After reading about how Ballard is promising, if elected, to abolish the police merger, I decided to write my current councillor to see if that was really a possibility.  I also asked him to please explain why he voted for the merger even though he was first against it.  Below was his response:

Actually, I voted against it the first time but for it after all my amendments were included, one of which required the officers themselves (43 of them) to come up with the resolutions to complete the merger. It is not possible to undo the merger, which was allowed by State law.  The Sheriff appoints the Police Chief, then Mayor must approve, then the Council.  We could, maybe, remove Sheriff. I voted for merger because it would free up desk guys to go on the road (137); because it would save some money (about $7,000,000 so far, less than estimates); because it would bring needed professionalism to the Sheriff’s Department (long a hotbed of politics regardless of who is Sheriff); because Marion County is nearly built-out; and because of efficiencies achieved, whether they save money or not.

In his first term on the city-county council, Scott Keller has underscored traditional GOP principles despite vociferous criticism from the extreme right. He led the successful passage of the city’s Human Rights Ordinance over the objections of many within his own party because he believes strongly in equality for all citizens, a principle upon which the Republican Party was founded. He further angered some members of his party when he supported Mayor Peterson’s effort to consolidate law enforcement agencies. This, however, was really just a continuation of the process started by former Mayor Richard Lugar (R) and other local Republican leaders more than 35 years ago to streamline and economize the delivery of governmental services in Marion County. Although an angry Jim Bradford urged Keller and another GOP council member, Lance Langsford, to leave the party after voting with the Democrats on these two critical matters, Bradford’s sentiment was shared by few within the Republican Party, particularly those who understand the party has to seek greater diversity to have a fighting chance in an ever-increasingly diverse Marion County.

More recent developments, though, have shaken support for Keller within the GOP. Keller is not supporting GOP mayoral hopeful Greg Ballard in his effort to defeat 8-year incumbent Bart Peterson (D). In fact, Keller is supporting the Mayor’s re-election bid and showed up at a Peterson fundraiser earlier this summer to prove the point. Although Keller says he is not counting on the Mayor’s support in his own council bid for re-election against Brian Mahern (D), others insist Keller is operating under the delusion Peterson is supporting his re-election bid and will help him out. So committed is Keller to helping out Peterson that he has pledged to support Mayor Peterson’s 65% increase in the county option income tax despite an earlier increase in the COIT and record increases in Marion County property taxes this year. Keller is unapologetic about his position. Keller says he received no support from the GOP in his race 4 years ago, and the party is focused on races other than his this year. Furthermore, he insists his constituents want him to vote for a tax increase to put more police officers on the street.

Keller’s antipathy towards the party is surprising. Keller’s choice for Marion County GOP chairman, Tom John, took over the party earlier this year. John has supported an inclusive approach to reach out to Marion County’s diverse population unlike his predecessor, Mike Murphy. John has been helping build support for the GOP’s ticket this year, and tapping into voter anger with rising taxes is critical to the GOP’s success this year. A less than united front on the tax issue is problemmatic for the GOP. City-County Councilor Lance Langsford (R) too is supporting the Mayor’s tax increase. Unlike Keller, however, Langsford was brushed aside this year in favor of another council candidate. As a firefigher, Langsford is probably more concerned at this point in making sure there’s plenty of money in the budget for firefighter salaries and pensions than he is about his own party’s fortunes in this year’s election.

Keller’s unabashed support for Peterson’s tax increase is very disturbing. Like Keller, I too supported the police consolidation ordinance. I’m very distressed, however, by the lack of proof that the consolidation generated the millions in promised savings. It seems Mayor Peterson and Sheriff Anderson were so concerned about handing out promotions left and right prior to the consolidation that the newly-formed IMPD is more top heavy than ever before. More disturbing was the discovery that more than 137 police jobs have been allowed to become vacant this past year despite funding in the budget for them. Now were told we have to pay higher taxes to get back the police officers we already funded and were promised when Mayor Peterson was first elected 8 years ago. Moreover, Mayor Peterson insisted we could do it without a tax increase. “Raising taxes may sound like an easy answer, but if we want to avoid the urban death spiral that so many other American cities have experienced, we cannot give individuals and businesses an incentive to leave our city,” Peterson said 7 years ago in rejecting a tax increase to fund public safety and unfunded pensions costs.

Keller insists that the police positions, pension liabilities and criminal justice obligations cannot be met without this latest tax increase. Keller complains that the schools are to blame for the skyrocketing property tax bills, not the city. Yet, Keller and other proponents of the tax offer no explanation to already hard-hit taxpayers for what is being done with the huge increases in the city-county tax levies. County taxes are up 25%, Indianapolis fire district taxes are up 34% and city taxes are up 9%. Keller insists that folks at the Chamber of Commerce have been over the city’s budget, and that extra money can only be found by cutting parks, libraries, patching streets, etc. to raise sufficient funds to hire more officers, all choices he is unwilling to make.

While Keller patiently heard my pleas to vote against the Mayor’s tax increase, he has chosen to cast his lot with the leadership of Mayor Bart Peterson. He tells me he is sorry to have me mad at him over this issue, but he insists there is no alternative. I think Keller is making a terrible mistake on this vote, as well as the other councilors who plan to vote for it. It is the complete disconnect in their understanding of the impact they are having on the lives of the working men and women of Marion County, who’ve already been knocked down hard by their staggering property tax bills, by clobbering them with yet another tax increase that I find really distressing.

Keller really has lost his way on this one. As a pioneer in promoting the redevelopment of our inner city neighborhoods, Keller should understand more than anyone that higher taxes is the last thing the city should be considering if it wants to keep the people who’ve invested their livelihood into restoring the city’s older neighborhoods here. The people who gave the city a second chance are now going to be fleeing in droves to the collar counties. Not because they want to leave the city, but because Mayor Peterson, Scott Keller and other city leaders are giving them no other choice.  (Advance Indiana)