Melyssa tells NAACP she hopes it's ok to be black & conservative in America!

Hi Ben Jealous,

I looked and looked, but could not find documentation or proof of the N-word hurled at Andre Carson and the others as alleged. I can't take a politician's word for anything on face value. Can you blame me? It's not like they don't lie to us.

On the other hand, I did see the You Tube clip of a black conservative called the N-word by an SEIU member at a health care town hall in Missouri. The SEIU guys then beat up this black man and sent him to the hospital. It appears they attacked him because he was black and a conservative with a Gadsen flag. Maybe you guys heard of him. His name is Kenneth Gladney.

I was hoping back then the NAACP would have stood up for Kenneth Gladney in this recorded and well documented incident where there is hard evidence.

I hope it is ok by the NAACP to be black and conservative in America!

Sincerely,
Melyssa

P.S. Ben, let's not let our hypocrisy silence us either! Peace, brother!

NAACP email to Melyssa

Melyssa,

We are not backing down.

Yesterday, the NAACP passed a resolution condemning the racist acts of Tea Party protesters. The backlash from the Tea Party has been furious.

But we are not an organization that shies away from controversy. The NAACP was founded on hope, not hate -- and we will not stand idly by as racists work to divide our nation.

Add your name to our pledge to unify America and stop the racism:

http://action.naacp.org/PledgeToStopHate

The NAACP does not have a problem with the Tea Party, nor its existence. We have a problem with their acceptance and their welcoming of prejudice into their organization.

And in case there is any misunderstanding about what defines racism, let me be clear.

In March, racial slurs were hurled at members of the Congressional Black Caucus as they passed by a Tea Party health care protest in Washington, DC. Missouri Representative Emanuel Cleaver was spat on. People at the rally held signs covered in bigotry.

That is racism. That is racism filled with hate, ignorance and acts of violence. And we will not stand for it.

We are calling on all Americans to stand for the values that have made our country the land of the free and the home of the brave. Sign the pledge now:

http://action.naacp.org/PledgeToStopHate

The past year has been one of major triumphs and major setbacks in the fight for racial equality. But we will not let bigotry silence us.

We are one people. We are one nation. And we are all NAACP Americans.

Thank you for your support,

Ben Jealous
President and CEO
NAACP

INDY LEADERSHIP: National laughing stock :(

I don't want my city to be known for this. I worked hard to help get Mayor Ballard elected. And it wasn't so that national bloggers would blog about what stupid morons we are.
--Melyssa for HFFT

FROM DEADSPIN
Pacers Screw Indianapolis, Don't Even Kiss Them Afterward
This might be the worst of all taxpayer-funded bailouts: the city of Indianapolis will pay at least $33 million to keep the Pacers for the next three years — not even with a new arena, but just to maintain the status quo.

Keep in mind the Pacers are playing in Conseco Fieldhouse rent-free. Keep in mind the building is only 11 years old. And keep in mind they signed a contract to play there through 2019.
It's apparently not good enough any more. The Pacers have been grumbling about the costs of playing in Indianapolis, and have threatened to pack up and move if they don't get some more cash for the city. It's a ransom, plain and simple.

The city caved, and taxpayers are on the hook for $10 million annually for the next three years. That's more than half of the team's operating costs. And if that's not enough, they're going to chip in at least $3.5 million for improvements to the arena.

It's clear that Indianapolis needs the Pacers more than the Pacers need Indianapolis. But usually when a team holds a city hostage, they at least toss them a bone: a shiny new arena, or an extension of their contract with the venue. Not here. This is just a blatant cash grab by the Pacers, taking millions of dollars just to agree to live up to the terms of the deal they happily signed.

Pacers getting $33.5 million to stay [Indianapolis Star]
Send an email to Barry Petchesky, the author of this post, at mailto:barryp@deadspin.com?subject=http://deadspin.com/5584948/pacers-screw-indianapolis-dont-even-kiss-them-afterward.

Field of Schemes goofs on Indy sucker leadership

How embarassing to be the laughing stock of the country right now. As America enters the Great Depression, Indy's city leadership makes sure the town's billionaires get one over on us.

