Local Government
Did Not! Did So!
Posted by Sheila Kennedy in Local Government on October 31st, 2011
Ah, budget battles. This morning’s Star detailed the back and forth political arguments about whether the Ballard Administration actually made the budget cuts the mayor promised during his campaign. Their independent analysis amounted to: who knows? That’s not a criticism of the reporters–it’s a reflection of the games public managers play. This actually began back [...]
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Politics and Policy: A Cautionary Tale
Posted by Sheila Kennedy in Local Government on October 29th, 2011
I’m sharing my next column for the IBJ, which expands upon my earlier post, and considers the policy issues that the Litebox blunder illuminate. How did we get from “Enterprise Zones” to Litebox? Back in my Hudnut Administration days, I remember enthusiastic discussions about Enterprise Zones–a new tool promoted by then-Congressman Jack Kemp to [...]
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Questions
Posted by Sheila Kennedy in Local Government on October 29th, 2011
I get tired of beating the same dead horse, but the Star’s story this morning about the Litebox episode–a piece of real reporting that is becoming increasingly rare–raises additional questions. The story makes vividly clear how slapdash the City’s vetting process has been, and how politically motivated the decision to announce “job creation.” But the [...]
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WTF?
Posted by Sheila Kennedy in Local Government on October 28th, 2011
Excuse the title of this post, but I just read the lead story in the Indianapolis Star about Litebox–the company that was showered with praise and promises of tax breaks just yesterday by both Mayor Ballard and Governor Daniels. In my post yesterday, I questioned whether the obviously strange owner had been adequately vetted. Today’s news [...]
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Job Creation Delusions
Posted by Sheila Kennedy in Local Government on October 27th, 2011
Given the state of the economy, it’s understandable that candidates and incumbents alike would focus on job creation. It’s also understandable that the mayor and governor would make a big deal out of promises to locate new factories in Indianapolis. But it’s beginning to look as if the “vetting” process could use some vetting of [...]
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