Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard is leading a delegation to China and Japan in hopes to increase foreign investment in the city.  

While that’s nothing out of the ordinary, there’s a question as to whether the Mayor should be taking his wife along on the junket at the taxpayers’ expense, although he is reimbursing the taxpayers for her flight.

It is a fair question.  Times are tight, so we should all ask how taxpayer dollars are being spent, but I don’t think the Mayor is off-base by taking his wife on this particular trip.  

After all, she is from that part of the world and can offer insight on Asian culture, that if done right can be indispensable.

It would be one thing if this were Brazil or Australia, but this is China and Japan, so why not take someone along who can offer expertise?  

Now if the couple starts globetrotting, then we may need have a talk, probably in several languages.

But until then if Mrs. Ballard can help bring jobs to the city by reminding the delegation of cultural norms and practices, then go for it.  

As you guys know I’m Islamic and don’t really celebrate Christmas.  Well actually Islamic-lite, I love bacon, drink Scotch and smoke cigars.

But I really have to wonder what’s going through people’s heads when a Wal-Mart greeter is trampled to death and two people are  shot dead at a mall on what’s supposed to be the busiest shopping day of the year.

I don’t think the Son of Man would appreciate people acting like this as they get ready to celebrate his birthday, which by the way was nowhere near December 25.

Tomorrow is Turkey Day.  I want to take this moment and thank all of you for reading this blog (as well as the other ones), listening to the radio show and watching me on television.  I enjoy what I do and am very appreciative of the fact that you have a lot of options to get your news, information and analysis and this is one of them.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving.  

Theoretically, I’m on “vacation” this week, but I’m still blogging.  Here are a few things that I’ve been noticing since I have time to sit around and almost do nothing…

Do You Trustee this Man?

• Have us media folks let Washington Township Trustee Frank Short off the hook?  He’s the one who drafted the budget that included the 60-percent trustee raise for the Township Board and will be the one to sign and approve it.

Melina for Mayor

• There’s another sign Democrats are gearing up to try to run former Deputy Mayor Melina for Mayor in 2011.  There was a big fundraiser on the Northeast side of town not too long ago and Kennedy was a reportedly helped raise quite a bit. 

Second Time’s a Charm

• Marion County GOP Chairman Tom John intends to run for another term as County Chairman.   No word yet on who might challenge him, but one name being surfaced is former IU law professor Henry Carlson.

Summers’ Time

• I’m also hearing that Democrat State Rep Vanessa Summers is running to chair in Indiana General Assembly’s Legislative Black Caucus.  Righ now that job is being held by Vernon Smith of Gary.  There is some talk that is the Marion County delegation attempting to flex it’s muscle.  I’m not totally sold on that theory, yet.

Body and Soul

• Politico has an interesting story about the President elect and him hitting the gym instead of the pulpit.  My belief, you can pray anywhere at anytime.

That’s all I’ve seen for now.  I may post something tomorrow after waking up from my hangover.   Enjoy.

Sorry about the blunt headline, but I had something that I had to get off of my chest this morning.  

Now you might be thinking that I encountered racism this weekend and am writing about it.   Not really.  I’m going back, once again, to Thursday night’s Washington Township Board meeting.  In addition to a nearly 70-percent raise, board member Joe Simpson, who happens to be black, dropped the n-word against RTV 6 photographer Eldon Wheeler.  My colleague Norm Cox blogged about the exchange.

…my photographer, Eldon Wheeler, attempted to place a microphone on the table. Simpson angrily told him he couldn’t do it, because there wouldn’t be enough room for his papers. Actually, there was plenty of room, to say nothing of Simpson’s apparent ignorance of things like Open Meetings laws and the media’s right to record the board’s sessions. But Eldon complied peaceably and moved the mike away from Simpson.

When the meeting was over Eldon went up to pick up his equipment and asked Simpson what his problem was with having a microphone at the table. Simpson then started yelling at him, saying, among other things, “You can’t talk to me that way!” It finally escalated to the point where Simpson screamed, “You might as well just called me a n*****!” At that point, Simpson started moving forward threateningly. Fortunately, the table was between them and two board members grabbed Simpson to restrain him. Trustee Frank Short came over to separate everyone and things somewhat calmed down.

I would like to say that I could not believe that Simpson would drop the n-word.  I would like to say that, but there’s no way I’m going to.  Simpson is typical of African-Americans who get caught doing something they know is wrong and have no explanation for and so retreat behind the shield of racism while trying to use it as a sword for an attack.