July 12, 2010
Indy to pay Pacers $33m over three years for no damn reason

It's a couple of weeks late, but the Indiana Pacers have obtained their boodle: The city of Indianapolis has agreed to pay the Pacers $10 million a year for the next three years (plus $3.5 million for a new ribbon ad board, among other things) to play at Conseco Fieldhouse, the taxpayer-funded arena that the team plays at rent-free and keeps all revenues from. That's less than the full $15 million in annual operating costs — the Pacers' only arena-related expense — that the team owners said they wanted the city to cover, but not a whole heck of a lot less, especially considering that the Pacers' lease isn't actually up yet.

In exchange, the city gets a commitment by the Pacers to stay in town ... for three years. After that, the team could break its lease and leave town with a smaller penalty, which would dwindle to zero by 2019, the year that their lease is actually set to expire. I don't think the Indianapolis Star used my quote, but what I told their reporter was something along the lines of "This is a pretty crappy payoff for $30 million in government subsidies."

For its part, Deadspin, with its classic understatement, called the deal "the worst of all taxpayer-funded bailouts," "a ransom, plain and simple," and "a blatant cash grab by the Pacers, taking millions of dollars just to agree to live up to the terms of the deal they happily signed."

None of which I'd argue with, though I would take issue with Deadspin's contention that "Indianapolis needs the Pacers more than the Pacers need Indianapolis," given that there aren't a heck of a lot of cities with NBA-ready arenas, and certainly not with Indianapolis' fan base. It seems like the city's Capital Improvement Board caved to a major local business player — which may be partly explained by the fact that the CIB's president is a former aide to this guy.

The CIB still needs to vote to cough up the dough, which it plans to pull out of its operating budget. Yes, that's the same operating budget that ran out of money last year and had to be propped up with a $27 million state loan; with this in mind, at least one state representative says he wants to block the Pacers deal. Best of luck with that: The Pacers may not be able to beat anyone in the NBA Central, but they're unstoppable when going one-on-one with Indianapolis elected officials.

Posted by Neil deMause in Indiana Pacers

Which city wanted (and could afford) the Pacers?

Press Release from Mayor Ballard's office:

I wanted to update you on today's announcement regarding the 3-year agreement reached between the City's Capital Improvement Board and Pacers Sports and Entertainment. As you know, since I campaigned in 2007 my pledge has been to tackle the City's challenges in an honest and responsible manner and to improve City services while maintaining my top priority of protecting our taxpayers. The CIB agreement with Pacers Sports and Entertainment honors that pledge. This agreement is about Conseco Fieldhouse. The Pacers did not ask and we would not consider helping with team operating costs. The Fieldhouse is a City-owned public building that must be run with or without the Pacers. It is less expensive for the City, and therefore the taxpayers, to keep the Pacers as the prime tenant. When you spend as much time out in the community as I do, you hear a lot of opinions. I understand there is a lot of frustration with the recent performance of the Indiana Pacers and I know there are people who don't want the City to do anything to keep the team here. But the value and impact of keeping the Pacers in Indianapolis goes far beyond their most recent win-loss record. It's imperative for people to know that the economic impact of losing the Indiana Pacers was estimated at $55 million per year with a direct impact to local government of $18 million per year. Also, nearly 1000 jobs are directly related to the Pacers and Fever playing in Conseco Fieldhouse - and the number of jobs grows exponentially when you include all activities in the Fieldhouse and the nearby employers dependent on downtown activity. In addition to considering the loss of jobs and tax revenue, it's critical for residents to understand that Conseco Fieldhouse is a City-owned building. Without the Pacers as the prime tenant, taxpayers would have to shoulder the entire cost of operating the Fieldhouse without the benefit of tax receipts - a total estimated at $15-18 million per year. Finally, it is important to factor in our City's status as a sports capital and the role it plays in recruiting employers and conventions to Indianapolis, which in turn generates significant tax revenue. Even while considering all these facts, the agreement was not reached easily, but the alternative was far worse. We could not afford to lose the Pacers to another city. Therefore, we reached a 3-year agreement which preserves the $55 million annual economic impact, the $18 million annual direct impact to local government, and we protected thousands of jobs and taxpayers. Most importantly, the $10 million in financial assistance to operate our City-owned facility for 3 years comes without any additional tax increases. The millions of dollars generated by tax revenues from the Fieldhouse and downtown activity help fund improvements in your neighborhood, and many of the 66,000 people with jobs tied to our hospitality industry are your neighbors. I'm asking for your help to communicate some of the lesser known facts behind this decision over the coming days because preserving the economic and marketing viability of our City affects all of us. I hope I can count on you to voice your support both publicly and privately. Sincerely, Gregory A. Ballard Mayor of Indianapolis

