While there has been a lot of attention paid to the ACS parking deal (legitimately so), Ballard and Co. are desperately trying to fill an approximately $2 million + budget deficit.
Falling back on the same playbook, the lead negotiators unskilled and unprepared tried repeatedly to snatch grants funds from the Drug Free Marion County provided by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute.
According to our sources after repeated attempts to cajole, pressuring with name dropping and other familiar arm-twisting bullying tactics that have become the familiar traits of Barnes and Thornburg attorneys. When nothing worked the "Loftus Lovelies" (the label given to us by our sources) took a page out of Nike's playbook and "Just do It" and factored almost the whole allocations of the $500k funds into the Public Safety budget by passing Proposal 224 (sponsored by Councilor Ben Hunter) out of committee with a due pass recommendation.
Of course that didn't set well with the State as ICJI Chairman Huskey led a "bitch-slap-by-committee" and rejected the mafioso shakedown by City Controller Dave "the Razor" Reynolds. What makes this a political hot potato is the fact that the Council Republicans trying to pass this misappropriation into law at the Monday October 4th Council meeting. For once this should be an interesting council meeting.
Here's the ICJI's opinion:
"Commission" defined; allocation of funds; approval of plan by commission
Sec. 5. (a) As used in this section, "commission" means the commission for a drug free Indiana established by IC 5-2-6-16.
(b) Subject to subsections (c) and (d), a county fiscal body shall annually appropriate from the fund amounts allocated by the county legislative body for the use of persons, organizations, agencies, and political subdivisions to carry out recommended actions contained in a comprehensive drug free communities plan submitted by the local coordinating council and approved by the commission as follows:
(1) For persons, organizations, agencies, and political subdivisions to provide prevention and education services, at least twenty-five percent (25%) of the money in the fund.
(2) For persons, organizations, agencies, and political subdivisions to provide intervention and treatment services, at least twenty-five percent (25%) of the money in the fund.
(3) For persons, organizations, agencies, and political subdivisions to provide criminal justice services and activities, at least twenty-five percent (25%) of the money in the fund.
(4) A county fiscal body shall allocate the remaining twenty-five percent (25%) of the money in the fund to persons
organizations, agencies, and political subdivisions to provide services and activities under subdivisions (1) through (3) based on the comprehensive drug free communities plan submitted by the local coordinating council and approved by the commission.
(c) In the comprehensive drug free communities plan, the local coordinating council shall determine the amount of funds the county fiscal body shall appropriate to implement the objectives approved in the comprehensive drug free communities plan.
135-298 (a) which states, “for approval by the city-county council;” does not comply with statute which clearly states their role is to allocate the funds based on the plan approved by the commission. There is no approval by the county legislative body.
(b) is also not compliant with IC 5-2-11-5(c), which, as cited above, solely authorizes the LCC the determine the amount of funds needed to implement the objectives in the approved plan.
We have a few question for you ubersmart readers:
1) How do you think the Daniels' administration will respond to this violation of State law.
2) Will this deliberate and repeated attempts to violate the state statutes hinder Reynolds value in his new position?
3) How are they going to fill the funding deficit now?
4) Will the Melina Kennedy, Jose Evans or Ron Gibson and Democrats on the Council take advantage of Ballard acting stupidly?
ANALYSIS:
UP: MKEN $185, SiMi $110
DOWN: GBAL $15,
PS- Congrats to Chairman Huskey and the Board of Trustee for standing up for the law and order.
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