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.