Update from City Council President Ryan Vaughn on the city water bond deal

On the earlier blogpost from yesterday, I inserted an update from Ryan. It's here in italics.

I got my tin foil hat, do you?

"There's a government inside the government & I don't control it!" --Bill Clinton

Here's a little straight talk from the former Candian defense minister, Paul Hellyer

Common sense solution to city's sidewalks

Over on Abdul's blog there is a good discussion going between a thoughtful liberal who calls himself "Think Again", City Council President Ryan Vaughn, and Abdul's readers about the transfer of the city's water company to Citizen's Gas and the bonds that would be issued in the deal to pay for infrastructure.

TA wrote a short analysis of why the deal is bad and, to his credit, Ryan Vaughn responded (in red ink) with his response. It is a must read for anyone who is following the proposed utility transfer. Vaughn's response mirrors what the mayor's office and his lawyers want. TA's analysis seems to be more in line with what The People are saying about the deal.

Unfortunately, we don't know for sure the exact number of the gargantuan bond that will be issued to Citizen's Gas. The number we hear from the politicians changes a lot depending, I guess, on which politician is talking and what day it is.

Every citizen in Marion County ( who is not directly profiting from this bond deal) is seeing huge blinking DANGER! DANGER! DANGER! signs. If you know of a citizen blogging in favor of this deal, please let me know.

Update 7/9/10: Ryan Vaughn emailed me to say that 62% of the people polled want the transfer and the bond deal. I replied to ask for the wording of the poll question and how, when, and where the poll was implemented. I explained to Ryan that most of the people I am currently and unscientifically polling don't understand the deal and when it is explained that our water and energy are being used as collateral, they are recoiling. I seriously doubt if the poll question plainly states to our citizens that their water is being used as collateral on the debt.

Because Ryan (to his credit) is so forthcoming in communication, I seriously doubt that he won't give me the exact language of the polling question. I also believe that he is pushing/selling is what he feels is right. However keep in mind, Ryan's work environment is Barnes & Thornburg lawyers inside one of the top mover/shaker law firms of the city, and are legal counsel on record to Veolia Water. His influences are likely much different than yours and mine.

President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and the other self-serving elitists among his administration effectively forced the health care bill down the throats of Americans AGAINST OUR WILL! It will likely cause the Democrats the House of Representatives and Obama his presidency.

Surely, our Mayor, "The People's Mayor" would not resort to tactics like Obama used to force something we don't want upon us. Or would he? He seems to be doing just that.

Here's a common sense idea. Let's raise some good old fashioned CASH! Cash has power and it doesn't have consequences down the road. CASH doesn't have interest due to the banksters.

Let's examine first which areas of the city are most in need and exactly how much it will cost using the best deals we can get from our local private qualified licensed contractors."

Let's fix our infrastructure in easily manageable and transparent stages starting with whatever area is most in need of attention. Let's raise the cash as we go.

I know we have a bunch of assets we could sell that no one would miss. Things like all that real estate sitting empty. Let's start there.

Another option is to see if the public would write a one time cash check to the city to take care of the most urgent of needs. This might not be a hard sell if The People were backing the idea.

And finally, a suggestion was made to me today by property tax activist, Dave Bond, that if we did issue bonds, why couldn't those bonds be backed by the cash of our own citizens? We could run it like a credit union. That way those who ponied up cash could be paid the interest as a return, rather than hold a vital human need (water and energy) as collateral to the banksters.

