Comments on Advance Indiana™: CIB Woes Pale In Comparison To Looming Gusher At The Water Company

The price to flush goes up. The price of food goes...

2009-04-13T17:36:00.000-05:00

The price to flush goes up. The price of food goes up. The price of drinking water goes up. The price of alcohol goes up.

No property tax caps and the price of tickets to a valued ball game go up.

When does everyone get tired of BIG BROTHER choking you to death?

You have just been taxed out of the needs in life!

The evidence is out there to unravel the deceit and corruption and the few that try get destroyed. Maybe you might listen to those that know.

Krieg DeVault is registered to lobby for Veolia, P...

2009-04-12T20:48:00.000-05:00

Krieg DeVault is registered to lobby for Veolia, Paul.

AI,Veolia is one of the companies that received a ...

2009-04-12T19:44:00.000-05:00

AI,

Veolia is one of the companies that received a diversity award from the Mayor. I remember looking into it at the time and finding out that Veolia was a client of B&T. I can't remember where I got the info from however.

Beurt SerVaas had other plans for the land that th...

2009-04-11T11:16:00.000-05:00

Beurt SerVaas had other plans for the land that the Water Company's main offices sit on. He wanted to move the main office to another location and have the city donate the land to IUPUI. Then he would have donated his land that sits right next door to the water company. There were actual blue prints showing the new building that would have had his name attached to it that would have been built on the site. Not to mention he would have received a very nice tax right off on the buildings and the land he owned. He truly didn't give a rats ass about the taxpayers of Indianapolis, all he truly cared about was his legacy (they named the main council chamber after him) and his pocket book. Luckily the cost of relocating the main office was too prohibitive.

Jabberdoddle, please don't try to marginalize info...

2009-04-11T10:03:00.000-05:00

Jabberdoddle, please don't try to marginalize information contained in this blog by throwing around the word "conspiracy." The facts are that government is full of self-dealing profiteers who look out for themselves and their friends under the guise of civic service. When you want to know why events occurred as they did, the old adage of "follow the money" answers all of the questions all of the time.

Anyone with any sense knows that you don't put more than half of your debt in variable rate bonds. Even during the last Board of Waterworks meeting on March 19, 2009, Jim Steele admitted (maybe that is why he did not get hired as the director) that it was not sound practice to have 60% of their debt in variable rate bonds. But, of course, the too-smart-by-half crowd had convinced the previous board that it was sound to follow that path. And Advance Indiana is correct. it is just like adjustable rate mortgages in the sense that it permits people and organizations to make unsound decisions that are later regretted. Yet no one who made those decisions or gave that advice is being called to the carpet.
Some credit has to be given to Benjamin Hunter for at least making the water company appear before the Board of Public Works on April 2, 2009 and Janice McHenry for asking a couple of cogent questions. But those responsible for this mess have not been exposed.

Jabberdoddle, you should be giving kudos for Advance Indiana for at least trying to shed some light on this issue and exposing those responsible for this rape of water company ratepayers.

Those of us who supported Ballard's election thoug...

2009-04-11T09:20:00.000-05:00

Those of us who supported Ballard's election thought that is exactly what he planned to do. That was before we learned that Bob Grand had really become mayor and Ballard became just a puppet whose strings were being pulled by Grand.

That is a good question that deserves an answer.It...

2009-04-11T09:04:00.000-05:00

That is a good question that deserves an answer.

It would be a good thing if there was some committee of financial experts set up to review all of our past and present investment strategies. The purpose would be to come up with new rules to keep our finances from consuming our budgets - either through too much bonding or too risky bonding.

I'm not sure there is the political will to do so, though. One thing Democrats and Republicans in office can often agree on is - you don't look too closely at my shortcomings and I won't look too closely at yours when I get the chance.

As near as I can tell, variable rate bonds are the...

2009-04-11T08:31:00.000-05:00

As near as I can tell, variable rate bonds are the equivalent of what adjustable rate mortgages are to the mortgage industry. When the first stories were written locally, a former bond advisor to the state told the IBJ that she would never recommended their use because of the risk potential associated with their use. It is a fact that they were being pushed because they could offer the borrowers lower initial interest rates and at the same time earn higher fees than with typical long-term bonds. When the water company purchase was being sold to the council, the documents they were shown indicated the bonds would be financed by long-term fixed rate bonds. This clearly didn't happen. Why?

Wow - that's a vast conspiracy. The current issue...

2009-04-11T08:09:00.000-05:00

Wow - that's a vast conspiracy.

The current issue revolves around the water company's variable rate bonds not being refinanced. The City tried last year, but could not get it done in that economy.

Yes, the City had a bunch of variable rate bonds for all sorts of things - much like other governmental units throughout the Country. In hindsight it wasn't conservative enough to weather the economic changes that evolved from the energy cost increases of a couple of years ago and then the collapse of the credit markets just this past year.

The City began converting out of all the variable rate bonds a couple of years ago, in response to the changed market and increased volatility of those bonds. The water company, to my understanding, was the last of those. The timing was such that the credit market was tightening up and the feat could not be accomplished then (last year). I am not sure if they have managed to get the deal done in the last month or not.

We also recently saw that both the Circle Center folks and the CIB had/have to stash away some hard cash (around $25 million each) as a sort of collateral for future bond payments, due to the downgraded rating of their bond insurance company. (that's my way of understanding the issue. Someone technically adept in the field would likely use different jargon than 'collateral')

It is worth examining the root causes of calamities so that they are not repeated in the future. But, come on. This one hinges on bad bond investments, not all the 'evils' of the Peterson administration at once.

Advance - brilliant work.Craigslist has taken over...

2009-04-11T07:36:00.000-05:00

Advance - brilliant work.

Craigslist has taken over the Star's classified ad business. You're eating into their news business !

Paul, it was my understanding that B&T represe...

2009-04-11T06:50:00.000-05:00

Paul, it was my understanding that B&T represented United Water, which has the contract to manage the wastewater system. United Water competed against Veolia to win the management contract for the water company, but Peterson didn't want United Water because of its ties to the Goldsmith administration. I know that Karen Horseman, who formerly worked for B&T at the time of the IWC purchase, had to abstain from voting on it as a city council member because B&T represented United Water.

Veolia is also a client of Barnes & Thornburg ...

2009-04-10T23:35:00.000-05:00

Veolia is also a client of Barnes & Thornburg which runs city government. I'm pretty sure they aren't going to let Ballard cancel Veolia's contract.

I'm very thankful I'm on a well.