I can honestly say knowing Eldon, that the n-word would be the last word in his vocabulary, if at all.  He’s an old-school television photographer who is a professional.  And for Simpson to drop the n-word to deflect from his own shameless and ignorant behavior is ridiculous.  Which ironically is one of the definitions associated with the n-word.

I would say that Simpson should apologize for his words, but that’s asking too much.  He is typical of an outdated racial mindset that wants to be treated as equals but when they are hide behind racism.  You can’t have it both ways Joe.  Using the n-word to draw attention away from your narcissistic-inspired 70-pay raise isn’t doing anybody any good, least of all yourself.

Now if I was mean and spiteful, I would post your unlisted private cell number here so people and voters of Washington Township could call you and express their outrage.  But I won’t.  I’ll let them voice their opinions here in this forum and other places.

To do that would be acting like a n***a, and my parents raised me better than that.

If this week’s antics with the Washington Township Board weren’t enough to make you think that this form of government really needs to go away, think about this as your 2008 property tax bills hit the mail in the next few days.

Although schools were responsible for 76% of the increase in your 2007 bill, township government came in second, taking responsibility for 12.5 % of the increase in your tax bill. The city of Indianapolis was only responsible for 4% of your bill’s increase.

 So as you write that big check, just remember the same type of people who gave themselves a 60-70% raise had to get the money from somewhere. 

UPDATE:

I spoke to Washington Township Board President Ray Baker this morning.  He told me the raises were necessary because the township has a lot of work to do, even though it doesn’t have a fire department anymore.  He says says the township has to sell land, cell phone towers and consolidate office space.  He also says the public doesn’t understand township government and it would take too long to educate them.

Really?  Here’s your opportunity to get educated from the people who voted “yes”.

• Ray Baker, 327-4819 or 257-5677, rbclimited@att.net
• Joe Simpson, 283-4096,  jesimp@earthlink.net
• Mary Orea, 925-0079, mary.orea@centergov.org
• David Smith, 796-5069, dfsinvol09@yahoo.com

If you call  be respectful, polite and don’t get personal and I’m sure the Board members won’t mind spending time with you explaining why they voted themselves a 60 percent raise.

Although I am no fan of township government, I’ve been thinking lately about one way they could stay relevant.

Take poor relief and turn it into school vouchers.

If you think about it, the whole purpose of poor relief is to help people in need and one way to help people in need is to make sure they are self-sufficient.  And what better way to make people self-sufficient is to make sure they have a good education.  And what way to guarantee a good education than to ensure choice?

Remember, poor relief isn’t just cash or food.  It can also come in the form of clothes and in some cases school supplies.  There is already a precedent for vouchers.  When late Congresswoman Julia Carson was a township trustee, she would give vouchers for people to buy clothes.

We can circumvent the church/state issue by making sure the money is spent on “education expenses” and school tuition would qualify as an educational expense?

Now of course there would be an issue of crowd control.  That’s why only the people who qualify for poor relief would be eligible for the voucher.  

 Competition is already here, so why not have the trustees get into the act?

The above map courtesy of Blue Indiana, courtesy the New York Times, shows where Democrat and Republican votes increased in the 2008 election.  The more red or blue the more Republican or Democratic voters showed up.

Studying this map has led me to the following conclusion.  

If  white Republicans don’t do a better job of recruiting and attracting more blacks and browns, this country will become blue and the GOP will only see more red.

Although not much happens on Organization Day at the Legislature, I still get to pick up some pretty good gossip and tidbits along the way.  Here are some of them.

• If you thought the state’s unemployment problem was bad, check this out.  If you are a union worker and are temporarily out of work because of a plant retooling, you can still get unemployment, even if it’s only a few weeks and you know you will be going back to work.  That deal has cost the state   $300,000,000.
• There is a big split in the Marion County Democratic House delegation over government consolidation. Half of them want it, the other half don’t.  You can guess which half.  The word on the street is that Bill Crawford and Greg Porter have vowed to fight consolidation tooth and nail so I would look to see who from Marion County takes former State Representative Carolene Mays’ seat.  If it’s Cherish Pryor, forget it.  Mary Anne Sullivan, consolidation just might make it to the floor for a vote.
• And speaking of townships, the Wayne Township Assessor is shopping for a new fire station even though his township is going broke.

So munch on these for a while.  I’m sure there will be more to come down the road.