I am open to anyone challenging me as to why these ideas are not prudent and why they should not be our first course of action before we offer up VITAL collateral to more borrowing from the bond banks. Banks and interest are bringing America to her knees!

We all know this to be true. It is time to collectively say we are not having it! NO MORE!

The use of our homes as collateral led to the property tax crisis. Our homes were used as an unending revenue source until The People could take no more. Surely, we learned from that colossal mistake. Surely, somewhere deep inside our lost Mayor Ballard, he gets it.

These deals always, I repeat ALWAYS, cost us way more in the long term than the upfront promises of politicians. They always turn ugly.

The politicians pushing this on us must turn off this path! Let's raise the cash and sell some of our under used and unnecessary assets instead.

Bill Still: The Secret of OZ / Solutions For a Broken Economy

There are four parts to this Alex Jones interview. This is part one. The other parts are on You Tube. It is a fascinating interview and filled me with hope that we can beat this vampire sucking the life and wealth from our earth. Stiller says that Iceland is standing strong against the banksters and states that only Iceland and the U.S. can lead the planet through this blatant hijacking of our wealth by the big banks (like JP Morgan Chase).

Oh Happy Day! I quit JP Morgan Chase Bank

A month or so ago, I set up my new membership account with a federal credit union. You should too!

Today I quit my account with JP Morgan Chase.

Ask yourself this, if Chase can figure out millions of our bank accounts to the penny, then why can't they account for where their TARP bailout money went?

The guy who closed my account had no answer. He alluded to me being an internet conspiracy nutcase (of course).

I gave my Chase branch a copy of the 30-page report prepared by Catherine Austin Fitts of the Solari Group. The report, Disclosure in the Precious Metals Puzzle Palace, exhaustively details and footnotes the evidence that Chase, along with the other usual bankster suspects, are systematically manipulating the gold and silver markets by selling paper for precious metals they don't have. They are running it like their usual unaccountable ponzi schemes.

Again, ask yourself. If these banksters can figure millions of people's accounts down to the damned penny, why is it they cannot account for where our money (the TARP funds) was spent?

Becky Williams pens letter to Marion County citizens

I've always liked Becky Williams. I think the lady has a whole lot of moxy and genuine love of The People. She's also a dedicated and unselfish public servant. Please read her letter to us asking for help, and lend her a hand. She deserves the office.
--Melyssa for HFFT

If you are as concerned as I am about the property tax issues affecting the residents of Marion County, I hope you will join me in the fight for change. By the current assessor’s own admission, there are currently 33,000 property tax appeals, many of them going back to the 2006-07 tax years! It is imperative that these appeals are handled in a timely manner! Currently, customer service is practically nonexistent. Each and every property owner rightfully expects to be assessed fairly, accurately, and efficiently, whether it’s their personal, residential or commercial property. This can only happen if the assessor is experienced, knowledgeable and dedicated to the taxpayers.

I began working in the Franklin Township Assessor’s Office in 1985. In 1999 I was elected township assessor. During my tenure I have been president of the Indiana Assessor Association, Inc. (IAAI), co-education director and personal property instructor. I have organized numerous conferences for 800+ participants and worked with the legislature on assessing issues.

Knowledge and education are vital in the operation of the assessor’s office. This year Indiana implemented the Level III Certified Assessor – Appraiser certification. I was awarded mine on January 26, 2010.

This past fall I received calls from several community leaders and a number of Marion County residents urging me to seek the office of Marion County Assessor. After prayerful consideration and family discussions, I decided to accept this challenge. The May primary awarded me the endorsement of the Marion County Republicans.

I have been actively involved in civic and political issues for over thirty years. I’ve served on the Franklin Township Advisory Board, Civic League, Positive Growth Committee, and as a consultant to the Franklin Township Economical Development Committee and the Comprehensive Plan Citizens Advisory Committee, to name a few.

