...but then, when didn’t we? We’re still talking about the Georgia Street fiasco, and we’ll try not to get into partisan politics.
On the assumption that, for practical purposes, the up-coming mayoral election is a two person race, we’d like some enlightenment.
We know where the incumbent stands on this waste of public money. We also know that he continues to insist that renaming three blocks of Georgia Street is a necessity. (We don’t agree, but if the change is to be made we still favor our entry in the contest - "Boondoggle Boulevard.)
The challenger in the election has said - fairly unenthusiastically, we thought - the name change is not appropriate. We have not seen any of her thoughts on the project itself.
Since she was significantly involved in the administration of the previous mayor, who was himself a devout believer in generosity with tax funds, we wonder whether or not the proposed name change is the only problem she has with this frivolous use of our money.
We’d like to see some specific statements from both candidates as to whether the person elected this fall will continue policies (abatements, grants, loans, etc. to the favored developers) which unfortunately have been municipal policy for a number of decades. This would be particularly interesting considering the fact that much public utterance from both sides sounds like it comes from candidates for the school board instead of the mayor’s office.
It would be nice if we had some direct statements about serious prioritization of expenditures. Will the annual multi-million dollar gift to the Pacers be continued? Can we be guaranteed that the next opportunity to host the Super Bowl will be bypassed? Will "transportation" funds actually be used for IndyGo or related transportation projects?
Actually, we’re not very optimistic about this election providing any change in fiscal policy favorable to the taxpayers. Spenders are spenders, whether here or in Washington. A simple reduction in the number of zeros in the equation does not make a demand any more acceptable.
Amen! I hope you are sending this on paper to Ms. Kennedy via the USPS. Better yet, use whatever feature they have that requires it to be signed for by the recipient. It will only cost you a couple of bucks.
Posted by: Leslie Baker | September 23, 2011 at 02:05 PM
The best analogy I can think of to describe political promises deals with real estate. It's a two story house; one story before I bought the house and an another story after I bought the house. So it is with politicans, they will promise anything to get elected but after they are elected they were either misquoted, misunderstood or that's not what I said.
Case in point, Ballard promised to roll back the county income tax increase. What did he do, increased numerous taxes and fees and raided TIF dollars for the Pacers and ICVA.
And frankly I don't see any hope of politicans keeping their promises and abiding by the wishes of their constituents.
Posted by: Vox Populi | September 24, 2011 at 05:37 PM
My guess is Ballard is going to sell the naming rights to Georgia Street.
Posted by: Paul K. Ogden | September 25, 2011 at 01:15 PM