Former Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett won't be serving on the Clark County Council after all, as he doesn't meet the residency requirements to hold office.
State law requires office holders must have lived in the district they represent for at least six months and within the county for at least a year.
The Clark County Assessor's office recorded Bennett became the owner of his Jeffersonville home Sept. 8, which doesn't meet the six-month requirement to live within the council district. His former home in New Albany was transferred to a new owner Aug. 29.
Bennett confirmed Thursday he has only lived in Clark County about six months, having previously lived in Floyd County.
"I'm not aware of any [such law]," he told the News and Tribune when informed by the newspaper of the residency requirement. "Frankly, I would assume [Clark County GOP Chairman Jamey Noel] would know that."
Bennett said he would step aside and allow someone else to fill the seat.
"I had no intentions of running when the two years were up," he said of the District 2 term. "I strictly saw this as serving the county."
Attorney Larry Wilder, often hired to represent local Republicans, took fault.
"Sometimes when you have lawyers that don't read every word in a statute, they give bad advice," Wilder said. "Tony and I talked about the opening, and I spoke with [Noel] as well, and they both asked a question about eligibility to serve and quite honestly, I made a mistake."
Bennett was one of two Republicans caucused onto the board Wednesday evening in a surprise move. But Bennett wasn't named to fill the seat vacated by Mike Popplewell, who resigned amid misdemeanor charges.
Instead, Bennett was going to represent District 2. Brian Lenfert, sitting District 2 councilman, was elected to fill Popplewell's at-large seat.
A call to Noel was not immediately returned.
Chelsea Schneider one of the only good reporters left at the Langley-Run Indianapolis Star had this to say:
Former Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett returned to Hoosier politics this week — but his stay was brief.
Bennett had been appointed to the Clark County Council in Southern Indiana on Wednesday. But a day later, Bennett said he would no longer serve after the News and Tribune reported he hadn’t lived in the county long enough to hold the office. State law requires a council member to live in the county for at least one year. Bennett told the newspaper he had lived in Clark County for about six months.
The development is the latest chapter in the high-profile Republican’s political career. He took a break after losing re-election as state schools chief in 2012 and resigning as the Florida education commissioner a year later.
After his selection, Bennett told IndyStar Wednesday that filling the vacancy was an “opportunity to do something that I think is really positive.”
“It’s just to serve the community I grew up in in a very positive way,” Bennett said. “I wanted to be a service to our county given my background. I have a good understanding of fiscal policy and budgeting.”
After learning he was ineligible for the seat, Bennett told the News and Tribune that he “had no intentions of running” when the current term was up.
Bennett and Clark County GOP Chair Jamey Noel didn’t immediately return requests for comment.
We are over joyed to hear that at least for now that Tony Bennett will not being serving in public office. It appears that his attempt to serve on the Clark County Council just went "A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-wop-bam-boom!" Couldn't have happened to a nicer lowlife! One can't help but wonder if Tony Bennett is thinking about why they chose to apply local residency law to him when so many other office holders have flouted residency laws to keep their offices! Former Senator's Dick Lugar and Evan Bayh both have. Former Governor Mitch Daniels lived at his house in Hamilton County even though the Constitution of the State of Indiana states that the governor must reside at the seat of Indiana State Government which the court's have interpreted to mean Marion County. But at least Bennett is grateful that he is not facing any legal repercussions for this. He is undoubtedly thankful that he was not charged with federal wire fraud violations from stunts that he and his staff pulled when he was Education Superintendent.
Paul Ogden and Gary Welsh both have written extensively on Bennett's time in office. Former Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White has also discussed this at length on his podcast series "The Charlie White Show".
Especially of interest is a blog post by Gary Welsh over at Advance Indiana back on December 02, 2014. The post is titled "Joe Hogsett And Terry Curry Gave Tony Bennett Pass On Multiple Wire Fraud Violations". Mr. Welsh gave some facts which should be reviewed in light of Tony Bennett's past and also the fact that he is clearly willing to seek office again. From the keystrokes of the Grand Master himself:
Before Inspector General David Thomas entered into a settlement agreement with former Education Supt. Tony Bennett this summer letting him off with a hand slap for using state employees and state resources for political purposes, he prepared another 95-page report in which his investigation concluded there were 100 instances in which Bennett or his staff violated federal wire fraud laws. For some reason, Thomas didn't bother to release that report at the time he entered into the state ethics settlement with Bennett, but State House reporter Tom LoBianco has now obtained a copy of the original report, which should have been posted on the IG's website for public inspection but wasn't.