I am excited by the opportunity I might have to correct the property tax problems, but before I can serve I must conduct a very aggressive campaign. It will take a strong and dedicated grass roots organization for me to be successful in this election. With thousands of brochures to purchase, hundreds of yard signs to order, and scores of radio ads to buy, I will need your help.

Your contribution, made payable to “Elect Becky Williams” will help to bring experience, dedication and knowledge to the office of Marion County Assessor. No amount is too small, since small donations can add up quickly. In addition, if you would like to help my campaign by distributing yard signs, making phone calls, knocking on doors, or other volunteer activities, your help would be greatly appreciated. Call me at 317-446-0673 or send me an e-mail at beckywilliams1@comcast.net to volunteer.

Let’s work together to correct the property tax problems once and for all! Please help me in my journey to restore common sense, dedication, customer service, and equitable assessments to the Marion County Assessor’s Office. Thank you in advance for your encouragement, generous support and prayers!

Sincerely,

Becky Williams

Harnessing darkness to our advantage

I read something today about darkness in a rather esoteric book I'm devouring written several years ago that foreshadows what is happening now in our government. It suggested that the darkness we see in action by our politicians can be harnessed as a tool for The People. Yep, you read that right. Their darkness can be a tool.

As the darkness gets larger, it crowds the Light into a smaller and smaller space. In effect it can condense the Light into a laser light effect if you choose to think of it that way.

Unknowingly, Indy's political activists started playing with this technique in 2007. I'm quite sure we can perfect it.

Think of them, those elite buggers, as our prey under the concentrated condensed light of a magnifying glass, with their darkness making our power possible.

Meditate on that!

Indy Tax Dollars Warns: "MORE TOXIC BALONEY"

I'm starting to believe that the Pacers bailout will not see the light of day, but only because the economy sucks and taxpayers are struggling. That doesn't mean we should let down our guard for a minute.

But for the relentless blogging of guys like Gary Welsh of Advance Indiana, Paul Ogden of Ogden on Politics, and Fed McCarthy of Indy Tax Dollars, we might have this nightmare shoved down our throats and be forced to swallow. So far, The People are not swallowing. Geez, are there more than a couple politicians in this town who recognize they are our public servants?

You gotta read Fred McCarthy, a 1948 IU grad and tax blogger, has to say to the elites who think our pockets are theirs for the picking. It is priceless and it is here.

God Bless You, Fred. Keep the heat on!

Ryan Vaughn, City Council President to meet for coffee

Ryan Vaughn has extended the invite to join us for coffee this Wednesday June 16th for coffee to talk about the water utility transfer and other matters involving our money.

We're meeting at Henry's on East Street (Mass Ave district) at 9:30 am.

Drop me an email if you want to join us.

Free Talk Live hosts on Alex Jones radio

You could say I'm old school Alex Jones. I first watched his videos after a batch of homemade copies arrived by UPS one day in 2003. Back then that's how the word got around. People would duplicate the copyright free videos and pass them along to people they thought had minds open enough to hear the truth. My videos were sent to me by a guy I met while volunteering at the Libertarian table at a gun show in northern Indiana. I'm very thankful to him for that.

Now Alex Jones is big time. He's made countless videos and runs one of the country's largest alternative news networks, InfoWars.com The MSM picks on him. I'm sure he has a bigger audience than MSNBC, but then who doesn't these days? In my opinion he's the best out there and I mostly agree with his take on world events...that it's controlled to literally make us slaves.

Anyway, recently the hosts of Free Talk Live did a segment with Jones and discussed immigration. Interestingly, the FTL live guys are for open borders and make a good case for their views. Listen

FROM INFOWARS:
Alex talks with Ian Freeman and Mark Edge of the libertarian political talk show Free Talk Live broadcast from Keene, New Hampshire. Free Talk Live is part of the Free State Project, an effort to get at least 20,000 libertarian-leaning people to move to New Hampshire in order to make the state a stronghold for libertarian ideas. Bob Chapman of The International Forecaster checks in with his regular Friday economic news update. Alex covers the news and takes your calls.

