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Showing posts with label Mike McQuillen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mike McQuillen. Show all posts

Thursday, August 16, 2018

Jeff Miller Cops a Plea Resigns from Indianapolis City Council


Indianapolis City Councilor Jeff Miller-R

Back in November of last year. We had written about how Indianapolis City-County Councilor Jeff Miller had been charged with child molestation. Marisa Kwiatkowski and James Briggs over at INDYSTAR reported yesterday that Miller has pleaded guilty to several felony charges and resigned his council seat

Kwiatkowski, Briggs and Ryan Martin who contributed to yesterday’s story wrote:

Miller, 51, pleaded guilty Wednesday to four felony counts of battery on a person less than 14 years old, ending a case that began in November when Marion County prosecutors charged him with three counts of child molestation.

Hamilton County Prosecutor D. Lee Buckingham II, who took over the case in January as special prosecutor, reached a deal with Miller's attorneys that downgraded the charges while still resulting in felony convictions.

Miller was sentenced to four years of probation, with some conditions. Hendricks Superior Court Judge Mark A. Smith ordered Miller not to interact with children under 16 without permission from the court. Miller will not serve jail time and does not have to register as a sex offender, according to the terms of his plea agreement. The convictions could be reduced to misdemeanors once Miller completes probation.

Now that Miller has resigned our guess is that the Council Republican’s will have a caucus to appoint Miller’s replacement. Let’s pray that another sexual predator is not put in Miller’s place. Prayers for Miller’s victims and their families.

Monday, February 12, 2018

Christine Scales Calls Out Indianapolis GOP Councilors for backing Stephen Clay


City-County Councilor Christine Scales 


Earlier today Indianapolis City-County Councilor and friend of the blog Christine Scales wrote a letter to the editor of the Indianapolis Star in which she criticized the move by Council Republicans to vote Democrat Stephen Clay in as Council President.

Here is the text of Councilor Scales Letter to the Editor:

“Politics makes strange bedfellows.”  That quote aptly describes the recent forged alliance between City-County Council Republicans and Democrat Council President Stephen Clay. The public remains puzzled by this odd coupling, even as their union appears misbegotten and doomed.

In his Jan. 12 Letter to the Editor, Republican Councillor Scott Kreider attempted to rationalize why all but one member of their caucus would vote for Clay as council president. Kreider’s reconstruction of his caucus’s mindset and events that led to Republican votes securing Clay’s presidency contradicts the reality of what transpired and why.

Clay is someone with whom Republican councillors have ideologically zero commonality. In 2012, every Republican councillor voted against Clay’s appointment to the Police Merit Board. Council meeting minutes give evidence to Republican statements about Clay’s political partisanship. Now, once numerous complaints about Clay's divisive partisanship have been replaced with Kreider’s claims of Republican’s newly found faith in Clay’s bipartisan leadership abilities.

Kreider’s laundry list of complaints against the Democrat majority included accusations of stalled or killed Republican proposals due to partisan gamesmanship. It’s a matter of public record however, that more Republican proposals move smoothly through the Council process to successful passage, than not. It was Kreider and his Republican caucus who authored Proposal #6. This controversial proposal created a new crime prevention grant funded with nearly half a million dollars. It passed 24-1. A search of other successfully passed council proposals will prove that this Indianapolis City Council enjoys greater bipartisanship than any led by the Republicans.

In his letter, Kreider also bemoaned the fractures within the Democratic caucus over Council leadership--  as if this has caused them anything other than delight. He failed to mention that behind the scenes, he and fellow Republican councillors continually fed the conflict, playing both sides, wheeling and dealing their votes in exchange for committee chairmanships. When then-Council President Maggie Lewis refused the use of council committee chairmanships as bargaining chips, the Republicans found Clay willing to do their bidding.

The slights Kreider magnifies into justification for handing Clay the council presidency pale in comparison to political shenanigans historically engaged in by the Republican Council Caucus. After the November 2011 elections, in their last months as the Republican majority and without a Council vote to approve the funds, well over $200,000 was paid to a GOP political operative to redraw the council district boundaries. In order for their 11th hour gerrymandering to work, Republican councillors and Mayor Greg Ballard also sought to eliminate the four at-large seats, all held by Democrats at that time. The Republican dominated Indiana Legislature granted their request. 

