse himself from voting on any bargaining-related issue.

Russell's story notes both of Sawochka's opponents have indicated they will change his election if he wins in November. My question is why his name even appears on the ballot. It seems to me the Lake County Board of Elections had a duty to remove Sawochka from the ballot to avoid a post-election dispute over his election. The state law could not be more clear. I.C. 20-26-4-11 reads:

In addition to any other eligibility requirements for members of the governing body of a school corporation as set forth in law, an individual who is employed as a teacher or as a noncertificated employee (as defined in IC 20-29-2-11) of the school corporation may not be a member of the governing body of the school corporation.

State and local government employees and other agencies whose jobs are funded with federal dollars are prohibited from seeking election to partisan offices under the so-called federal Little Hatch Act. Indiana has incorporated the federal prohibition into state statute. Challenges to candidacies based on that Act have occurred with some regularity and resulted in candidates being forced to choose between running for the office sought or resigning their government-funded position. It is unclear to me why Sawochka's opponents didn't challenge his candidacy when he filed to run for the office. The Indiana Elections Divisions' guide for 2010 candidates clearly notes the prohibition contained in IC 20-29-2-11 in noting the qualification requirements for school board candidates. A school board candidate's nominating petition signed by at least 10 voters of the school district requires the candidate to sign a statement consenting to being a candidate for school board which states the candidate "meet[s] all qualifications for this office."

A Closer Look At The MBE Component Of Indianapolis' Parking Meter Deal With ACS

It came as no surprise to most observers when Mayor Greg Ballard's administration chose ACS as the winner of a 50-year parking meter lease agreement with the City of Indianapolis. It came as no surprise that one of ACS's partners in the deal just happens to be Denison Parking, which already had the contract to provide parking meter enforcement for the city, and operates and/or owns most of the parking garages and lots in the downtown area. What surprised me was how Denison Parking was being represented as a minority business enterprise in the deal. A closer examination of the deal turns up some interesting information.

Denison Parking formed a partnership with minority business-owned Global Parking on December 15 of last year called Denison Global Parking for the sole purpose of bidding with ACS on this project and meeting the Ballard administration's requirement that any winning bidder meet certain MBE/WBE requirements. ACS chose to partner with Denison Global Parking and Evens Time, a local women-owned business enterprise about which very little is known. Much more, however, is known about Global Parking and its owner, Hal Darring. Global Parking won a lucrative parking deal with the Indianapolis Airport Authority a few years back thanks to Darring's good friend, Lacy Johnson, who served as President of the Indianapolis Airport Authority at the time as an appointee of former Mayor Bart Peterson. Johnson is a partner at Ice Miller, which coincidentally served as legal counsel for the airport authority at the same time Johnson served as its president. Johnson still serves on the airport authority as its vice president as the appointee of the county commissioners. Ice Miller also is serving as the city's legal counsel on the much-criticized 50-year lease agreement the city signed with ACS, which is extremely similar to the City of Chicago's 75-year lease agreement for its parking meter business with LAZ Parking.

To understand the background of this current MBE deal with Denison Global Parking under the ACS lease agreement, we have to travel back in time to 2004. Hal Darring then worked in a joint venture with Central Parking, the country's largest parking garage operator, which held the lease for the airport's Premier Business Class parking lot at the time, which previously had been operated by Denison Parking. Central Parking mentored Darring and gave him a 30% stake in its joint venture to operate the Premier lot at the airport. In 2004, Darring formed a new company, Global Parking, LLC and negotiated a parking deal for his newly-formed company behind his joint venture partner's back and cut out Central Parking entirely. Central Parking cried foul, saying it had offered the airport authority a deal on better terms and the opportunity for competitive bidding had been denied. It sued Darring and his Global Parking for breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty.

At the time, the airport was still operated by BAA under a public-private agreement executed by the administration of Mayor Steve Goldsmith. After Johnson took charge of the airport authority's board, he constantly pressured BAA to award contracts to friends of his that operate MBEs and to provide jobs to other minority friends of his, one of whom was State Rep. Vanessa Summers. A former airport authority executive director David Roberts, claimed he was fired by BAA because of his refusal to acquiesce to Johnson's demands. The IBJ's Chris O'Malley explained what had happened in a story from January 17, 2005:

What might ordinarily be dismissed as sour grapes from a spurned contractor has a different flavor just six months after former airport director David Roberts accused Lacy Johnson, a prominent Democrat whom Mayor Bart Peterson named as airport board chairman, of engaging favored contractors for key assignments.