. . . In a section labeled “Scheme to Defraud,” the inspector general laid out its case, saying Bennett “while serving as the elected Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Indiana, devised a scheme or artifice to defraud the State of Indiana of money and property by using State of Indiana paid employees and property, for his own personal gain, as well as for his own political benefit to be re-elected to the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.”
The violations fell into five categories: political campaign fundraising, responding to political opponent’s assertions, calendar political activity meetings, political campaign call appointments and general political campaign activity.
Through reviews of emails and calendar entries and more than 50 interviews with top Republicans and former staffers, investigator Charles Coffin determined that Bennett falsified mileage logs to cover fundraising trips and the use of two state workers as campaign drivers. The report also details 20 days on which Bennett used the SUV to go to local Republican fundraisers coded as “business” in his handwritten vehicle logs, as well as instances when trips to events billed as education-related also had calendar notes about political donors being present.
Bennett also used tax dollars to send a staffer to attend the 2012 Republican Party convention on his behalf . . .According to LoBianco, the report analogized Bennett's case to the recent federal prosecution of former Lake Co. Surveyor George Van Til, who pleaded guilty last December to six federal wire fraud counts related to the use of county employees and resources for his political campaigns. Bennett could have also been prosecuted for official misconduct and ghost employment under state law just like one of his predecessors, Harold Negley, who former Marion Co. Prosecutor Steve Goldsmith prosecuted on nearly identical charges. The question now that must be answered is why former U.S. Attorney Joe Hogsett and Marion Co. Prosecutor Terry Curry, both Democrats, passed on prosecuting Bennett. What was the quid pro quo? Inquiring minds want to know. The answer should be quite obvious in both instances. Both of them should be holding their heads in shame for breaching their respective oaths of office.
Welsh then goes onto point out some interesting information about former Indiana Secretary of State now Congressman Todd Rokita and how one of the staff members cited in the Inspector General's report on Bennett office. Had a spouse who was mentioned in regards to alleged violations at the Secretary of State's office under Todd Rokita.
I (Gary Welsh) would be remiss if I didn't remind people that former Secretary of State Charlie White reported his predecessor, Todd Rokita, to the state's Inspector General and the Marion Co. Prosecutor, for similar violations after he and his staff uncovered campaign-related documents on the state's computers in his office when he took office. The spouse of one of the employees cited in the Inspector General's report on Bennett's office was at the center of those violations in the Secretary of State's office. Both the Inspector General and the Marion Co. Prosecutor's Office refused to investigate White's allegations. The State House media has refused to report on White's allegations because they don't like him and want him destroyed.
Here was my reaction last July when the IG's settlement agreement with Bennett was announced:
Clearly, the admissions made by Bennett involve violations of criminal statutes, including official misconduct and ghost employment under state law. Former Education Supt. Harold Negley was forced to resign and prosecuted for exactly those same offenses back in 1985 by then-Marion Co. Prosecutor Steve Goldsmith. The state ethics commission can recommend forwarding the findings to the prosecutor for further investigation, but nothing is stopping Marion Co. Prosecutor Terry Curry from acting on his own. It remains unclear why he sat back and allowed the Inspector General's investigation to play out before convening a grand jury to conduct his own independent investigation. Remarkably, Bennett's lawyers at Barnes & Thornburg claim they have an agreement with Curry not to prosecute him, which is a complete outrage if true. Curry claimed he planned to get tough on the prosecution of public corruption cases when he ran for office four years ago, but he declines to take any action in the most brazen cases set in front of him.It is completely beyond reason as to why Tony Bennett was not charged like his predecessor in office Harold Negley was back in 1985 for pretty much the exact same offenses! Some democrats complained about the refusal to prosecute Bennett and such refusal certainly cost the democrats their chance to pick up some more elected offices. Why Todd Rokita has been allowed to skate by in the matter of their being claims made that their was campaign related documents on the state's computers is also astonishing. It is way past time that someone looked into Mr. Rokita and his tenure as Secretary of State! We all must be vigilant in regards to Tony Bennett. He and other's might have thought that with the unfortunate demise of Gary Welsh. That he and the other parasites and vultures that seek to drain the life blood out of the citizens of Indiana with nobody noticing them. Surprise! Gary Welsh maybe gone but his influence lives on! You know we will let the great actor Henry Fonda break it down for you:
Once again we are your host here at the Indy Republican Blog saying goodnight and be happy wherever you are. But before we leave you we want to share a little treasure from the good Tony Bennett and also a link to a podcast by that great freedom fighter himself MR. CHARLIE WHITE!