In his Letter to the Editor, Kreider apparently hoped all his reasons for finding promise in a Clay presidency might be found plausible to IndyStar readers. What he seemed to have forgotten was that I was a member of the Republican Caucus in January of 2017.  At that time, Republican Caucus Leader Mike McQuillen suggested we Republican councillors have some "fun" with the council presidency election. Instead of voting for Lewis, who enjoyed her Democrat Caucus's support at the time, McQuillen encouraged us to vote for Clay. His motivation was that Clay would be so ill equipped to serve in that role, and make so many mistakes that Clay's actions would raise the public's ire against all Democrat councillors, not just Clay. Republicans would then enjoy the public's support in votes during the next municipal election cycle to reassume the majority on Council. I, and a handful of other Republicans opposed playing partisan games with such an important matter. With the 2019 council elections looming, and without me to rain on his political parade, it appears that Minority Leader McQuillen found a caucus more receptive to carrying out his plot.

Politics does indeed make strange bedfellows. The Clay coup orchestrated by McQuillen and his caucus affirms the truth of that quote. While explanations to account for the whys and wherefores of votes donated to Clay abound, Republican Caucus members only dig themselves in deeper to their deception to avoid accountability for their destructive partisan gamesmanship. We elected councillors can do better and we will -- if those among us will abandon selfish, desperate desires for greater power and work as humble servants in unity of purpose that will ensure the well being of our community. 

Christine Scales
Indianapolis City-County Councillor


Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Marion County Republican Chairman Jim Merritt Blows Smoke at Matt Tully

Vacation was outstanding. But know time to get down to business. In a previous blog post we brought you the story about RINO State Senator Jim Merritt was seeking to run ruin the Marion County Republican Party by seeking election as it's chairman. Since that time as we expected Merritt has been successful at becoming Marion County GOP Chairman. He recently sat down with our most hated establishment flunky Matt Tully to spout nonsense about how he will revive the Republican Party in Marion County. Tully writes:


Marion County Republican Chairman Jim Merritt


Jim Merritt understands the task he’s taken on. It’s a tough one. Politically speaking, it doesn’t get much more daunting than this.
Merritt, the longtime state senator from Indy's northeast side, recently won his bid to become the new chairman of the Marion County Republican Party.


 Republicans have been swamped in every countywide election in recent years. They control none of the major offices in a city that has tilted more and more heavily to the Democratic side in recent years. Hillary Clinton won the county by 82,000 votes last year. Mayor Joe Hogsett won 62 percent of the vote in 2015, joining a long list of Democrats who have won big here in recent years. The GOP has lagged badly on fundraising.


"Ass Kisser" Tully quotes Merritt as saying:


“The Republican Party is in limbo in Marion County,” Merritt said. “We have to improve ourselves. I wouldn’t want to invest in the Republican Party locally right now.”
But he did, adding county chairman to his gig at the state Senate, where he has been a powerful voice on issues such as hunger and opioid addiction in recent years. He says he has to start “with the basics, the blocking and tackling of politics” as party chairman, recruiting new precinct workers and raising money. But then the party must focus on doing a better job of offering ideas and an “urban Republican model” that can appeal to more people.

“We have to show people that we can challenge Democrats and lead the county on tough issues,” he said. “In Indianapolis, we cannot be the party of ‘no.’ Not this time. This city obviously has crime problems, fiscal problems, infrastructure problems. There’s an opportunity to show that a Republican model of a big city can work.”
Unlike in many larger cities, Republicans at least don’t have to go too far back in history to find big moments of success. Former Mayor Greg Ballard won a surprise victory in 2007 and then cruised to re-election four years later. Former Gov. Mitch Daniels, elected in 2004 and 2008, won the county big. Those two men, known for running pragmatic, idea-driven administrations that didn’t get caught up on social issues and appealed to voters from both parties, have provided the road map for success in a big city, Merritt argues.
“We’ve got to be about having a broader appeal,” he said.