Listen Now Windows Media

2010 Indiana local government spending is down $3 billion from 2009

This is the "wish" budget local governments submit to the state for funding
Adopted Budget History 2006-2010

This is the budget the state approves for each local government
Certified Budget History 2006-2010

Under the Daniels administration local government spending significantly decreased. Here's the big picture.

2006: $16.5 billion
2007: $17.1 billion
2008: $17.7 billion
2009: $17.8 billion
2010: $14.7 billion

I'm not sure exactly how much property tax was saved as a result of our activism which caused the legislature to lower property tax. My guess is we saved citizens about $800,000 to $1 billion off their property tax bills. A big portion of reduced spending is the result of declining income and sales tax revenues due to the economy.

For a long time I felt like we didn't win because we did not get repeal of property tax. However I believe had we not been relentless in our push for repeal of property tax, government spending would be higher than it is today, and citizens would keep less of their money. While I am happy there is a move in the right spending direction, we still need to do more.

HFFT welcomes help in the analysis of the data which is now published by the State of Indiana.

Together, we are making a difference.

Melyssa to do one hour guest segment on Free Talk Live - Saturday nite @ 7pm

WHAT: Melyssa gives one hour guest interview & takes calls from listeners
WHERE: WXNT AM 1430 – Free Talk Live – national syndicated radio
WHEN: Tomorrow June 12^th @ 7pm to 8pm

My background on Free Talk Live: I was first on Free Talk Live in 2006 as part of a show theme on zoning thugs around the country who encroach the legal rights and liberties of citizens because my legal home based business was targeted by Indy’s mayor in the media.

What happened since the 2006 interview with Free Talk Live:
In 2006 and 2007 I spanked city hall in the media and in municipal court and forced the city to drop it’s lawsuit against me. The experience led me to pursue an education on the workings of politics and our local government. I took up volunteer work with the Fair Tax and the Indiana Libertarian Party.

By 2007, I founded and helped to lead the property tax protest movement and Indiana Tea Parties that received extensive local and a bit of national media.

In November 2007, we ousted the well-funded incumbent mayor in the biggest mayoral election upset in the country and replaced him with an unknown outsider.

In December 2007, I was awarded a “Sammie”, the Sam Adams Alliance National Tea Party Prize of $5,000 (and a cool Sam Adams bobble head).

By 2008 and 2009, we forced the state legislature to take action on property tax increases and local government spending.

And in 2010 our efforts led to $3.1 billion annual spending reduction by local governmentand lowered our property tax bills throughout Indiana. Today, Indiana’s local governments spend about 20% less in 2010 than they did in 2006. See 2010 certified budget report from Indiana Department of Local Government Spending.

I am doing the interview to help illustrate by my experience what regular people can do to change how their government behaves. I hope people will take courage and action when they feel the nudge that they can do something to make it better right from our own backyards.

Ryan Vaughn, City Council President Responds to my open letter

Give the man credit. Ryan Vaughn is our city council president and he's forthcoming with communication and invites us "little people" to a regular informal meeting with very people who disagree with his ethical position.

(The "little people" thing is my emphasis, not Ryan's)

Coffee is a whole lot more intimate than a town hall and shows more courage than the cowardly democrats in Congress are willing to do these days for their constituents. Agree or disagree, it shows some moxy and I respect the initiative.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to arrange a date to meet the man for coffee and see what can be done about making it a regular Friday habit. We have absolutely nothing to lose by not showing up except for a bit of time and a couple bucks for some coffee.

I'll never agree, however, that his voting on any matter that involves the purse of Barnes & Thornburg is not a conflict of interest to our citizens. Nor will I ever concede that it makes sense to take out 30 year bonds on capital improvements designed to last 10 years.
--Melyssa for HFFT

CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT RYAN VAUGHN'S RESPONSE TO MY OPEN LETTER:
Melyssa,

I'm not sure I track your analogy. Regardless, I've explained this 100 times. I do not have a conflict, legal or Council. We can continue to debate the issue if you like, but I don't think you'll ever be convinced of my analysis nor I of yours.