Here is Tony Bennett performing that great classic "Anything Goes" with Lady Gaga:
And last but certainly not least Charlie White's take on Tony Bennett: http://indianatalks.com/site/2014/10/the-charlie-white-show-10-29-14-podcast/
This is what the local, Hoosier State, and national establishment Republican Party (RINO's), have become: retreads of the same cast of losers and cronies who are forever regurgitated to the public taxpaying trough. Think carpetbagging multi-millionaire career politico and lobbyist Dan Coats) when you think of GOP incompetents like Bennett.
ReplyDeleteThe people can try to effect change by turning to someone like a DJ Trump but the career RINOs, people like Paul Ryan, Lindsay Graham, John McCain, Marco Rubio, John Kasich, and the always pathetic Jeb Bush who gladly took money from socialist agitator Democrat Party funder super billionaire leftist George Soros, will NOT serve "the people".
Case in point: The repeal of Obamacare and the fact NO ONE is now talking about repealing a law that is more damaging to America with every passing day. No matter that a majority of Americans want this evil tyranny deleted from their lives and last November voted accordingly, the Paul Ryans and Mitch McConnells and the entire "Party of Stupid" just WILL NOT do it. Amazing that a gaggle of crooks, both national Congressional Houses, desire to continue to force Americans to follow an illegal law like Obamacare when they exempt themselves and keep themselves free from it.
OMGosh. Speaking of RINO Establishment Old Guard Republicans, Drudge is reporting (2/8/2017) Bush era James Baker and that uber-Wall Street crony Hank Paulsen are pushing a CARBON TAX. Bloomberg reports "Old-Guard Republicans to Push Carbon Tax at White House Meeting"... wtf? Establishment "R's" are more like left liberal Democrats Nancy Pelosi, Chuckie Schumer, Harry Reid, and Barak Obama anymore. No matter what we everyday people do, we just cannot get rid of these parasites on our body politic.
ReplyDeleteFirst, allow me to thank you for trying to carry on the work of the late, great inimitable Gary Welsh. [I will NEVER believe he committed suicide on some condominium building stairway steps.] The local blogosphere, notwithstanding your efforts, is vastly much poorer without Gary's intellectual analysis and honest reporting. Gary Welsh is severely missed by critically thinking persons. Until I found your column, I dropped away from the current blathering of local "R" mouthpieces, including the mentally ill local liberal bloggers, who get so bogged down in political litmus testing, pragmatism, and reality.
ReplyDeleteI just received a perfunctory impersonal email from Kyle Hupfer- a person I never met and doubt I ever would want to- exhorting me to help defeat Joe Donnelly. While I consider Mr. Donnelly a tool of the left liberal Democrat religion and a hack career politician for whom I would never vote, I wonder why the hell I should vote again for another "Republican"?
Already, the spineless RINO Republicans are whimpering in fear of gutting the illegal Obamacare travesty rammed though in the middle of the night by lies, payoffs, threats, and perversion of the law. WHY THE HELL SHOULD I BELIEVE ANYTHING REPUBLICANS PROMISE ME now that we AGAIN see campagin promises being backed away from, excuse after excuse, etc.
I will not even bring up at length the Golden Calf of the Leftist Democrats that cronies Hank Paulson and James Baker are advocationg a la goofus multi-millionaire Algore, CARBON TAXES. Jeez, what fools....
I agree with Matt Drudge... The RINO REPUBLICANS who promised us (election after election after election to last November 2016) to repeal Obamacare but are now (not unexpectedly) changing their tune SHOULD BE SUED FOR FRAUD. Patrick Caddell has it nailed tight about the "Republican Party"- it is the party of stupid.
Thank you for your support. All of us here appreciate it greatly. Your points are quite good about why we should be skeptical of those who claim to be republicans. Many of us here knew Gary Welsh quite closely. And for reasons we will not go into out of respect for him. Unfortunately he took his own life. But how a man dies is not as important as how he lives. He lived well. He is dearly missed by many. The way we at IR look at things is this. We know that those we admire will pass on. We can choose to wallow in that grief of losing someone we respect or we can choose to do what it takes to respect ourselves. We do this here because it makes us better people. People often wonder why local hacks like Matt Tully and Tim Swarens and far to many other mediocrities are so bitter and hateful. The answer is simple. They don't want to be great they want others to view them as great. They have no self respect because they have no self. It seems to us Anon that you have plenty of self respect. Be strong friend. And consider being a blogger yourself we could use more good thinkers such as yourself.
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