As evidence of that, Daniels won the county by almost 50,000 votes in 2008 after running, in large part, on a message of government efficiency, thinking bigger and making Indiana more attractive to employers. Four years later, fellow Republican Mike Pence, with his well-established position as a socially conservative leader, lost the county by 80,000 votes. That 130,000-vote swing tells you a lot about what kind of Republican can sell in Indianapolis.


The above paragraphs shows why under Jim Merritt the Democrats are in no danger of losing their dominance in Marion County. If anything the Marion County GOP will only continue to shrink. It's true that Greg Ballard was elected as Indianapolis Mayor twice and both times Mitch Daniels ran he carried Marion County. The problem is that Daniels was running against very weak opponents. That is the only reason he carried Marion County. In 2012 and 2016 both times the Republican Gubenatorial Candidate lost Marion County by large margins. Mike Pence did better in Lake County than he did in Marion and there are no republicans in Lake County! Ballard only won in 2007 because Bart Peterson was stupid enough to shoot himself in the foot prior to the election by pushing to raise Indianapolis's property taxes. In 2011 he narrowly won reelection against a very weak opponent. So citing Daniels and Ballard as a way for republicans to regain ground in Indianapolis is not a good suggestion. The baseline republican vote in Marion County is around 40% and that seems to be dropping each election. Greg Ballard is not very well liked by rank-and-file republicans due to his nonstop taxing and spending, his hostility to gun owners, and his turning the keys to Indianapolis over to the establishment hacks in both parties.




Merritt is moving the county party out of its standalone location and into the state party headquarters, a cost-cutting move but also one he hopes will help the local party better coordinate with a state organization that has won a solid string of elections in recent years. He believes he has a better chance of growing the party locally with the election of Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican who has won praise across party lines.


He is focusing on local races in 2018 and helping current GOP council members better get the word out on their initiatives. He is already scouting for 2019 mayoral candidates, but he knows the party must improve its infrastructure in order to attract a top nominee. Above all, Merritt said, the party must market itself as a force trying to improve the community by offering smart ideas on core city issues.
“If we do our job and add solid people to the organization and support a broad range of candidates, we have a chance,” he said. “Greg Ballard proved it, and that wasn’t so long ago. We have a chance to win in this county. But we have to give people a reason to want to be Republicans.”


Why Merritt thinks that Eric Holcomb will be able to help rebuild the Marion County GOP is beyond us. If the above photograph of Merritt is any indicator than it would seem likely that Merritt just has no damn clue what the hell he is doing! He looks like his brain is struggling to deal with his own stupidity! Holcomb lost Marion County by a large margin last year in his race for Governor. And years ago when Holcomb was the State Republican Chairman he did less than nothing to help out the Marion County GOP.  Holcomb seems like the person to go to if you want to mess things up in Indianapolis! Merritt is the last person who should be speaking about building the party up. He is one of the insiders that tried to defeat Christine Scales in the 2015 Primary and was probably a factor in her leaving the Republican Party. If Matt Tully had any brains he would have asked Jim Merritt for specifics on how he intends to fix the GOP. But he won't because that would cost him points with the members of his circle jerk club! Time will tell but so far there is no reason for us to believe that Merritt will do anything other than to continue turning the Marion County GOP into a wholly owned subsidiary of the Marion County Democratic Party.

Thursday, February 2, 2017

RINO Jim Merritt seeks to be Marion County GOP Chairman another reason why the Marion County GOP is Screwed!

It seems that the Marion County Republican Establishment has learned nothing from losing their greatest officeholder Indianapolis City-County Councilor Christine Scales! Word is out that Democratic Republican State Senator Jim Merritt has decided he is the cure for what ails the Marion County GOP. So he has decided to bestow upon them his great gifts be seeking to be their next chairman. Today's issue of the Indianapolis Business Journal has an article about Merritt's run for County Chairman:


State Sen. Jim Merritt is throwing his hat into the ring to become chairman of the Marion County Republican Party.
Merritt told IBJ that he “holds the party pretty close to my heart” and said his focus issues in the state Legislature—including poverty, hunger and addiction—are “ideally suited for Marion County and the urban Republican model.”
“If we don’t reach out to those addicted to drugs, those who are hungry, those who have vacant homes on their block, we are not doing our duty,” Merritt said. “I think the GOP should stand for community.”
Others are also expected to seek the leadership spot. A new chairman will be selected March 4 as part of the Marion County Republican Central Committee reorganization process.