Roberts' intent-to-sue notice was filed in June with Attorney General Steve Carter and the Indiana Political Subdivision Risk Management Commission . . .

Airport management veteran Roberts . . .  said BAA in recent years has become focused on pleasing an airport board concerned with political payback.


Roberts, who filed his complaint with state officials as a required precursor to a potential lawsuit, claimed he was dismissed by BAA for voicing concerns about Johnson and other board members.

In 2000, Mayor Peterson appointed Johnson as the first black chairman of the airport board. Johnson is a friend of Peterson's and has opened his home to fund-raisers for the mayor.

"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," Roberts charged in his complaint.

Among those Johnson sought to employ at the airport was an embalmer for whom there were no suitable job openings-a protege of Johnson's godmother, U.S. Rep. Julia Carson, Roberts said.

Records compiled by CampaignMoney.com show Darring made three campaign contributions to Carson while he was negotiating with the airport to run Premier solo.

Darring gave Carson's campaign $1,950 between April, when talks began, and July, when negotiations concluded. Darring's firm gave $250 to Peterson's re-election campaign in 2003.

Darring did not return phone calls.

Johnson said he "didn't even know Hal Darring made a contribution" to Carson.

At Airport Authority board meetings, Johnson has frequently asked airport staff if they have earnestly sought minority and female contractors, as is the Airport Authority's stated goal. Minority groups in previous years criticized the board for not reaching out to disadvantaged businesses, such as during the construction of the United Airlines maintenance base in the early 1990s.

Johnson, an attorney at prominent Indianapolis law firm Ice Miller, disputed Roberts' allegations of political opportunism. He said he never encouraged Darring to make a proposal to run the Premier lot, nor did he suggest BAA consider him.


Johnson said he and other board members received a favorable report from BAA staff in August and concluded Darring's Global Parking operation was suitable for a long-term agreement. The board approved the deal Aug. 6.

Roberts' untimely death ended his litigation against the airport authority before he had the opportunity to prove his claims against Johnson and the airport authority. Johnson wound up cancelling BAA's contract to manage the airport authority before the end of Peterson's last term as mayor. He was later instrumental in getting the controversial John Clark installed as the new CEO of the airport authority after Mayor Greg Ballard appointed former Lilly CEO Randy Tobias as the board's new chief. Central Parking's lawsuit against the double-dealing Darring in a Hamilton Superior Court dragged on for nearly four years. After the court granted partial summary judgment in favor of Central Parking and against Darring and Global Parking for breach of fiduciary duty, the parties entered into a private settlement rather than take the case to trial in 2008.

I find it troubling Darring's quick marriage to Denison Parking landed their new partnership smack dab in the middle of this highly-controversial parking meter lease the Ballard administration entered into with ACS, particularly since Darring's good friend Lacy Johnson's law firm, Ice Miller, handled negotiations on behalf of the city. Ballard is already under fire because of ACS's ties to Barnes & Thornburg. Mayor Ballard's own personal legal advisor, former Deputy Mayor under Steve Goldsmith, Joe Loftus, personally lobbies for ACS as a partner at Barnes & Thornburg. Although city lobbying records show Loftus as the registered lobbyist for ACS, Loftus insists he has not participated in any discussions on behalf of his client concerning the parking meter lease. City-County Council President Ryan Vaughn, who was hired by Loftus to work as a lobbyist for Barnes & Thornburg, also insists he had no role in negotiating on behalf of ACS and insists he will participate in the council's debate and vote on the parking deal, notwithstanding his firm's attorney-client relationship with ACS. Vaughn lobbies for the firm at the state level, which has served as registered lobbyist for ACS. According to state lobbying records on file with the Indiana Lobbyist Registration Commission and the Indiana Department of Administration, Vaughn has lobbied the legislature and the Daniels' administration on behalf of ACS.

