Matt Tully Wants Straub to Continue as Public Safety Director

The Indianapolis Star's political columnist Matthew Tully put out an interesting tweet today. He's lamenting the fact that he wishes the Mayor's office could be "bipartisan." He wishes that, if Democrat Melina Kennedy beats Republican Mayor Greg Ballard in November, she'd keep a few key figures in place that he likes. Specifically, he points to deputy mayor Michael Huber and director of the Department of Public Safety Frank Straub.

Huber, who I've talked with several times, is a good public servant. I won't doubt that (though I will vigorously disagree with several of the projects he was charged with carrying out). But what does Tully love about Straub? What does Straub specifically bring to the table that, without him, wouldn't occur?

Was it the political move to promise a shake up of command staff after November's election (even though Straub has no actual power to hire or fire anyone within IMPD)? Is that what Tully loves so much, the politicizing of the inner operations of our police department?

Maybe Tully loves how Straub hires his buddies for cushy jobs while IMPD district offices have, at times, not been able to stock supplies such as toilet paper and pens?

Or how bout a guy who blabs about ongoing investigations, sometimes on the radio, that could compromise the integrity of criminal investigations?

I could go on. I mean, there's a lot more. A whole lot more.

Make No Mistake: Ballard Agrees and Fully Supports Frank Straub

I somehow missed this reporting from FOX 59 WXIN that shows that Mayor Greg Ballard (R) personally signed off on bringing in an out of state buddy of Frank Straub's to look over the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department's entire professional standards division and the citizen review board. Straub, the director of the Department of Public Safety, makes it sound like this was requested by the Fraternal Order of Police, but the FOP disputes that, saying they wanted a neutral investigator for one specific incident, not a broad sweep.

I bring this up because I often hear the sentiment, among law enforcement officers and supporters of law enforcement, that they would gladly vote for Ballard for re-election if he ditched Straub. But Straub isn't just some power hungry person who is doing his own bidding behind Ballard's back. He is doing it out in the open with the full support of Ballard. Regardless of Ballard's past record, this is his record now and this is how he truly believes our law enforcement officers should be treated.

In other Straub news:

I last reported on the Animal Care & Control budget hearing, but the second half of the meeting contained the hearings for the rest of the Department of Public Safety as well (sans the Indianapolis Fire Department and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, which will be heard this week). I wasn't paying as close attention to this section of the budget talks, mainly because I'm less knowledgeable about this, but hey, when it's still the Good Doctor Director Frank Straub doing the presentation, you just kind of have to watch the train wreck.

During this part of the hearing, Straub tries to refute the notion that his personal DPS administration is somehow top heavy and points out every single minor position that he has let go unfilled, as if it's some HUGE strain on his part not to have some Assistant Secretary of the Interior and that increases his other assistants' workloads by oh-so-much. He also mentions how about five positions will have to be eliminated, but they're still working on finding out which grant moneys will no longer be available so they can't identify which positions will be eliminated at this time. A few questions are asked by councilors asking if these grant moneys were lost due to Indianapolis specifically not being awarded it, and Straub gives the assurance that these lost grant moneys were lost to cities across the board.

He also mentions that, as a last hope, the push by President Barack Obama for a so-called jobs bill might help restore some funding for various positions in DPS and the various departments under DPS, so he's cautiously optimistic that, if passed, these positions might not need to be eliminated.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think we should be relying on unreliable federal or not-for-profit grant funding for purposes in municipal government that we might consider vital. If they're that important, we need to find a way to fund them ourselves. And if they aren't important, then why are we wasting time to lobby for outside money?

One observant reader commented to me that Straub seems to intentionally make his answers extremely long and confusing as a strategy so that, as the meeting gets later into the night, councilors will feel a sense of urgency and won't ask follow up questions or will shorten their period of questioning. After watching this entire budget meeting, I fully agree. It's not uncommon for men like Straub, who have spent large portions of their adult life in the halls of academia, to be horrible communicators and often "talk down" to others who they see as lesser people.