IR has does not yet at this time have any information about any other candidates running for the chairman's position. Merritt may have ambitions beyond just being the new county chairman the article continues:


Many Republicans insiders believed that Merritt would run against Democrat Joe Hogsett, in the mayor's race in 2015, but he did not enter the GOP primary. The Republican candidate, businessman Chuck Brewer, ended up losing to Hogsett.
Democrats currently control the City-County Council, with 14 seats compared to Republicans’ 11 seats. Republican council member Christine Scales defected to become a Democrat this week.
Merritt, who represents portions of Marion and Hamilton counties as a state senator, said he believes "Republicans can win in Marion County with good organization.”


“We’re going to work on the grassroots,” Merritt said. “We’re going to work on raising money and working on communications and messaging. I think I can provide the leadership."
Merritt is seeking to replace Council Minority Leader Mike McQuillen, who led the party on a temporary basis until announcing he would step down this week.
"I believe that there is much work to do in my role as minority leader of the City-County Council, working with our Republican councillors to move the needle on thoughtful policy, hold the mayor accountable to the people, and prepare for 2019,” McQuillen said in a statement.
Asked if Merritt would be interested in running against Hogsett in 2019, he said he is focused on “reviving the party.”
“We’re not going to win the mayor’s office if we don’t have a strong party,” Merritt told IBJ.
Merritt said he counts on others running for the seat and that he will be working on a “full-throated plan of what I plan on doing in leading the party.”


A few thought come to mind. For one when Merritt says he is going to "work on the grassroots". We are all scratching our heads trying to figure out if there is any grass where this man walks. It is also beyond laughable the idea that Merritt could beat Hogsett in 2019! He is correct when he states that they will not win the mayor's office without a strong party. Merritt however does not have the intelligence, drive or leadership to rebuild the Marion County Republican Party. Writing on his blog a few years back the late, great Gary Welsh had this to say about Jim Merritt:


Readers should know a couple of things about Merritt. He is behind the cabal of good ole boys who drafted Tim Craft to move into Councilor Christine Scales' new third district and run against her in the Republican primary next year. He approved of the same council Republicans who never asked Lincoln Plowman to resign or leave the caucus after being indicted for taking a bribe from an undercover FBI agent booting Scales from the Republican caucus because of her conservative and independent streak. Former Chief of Staff Ryan Vaughn liked to copy Merritt on e-mails deriding Scales for putting her constituents ahead of their petty politics. Merritt would reply approvingly to Vaughn's cutting e-mails of Scales. Secondly, Merritt lobbied hard for the bone-headed decision to locate the Regional Operations Center at Alex Carroll's Eastgate Mall property despite the legitimate misgivings former Public Safety Director Frank Straub had with using that location. Know the man before you jump to support him.


All of us have only this to say. If the above mentioned facts by Gary Welsh about Merritt are any indication of his style of leadership. Then the hell with it! We will have no part of his faux brand of Republicanism!


For further reading:
http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2014/11/star-claims-exclusive-on-ballard-not.html