Interestingly, Deputy Mayor Mike Huber has also been asked about his ties to ACS. He acknowledged during a Rules & Public Policy Committee hearing on the proposed deal this past week he used to work for a company owned by Skip Stitt, who is now a top executive with ACS. He said Stitt, who formerly worked for Mayor Goldsmith like Loftus, took no part in the decision, and Huber says he recused himself from scoring the bids submitted because of his relationship with other bidders as well. He noted his friendship with Paul Okeson, Mayor Ballard's former Chief of Staff, who left the administration to join Keystone Construction, another MBE that has won many city contracts under the Ballard administration. Keystone partnered with LAZ Parking, the same company that was awarded the Chicago parking meter deal and the recently-announced parking meter deal in Pittsburgh. ACS won a contract with the City of Chicago in 2008 to handle parking enforcement through a system of cameras equipped on city street sweepers to issue automated tickets to parking violators. As I've previously noted, the opportunity for collusion among the few companies that bid for these parking meter deals is high.

What really concerns me about the way the Ballard administration has handled contracting since he took office in 2008 is the incredible emphasis on awarding contracts to MBEs, WBEs and VBEs. If you study Ballard's campaign finance reports, you quickly figure out that the beneficiaries of this greater emphasis on ensuring a fixed percentage of all contracts are awarded to minority contractors have been very generous in making contributions to his re-election campaign. It also bothers me because there is not transparency in many cases as to who all owns an interest in these MBEs. As with Denison Global, you have a big non-minority contractor lending its name and credibility to a lesser-experienced minority contractor to produce an MBE-qualified subcontractor for the ACS parking meter lease deal. In places like Chicago, prosecutors have discovered that minority contracting is rampant with fraud as what are truly white-owned companies parade as minority fronts. As far as I can tell, the Ballard administration's Minority Business Development office is nothing more than a racket to mine for campaign contributions and see to it that these minority contractors who are generously contributing to his re-election campaign are taken care of with plenty of subcontracts on city-awarded deals.

In the interest of transparency, I would like to see every beneficial owner of at least a 5% ownership of these certified MBEs, WBEs, and VBEs identified and made available online. I suspect that information would be quite hair-raising. I would also like to see Indiana, like other states, limit minority and women-owned status to businesses that are truly disadvantaged. It is nonsensical to provide special opportunities for large minority-owned firms, such as Mays Chemical. Minority companies with gross revenues exceeding a certain threshold, such as $15 million, should not be treated on more favorable terms than other contractors. I frankly have a problem, in general, with picking winners and losers in the government contracting business based on whether they are a minority, woman or veteran-owned business. Let them compete on the same playing field in the ideal free market; however, short of that, it should be limited to businesses that can demonstrate at some level they are disadvantaged.

Does Gloria Allred Represent Her Clients Or Her Political Agenda And Craving For Media Attention?

Gloria Allred professes to be one of California's top employment lawyers, but her incessant appetite to see herself on TV and in print seems to take a real toll on the clients she supposedly represents. This week, she commanded a lot of media attention when she held a press conference to accuse Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, who is locked in a tight race with former California Governor Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown, of employing an illegal alien as a maid for nearly a decade. During the 2003 California gubernatorial election, Allred conducted a press conference shortly before the election on behalf of her client, Rhonda Miller, a Hollywood film stuntwoman, who claimed Republican gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger had sexually assaulted her years earlier while working on a movie set with him. As with that case, Allred seems to actually cause more harm to her client's cause in the pursuit of media attention and impacting close elections to the benefit of the Democratic candidates she supports.

After Allred's highly-staged press conference in 2003 failed to defeat Schwarzenegger, she later tried to sue him and a campaign associate for defamation after the campaign aide sent an e-mail to reporters suggesting they look at Miller's criminal record. A Los Angeles judge later dismissed the case applying a "clear and convincing standard" to Miller's claim because Allred had made her client a public figure as a result of the highly-publicized press conference Allred conducted on her behalf to make Schwarzenegger out to be a sexual predator. Schwarzenegger's aide had mistaken Miller for another person with the same name who had a criminal record. Explaining his ruling, Judge Robert Hess wrote:

"The evidence before the court establishes that Mr. Schwarzenegger neither knew of nor approved the text of the disputed e-mail before it was sent," the judge wrote.