Council Committee Hears Animal Control's Proposed Budget

The Public Safety Committee of the Indianapolis-Marion County City-County Council met this evening to hear the proposed budget for Animal Care and Control, which falls under the umbrella of the Department of Public Safety. The person presenting Animal Care's budget was the Good Doctor himself, DPS director Frank "Call me Doctor" Straub.

The Good Doctor, who wears the same type of tie that I do when I get all dressed up, started the night off with class by reminding everyone that he used to live in New York and was in the general vicinity when the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks occurred. After invoking 9/11 verbally (speaking of which, look for The Good Doctor to get sued by former NYC Mayor Rudy Guliani for a trademark infringement), he then splashed a picture of the World Trade Center's twin towers burning in his PowerPoint presentation three days outside of the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks. What does this have to do with public safety in Indianapolis or Animal Care and Control? I have no idea. But now I'll have to get a new tie.

Sorry, I couldn't resist having a bit of fun at Straub's expense.

But onto the meat of this meeting.

First on the docket, and what I'm focusing on, is the proposed budget for Animal Care and Control. Even though Mayor Greg Ballard (R) said that public safety would stay flat rather than be cut for the 2012 budget, that was a complete sham. Animal Care and Control's proposed budget is being reduced by about $200,000 for general operating expenses, you know, the stuff Animal Care and Control does as part of a service to Marion County citizens. There is a total of $0 from the geniuses who put this budget together for food for the animals and, according to testimony given tonight, the shelter is constantly at full capacity. According to testimony tonight, all food at the shelter is donated. Straub specifically pointed out Proctor and Gamble, as well as Kroger, as major donors.

To their credit, several councilors at the meeting tonight expressed concerns. Benjamin Hunter (R-District 21) and council president Ryan Vaughn (R-District 3) said that they've been talking with other councilors and city officials, assuring that funding for Animal Care's basic operational expenses will be restored to 2010 levels.

Both Hunter and Vernon Brown (D-District 18) bought up over $500,000 in something that Hunter referred to as "chargebacks". Apparently, if a city department like Animal Care and Control needs assistance from another city department, like the Office of Corporation Counsel (city legal), then Corporation Counsel sends Animal Care an invoice. About $400,000 in these "chargebacks" were to Corporation Counsel, and another $100,000 was to Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department for responding to animal calls. I was unclear if this was actually in the budget, or if they were looking at "chargebacks" from the previous budget year.

Brown asked how much the average attorney at Corporation Counsel makes, and the city comptroller responded about $50,000. Brown quipped back that it sounds like Animal Care and Control could've "ten lawyers" of their own. While that ignores health care and other expenses, his general point is sound. Considering the legal market is so bad that previously employed lawyers are now stripping for money, I don't think it'd be too hard to fill these positions even if you pay them less than Corporation Counsel attorneys.

Excuse me for asking, but what the flying hell is the point of Corporation Counsel if it isn't to handle the legal work of the city, including city departments? Do they have something better to do? And on a more serious note, where does a "cashback" for Corporation Counsel then go? Into their general fund? Into the individual attorney's pocket? Somewhere else? I'll do some digging to see if I can get some answers.

Public testimony consisted of the usual group of community activists that were joined by animal caretakers and shelters as well as several volunteers from Animal Care and Control. One long time animal caretaker held up a faded copy of The Indianapolis Star from 1994. The headline was "Deadly Wait" describing problems with Animal Control. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Another volunteer encouraged the council to bump the operating fund all the way up to $200,000 repeating the theme that even at $180,000 and change, it's still horribly underfunded for the largest county shelter in the entire state.

And the last citizen to make a comment noted that DPS' administrative fund was $700,000, way above the proposed budget for Animal Care's operating expenses. It really shows where DPS' priorities are.

And finally, I have to give kudos to Public Safety Chairman Benjamin Hunter. He handled the large amount of citizens seeking to comment on the proposed Animal Care budget with class. Even though a buzzer was used, he didn't cut off anyone's microphone or verbally interrupted them. He also put what he knew everyone was there for first on the agenda so that the public could have their voices heard and get on with their lives.

Next up, I tuned in for the several other DPS budgets that were being heard tonight (IFD and IMPD are up next week). I've got quite a few words about The Good Doctor based on my observations from the later portion of the meeting. I'll have a post on that sometime tomorrow.