As to whether or not people are angry with me, well, I try to do the right thing regardless of what people think. Its those politicians whose actions are controlled by polls and popular opinion that you ought to be worried about, not the ones exercising their own judgment.

The threat of losing an election or having someone use something against me is no threat at all to me. I've never backed away from someone who has accused me of wrongdoing and I wouldn't do it here. I don't hide from conflict, its only my accusers who have thus far lacked the courage to debate the issue. That fact is, I'm doing exactly what I was elected to do.

As for the merits of the bond deal, I have a question for you. Do you know how much our infrastructure deferred maintenance grows with every month we do not address it? If the cost of that number were greater than than bond financing and repair of the "new" infrastructure, would only a mental midget vote against it? Look at the whole picture, not just the snap shot of the bond and it makes perfect sense.

Still waiting on dates for those coffees.

Best New Indy Blog

I am addicted. You will be too if you have not found it already!

Indy's Political Stock Exchange

I have yet to learn who is behind this masterpiece. Doesn't matter. It is more clever and non-partisan than Indy Undercover ever was and will be just as politically important in the next mayoral and city council races.

Mark my words

--Melyssa for HFFT

Open Letter To Ryan Vaughn, City Council President

Egads! I'm back from nearly a year hiatus. I'm semi-healed from my disgust and anger at the immorality of our local political climate, but I feel guilty watching Paul Ogden and Gary Welsh carry the lions share of the non-partisan blogging work in this town. I'll never be the powerhouses that they are, but I will try to add to what I can from the perspective of a woman who loves Indiana and her people and who seeks to see justice and the rule of law applied equally to all and who will never seek to personally profit from the taxpayer coffers.

Back in the heady days of our property tax protests of 2007 led by yours truly, the activists behind the Indiana Voters League endorsed Ryan Vaughn for City Council. Vaughn was elected and then promptly hired by Barnes & Thornburg, who it is said from both sides of the aisle, today run our city with our "People's Mayor", Greg Ballard as their puppet Mayor.

Thereafter accepting a top city law firm associate position, Vaughn was anointed City Council President. It appears the consensus to appoint him city council president was because he'll carry the water for his employer who stands to reap great sums of money if certain public decisions benefit the clients of Barnes & Thornburg, especially the city water utility transfer and the Indiana Pacers billionaire bailout, both clients of his new employer.

Ryan Vaughn and I have exchanged several emails over the past few months and I give him major credit for being forthcoming in his willingness to communicate with us.

Recently, Ryan suggested a weekly coffee meeting for activists on Fridays. We have yet to set up anything solid, but like Ryan, I'm open to meeting. I am open despite the fact that I think his employment creates many conflicts of interest in terms of his ability to vote without prejudice on any matter that involves a client or financial interest of his employer, Barnes & Thornburg law firm.

I sent the following email to Ryan today. I haven't heard back yet, but I hope it will be the start of an open dialogue about the ethical lines our city's citizen employers expect from our elected leadership. It is our responsiblity to show up if we are going to bend our city's leadership to do our will. I intend to jump back to this game for a time in effort to hold our politicians accountable and I hope you'll join me.
--Melyssa for HFFT

OPEN LETTER TO RYAN VAUGHN, CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT

Greetings Ryan,

If I sat on city council and there was a vote that had to do with Angie's List, but not necessarily involving my particular job or my advertising clients, I would not be able to vote on the council matter without prejudice toward my employer. Nor would I ever want to be in a position where I had to place a vote that ran against the interests of my employer in order to do what the people I represented wanted me to do.

I'm not sure how you you rationalize your involvement on the water company transfer, but it will be used against you. Everyone I know is angry you have not recused yourself from involvement in this matter.

Also, I'm not sure how you rationalize putting utility customers in a trick bag that forces them pay 30 year bond interest on projects designed for 10 year life span, but that doesn't even make sense to a mental midget.

I appreciate you wanting to meet for coffee. I really do. And I'll meet with you. But these are philosophical positions grounded in morality and common sense. And you are violating them.

You still have time to get off this unethical path.

Melyssa