Rules Committee Reviews Prop 303 & 378

The Rules Committee of the Indianapolis-Marion County City-County Council met last night with Prop 303 and 378 on its agenda. The whole meeting was 34 minutes long and can be viewed in the WCTY archives here - click on 'video' for November 4, 2009. The Rules committee is Chaired by Councillor Lutz and Councillors Malone, Pfisterer, Plowman, Cockrum, Mansfield, and Gray were members of the committee present last night. Also in attendance, but not members of this committee were Councillors Coleman and Oliver.

Prop 303 is Councillor Coleman's Proposal that would require the internet posting of all contracts involving the City or County government. This proposal was amended such that contracts must be posted within 14 days of being approved, there must be a search function for the postings, corporate counsel must review all contracts before posting and redact any information not considered public record by state law, all existing contracts going back to January 1, 2008 must be posted within 180 of the effective date of the ordinance, and the effective date of the ordinance will be January 1, 2010. The search feature should include searching by city department or agency, vendor name, and the like. Redactible information would include personal information such as social security numbers and is an action anticipated to be necessary very infrequently, given that contracts rarely contain non-public record information. It was made clear that this Proposal would not include contracts of the various Municipal Corporations. So the CIB, Airport, Library, and Health & Hospitals are not affected by Prop 303. The reason why escaped me, but I did gather that it was based on state law.

Public testimony included a comment by a fellow named Steven Hoback (as I heard his name) who suggested that interlocal agreements, which are not legally considered contracts, also be included in the ordinance. I presented McANA position of support. And last but not least, Keith Robinson of the Indiana Coalition for Open Government presented that organizations position of support. He also suggested that the Council take the ordinance one step further and post proposed contracts online so that the public can review them before the final decision is made to sign off on them. Councillor Coleman indicated he would be working on pulling both suggestions into the framework of Prop 303.

At the end of the discussion, Prop 303 was not voted on, but rather, postponed until the Rules Committee's November 17 meeting. This will give the Office of Finance and Management and the Office of Corporate Counsel time to finish their fiscal impact analysis.

Prop 378 was tabled. This Proposal for a Council Resolution asking Senators Lugar and Bayh to push for the removal of language in HR 915 (FAA Reauthorization Act of 2009) that would pull FedEx from unionizing rules under the Railway Labor Act and put them under the National Labor Relations Act. As discussed earlier, the inclusion of FedEx under RLA was a sweetheart deal to begin with and treated FedEx differently than UPS is treated. Council President Bob Cockrum stated that after the Committee acted on Prop 378 last time, he received phone calls from UPS representatives suggesting there was another side to the story. Cockrum then called for the Council to return the Proposal to the Committee for further consideration. He also invited representatives of FedEx and UPS to come present their viewpoint last night. Even though all had arrived, there were no statements made and the Proposal was tabled. Councillor Cockrum noted that HR 915 had moved out of the House and into two committees of the Senate - one of which had stripped the language in question and the other of which was not expected to consider it for a little while. So, saying it might end up being a moot point, the Committee voted to table the issue until such time as it seems warranted to raise it again. Good move to bring this one back to Committee and great move to table it.

City-County Council to Meet Monday, October 26

The red hot smoking ban is one item on Monday night's agenda of the City-County Council. To its credit, the Council office has posted the amended proposed ordinance on its website. The full agenda can be found using this link.

The smoking ban, Proposal 371, introduced by Councillors Hunter and Mansfield, now has Councillors Evans and Malone signed on as sponsors. Prop 371 passed out of the Community Affairs Committee on October 14 with a do pass recommendation by a vote of 4-2. The minutes of that meeting are not yet posted, so I do not know which Councillors voted which way on the very tough issue. Those on the Committee include Councillors Speedy (chair), Bateman, Day, Hunter, Lewis, Minton-McNeil (likely absent), and Smith.