Doctor Director Straub vs IMPD Continues...on the INTERNET!

There is a new video from the heirstraub YouTube account that contains several stunning accusations in regards to the Good Doctor Frank Straub. Among them was that one of his sons came to visit, but he wasn't available so he had one of his security detail officers take him out on the city's dime.


It seems like whoever is behind the heirstraub account is also disappointed in recent actions by the president of the Fraternal Order of Police, William Owensby. Owensby recently sat down with Straub and other officials from the Department of Public Safety and reportedly had a good conversation. The heirstraub user is taking that as if Owensby and the FOP are now going to roll over.

I don't buy that. I spoke to Owensby when the City-County Council committee was hearing public comment on Straub's re-confirmation. Owensby spoke passionately on his position that Straub is not the right man to lead the charge on any type of reform within the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. Just because the very public war of words is over doesn't mean Owensby and the FOP have compromised their position.

On another note, I've noticed the heirstraub video uploads refer to Greg Ballard as Mayor Marine. It seems to be a common nickname for those who have been let down by the Ballard administration.

City-County Council Committee Reapproves Straub as DPS Director

The City-County Council Criminal Justice and Public Safety committee took up several appointments and reappoints to various boards and departments this evening. Several were all grouped together and voted on as a package. What I found interesting was that Paul Page was being reappointed to the Marion County Public Defender Board. Paul Page, who is a criminal defense attorney, made headlines earlier in the year for a series of deals he struck with Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi. Some alleged that those deals were very lenient and were done because of Page's and Brizzi's business relationship. They own a piece of property together in Elkhart, Indiana that is rented out to the state of Indiana. The Democrats usually jump at connecting Brizzi to Republicans, and I'm surprised no one mentioned the controversy surrounding Page.

The other major piece on the agenda was Frank Straub, who was chosen by Mayor Greg Ballard to be reappointed as director for the Department of Public Safety.

Straub testified to the council, only facing tough questions from the Democrats, most of whom weren't members of the committee. He regularly took several minutes to ramble on and on and on to answer relatively direct questions. I also felt Straub's tone with the committee sounded like he was leading a lecture at an academic institution rather than answering questions being asked by a legislative body. This is a problem that some PhD holders have. They spend so much time in academic institutions studying and talking to associates who have similar or higher degrees, and they forget that the rest of the world isn't a classroom.

Public comment was moderated by a time limit of two minutes with a buzzer that goes off after the two minutes. Fortunately, this wasn't enforced, but it was still nonetheless annoying. Surprisingly, despite the Fraternal Order of Police encouraging officers to contact their council representation and testify at committee, few chose the option to testify. A few retired officers and clergy members testified in favor of Straub. The Chief of Police, Paul Ciesielski, and one other officer testified in favor of Straub. Outside of FOP President Bill Owensby, only a few of the other members who took advantage of public comment testified against Straub.

In the crowd were several City-County Councillors and at least one At-Large candidate, Annette Johnson (D). Several members of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department attended the meeting in uniform but stayed silent during public comment. Several from the Indianapolis Fire Department attended as well.

Now that I've got the reporting of the layout out of the way, here's my editorial.

Frank Straub is not a police officer. He is a director of the Department of Public Safety. His duties are basically an administrator. He handles the budgets of the respective departments, makes sure they are exchanging information with each other and ensures communication is open between the departments of the Mayor.

Despite some police scandals happening while Straub's predecessor, Scott Newman, was in charge, you didn't see Newman on television very often. In fact, you probably see Newman on TV more often NOW than you did while he was the director of DPS.

Straub has not only gone beyond his authority, but has used it to tarnish IMPD officers. Officer Jerry Piland, who was accused of brutally beating Brandon Johnson, was cleared by the Police Merit Board. The Merit Board heard over 24 hours of testimony and found that the evidence against Piland was poor and seemed like Piland acted properly. They even thought that another officer's actions were worth investigating, but their scope was narrowed to Piland's actions.