Moreover, the judge said, there was no proof that Schwarzenegger's campaign communications director, Sean Walsh, or others knew Miller had no criminal record when they attempted to respond to her accusations of being accosted by Schwarzenegger.


"This case presents an arguable failure to further investigate where a reasonable, prudent person might have done so; however, the court is not persuaded that it presents a purposeful avoidance of the truth," Hess said . . .

"Our position has always been the same: that Arnold Schwarzenegger should never have been sued in this case," said his attorney, Martin Singer. "As we have stated from Day One, this lawsuit was not filed on the merits. It was filed to try and hurt him."

Allred initially said her client would appeal the dismissal of Miller's lawsuit, but her client smartly decided not to follow Allred's advice and dropped the case.

In this latest case, Allred paraded her client in front of a bevy of reporters to announce to the world that she was an illegal alien who illegally worked as a maid for Meg Whitman for almost a decade. Whitman and her husband hired the maid after having her referred to them by an employment agency. She presented herself as a legal resident of the U.S. with a social security number. The Whitman's paid the maid $23 an hour for her work and paid all applicable payroll taxes on her income. When the maid, Nicky Diaz, told the Whitmans last year she was illegally in the country and using a bogus social security number, they fired her. Allred said that wasn't good enough because she said the Whitmans had received a notice from the Social Security Administration seven years ago, referred to as a "red flag" letter, that the social security number did not match the information furnished by the employee. The letter expressly stated SSA was not alleging the employee was an undocumented alien and should not be used by the employer to take adverse employment action againt the employee. Why the maid had the letter addressed to the Whitmans in her possession is unclear. Her client claims Whitman's husband penned a note on it to Nicky instructing her to help clear up the matter. Here's his take on the letter:

“The essential fact remains the same, neither Meg nor I believed there was a problem with Nicky’s legal status and I certainly don’t recall ever discussing it with my wife, nor did I ever show her any letter about it. The facts of this matter are very clear: Ms. Diaz broke the law and lied to us and to the employment agency. When she confessed her deception to us last year, we ended her employment immediately. Meg and I played by the rules and followed the law. Ms. Diaz did not. If, as she claims, she received this letter and note of inquiry from me, she never answered my request to look into this. Instead, she choose to continue her deception. This entire matter is a sad one and it’s timing is clearly the result of a calculated and cynical political smear by Meg’s opponents.”

During an interview with radio talk show host Mark Levin, Allred, who insists her client is an "undocumented worker" from Nicaragua, not an "illegal alien", says she is representing her in a claim against the Whitmans with the California Dept. of Labor claiming she wasn't paid overtime by the Whitmans or reimbursed mileage for errands she ran for the Whitmans using her car, a claim she just filed this week. Allred makes it clear she is not an immigration lawyer and is not representing her client in any capacity as an immigration lawyer. Levin asked Allred about exposing her client's status as an "undocumented worker" who worked unlawfully and used a fake social security number to do so. Allred insists Diaz was advised of the risks of coming forward and decided on her own to go public with the allegations knowing she could be subjected to removal proceedings for being in the country illegally or face criminal charges for using a false social security. Allred told Levin she thought it was outrageous for Levin to suggest she had "exploited" Diaz for political purposes. She repeatedly called Whitman a liar for not denying she had prior knowledge Diaz was working illegally.

Here's my take. If Allred wanted to represent Diaz in her unpaid wage claim, she should have simply filed the claim with the Dept. of Labor without conducting a press conference as attorneys do daily in this country in the course of their practices. For some reason, Allred thinks any attorney-client relationship she has is a matter of public interest and requires a highly-publicized press conference no matter how badly that media attention might harm her own client's interests. Allred insists the timing of her press conference was not politically-motivated despite her past political support for Brown's campaigns and the Democratic Party. That's total bull and she knows it. The purpose of her press conference was to announce to the world that the Whitmans employed an illegal alien and supposedly the Whitmans didn't treat their $23 an hour illegal domestic worker very nicely. I wonder how many unemployed workers there are out there who wish they had been so lucky to land a job as a maid at a luxury home for a corporate executive that paid $23 an hour. It seems to me the attorney-disciplinary commission in California ought to be taking a hard look at Allred's tactics, which in my opinion, adversely affect her clients' interests. Whether it is to further her political agenda or gain media attention for herself, her conduct is completely unbecoming of an attorney who takes an oath to abide by the rules of professional conduct. It's time for someone in a position of authority to put a lid on Allred before she harms more of her clients.