A not-hot and mildly worded proposal will also be voted on Monday night - Prop 378, which is a Special Resolution that "supports FedEx Express operations and the City of Indianapolis", introduced by Council President Bob Cockrum. I looked it up because FedEx is an operation situated mostly in Decatur Township, where it is shielded from paying its full due of property taxes because of sweetheart deals with the Airport Authority. The language of the Resolution is really vaguely worded, and as it turns out, deliberately so. Here is the key whereas clause:

WHEREAS, Congress is currently reviewing a 230-word provision in the FAA
Reauthorization Act of 2009 (H.R. 915) which unfairly targets FedEx Express and
could lead to disruption and job loss at the FedEx Express Hub;

Nowhere does the Resolution get any more clear than that. So, I Googled "Fed Ex Express HR 915". Turns out the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2009 would change the sweetheart deal Fed Ex has gotten for decades to be under the Railway Labor Act and not the National Labor Relations Act for the purposes of union organizing. See here for more detail. And the Fed Ex union view here. UPS is governed by the NLRA, by the way. Seems to me that any loss of jobs would be Fed Ex's doing. This is a wayward proposal that is deliberately weasel-worded to cover up its anti-organizing position. Prop 378 passed the Rules & Public Policy Committee on October 13 with a do-pass recommendation vote of 5-1. Those members present were Councillors Lutz (chair), Cockrum, Gray, Malone, Pfisterer, and Plowman. I can guess how they voted, but I do not know for sure. During the Committee meeting, Councillor Cockrum mentioned that he and Councillor Vaughn were approached by the head of the Indianapolis operations of Fed Ex to put forth this resolution that urges Senators Bayh and Lugar to vote against this provision of HR 915.

Surprisingly enough, there appears to my eye to be no thrilling Proposals in the batch to be introduced on Monday night.

Notes from the budget hearings - August 12

Here's what piqued my interest in last night's budget hearings. Again, this is not a list of the important things discussed.

Under the proposed budget for 2010, City Controller David Reynolds has proposed depositing $16M in the City's rainy day fund. If I heard right, this $16M is from County Option Income Tax revenues. Councillor Bob Cockrum inquired about the rules governing on what the rainy day funds could be spent. In particular he wanted to know if that $16M could be taken from the rainy day fund to be spent on a 'municipal corporation'. The Capital Improvement Board is a municipal corporation.

The 'End Times for Downtown' Ad Campaign Scores

It was nip and tuck last night, but in the end, the 'End Times for Downtown' campaign waged by Mayor Greg Ballard, CIB President Bob Grand, and Council President Bob Cockrum, won 15-14.

Voting aye on Prop. 285 to raise the hotel tax, increase the Professional Sports Development Area, and accept a $27 M loan from the State with no plan on how to repay same, were:

Jackie Nytes -- D
Virginia Cain -- R
Jeff Cardwell -- R
Bob Cockrum -- R
Susie Day -- R
Ben Hunter -- R
Bob Lutz -- R
Barbara Malone -- R
Janice McHenry -- R
Mike McQuillen -- R
Marilyn Pfisterer -- R
Lincoln Plowman -- R
Kent Smith -- R
Mike Speedy -- R
Ryan Vaughn -- R

In an ungainly hand-off to the next sitting Council and the next sitting Mayor, this Council action will necessitate the 2013 increase in two less popular taxes; car rental and admissions taxes.

Meanwhile, Councillor Nytes' Prop. 331, which creates a 5-member panel to promote even more money for the CIB bailout to come from the donut Counties, passed unanimously. Nytes said the aim was to find a permanent solution, even though there will be no study of what the real problems with the CIB have been. This was no game changer.

Councillor Lutz began a front court press for more money to go to the Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association, even though that was supposedly taken off the table as part of the game plan.

The Public continues to pay the price of admission, only to be relegated to the cheap seats.

All sports dynasties come to an end. But, the one led by the CIB gains more and more tax money every year and has receives no critical review for job performance. When it fails, the claim is made that it is only because the taxpayers were not generous enough, not because the whole thing is a Ponzi scheme that has gotten out of hand. The action last night was as shameless as the Pacers charging the stands to beat up a spectator a few years ago.

Bad sports metaphors aside, the citizens of Indianapolis deserve a plan to make downtown self sufficient and to reset priorities that make downtown work for the whole County, not continue the practice of the whole County working for downtown.

Council Committee Votes 5-1 Do Pass on Prop 285

Warning: Rant ahead

Last night, the City-County Council Rules & Public Policy Committee voted 5-1 to move Proposal 285, 2009, to the full Council with a do pass recommendation. Aye votes were from Councillors Lutz, Cockrum, Plowman, Malone, and Pfisterer -- all Republicans. The lone nay vote was from Councillor Mansfield, the only Democrat Committee member present.

The meeting, Chaired by Councillor Bob Lutz of Wayne Township, was a grueling 4-ish hour affair that was an orchestrated parade of 'invited witnesses' with unlimited time to disgorge all of their thoughts, followed by a brief public comment period where speakers were limited to 2 minutes (more on that below) but who were 'graciously' allowed to dribble over that time limit in 5 second increments. Of the parade of maybe two dozen 'invited witnesses', all save three had a personal financial interest in more money being thrown at the Capital Improvement Board and all save two were in favor of the Proposal.