Despite the Merit Board clearing Piland of any wrongdoing, Straub was on camera the following morning convicting Piland in the media. Mayor Ballard and Chief Ciesielski made similar statements. They all said it was police brutality and he should've been fired. Oh, and Ballard and Straub didn't attend the Merit Board's meeting for a single second.

Maybe this is just me, but if your boss, the CFO and the CEO all publicly said they thought you sucked and deserve to be fired, that could create the situation for a hostile work environment. I'd talk to a lawyer about a possible slander lawsuit.

Speaking of defamation, a former IMPD assistant chief is planning to sue over his demotion. He claims the treatment of Straub and others violated his civil rights, caused him to lose income, and humiliated him.

My gut is telling me that the tug-of-war between the rank-and-file/FOP and Straub isn't so much Straub's ideas are bad. But he comes off as very arrogant and seems to charge into situations shooting first and not asking questions. This can be seen perfectly in the situation with Officer Piland. Straub stuck by the original report (which really seemed bad for Piland)despite that evidence, over time, pans out and evolves. After the original report was completed, additional evidence was gathered that simply didn't support the original police report's conclusion. And Straub's failure to adapt to the evidence is just simple arrogance.

I was talking to someone at the meeting and I told them I come from the world of politics. And there's two schools of thought when it comes to the two-party system. You can change from within and support who you like and be part of the big tent, or you can leave the two party system and basically have very little influence on the political landscape.

The situation with Straub is that Straub is on the outside trying to change a body that he isn't a member of. I suspect if Chief Ciesielski was the one pushing these changes, we wouldn't be seeing half of this tug-of-war that we're currently seeing.

Doctor Director Straub Caught Sprucing Up Homicide Rate

The inspiration for "Bart" to start the Bart Lies! website was that every year, near the end of the year, it seemed like the homicide rate would get manipulated and would be reported lower by a few homicides lower than the actual homicide rate. Usually, media figures or some politicians would reduce the numbers by taking out any police-action homicides or self-defense figures. In other words, they use the murder rate. Which is fine, as long as they report it as such, and it usually only reduces the number of homicides by 0-5.

I noted last year that Prosecutor Carl Brizzi identified the number as the "homicide" rate and used a number that matches the number found at Bart Lies!.

But Doctor Director Frank Straub, the director of the Department of Public Safety, threw quite a curve ball my way when Bart pointed out that he said there have only been 89 homicides committed in Indianapolis this year. That's right, 89. And yes, he said "homicide", not "violent homicide" or "criminal homicide" or "murder". You can listen to the audio here.

Now, even if you don't accept Bart's count of 106, maybe you'll accept The Indianapolis Star's count of 102.

I'm still scratching my head on how you arrive at that number.

Several months back, The Star published an article where certain public officials were hoping that they'd get another year of less-than-100 criminal homicides. They list the number of non-criminal homicides at 8.

If you take the 102 number, and subtract 8, we're down to 94. Take away the two police action shootings, we're down to 92. Even if you take Eric Wells, who died after an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Officer ran into his motorcycle with his K-9 police vehicle, off the list, it only brings the number down to 91.

So how did Doctor Director Straub arrive at this number?

I'd sure like to know.

Straub's nomination is up for a vote in the Criminal Justice and Public Safety committee in the City-County Council on Wednesday at 5:30pm.

Doctor Director Frank Straub up for Reappointment, Will He Meet Any Opposition?

A bit more of an add on to my previous post, but thanks to an anonymous commenter on Indiana Barrister, I found a link to this letter authored by Bill Owensby, president of the Indianapolis Fraternal Order of Police.

In the letter, Owensby informs the FOP's members that Doctor Director Frank Straub has been renominated for the position of Director of Public Safety. The committee meeting is Wednesday at 5:30pm in room 260 of the City-County Building, and the full council takes it up on December 20th. While Owensby is careful not to come out for or against Straub's nomination in this letter, it's no secret that the FOP has been feuding with Straub throughout the year. Most recently, the FOP released a survey showing very low morale between the rank-and-file and the leadership. It'll be interesting to see how the FOP's members react to this.

