Dancing with the Stars Conspiracy

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Life in Indy after Bart

Have you ever gone on a spending binge and then realized a month later that you are in debt up to your chinny-chin-chin. Well, that is where Bart has left us.

Mayor Hudnut had wonderful intentions 25 years ago when the Hoosier Dome was built and the downtown became a much nicer place as a result. However, for 12 years he neglected to pay attention to the financial obligations the city had made to organizations like the police and fire department pension funds. He also did not like raising taxes, so whenever the city lacked the revenue to pay for bills, he would just float another bond. His one unforgivable lie was that the stadium tax of 1% would be retired when the bonds on the Dome/Indiana Convention Center were paid off. The revenue from the tax would have paid off the debt by 1990, but he merely refinanced the debt and added more. We now owe $46 million on a Dome we are going to tear down next spring that we originally borrowed $35 million to build.

After Hudnut, Mayor Goldsmith came along and continued the same policies, but he did it with St. Elmo's Shrimp Cocktail Sauce on it. He ignored the same obligations, borrowed more cash, built Conseco Arena for $185 million and gave it to the Pacers for free. Oh, in the meantime he cut a deal with the Colts to keep them in Indy until 2013. The only problem was he gave our football horses all of the revenue for the Dome PLUS a $10-15 million annual sweetener. I think the city owed over $100 million to the police and firemen by the time he left office.

Enter Bart, the protege' of Evan Bayh. He took the art of giving away the city to a new level. He supported the arts, built trails, brought us hotels with fancy linens, and crammed a $725 million stadium and a $140 million library down our throats. He also did not pay-up to the police and firemen. We now owe them $400 million. Here is the best part. He thought that he was so popular, he thought he could stop borrowing our future and let the bad news hit while blaming it on the state. He followed that news with a 65% increase in the local income taxes. It was like watching the Thriller video all over again. Dead people(aka Hoosier voters) woke up. We had a race even if what's his name only had $51,000 and no support form the Republican Party.

The unbelievable happened. Greg Ballard, a retired Lt. Kernel, I mean Colonel won. Who cares why. He won. The voters, at least 52% of them, said enough was enough. What do I expect him to accomplish? Realistically, not that much. We owe the money. All I expect him to do is put the city on a fiscal diet. Hopefully, four years from now, our taxes will be less and what we currently have will still be maintained. If he creates an environment that the private sector finds attractive for building projects based on their merits rather than the tax abatements passed out by Bill, Steve, and Bart he will be a huge success.

It will be interesting to see if he can surprise us again.

Hoosiers Pummel Boilers 42-24 in Bucket Game

Well, actually not yet. It still Friday, November 16th and the kick-off isn't for another 24 hours. But, the reason for my bold prediction is a result of attending the Annual IU/Purdue Old Oaken Bucket Luncheon at the Columbia Club in downtown Indy.

I was invited to attend by Matt Rittenhouse who represents Merrill Lynch here in Indianapolis. Little did I know that I was in for a memorable day. Upon arriving, I was greeted by Matt, his dad Ron, Gregg Boehning, and other fans of the losing team. Matt told me to sit at Table #2, so I worked my way through the crowd and found my table. I saw a familiar face in Terry Thompson, Superintendent of Wayne Township Schools, whose son Dan played for IU and had a pivotal role in beating the Boilers the last time I think the Hoosiers won the Bucket. I was a much younger man back then. The Hoosiers actually did have the winning score about six years ago, but the weather was the dominant force that day. Rain, wind, and bad coaching beat the Boilers that day.

So, what makes me so confident that tomorrow will be different? Well, the next person to arrive at my table was Coach Lynch, then Terry Hutchens from the Indianapolis Star sat down followed by Bob Lovell who was the MC. I was at the head, I mean, winner's table. And just to my left about 5 feet away sat "The Bucket". This NEVER happens to me. It was nirvana for a guy who has lived most of his life in the background. If I was in Iraq, I'd be driving a fuel tanker, not the M-1 Abrams tank. If I worked at the Playboy Mansion, I'd be the guy cutting the grass-not grabbing some ***. I couldn't say a word. I just took in all in. I listened to Coach talk about how the players were killing each other in practice, so they stopped hitting on Wednesday. Terry was talking about his new book about Coach Hep. Bob Lovell knew everyone in the room except me and he even knows me now. It was great!