At the conclusion of the public testimony, Councillor Lutz feigned a let's get this over with and let the chips fall where they may attitude, fully knowing he had the votes to get this out of committee. Why did he know he could accomplish his goal? Because two Democratic Councillors, Sanders and Gray, were no-shows. Lutz had indicated he would likely not take a vote last night, but re-convene in a week to give the Committee members time to mull over the testimony they had heard. This probably was because the Committee is composed of 5 Republicans and 3 Democrats; certainly the Committee most likely to produce a positive outcome for the Proposal. Even so, Lutz could not count on Councillor Malone to vote do pass. With all three Democrats present, that could have caused a tie vote which would leave the Proposal in Committee. But, with the two MIAs, the math moved in his favor and he was guaranteed that his reliable 4 votes would serve his needs.

Some random thoughts:

The public deserves an explanation from Councillors Joanne Sanders and Monroe Gray for their absence on this critical Committee meeting and vote. I see that the blog, Indianapolis Times, which is the mouthpiece of the County Party, remains silent on the hearing, in contrast to their seeming interest leading up to last night (see here, here, and here). This makes me to wonder if Sanders and Gray are holding their aye votes in the wings for a last minute save of Prop 285 at the full Council. Politics as usual - play 'smart' at the public's detriment. But, I don't know why they were not there and maybe there is an explanation - we deserve one. [edited to add: I have received word that Sanders has been out of town on business and was unable to attend.]

The public was done a disservice, as is usual when more than two people show up, in the public comment period. Chairman Lutz' should have given the public the same time limit as his parade of invited witnesses. His handling of comment time may have been generous by Council Committee standards, but that bar is set very low. In all of these committees it is as though the public point of view is not as worthy as that of proponents of a proposal. From my perch in the cheap seats it often seems as if the attitude of the Chairmen is that the problem with the public comments is that they drag the meeting out too long. While the Council does the public's business, I believe they need to be much more accommodating of the time in which they give the public to express its views. As I mentioned in a comment to Paul Ogden's blog, I challenge Committee Chairs to try to speak to an issue for 2 minutes with buzzers going off every 5 seconds thereafter.

The proponents of Prop 285, save one or two, hid behind the skirts and aprons of the service workers in order to shill for more tax money for the CIB. As I mentioned earlier, these folks have a personal financial interest in the ever increasing investment of more and more tax money into the sports/convention business. Folks like Tamara Zahn of IDI, Susan Williams of ISC, Barney Levengood of the CIB, and Bob Welsh of ICVA are even more outrageous, as they haul down fat salaries derived almost exclusively from tax revenues. As reported by Paul Ogden, Zahn makes around $200,000 a year while IDI has squirrelled away over $7M in savings living lavishly off the public dole, and Welsh makes about $350,000 in salary and benefits while the ICVA had 'only' $4M in assets in 2007. Meanwhile Williams makes over $130,000 (poor thing) with ISC holding assets of nearly $7M in 2007, and Levengood makes $221,000 per year while the CIB takes in over $100M in taxes each year. These folks are pulling down the more than generous salaries from the public trough and have little real accountability for how well they do their jobs. Compare that to the maids who average a mere $15,000 a year in Indianapolis. To pretend that this CIB bailout is for the little guy, is bold faced lying. Its to keep the good times rolling for a select few living large off taxpayer largess.

There has been and will be NO examination of how the CIB got into this mess. Each Councillor is apparently quite content to believe it is the Mayor of the opposite political party, or the Governor, who caused this supposed catastrophe. This attitude will never identify the problems with the CIB in its fiscal and policy structure that will continue to bleed the taxpayer. The Councillors all acknowledged last night that this is only a two year 'fix' and ignored the obvious conclusion that it is therefore not a real fix of the real problems. Only Councillor Malone expressed an opinion that indicated that a real fix was important to her - enough to influence her vote at the full Council.

There is no interest in doing the public a service and creating a plan to make the sports/convention/tourist/hospitality industry self-sufficient. Speaker after speaker tossed around numbers in the range of hundreds of thousands to billions of dollars. I kept thinking - so why aren't we rich already and why are these guys back begging for more tax revenues?