It'll be interesting to see how council members react. Mary Morarity-Adams (D-District 17) is married to a deputy in the Marion County Sheriff's Department. Benjamin Hunter (R-District 21) is a former officer of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. Jack Sandlin (R-District 24), who was recently appointed to the council to replace Representative-elect Mike Speedy, is a former member of the Indianapolis Police Department and is a private investigator.

Both Moriarity-Adams and Hunter have a history of bucking party leadership. If the council wanted to fit in one more close party line vote, this would be it. Could Moriarity-Adams provide a crucial vote for Doctor Director Frank Straub? And could that impact her chances at slating, which is only two months away?

More on the Ongoing Officer Bisard Case

I am working on a post on the Marion County Sheriff's race, but I've got some interesting developments on the Bisard case that I'll share.

My reliable source has informed me has told me a few more interesting tidbits on the ongoing case regarding Officer Dave Bisard, the incident itself, and the post-incident handling of the case.

My source informed me that the Lawrence Police Department officer that monitored the blood draw was a close friend of Officer Bisard. He questions if that'd be an ethics problem, and if he informed Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers/brass of this possible conflict, or if they knew and let him monitor it anyway.

My source also told me that the Marion County Prosecutor's Office has learned that the results were written wrong in regards to the blood alcohol content of the blood sample from Bisard. As has been reported before, 0.19 was the BAC that was published. My source says that the BAC was actually 0.019. The source says that BAC level is a violation of departmental policy, but not a violation of law. As I previously reported, this same source told me that the blood work was done at the Marion County Crime Lab and not at the State Department of Toxicology (see here).

My source maintains that the charges that still stand all come from the IMPD investigation, and that the alcohol charges which were the result of the work of the Fatal Alcohol Crash Team which is run out of the Prosecutor's office, were the charges that were dropped.

My source also confirms the suspicion of the "public image" of Frank Straub being an issue within IMPD. The day before the Bisard crash was when IMPD overwhelmingly voted down the proposed contract in a six to one margin. My source says the contract was voted down because Straub let it be known that he runs IMPD, and that he told Fraternal Order of Police President Bill Owensby that there'd be changes within the department, but he wouldn't announce the changes until the FOP held their elections for leadership. Apparently, Owensby didn't agree, and the contract was voted down.

Pundit Abdul Hakim-Shabazz shared the departmental policy that my source refers to over at his blog.

I have previously commented upon the good work that Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi has done with this case. Now, I'm not so sure how much I believe in those words. I'm not sure if I should be surprised, really.

Officer Dave Bisard Keeps Driver's License

At least for the time being. Fox 59 is reporting that Officer Dave Bisard, who is alleged to be behind the death of one motorcyclist and the injury of two others in a horrible car accident, will be able to keep his driver's license.

Fox 59 is also reporting that Bisard's attorney, John Kautzman, is pushing to have the blood test thrown out, claiming that his client wasn't told that it might be used in a criminal investigation and thus didn't give the proper consent. The blood test showed a blood alcohol content of 0.19, over twice the legal limit of 0.08.

More on this as it develops. Fox 59 will likely have some interviews to go along with their evening version of the story.

UPDATE: The Indianapolis Star is reporting that all of the alcohol related charges will be dropped. Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi had this to say after learning that Bisard will be able to keep his license:

Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi today blasted the way police handled Bisard’s investigation. Brizzi said the fact that other officers didn’t suspect Bisard of being intoxicated at the scene and didn’t conduct any breathalyzer or field sobriety tests is having a direct bearing on the case now.

“I have serious concerns about the way this case was investigated at the scene,” Brizzi told The Indianapolis Star after the hearing. “Obviously, one of the things that created this situation we have today is that probable cause was not articulated (early enough).”

Brizzi later told a group of reporters outside the courtroom: “Someone on the scene should have recognized that officer Bisard was drunk.” A few minutes later, he elaborated, saying: “Yes, I am questioning their work on the scene. I am frustrated that there is an appearance — there is an appearance, whether it is accurate or not — that something was amiss that Friday. ..... Now we’re dealing with the aftermath.”

