Just when you thought plans for a new downtown convention hotel were set to go forward, four City-County
Council members want the full council to essentially force the new hotel to employ union workers after it
opens.
The City-County Council, which…
Backers of the $250 million convention hotel project slated for downtown are raising alarm bells about a City-County Council resolution they say would kill the deal between the city and developers. The resolution, sponsored by Democratic council member Joanne Sanders, requires the hotel to have a “labor peace agreement” to get city financing. The Bond […]
State Sen. Pat Miller says sheâ??s looking to the future by proposing a constitutional amendment that would
protect churches and other houses of worship from someday being taxed.
Itâ??s not a â??crisis today,â?? but could become a problem in the future…
Local women business owners are trying their hand in politics heading into the 2008 campaign season. Launched in February, the Indiana Woman Business Owner’s Political Action Committee will raise money to promote political candidates who champion femaleowned businesses. “The purpose is to support candidates … that seek to protect and develop women-owned and minorityowned business,” said PAC Chairwoman Billie Dragoo, founder and CEO of Indianapolis-based medical staffing company Repucare. Its mission is simple, she said: “to advance the agenda of…
Take a look at some of the most complicated, heated and thankless Statehouse negotiations and chances are you’ll find Republican Sen. Luke Kenley smack in the middle of the fray. While some Hoosiers are hard-pressed to attend a school board meeting or even try to understand their property-tax bills, the 62-year-old chairman of the Senate Tax & Fiscal Policy Committee sits through hours of public hearings and even more hours of closed-door negotiations. This General Assembly promises to be one…
I recently had a post-election conversation with a good friend who is a staunch supporter of Mayor Bart Peterson. We were talking about the two-term incumbent’s loss to the little-known challenger, Greg Ballard. My friend told me, “Abdul, I never thought Bart Peterson would lose.” My response: “Neither did he and that’s why he did.” I am amazed at how many people were shocked at what happened less than a month ago, because, if you paid attention, you saw it…
State regulators want more firepower to fight mortgage crimes. But a month before the General Assembly convenes, real estate
interests are uneasy, fearing lawmakers may go overboard.
Carmel tech entrepreneur Scott Jones is finding himself in the middle of a political debate he didnâ??t ask
for and doesnâ??t want.
The spokeswoman for the Indiana Democratic Party is questioning whether Jones needed the $4 million in grants
that two…
In an unlucky turn for area ad agencies, Hoosier Lottery officials rebuffed all six bidders for the creative portion of its
advertising account. The rejection of all bidders is an unusual occurrence in the ad industry and it has never before happened
with the lottery account, one of the most lucrative, high-profile jobs in the state.
For a preview of how Indiana’s 2008 gubernatorial election will play out, look no further than the emerging tussle over entrepreneur
Scott Jones’ $4 million in awards from the state’s 21st Century Research & Technology Fund.
Two decades ago the southern Indiana town of Seymour suffered from double-digit unemployment, a degraded tax base and an outflow of residents. Today, the town, located between Indianapolis and Louisville, is adding jobs along with housing, hotels and restaurants. The key was a 1986 decision by Toyota supplier Aisin Seiki to locate its first U.S. […]
Students complained about Greg Ballard when he taught college business courses. The man they called “the Colonel” had strict
rules and high expectations. Frustrated, undergraduates sometimes tried to go over his head. His boss, Indiana Business College
administrator Marc Konesco, encountered them in his office. But students never got far. Konesco refused to overrule the Colonel’s
decisions. “I always said, ‘That’s his classroom,'” recalled Konesco, the college’s vice president of marketing and enrollment.
“His style was one where the students…
Three members of a small, young, downtown law firm played key rolls in Republican election wins this month, boosting the firm’s
profile as it tackles aggressive growth plans that include beefing up its lobbying business. John Lewis and Wilkins LLP set
up shop on Monument Circle in 2005 and since then has grown from the three attorneys to 11.
A state legislative commission studying Indiana’s tax woes said today that it thinks the government should trim property taxes 50 percent for most homeowners. The bipartisan commission also wants to reduce taxes by 25 percent for other residential property like apartments and second homes. It would balance these cuts with increases in local option income […]
Gov. Mitch Daniels has proposed capping residential property taxes at 1 percent of a homeâ??s assessed value,
rental properties at 2 percent and businesses at 3 percent.
Now state Sen. Luke Kenley says the bipartisan commission on taxes he heads will…
Capital Improvement Board President Fred Glass plans to announce his resignation at a 4 p.m. CIB meeting today. Glass’ resignation will be effective Dec. 31. Glass was appointed to the CIB by Democratic Mayor Bart Peterson in January 2000, and was elected president during his first meeting. “I always said the mayor’s last day would […]
Stunning victory a call to change But Ballard shouldn’t forget past The shock has faded and reality is starting to set in. Indianapolis really will have a new mayor in 2008. Republican Greg Ballard’s victory over two-time incumbent Mayor Bart Peterson was more than an election stunner of historic proportions-it was a rare case of voters turning over a city to someone they knew little about. Ballard, under-funded and under-supported by his own party, pulled off his epic upset for…
The afternoon after Greg Ballard’s shocking victory at the polls, the mood was sober at Marion County Republican headquarters.
Jubilation had given way to reality. Although mayor-elect Ballard described himself “as tired as a guy could get,” he has
no time for a break. And what the former U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant colonel will do is largely a mystery.
After Tuesday night’s vote tallies, after the candidates’ acceptance and concession speeches, after Wednesday’s Indianapolis Star trumpeted Greg Ballard’s upset of Mayor Bart Peterson in 120-point type, I pulled from my bookshelf my copy of John F. Kennedy’s “Profiles in Courage.” There were two courageous acts on the Indianapolis mayoral stage this year. First, there was courage by Ballard. When all the prominent Republican politicians chose not to challenge Democrat Peterson; when most of the usualsuspect Republican donors gave to…
Mayor-elect Greg Ballard said he’s got nothing against spending city money on the arts, but his administration nevertheless will evaluate whether devoting $2.5 million to it each year is the best use of that money. “It’s OK to fund [the arts] as long as people are relatively safe in the city,” Ballard said. Though acknowledging Indianapolis’ “vibrant arts community,” Ballard said it’s mostly privately funded. “I’m not saying I’m going to cut all of the arts [funding],” he said. “We’ll…