Hamilton Co. Prosecutor To Appoint Special Prosecutor To Investigate Charlie White

Hamilton Co. Prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp tells WRTV she plans to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate whether Republican Secretary of State candidate Charlie White fraudulently voted in the wrong precinct in order to keep his seat on the council of the Town of Fishers. This really is window dressing at this point on the part of Leerkamp, who is already under fire for her mishandling of the criminal charges against several Carmel basketball players accused of sexually assaulting a black freshman member of the team, because Leerkamp admits no findings are likely to be rendered until after the election. WRTV's Norm Cox reports:

Hamilton County Prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp said Thursday she will appoint a special prosecutor to look into complaints against the Republican candidate for secretary of state, but it likely won't happen in time to satisfy Democrats' demands for quick action.
Democrat Vop Osili forayed into Republican Hamilton County on Thursday to ask the Republican prosecutor to investigate the Republican county chairman, Charlie White, who's running against Osili for Secretary of State, 6News' Norman Cox reported.

Osili and the Democrats have seized on several admitted missteps by White, such as voting from his former home on the west side of Fishers in the primary, months after moving into this condo on the east side of town, and continuing to represent his old district on the town council even after moving away.
They have said they want him charged with a voter fraud felony, and they want it done before the November election, something they got no encouragement on from Leerkamp.
"I'd like to say I can help you in terms of getting it done before the election, but investigations take their own time, especially if there's a special prosecutor involved," Leerkamp's chief deputy, Jeffrey Wehmeuller, told Osili.

Meanwhile, Republicans were striking back, charging Osili with several campaign finance violations, such as having anonymous contributors.
He promised to check into it, but said even if the charges were true, they were easily corrected, and much less serious than White's.
6News tried to find White on Thursday, but he was not at his old home, his new home or his campaign office, where staff members were vague about where he was, the special prosecutor request or their involvement, if any, in the accusations against Osili.
 
A Republican state committee representative later confirmed that it was the party organization, not White, that had brought the accusations against Osili.
As for the special prosecutor, Leerkamp said that it had always been her thinking to appoint one.

She said that would probably happen before the election, but that it would be very unlikely the special prosecutor would produce any findings before the balloting.

Ah, The Politics Of Running For Mayor Of Chicago

In Chicago, everyone wants to be mayor. Who would have thought someone would quit the prestigious job as the top White House official to the President of the United States to return home to run for mayor? That's exactly what Rahm Emanuel is doing today. And who would have thought that the most anti-gay black minister in the Windy City (also a candidate for mayor) would, ahem, request a meeting with the leader of a gay rights organization. That happened too. The Sun-Times' Michael Sneed explains the Rev. James Meeks unlikely meeting with the head of Illinois Equality:

The Rev. James Meeks must be very serious about running for mayor.


To wit: Sneed is told Meeks, a state senator who is very unpopular in the gay community for his track record on gay issues, requested a hush-hush meeting with Rick Garcia, a top Illinois gay rights activist, days after Mayor Daley decided not to run again.

"Rev. Meeks, who would never return Rick's calls in the past, is now treating Rick like his best friend," said a source familiar with the meeting.


The upshot: "It's true we met, and Rev. Meeks has a completely anti-gay voting record and said horrible things about the gay community," Garcia, a founder of Equality Illinois, told Sneed. "But my job is to build bridges, so we met at his Salem Baptist Church."

The final shot: "He [Meeks] told me he knows its going to be a hard sell and a hard stretch to endorse him, but he wanted to make sure he didn't say things wrong. It was mainly an educational meeting," said Garcia, "but it lasted two hours."

The kicker: "The only mayoral hopeful who hasn't called me is ... Rahm Emanuel," Garcia said.

Yep, hell has frozen over. Chicago politics. You've gotta love it.