Passage of the hotel tax and acceptance of the state loan, if successful at the full Council meeting on August 10, will trigger the necessity to increase two more taxes, car rental and ticket, in 2013. This is putting the onus on the next Council. Quite irresponsible in my view and it smacks of politics. The public good should count for something and it never seems to be weighted very high when elites have their hands out for the public dole. The public good is all the rage as a foil when the discussion is more money to help those who struggle to put a meal on the table or clothe their children or what to do about those pesky panhandlers who inconvenience us at stoplights. It takes the EPA to force Indianapolis to fix the sewer overflows that push human feces into our river and streams like some third world cesspool. But, all it takes for the wealthy overseers of our sports empire to get more, is to claim a need for an additional $47M on top of the $100M they already get and the only topic for discussion among our elected officials becomes how to land that money for them. Again, no request for an examination of what the CIB did wrong to put it in the position it is in now. That is the only way you can determine what to fix.

Blame decisions past and push problems forward seems to be the name of the game. But, make sure you get the CIB all the money it wants.

I hope the significance of the August 10th Council meeting is not lost on the Councillors. Mayor Ballard will present the 2010 budget proposal with something like $30M in cuts. Proposal 285 will be voted upon with its increase of $12M of tax revenues and a $27M loan from the State to add to the $100M in tax revenues the CIB already gets. Contrasting what City services are to be cut with the bailout of our sports empire, will shed a clear white light on what is really important.

Proposal 285 Now Posted Online

The Council Proposal 285, which would increase the hotel tax by 1% is now posted on the Council website.

Here is the meat of the proposal:

A PROPOSAL FOR A GENERAL ORDINANCE amending the Revised Code of the Consolidated City and County to adopt the operational financing plan authorized for the Capital Improvements Board of Marion County by House Enrolled Act 1001, of the 2009 Special Session of the Indiana General Assembly, by approving the expansion of the Professional Sports Development Area, approving operational borrowings from the State of Indiana, and adopting an increase in the county innkeeper’s tax.

WHEREAS, House Enrolled Act 1001 of the 2009 Special Session of the Indiana General Assembly authorized an operational financing plan for the Capital Improvements Board of Marion County that required certain actions be taken by the City-County Council, and

WHEREAS, the City-County Council finds that such plan should be approved and adopted, and

WHEREAS, on July 15, 2009, the Metropolitan Development Commission of Marion County, Indiana, acting as the Redevelopment Commission of the City of Indianapolis, Indiana (the Commission”), adopted its Resolution No. 09-R-009, entitled “Resolution of the Metropolitan Development Commission of Marion County, Indiana, Acting as the Redevelopment Commission of the City of Indianapolis, Indiana, Supplementing and Amending Resolution No. 97-D-052 and Resolution No. 05-B-018, Declaring an Area in Marion County, Indiana as a Professional Sports Development Area and Approving a Development Area Plan” (the “Declaratory Resolution), declaring a certain geographical area located within the City of Indianapolis, Indiana, as an expansion to the existing Marion County Professional Sports Development Area (the “Prior Tax Area” and, as expanded, the “Expanded Tax Area”), pursuant to the provisions of Indiana Code 36-7-31, as amended (the “Act’), and approving a supplement to the existing Marion County Professional Sports Development Area Plan prepared in connection with the Original Tax Area; and

WHEREAS, on August 5, 2009, it is anticipated that the Commission, following a public hearing thereon upon notice as required by law, will adopt its Resolution entitled “Resolution of the Metropolitan Development Commission of Marion County, Indiana, Acting as the Redevelopment Commission of the City of Indianapolis, Indiana, Confirming Resolution No. 09-R-010, Declaring an Area in Marion County, Indiana, as an Expansion to the Marion County Professional Sports Development Area and Approving a Supplement to the Marion County Professional Sports Development Area Plan” (the “Confirmatory Resolution”), confirming in all respects the Declaratory Resolution; and

WHEREAS, on ________, 2009, the Capital Improvement Board of Managers of Marion County, Indiana (“Board”) is anticipated to adopt a resolution to issue notes to borrow up to Nine Million Dollars ($9,000,000) in 2009 from the State of Indiana pursuant to IC 5-13-10.5-18 to meet and fund the operational requirements of the Board (“Operational Borrowings”), which use was anticipated in the Board’s 2009 approved budget; and

WHEREAS, the Board has requested the approval of such borrowing by the City-County Council; and

WHEREAS, House Enrolled Act 1001 of the 2009 Special Session of the Indiana General Assembly authorizes the city-county council to increase the county innkeeper’s tax rate by not more than one percent (1%); and