Anyway, Mark Herman, former QB from Purdue spoke first to the crowd. He did a nice job. I didn't know Purdue alumni could do public speaking because it rarely happens. Then Coach Lynch took the podium and immediately received a standing ovation from the IU faithful and a few of the Purdue folks. Most of Purdue folks just sat there and wondered why all of the fuss. It was then I realized that it's our year. The Hoosiers want it more. The Boilers just think they need to show up, thump the Hoosiers, and get their annual invite to some obscure bowl in El Paso then spend the winter talking about why they should fire Tiller. Well, we are going to win, PLAY 13 like Coach Hep wanted, and be thrilled to go to any bowl even if it is in Detroit.

When all of the festivities ended, I walked over to my left, rubbed an "I" hanging off the side of the Bucket, and gave it a gentle hug. Perfect.

I've Been on Vacation.,,

The Mrs., myself, and Woobie(correct spelling-not Whoobie) left for a week in North Carolina on Oct 27th. It was not an ideal time to leave town, but when is it ever a good time. Julie's company is going through some reorganization which really needed her involvement, so she has been on the phone a few times and one of my long time competitors announced they are folding their tent at the end of the year. So, I've also been on the phone and checking resumes to fill an open sales position or two. They are having a hundred year drought down here in NC and I think it is easier to get a permit to build a swimming pool than to find a qualified sales representative who knows anything about the offset printing business who isn't 55 years old and burned out.

Anyhoo, the weather has been beautiful, the color has been spectacular, and I continue to be amazed how people are willing to build a million dollar house next door to an Appalachian shack. I would think it would make it difficult to do a real estate comp a few years form now when you try to sell the place before you move into the old farts home. However, they keep throwing them up and the prices are still increasing in spite of the national trend to the contrary.

We also spent four days in Charlotte. WOW! I haven't seen a city do what they have done in the past ten years. The entire downtown, which they call Uptown, is virtually all new construction. It is the second largest banking center in the USA. There are banks everywhere and they love to built monuments to themselves. Bank of America and Wachovia in particular seem to dominate the landscape. They have leveled anything that is a good spot for another high-rise condo or office tower.

Charlotte has a lot of similarities to Indianapolis. They are of similar size, are creating a new downtown population to support the arts, restaurants, and professional teams that are all located within walking distance. Everything inside the inner loop is prospering while the dregs are just mile away in the shadows of the stadiums, arenas, condos, and office towers. They both have a problem with urban sprawl. Traffic gets progressively worse the farther you drive from the center of town. The most prosperous neighborhoods are located north and south and both have an abundance of malls.

On the contrary, Charlotte seems to be reaching their goals much faster than Indianapolis. That may be primarily the result of Indianapolis having no significant local banks. I also get the impression the average paycheck in Charlotte seems to support living in a $500K condo on top of the fact that they pay significantly lower property taxes. Both downtowns seem to understand the importance of cleanliness, but they both share similar issues with the homeless. Indianapolis, on the other hand, has preserved a lot of its older architecture. It has a less sterile feel than Charlotte and Indy has also preserved much more green space even if it primarily used by the homeless(i.e. University Park). For what it is worth, Indy overwhelms Charlotte in the memorial/monument category. Racing is enormous in both cities. Indy is the home for open wheel and Charlotte is home to NASCAR which is dominating the racing crowd until the egos running open wheel gets their poop together.

As for the people, both towns have an abundance of nice people. However, folks in Charlotte seem a bit trimmer and visitors look like they are from NYC or DC. Indy's out-of-towners tend to be square dancers with thick ankles that get excited riding up and down any elevator with a glass wall. Hey, their money is green, Chicago doesn't want them, and we sure as hell need their help to pay for the "Oil Can"(Lucas Oil Stadium).

Don't forget to vote November 6th.