Comments on Advance Indiana™: Ballard Throws Away $4.5 Million In Crime Prevention Grants

Don't forget that Indianapolis Downtown Inc. alrea...

2009-01-18T13:44:00.000-05:00

Don't forget that Indianapolis Downtown Inc. already sucks a lot of money from the taxpayers to dole out high salaries for a bunch of talking heads. I suspect that the $160,000 will go to another high salaried employee who will meet with city officials and demand that they do the work that they purportedly are doing themselves.

Personally, I'm disgusted that handouts are being ...

2009-01-18T00:02:00.000-05:00

Personally, I'm disgusted that handouts are being given to a group of black racists, a band, and several churches.

Why don't they give the money to me? At least that wouldn't be barred under the First Amendment!

I think the term "shakedown artists' suggested by ...

2009-01-16T20:56:00.000-05:00

I think the term "shakedown artists' suggested by Patriot Paul hit the nail on the head.....the Rev. Benjamin has a very liberal monthly allowance at Brooks Brothers also.

As for Section 6, usually a church sets up a separ...

2009-01-16T17:56:00.000-05:00

As for Section 6, usually a church sets up a separate non-profit to conduct the social mission.

Reading the city's PR thing, they're giving money to churches.

This happened several years ago when the city gave $1,000 directly to St Rita's for a "Khryst-Kwanzaa Celebration".

We can't have government writing checks directly to churches, this is nuts.

I don't know about Rev Benjamin, but his TV camera...

2009-01-16T17:20:00.000-05:00

I don't know about Rev Benjamin, but his TV cameraman drives a loaded full-sized Caddy.

I'm not from Indy so I don't know all these player...

2009-01-16T15:34:00.000-05:00

I'm not from Indy so I don't know all these players, but Jesse Jackson comes to my mind as I read through these comments.

To: JasonI would use the words "Shakedown Artists"...

2009-01-16T14:09:00.000-05:00

To: Jason
I would use the words "Shakedown Artists"

Everyone here needs to be at the Mayor's Luau and ...

2009-01-16T13:30:00.000-05:00

Everyone here needs to be at the Mayor's Luau and we need to discuss these things loudly and make sure the Mayor (and everyone else) hears us.

Doesn't the Bishop Benjamin drive a Rolls?

2009-01-16T13:28:00.000-05:00

Doesn't the Bishop Benjamin drive a Rolls?

Wow, I agree with ArtFuggins twice in one thread. ...

2009-01-16T13:14:00.000-05:00

Wow, I agree with ArtFuggins twice in one thread. Hell must be freezing over. Heck, considering what it's like outside, Earth is freezing over too.

I don't agree though as to those comments that suggest it is a violation of Art I, Section 6 simply because the money goes to a program that may have some affiliation with a religious group. The Salvation Army and Wheeler Mission have religious underpinnings. Even AA is religious-based. The question is whether the money is given to benefit the religion institution or to benefit the program. In short, people are reading that provision too broadly.

Is this effectively the same group that was scream...

2009-01-16T12:41:00.000-05:00

Is this effectively the same group that was screaming like a bunch of harpies for millions of dollars a few years ago?

Article 1, section 6:"No money shall be drawn from...

2009-01-16T12:33:00.000-05:00

Article 1, section 6:

"No money shall be drawn from the treasury, for the benefit of any religious or theological institution."

Where's the ACLU when you need them ?

Paul K and Patriot Paul, I am in agreement with b...

2009-01-16T11:30:00.000-05:00

Paul K and Patriot Paul, I am in agreement with both of you...there are some scam artists involved who use the money for cars, expensive suits, cell phones etc......I could name some but won't but they are the same ones who are always there with their hands out but rarely have anything to show what they have done....but they look good in their suits and travel well to the press conferences and to the poliltical gatherings of the Mayor.

The constitutional restriction against giving publ...

2009-01-16T07:52:00.000-05:00

The constitutional restriction against giving public money to churches seems to have been forgotten.

Inevitably, when you offer a pile of money like th...

2009-01-16T07:46:00.000-05:00

Inevitably, when you offer a pile of money like this, groups come out of the woodwork seeking funding. Because so many grants are ultimately awarded, most of the grants are relatively small. None are large enough to really establish any new, concentrated initiatives. For the most part, nothing more will happen than what was happening before. The groups treat the money as an unexpected windfall and spend it accordingly. The same is true with the art grants people complained were being cut. The total pool was only $2 million and the size of the average grant was quite small.

Words cannot express the disgust. There is a lady ...

2009-01-16T07:22:00.000-05:00

Words cannot express the disgust. There is a lady named Sally Spiers who was appointed to head up the disbursements, and I hope she plays accounting watchdog. The idea of giving taxpayer $ to religious institutions raises a red flag, especially when some of these ministers are driving high-end vehicles. You have to wonder.
Thank you for your great reporting.

The trouble is Downtown that money rarely gets dow...

2009-01-16T04:49:00.000-05:00

The trouble is Downtown that money rarely gets down to the people it's supposed to help. If it did that would be a completely different thing.

Setting up an organization to solicit grant money is one of the biggest scams around. Often the money is used to buy cars and other stuff for those who run the program. One prominent Indianapolis official uses grant money to pay for the cell phones of all the members of his family.

There are legitimate groups out there that really do try to help the community. Unfortunately the pols who dish out the money don't make enough of an effort to distinguish the legitimate organizations from those which are set up to get grant money to enrich the people who run the organizations.

I believe this is an attempt to secure support for...

2009-01-16T01:01:00.000-05:00

I believe this is an attempt to secure support for his reelection campaign in 2011. Some of these groups contribute and are deserving but several are groups who do nothing positive and even some create more problems than they solve.

Okay... Then how would YOU have doled out the mone...

2009-01-15T22:28:00.000-05:00

Okay... Then how would YOU have doled out the money?

I am not personally aware of what any of these groups do, but I presume it's in the realm of dealing with troubled youth, ex-offender counselling/outreach and/or providing activities for kids as a way to get them off the streetcorner where they may otherwise turn to crime.