Council Members Outfoxed By Ballard Administration On Corrupt Vision Fleet Agreement

So much for the role our Indianapolis City-County Council members play in protecting the public from a corrupt mayor intent on entering into one-sided agreements with political cronies that cost city taxpayers dearly. The council took Mayor Ballard's administration to court after it learned it had illegally entered into a no-bid, 7-year, $32 million contract with Vision Fleet, a company that didn't exist before the signing of the agreement more than a year ago, to lease a fleet of electric and hybrid vehicles that are ill-suited for many city employees, including public safety officers, who were expected to drive them and figure out how they could re-charge them at their homes without burning their houses down. The council's attorney laid out a very compelling legal argument that the contract was void at the moment it was entered into because so many state and local public bidding rules were ignored.

This week, the council and the administration announced they had reached an agreement with Vision Fleet under which the City would not purchase the 213 remaining cars left to be purchased under the agreement under the terms of the 7-year lease agreement without putting the opportunity out for bid under the normal bidding requirements for leasing vehicles. The administration ran out and leased close to a hundred more of the 212 cars the City has now taken possession of after the council challenged the legality of the 7-year lease agreement. The same day the Mayor's office announced it has reached a formal agreement with the council to end the litigation it filed to have the lease declared null and void, the City put out for bid a four-year lease agreement for the remaining 213 cars, the bids for which are due back within thirty (30) days on October 2, 2015.

RFP-14DPW-598  Four (4) Year Term Contract to provide an Electric Vehicle Program to the Consolidated City of Indianapolis - Marion County, through the Indianapolis Department of Public Works, Fleet Services Division.

Due Date: 10/2/2015 at 12:00 Noon (EST) - Buyer: Wendy Thanisch (Wendy.Thanisch@indy.gov) 

Questions Due: 9/23/2015 at 12:00 Noon (EST)

Since Vision Fleet already has the existing contract, albeit illegal, you can bet that no other company will have the ability to meet the specifications set out in the bid requirements on such short notice and Vision Fleet will wind up just bidding against itself. The discussion the council insisted was needed to determine which city agencies and employees were suited for using electric and hybrid vehicles was never had and how this contract will impact IMPD's ability to hire additional police officers the public was told would be hired with the monies raised from the 10% local income tax increase never occurred. That's to say nothing of the civil and criminal liability of members of the Ballard administration that our city council members seemed to casually sweep away after all of the bluster we heard from them earlier when they first learned of this corrupt deal.

Isn't it true the administration is already reneging on budget commitments to hire the new police officers promised by this latest tax increase just like happened the last time we raised income taxes by 65% supposedly to hire more police officers but somehow wound up with even fewer police officers?

Hat tip to Had Enough Indy.

UPDATE: The sad state of affairs is amplified by news that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has convinced a federal judge to nullify his four-game suspension over the Deflategate scandal, but we can't get a judge in Marion County to nullify illegal contracts entered into by our corrupt mayor to defraud city taxpayers.