Blood drawn about two hours after the crash showed Bisard's blood-alcohol content was 0.19, more than twice the 0.08 level at which Indiana drivers are considered intoxicated. It led to felony charges of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated and reckless homicide, filed last week by Brizzi.

After today’s hearing, Brizzi declined to say whether he was worried about the validity of the blood test in the case.

“As prosecutors, we have to deal with the evidence that is given to us. ..... I don’t want to speculate on how the evidence is going to play out,” Brizzi said, adding that he sees the issues involved in today’s ruling and any future defense attempt to suppress the blood test as “apples and oranges.”

He said the state’s implied-consent law should be fixed to allow a license suspension in a case like Bisard’s.

The Star also has a Starfiles on the case, which you can read here.

UPDATE II: The Star is now reporting that the blood sample won't be admissible at all in court. The FBI will be working in conjunction with IMPD on an internal investigation:

The FBI also will join an internal investigation of Indianapolis police's handling of the case, and Public Safety Director Frank Straub has removed a commander from overseeing the multi-agency Fatal Alcohol Crash Team because of shortcomings in the investigation. But Straub said the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department's Professional Standards Division -- internal affairs -- will be expanded to all Public Safety agencies and will retain its commander as a sign of his confidence in the internal watchdogs.

The dismissal of officer David Bisard's six counts of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated -- leaving intact a reckless homicide charge and two newly filed criminal recklessness counts -- is rooted in a fatal flaw in the case, Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said. Brizzi said a lab tech who drew Bisard's blood sample at an occupational health clinic was not certified under Indiana's DUI laws to do such work for a criminal case.

Straub is later quoted as saying "The system failed." You can't possibly say that enough.

Public Safety Advisory Board: Bad Idea

The announcement of a public safety advisory board and the hiring of Rick Hite for the position of Deputy Director of Public Safety for Training and Strategic Initiatives has been the talk of the blogosphere the past day or so, so I thought I'd give my thoughts. I'll admit, I have changed them a bit since reading these various points of views.

As I've previously criticized the Summer Celebration "task force" being an idea from the hell of middle management, this seems like a similar situation. Instead of our elected and appointed officials taking a leadership role and doing their job, we get an appointment of an outside body.

Furthermore, as Gary Welsh has written in numerous posts, I'm concerned about the expansion of the Department of Public Safety. DPS seems to be acting as a buffer between the various agencies such as Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and the 25th floor, rather than representing them. And as others have expressed to me (both from within and beyond the blogosphere), many even question the need for DPS. Why the heads of the respective departments such as IMPD, animal control, etc... don't just report to Mayor Ballard is something I've been wondering for a while, and apparently I'm not alone.

The selection of the advisory board members also concern me. Regardless of if Abdul Hakim-Shabazz is an Indiana resident or not (I personally am not knowledgeable enough to discern if he is), he does maintain residence in Illinois, practices law there, and votes in that state's elections. While Shabazz is certainly qualified for the position, I question how hard Mayor Ballard and "Call me Doctor" Frank Straub looked to find someone with similar qualifications but who also can vote in Marion County.

But as far as Shabazz's and Brown's being media personality goes, I don't see a conflict. These men are opinion men. As long as they're open and honest about serving on it (and they aren't being paid, and the board is voluntary), I don't have a problem. I think it might bother some people who might still think these two have any sense of objectivity, but pundits can't exist in a empty void.

Jon Easter of the Indy Democrat blog noticed that the advisory board's two council members are both Republicans, and publicly questioned DPS on their Facebook page why no Democratic council representatives are on the board. DPS responded, saying that the board members were chosen for their professions and backgrounds, and not political positions or influence.

Bull.

The press release identifies Ben Hunter and Angel Rivera as "Councilor" and "City-County Council, At-Large" and makes no mention of their full time employment. While Hunter and Rivera may have qualification beyond being on the City-County Council, they were certainly appointed because of their political position.

On another note, Hunter represents District 21. The intern who wrote that press release needs to brush up on his/her local government.

I'll be covering the rally today at Monument Circle at 7pm. It concerns last Friday's crash that left one dead and two injured. I guess they're collecting signatures to show support for the victims. I'll have more on that in the evening.