WHEREAS, the city-county council finds that such increase is both advisable and necessary; now, therefore:

BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY-COUNTY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS AND OF MARION COUNTY, INDIANA:

SECTION 1. The Revised Code of the Consolidated City and County, be and is hereby amended by adopting a new Article I of Chapter 116, to read as follows:

ARTICLE I – CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS BOARD OF MARION COUNTY
Sec. 161-101. Marion County Professional Sports Development Area. Pursuant to the provisions of IC 36-7-31 for purposes of financing the Capital Improvements Board of Marion County, the Marion County Professional Sports Development Area is approved as determined and confirmed by the Metropolitan Development Commission of Marion County acting as the Redevelopment Commission of Indianapolis as set forth in the Declaratory Resolution No. 09-R-009 and confirmed by the Confirmatory Resolution No. 09-R-010, as described therein, to wit:

Sec. 161-102. Operational Barrowings Approved. The City-County Council hereby approves the Operational Borrowings from the State of Indiana, pursuant to IC 5-13-10.5-18 in an amount not to exceed Nine Million Dollars ($9,000,000) in 2009 as approved by the Capital Improvements Board of Marion County.

SECTION 2. Section 121-204 of the "Revised Code of the Consolidated City and County," regarding the county innkeeper’s tax, hereby is amended by the deletion of the language that is stricken-through and by the addition of the language that is underscored, to read as follows :

(a) After June 30, 2005, tThe county innkeeper's tax imposed by section 2 of IC 6-9-8 (as amended by H.E.A. 1120 1001 of the 2005 Regular 2009 Special Session of the Indiana General Assembly) is hereby increased from six (6) nine (9) percent to nine (9) ten (10) percent.

(b) The increase in the tax rate authorized by this section expires on: continues in effect unless the increase is rescinded.

(1) January 1, 2041;

(2) January 1, 2010, if on that date there are no obligations owed by the CIB to the Authority created by IC 5-1-17 or to any state agency under IC 5-1-17-26; or

(3) October 1, 2005, if on that date there are no obligations owed by the CIB to the authority or to any state agency under a lease or a sublease of an existing capital improvement entered into under IC 5-1-17, unless waived by the director of the state budget agency.

The Proposal is to be assigned to the Rules & Public Policy Committee which next meets on Tuesday, July 28, beginning at 5:30 pm in room 260 of the City-County Building. Council President Bob Cockrum is listed as the sole sponsor of the proposal thus far.

McANA Calls for Investigation of CIB Financial History

The Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations has called for an investigation of the Capital Improvement Board's finances throughout its history as part of any CIB bailout plan. In a letter dated May 24, 2009, and addressed to Governor Mitch Daniels, Mayor Greg Ballard, and City-County Council President Bob Cockrum, McANA's President Cathy Burton wrote:

We believe that any responsible effort to seek long-term funding solutions for the activities and facilities managed by the Capital Improvements Board must include an investigation to evaluate the CIB’s past history and financial transactions. We respectfully request that you, as the ranking elected officials for the City of Indianapolis and State of Indiana, call for a thorough examination of the function, responsibilities, policies and authority of the Capital Improvements Board through its entire history. This would include its procedures, or lack thereof, to ensure the retirement of debt, as well as its financial ability to fully and responsibly fund the requirements of its contracts with any professional or semi-professional sports teams (i.e., Colts, Pacers, Indians, Fever, etc.), or any other entity, public or private, prior to those contracts being signed.

It is certain that the current economic climate in our country has contributed to the difficult funding situation now faced by the CIB, but we believe that past practices and decisions have been a greater contributor to the general long-term decline of the CIB’s fiscal soundness. The investigation for which we call is not to point fingers, but rather to quantify all the factors that have led to the CIB’s current position and ensure that those factors do not recur and contribute to future financial conundrums. It is clear that, whatever solution is adopted to resolve the CIB shortfalls, the residents and businesses of Marion County, and perhaps the state, will be ultimately responsible for generating most, if not all, of the new funding streams needed. It is therefore incumbent upon the citizenry to demand establishment of protocols and policies that will safeguard against the creation of future problems.

As a City and a State, we must expect nothing less than one hundred percent accountability and transparency from any and all agencies and governmental units that represent and act on behalf of the public, particularly when those actions result in significant financial liabilities. We hope that you share this vision and will seek not only a solution to the financial crises of the CIB but also a resolution to the framework that led us to this crisis.