A press release from Mayor Greg Ballard's office says he will testify tomorrow morning before the Senate Appropriations Committee "concerning the importance of Downtown Indianapolis and the future of the Capital Improvement Board." Those are the talking points Bob Grand and Joe Loftus handed to him, and he's sticking to them. The two do not go hand-in-hand, Mayor Ballard. If you truly believe that, then you are the most uninformed resident of our city. Mayor Ballard's ill-advised decision to follow Grand's and Loftus' advice in the handling of this matter has single-handedly destroyed his political career. The despair and disillusion he has dealt the people who elected him is now beyond repair.
UPDATE: It looks like the Marion County GOP is going to ride this sinking ship down with Ballard. A newsletter from the Marion County GOP this afternoon, commenting on Ballard's planned speech in support of the bailout tomorrow, reads: "You can help us spread Mayor Ballard's message of how Downtown Indianapolis is important to the economy of our community and all of Indiana." Contact Dan Tierney at dtierney@indygop.com for more information. Dan wants you to know that he and Greg were just kidding in all of those press releases they put out during the 2007 municipal election calling for leaner, smarter and more transparent government.
8 comments:
I wonder if one day there will be some kind of explanation dug up for this case of political suicide? It defies comprehension.
If Ballard does this, his political career is over. He may not even get out of the Republican primary.
I'll spare you the long-winded diatribe and offer up a link to it instead:
We were wrong and we're being wronged'
Whoa!
DI,
The explantation is that we have a politically inexperienced mayor who hasn't a clue that what he's about to do will seal his fate and that of the council Republicans the next election. Ballard is so naive and inexperienced, he's getting used by people like Bob Grand who couldn't care less if Ballard wins re-election
Paul, I just can't figure his being so willing to take a fall, with not ONE word of opposition. It doesn't make sense, and is beyond writing off to inexperience.
If it were me in the 25th floor doing this, I'd be ashamed to be show my face in public. Could $400K in salary for the time in office really be worth taking a dive and humiliating oneself this way? Maybe there's some bigger payoff after leaving office - one of those 'consultant' deals - and all he has to do is just play along until then.
DI,
I think Mayor Ballard is so naive and he's so isolated, that he has no idea that what he is doing is going to end his political career and drag down the Republicans with him. I don't think his advisors, e.g. What is disgusting is that the D's are no better on this issue than the R's and in many ways is worse. The biggest critics of the CIB out there are Republican bloggers. Democrats, except for IPOPA, are silent.
I think if one of his political advisors dared to tell Mayor this is not a good idea, that person wouldn't have a job very long. Grand and Loftus would have that person booted. I've been in Republican politics long enough to know the mentality that is out there.
We must stand against Greg Ballard and is corruption with all effort and energies. This man is the absolute worst thing to ever happen to our city. Now I understand why he did not want any honest people in his administration. Protest, protest, protest, boycott Pacers Games, Colts Games and Convention Center Events. Boycott Downtown Restaurants, especially Harry and Izzy's, owned by our Lap Dancing prosecutor Carl Brizzi.
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