Comments on Advance Indiana™: Carmel Mayor Spent $52,000 On Travel Over Past 5 Years

It is certainly more transparent, Pat, when Braina...

2013-02-18T09:21:06.170-05:00

It is certainly more transparent, Pat, when Brainard's travels are paid by the city than outside groups. The story also indicates that many of his trips are paid by others; those are not disclosed, which I believe they should be. None of Ballard's overseas travel expenditures are disclosed, even though they are paid for by a city-funded nonprofit, Develop Indy. As I've noted previously, this allows Ballard to solicit donations from his pay-to-play contractor friends to pay for the trips and, in turn, allow them to accompany him on the trips to curry favor with him. It's just another form of bribery as far as I'm concerned. The media refuses to play any watchdog role and call him out on this unseemly practice. The Indiana legislature should pass an ethics law that forces all elected officials to disclose far more than they are currently disclosing. As it is, the financial disclosure statements our public officials file annually are totally useless.

It is also interesting that the amount of money sp...

2013-02-18T09:12:42.152-05:00

It is also interesting that the amount of money spent on Brainard's travel is somehow known, while Ballard's globetrotting costs remain a mystery.

For better or worse, Brainard is a true businessma...

2013-02-17T23:42:52.366-05:00

For better or worse, Brainard is a true businessman. If you talk to him, you understand that he looks at nearly all aspects of his job from a business point of view.

The good side of that is that his talking points may be legitimate.

The down side is it means he's smart enough that they may not be.