Compare and Contrast: Ballard Holds Public Announcement Event with 300 Supporters, Kennedy Releases a Statement and a Holds Private Announcement
December 13, 2010 7 Comments
As we reported yesterday, Mayor Greg Ballard held an announcement event over the weekend with roughly 300 supporters in a public event at the Indiana War Memorial.
WTHR was the only channel to really cover Melina Kennedy’s response:
The 2011 election for Mayor of Indianapolis will provide a clear choice for voters. My vision is for a relentless effort to grow jobs and promote economic development. It is for leadership that is actually accountable to get results in controlling taxes and budgets, instead of passing the buck to future generations by selling off city assets. It is for making crime reduction and restoring confidence in public safety the job of the mayor, not his or her subordinates. And it is for establishing clear priorities that serve our neighborhoods – that libraries, parks, and public transportation are vital to the fabric of our community, not problems to be avoided. I welcome the opportunity to join Mayor Ballard in the public debate about the vision for our city’s future.
Call us crazy but isn’t a lot of Kennedy’s response pretty much exactly what Mayor Ballard said in his speech? Sure, Kennedy took a jab at the Mayor with the selling off city assets line. She also tried to act as though the Mayor is passing the buck on public safety to “subordinates” which anyone at the event on Saturday would completely dismiss. Clearly, Mayor Ballard has accepted responsibility for reforming IMPD. And, like the rest of us, he seems to believe there is still more to be done but that they are working to clean up the few bad apples in the department. And the Mayor certainly seems more than happy to claim responsibility for the 10% drop in violent crime and the lowest number of homicides since 1995.
In the last line of the WTHR video that didn’t make the print version on the internet, WTHR says Melina Kennedy plans to formally announce her candidacy at an event tonight at an event at the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art. We noted this event last Friday as a fundraiser with suggested contribution levels of $50, $100, $250.
Looks like Kennedy is right about one thing—the 2011 election for Mayor will provide a clear choice.
Kennedy is an attorney with one of the city’s most powerful law firms, Baker & Daniels. She is seeking her second office in 5 years. She was a Deputy Mayor for Mayor Bart Peterson, who was swept out of office due to increased taxes, high crime rates and a government being operated behind closed doors. She will formally announce her candidacy at a private fundraiser.
Mayor Ballard was elected as political novice who spent much of his life as a Marine and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel. He unseated Melina Kennedy’s former boss, Mayor Bart Peterson, in a campaign driven by grassroots activists with the theme “Had Enough?”. He announced his re-election at a public event with hundreds of supporters.
Sounds like a campaign of the ultimate insider against the grassroots candidate to us.
Washington Street Politics 
How many of those 300 supporters for Ballard were from Barnes and Thornburg?
Or how many of those 300 were appointed PCs, supplied by Tommy boy..
Mr. Vane, you have to remember there are lots of us out here who love our party,but not what is happening to it here in your county. Keep them coming.With headlines like this ,you leave yourself wide open. As a “communications expert” you shoud know that you never leave your self wide open wiht headlines like this. They provide great fuel for adverse comments.
We would assume the Democrats that attended would have mentioned if it was a bunch of Barnes and Thornburg attorneys. Bleeding Blue, we hear most of the folks were activiists.
Also, it is kind of getting old reminding everyone that we ARE NOT Robert Vane. Catch up, kids. Also, show us how we left ourselves wide open. Not a single comment has been about the substance of the post.
It is totally reonsaable to protect our children, but that involves parental responsibility. I think it is reprehensible that so many parents turn young kids loose to play in a park without any supervision, or leave them locked up in a hot car in the summer while they go shopping. If a parent is doing their parenting properly, there kids would know not to allow themselves to be taken in by strangers. Kids often become the victims of child molesters because they aren’t receiving any attention from their parents, and they are impressed by an adult paying so much attention to them. Fixing this problems begins at home.As to reonsaableness, how else could you enforce this ordinance other than to have park rangers stop any “suspicious-looking” person, ask to see their i.d., and then cross-reference it with the sex offender registry list to first determine if the person is listed and, second, determine if the person was convicted of one of the offenses covered by the ordinance (not all registered offenders are subject to the proposed ordinance). I think it is absurd to expect or want park rangers to spend all their time stopping and interrogating anyone who looks suspicious. You or I may look suspicious after sitting down on a park bench for a rest after taking a run. Also, why is is that only sex offenders are being singled out? Does a convicted drug dealer not pose a risk to children in our parks. Might a drug dealer entice a young person to “pony” drugs for him for cash, or offer drugs to teen-aged kids. Does a convicted rapist not pose a similar risk to your daughter?Then we get into the attendant constitutional issues with this type of law–others have been struck down as unconstitutional. So are we going to enact another unconstitutional ordinance like the Mayor’s violent video games ordinance and waste taxpayers’ money defending a law the courts won’t accept?
Out of curiosity, how many of those 300 attendees either were not city employees or people who had received a contract or grant from the city?
A good chunk of CCCers were there, as well as Frank Straub. And where goes Straub, so go his two full time security guards! I saw Deputy Mayor Huber there as well. I’m sure someone more familiar with the movers and shakers in this town would’ve spotted several more.
A few Ds were there as well, such as Exec Director Adam Kirsch.
The enthusiastic supporters were all up front, and I get the feeling that they were genuine volunteers. The trick is, and I think there was acknowledgment of this, these aren’t the same people that come to city forums or City-County Council meetings. These people are nowhere to be seen 95% of the year. Hell, considering the low turnout of municipal elections, I don’t even know if those people there are reliable votes.
Well, Melina’s already been running for over a year. She has released many announcements on many issues. I’m sure she’s more than willing to welcome Mayor Ballard to the race.