OBSERVATION: In what is clearly an indication of the waining influence of former "Mayor of Haughville" Deputy Mayor (of Indianapolis) Olgen Williams is taking a public smackdown by both Republican and Democrats on the council as they make plans to de-fund his baby "Peace in the Streets (PITS)". Now you need to keep this in mind PITS was the vehicle that led him to the 25th floor. Some have suggested that this has also helped his son Aaron Williams past at-large candidate develop his first public persona. We can't help but wonder if this is payback for Deputy Mayor Williams refusal to keep his son from running for the highly contested at-large seat and if so who is behind this public rebuke? We also wonder Mayor Ballard throw his "main man" (his words not ours) publically under the bus? By all accounts this will not bode well for Olgen's standing in the community or dealing with district councilors moving forward. So while we sit here with breathless anticipation on the outcome of this proposal we can't see any way that this action will have a positively impact on the Ballard adminstration unless this has his tactile approval. We guess time will tell.
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Right now Olgen is in a power struggle with the new Public Safety Director Staub. Straub is the one with Ballard's ear and working with the council to kill Peace in the Streets funding. Not bad for a guy who has been here for less than six months.
ReplyDeleteNo one in their right mind could justify the wad of cash to be allocated to Peace in the Streets signs as opposed to other more worthwhile programs. If you watch the committee proceedings, you'll see that the PIS grant application veered from the proper application process, so it wasn't "legal".
ReplyDeleteNo other Olgen BFFL would have supported the PIS grant other than the mayor