Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Superbowl 2012 - What Are They Trying To Hide?

The Superbowl Ordinance, Proposal 188, 2011, now before the City-County Council's Rules and Public Policy Committee, leaves a lot of blanks.  These blanks are in the form of specific regulations and unilateral decisions to be made by folks in the Department of Code Enforcement. 

To better understand the full implication of Prop 188, I requested a list of those regulations being considered by DCE under this proposal.  They responded that they "cannot develop or propose regulation unless there is an ordinance in place".  Come on.  The City of Indianapolis, and DCE specifically, are undoubtedly aware of exactly what features the NFL wants in place in this ordinance.  Like the Clean Zone, for instance.

So... I requested a copy of all correspondence between DCE and any representative of the 2012 Superbowl Committee.  And, I asked City Legal for a copy of any agreement between the City and the NFL regarding Superbowl 2012.  The former is still in process, but just last night I received a reply to the latter request.

They could not find any documents that fit my request :
The City of Indianapolis has undertaken a search of its public records and did not locate any records responsive to your request.
There IS NO agreement between the City of Indianapolis and the NFL regarding Superbowl 2012 !

Let me get this straight -- the NFL unilaterally decided to lock in the location of the 2012 Superbowl, without written agreement on certain items, for instance:

Who will pay for police presence during the 2 week event?
Will the City provide, through its code enforcement and police force, the manpower to patrol and cite any vendors selling competing merchandise?
Will the City provide, through its code enforcement and police force, the manpower to patrol and cite any vendors using trademarked terms owned by the NFL - like the word 'superbowl'?
Will the City allow types of signage that are illegal inside Marion County without a variance?
Will the City allow the creation of 'clean zones' wherein the NFL will have final say as to who gets a vendor's license and for what purpose?
Will the City close specific streets to vehicular traffic to widen the NFL village to suit the purposes of the NFL?

The list goes on.  There is a detailed agreement, for sure.  The NFL wasn't born yesterday.  Likely the City has used the 2012 Superbowl Committee to run legal interference so that John and Jane Q. Public only gets the information that Mayor Ballard and the NFL wants them to have.

So... I changed my request.  As of last night, I have requested a copy of any agreement between the City of Indianapolis and any organization regarding the 2012 Superbowl.

When the City makes getting clear information in a timely manner difficult, you are forced to wonder - What are they trying  to hide?

4 comments:

Nicolas Martin said...

How much does the government charge for each page?

Had Enough Indy? said...

It depends - sometimes 4 cents, sometimes 10 cents per page. If electronic, no charge if emailed, and the cost of the cd if picked up.

The Recorder's office charges more - perhaps someone else can say what that is, as I forget.

Also, the Voter Registration folks wanted to charge me $1 per page of a pdf, of all things. Doubt it was legal - just Ed Treacy reaching in to make it as difficult as possible for anyone to challenge his hand-picked candidates.

The upper limits are set by state statute, in terms of 'reasonable' charges. There is some flexiblity and most do not try to take advantage of that fee, in my experience.

anon said...

Code Compliance corruption!
You only need to watch the video of Board of Zoning Appeals III dated august 25 2009. 2009AP3004.

I was being robbed of everything I owned. I was the victim of a witch hunt, led by my neighborhood organization, WIDC (West Indianapolis Development Corporation)and backed by the city of Indianapolis. Both of which are highly financed and backed by Eli Lilly. I fully expect that any pursuit of justice in the aftermath of this hearing will be paid for by me, at the hands of the very same entities that brought me the nightmare that I suffered during those three years.
This conspiracy involved many city institutions as well as private ones. Thank God for my ability to interperate the regulations and procedures of the city. All attorneys qualified to represent an individual in these matters are already placed on retainer by those performing this witch hunt.
I feel sorry for the thousands of home and business owners who have lost there life savings to the corrupt behavior of these institutions.
My nightmare surely is not over, but the BZA for the moment gave this neighbor a breather.
The corruption in these institutions runs deep. Without having been the victim of this Nazi style grinding wheel, I would have never believed that the corruption ran so deep.
I was actually supported by all of my neighbors. They would not make a personal stance due to the repercussions that they may face from these entities. These entities include but are not limited to my neighborhood organization WIDC, WINC, IMPD, Code Enforcement, IPS, DMD, MDC, Prosecuting Attorneys Office, Health Department just to name a few.
Due to my lack of experience in these matters I had already been placed in the lions pit with most of these institutions during a bogus hearing on may 15 2007 (part 2). 2007AP2001. During this first hearing you will see the spin doctor ( paid for by WIDC, who is backed by Eli Lilly). You can see clear bias by the only female member of the board at the end of this hearing. Though my attorney at the time may have been a little less influential than WIDC and there ilk, he still stated the case that I legally had a right to this LNCU. This fell on def ears.
If I had relied on council to represent me in this matter I would have been bankrupt. Most attorneys in the city would not have brought this scandal to light in the manner that I was forced to do at this 2009 hearing. Any attorney who would represent me wanted tens of thousands of dollars to retain them. Not to mention what the end cost might have been.

anon said...

It took me a year to get the city to pick up garbage from the residences located here, after i had won this case.
I began watching board hearings and the like on channel 16. Later that year MCANA started making bogus claims about a 19 year veteran member of this board, who was the chairman of board, Alan Rethorford. Considering the fact that he does not go along with these witch hunts, I for one, am glad that MCANA did not succeed.
Most of these neighborhood organizations are participated in by a few individuals with nothing better to do than go on these witch hunts, and are in no way representative of the neighborhood as a whole.
The current mayor is touting his plan to demolish 4000 homes in the city of Indianapolis. I can only cringe at the number of these homes that may have traveled the same path as myself, except they obtained a negative result in their struggle.
The manipulation of the citizens by the powers that be pits neighbors against neighbors and manipulates the systems in place to represent us all. Justice in these matters generally boils down to the wealth of the individual who is being tied to the stake. This is a very grim picture for the future of our children in this city as well as our country.
The neighborhood in which my building exist has been targeted by the city, our own neighborhood organization and Eli Lilly. As a result the police have been corrupt in delivering justice to these residents. Multiple homes and businesses have been burned without as much as a peep from our so call neighborhood organization. Code compliance has manipulated laws to help the city take over these properties. The DMD has been manipulative in its role to represent the rights of these citizens. The MDC has taken control of these properties and awarded them to the zealots that initiated the attacks on them. Where do these families go after their homes and businesses have been destroyed by this corruption. Divorce ? Bankruptcy? Separation ? A life of crime ? Do you think that these victims of the system will ever trust our government again ?
I am all for fixing up our city and making it a better place for us all. This behavior is not making our citizens better off, it is disrupting thousands of lives and displacing them. “The least of these” are being trampled on daily. You only need sit at the hearings in the community court F12 to see what the city does to the people who don’t live up to the standards of these zealots.
Our system of capitalism can not function without a lower class. How low that class is can be raised a little by function of government and community. Burning people at the stake will not get rid of them nor help them, it only serves as a tool to move them, demoralize them and imprison them.
These practices are not limited to political parties. Both parties are responsible for the corruption that is taking place.