Other blog entries on the same subject:
Indy's Political Stock Exchange: Also weighing in on the subject is Amos Brown in the comments section. Brown is also a member of the advisory board.
Advance Indiana (and related post here)
Indy Democrat (and related post here)
Indiana Barrister

Where I'll Be: Upcoming on IndyStudent!

I'm going to try to cover the two protests that are happening within the next several days. At 4pm on July 22 (Thursday), a number of Hyatt Hotel employees will be marching from the State House to the Hyatt Hotel. They want to form a union, but they claim their voices have fallen on deaf ears.

Ed Wench of WIBC interviewed two of the leaders of the protest earlier today. The two employees used the terms "civil disobedience" and said that there's a "good chance" a number of the protesters will be arrested. My understanding of "civil disobedience" is you are breaking the law in, but in a peaceful way. The employees/protest organizers did not exactly say what law they might be breaking tomorrow.

The National Organization for Marriage is bringing their bus tour to Indianapolis. You can find details of that here. At least two counter-protests have formed on Facebook here and here. I'll stop by and see what it's all about. It'll be interesting if the main protest will be focusing on the Federal Marriage Amendment or the state constitutional amendment that has died in the state House of Representatives the past few years.

Finally, Public Safety Director Frank Straub's comments about a "safety zone" have, frankly, pissed me off. I'll be penning an open letter to Frank Straub and the "task force" that was recently announced. I plan on both e-mailing it and hand delivering the letter, as well as posting it here.

Black Expo and Crime: Matthew Tully Gets It

Matthew Tully pens an excellent column in today's The Indianapolis Star. In part, it reads:

Let's be honest.If the shootings that occurred Downtown last weekend had been tied to the Indiana Plumbers Expo, or one of a thousand other conventions, the follow-up discussion wouldn't be so difficult.

[...]

But we're talking instead about Indiana Black Expo and its annual Summer Celebration. So any discussion about the monumental problems tied to it gets bogged down in the treacherous issue of race.

It's a hard issue to discuss. I've ticked off an endless stream of readers during five years of writing columns about all sorts of issues, but even I got queasy at the idea of diving into this one.

It doesn't help that moronic and simplistic racists thrive on this kind of thing. They turn anonymous online forums into a 21st century version of KKK meetings and make it even harder to have an adult conversation.

That said, we can't let the delicate nature of this subject, or the words of a few racists, prevent us from finally having an honest, and perhaps painful, discussion about the ongoing problems related to Black Expo. Fear of having a blunt conversation, and fear of being labeled a racist, likely has prevented the city from adequately addressing this ongoing problem before now. And so we are subjected to national headlines about the 10 young people shot in the very Downtown that Indy's leaders so often point to as the thing that makes this city special.

This is similar to what Gary Welsh has been saying over at Advance Indiana.

So what is the city's and Indiana Black Expo's answer to the ongoing crime problem that occurs during Indiana Black Expo's two weeks?

It reeks of middle management pass-the-buck tactics.

They're forming a task force.

I wish I was joking.

On the task force, taken from a side-bar in The Star's article today:

Members chosen so far to serve on the Indiana Black Expo task force are:

» Deputy Mayor Olgen Williams.

» IMPD Deputy Chief Daryl Pierce.

» IMPD Cmdr. Karen Arnett.

» Indiana State Police Maj. Jeff Walker.

» Mark Miles, president and CEO of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership.

» Tamara Zahn, CEO of Indianapolis Downtown Inc.

» Jeff Sweet, manager of the Greater Indianapolis Hotel & Lodging Association.

» The Rev. Charles Harrison, Ten Point Coalition.

» LeDeanna Brown, president of Midwest Leak Magazine.

» Radio One disc jockey B-Swift.

» State Rep. Bill Crawford, D-Indianapolis.

While Zahn said on WIBC that the task force is still forming, I can't say I'm impressed. Between Public Safety Director Frank Straub's suggestion of safety zones, and the line up so far, it looks like it'll be a lot of pandering, and a lot of do-nothings.

Pat Andrews of Had Enough Indy? also has an excellent post about Zahn's not-for-profit, Indianapolis Downtown Inc.