Indiana

Let?s Do It Again

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz

My apologies to Bill Cosby and Sydney Poitier for today’s blog title.  

Now that Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels is calling lawmakers back for a special session, they have a decond chance to get the Capital Improvement Board solution right.  As much they can be criticized for what they failed to do, they now get a mulligan and a chance to wipe the slate clean.

However, the biggest winner of this second chance scenario is Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard.  While the Mayor’s office engaged in a lot of behind the scenes diplomacy, they did not do a very good job of making the public case for a solution.   

The Mayor should call together the business community, reach out to labor, the hospitality industry, the Colts, the Pacers and even call some of the bigger conventions and let the public know why the convention business can’t be allowed to suffer.

I would hold the news conference in an empty Lucas Oil Stadium to show the public (and the legislature) what it would be like if the Stadium were to close down because of a lack of operational funds.  

I would also get my budget staff to do an analysis of how much sales and income tax are generated from the convention business in Indianapolis and let lawmakers and the rest of Indiana know how much they stand to lose and how their taxes will have to go up to make up for the lost revenue should downtown fail.

If I were the Colts and Pacers, I would reconsider my public statements as of late and seriously step up to help solve this problem.  If a workable solution is reached and you contribute to help solve the problem, everybody will forgive your past statements.

If I were Marion County Democrats I’d get on board with a comprehensive solution, because if they reach a workable solution, you’ll be left out in the cold and it won’t help your chances to take back the Council and Mayor’s Office.

And as much as would love to see the people who negotiated the original deal dragged onto Monument Circle for a public flogging, it’s time to let that part of the equation go.  What’s done is done and continuing the blame game really isn’t going to solve anything or move the issue forward.

I have always been a firm believer everything happens for a reason.  We just have to be either smart enough or paitient enough to figure it out.   By failing to pass a CIB plan, lawmakers have inadvertently given the Mayor and the city an opportunity to get it right and in a lot faster time frame.  All parities involved can take a critical look at what they did wrong and get it right.

Don’t blow this opportunity, because I can guarantee you certainly won’t get another one.

Full post as published by Indiana Barrister on May 01, 2009 (boomark / email).