Marion County GOP pushes Christine Scales away




Christine Scales




Yesterday Indianapolis City-County Councilor Christine Scales announced on Facebook that she was leaving the Republican Party to become a Democrat. We here at IR have for many years supported Christine Scales and we all will continue to do so regardless of her party switch. We previously have mentioned the inept leadership of the Marion County Republican Party under former Mayor "Boss Greg" Ballard and current fellow RINO Traitor Mike McQuillen. Although we here are all very sorry that Councilor Scales has left the Grand Old Party. We certainly can sympathize with her decision to leave. She was treated abysmally by the apparatchiks that pass themselves off as republicans when real republicans like Paul Ogden, Christine Scales and the late great Gary Welsh are treated as pariahs for holding the parties officials accountable. As for ourselves we all have been Republicans for many decades. We will agitate for reform until we leave this world. The Republican Party of Marion County and of Indiana is not and has not been worthy of laying claim to the historic conservative and libertarian principles of the GOP for many years. There have been some positive developments such as the ousting of former US Senator Dick "Carpetbagger" Lugar in 2012 and the refusal of former Mayor Greg Ballard to run for a third term in 2015. But there is still a long way to go to reclaiming the Grand Old Party in the Hoosier state. As we have pointed out the state house republicans wish to raise our state gas tax, and continue to fund projects of dubious value such as the previously mentioned bicentennial projects that were started by former Governor and now Vice President Mike Pence. Along with shielding our state legislators emails from we the people. Former Governors Mitch Daniels, Mike Pence and now current Governor Eric Holcomb have all ran on making state government more transparent but have increased the secrecy surrounding government immensely. Former Governor Pence went as far as to push to keep his emails a secret and so far Eric Holcomb has shown no willingness to rollback previous administrations secrecy. If newly elected State GOP Chairman Kyle Hupfer so desires he can order a long needed overhaul of the Marion County Republican Party structure. Until the State Republican Party returns to its historic roots of limited government, opposing pay-to-play schemes, obeying the rule of law, and not blindly following ever yahoo that runs with an R after their name they will continue their deserved decline! If it must come to the point where the State GOP is reduced to rubble. So be it. All us true republicans will be there to rebuild and reclaim our parties heritage. Godspeed Christine Scales! And to all our fellow brothers and sisters in arms! In the words of the savior: "Let not your heart be troubled." John 14:1 also remember "Blessed are you who are persecuted for righteousness sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:10

Paul Ogden of Ogden on Politics fame and our colleague on the left and still the undisputed king of Indiana Democratic Bloggers Jon Easter have both written about Christine Scales Party switch. The links to their pieces are below:



Republican Indianapolis City Councilor becomes a Democrat:
http://www.ogdenonpolitics.com/2017/02/local-indianapolis-republican-councilor.html



Jon Easters post on Christine Scales party switch:




Saturday, May 21, 2016

Marion County GOP trades one Democrat Stooge for Another to be their new Chairman

Yesterday the Indianapolis Star wrote an article about how a new Indianapolis Ethics ordinance has moved Marion County Democrat Republican Chairwoman Jennifer Ping to step aside from her position and make way for a new Democrat Republican Indianapolis City County Council Minority Leader Mike McQuillen to assume control of what remains of the crumbling Marion County Republican Party. Lest anyone think that the probable appointment of McQuillen to become the new Marion County GOP Chair will do anything to reverse the GOP's deservedly sagging fortunes we will refer you to the following blog post that show how the Marion County GOP is now a directly controlled subsidiary of the Marion County Democrats and also why Mike McQuillen is the worst possible choice to revive the County Party. If the leadership of the Marion County GOP had any sense they would appoint Paul Ogden or Christine Scales Party Chair yesterday! But they won't because the Party would rather lose with candidates that they can control then win anything with any candidates of merit.


Here are Gary Welsh's Post about Jennifer Ping and Mike McQuillen:




Jennifer Ping:


Governor Mike "Pampered" Pence and State House Speaker Brian "The Weasel" Bosma's selling out the GOP:

http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2015/12/republican-officials-endorse-turning.html




Fake Republican Ping Slated to be New Marion County GOP Chair:

http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2015/12/joe-hogsett-and-democrats-poised-to.html


Marion County GOP Bosses Issue the Death Knell to County Republicans:

http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2015/12/marion-co-gop-picks-democrats-choice-to.html




Mike McQuillen:


Mike McQuillen Rebukes Real Republican Christine Scales while lavishing praise to RINO Jose Evans:


http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2013/03/republican-council-leader-rebukes.html

http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2013/03/jose-evans-switches-parties.html

UPDATE: Fellow Blogger Paul Ogden of Ogden on Politics has an in depth look at this story here:
http://www.ogdenonpolitics.com/2016/05/annoited-new-marion-county-gop-chairman.html