Gov. Mike Pence has borne the brunt of unfair criticism from politicos around the state of late. Not even six months into his term, he has been described as lackluster, lacking vision and as having a dearth of ideas.
General Assembly, 1; Mike Pence, 0. That’s how the scorecard reads from the recent one-day meeting of the Legislature.
Everyone knows the old real estate adage about location, location, location. But these days, for revenue-hungry Indianapolis communities, you can add another priority—development, development, development.
There has been much discussion recently about the need to “beef up” Marion County law enforcement to reduce crime. I agree. The Indianapolis public safety director recently reported that only about half of the sworn officers are on the street.
Three promising efforts are under way in Indianapolis to unite the community and propel us forward. I hope we pursue each initiative with a sense of urgency and change the trajectory on our health, skills and economic prosperity.
The next mayoral election might represent the functional end to Republican government in Indianapolis.
A two-front war is waging over control of the City-County Council. The General Assembly recently changed the Unigov statute to eliminate the four at-large council seats. Meanwhile, a special five-judge panel is considering a challenge to the city-county ordinance drawing the council’s 25 single-member districts.
"Privacy" comes from a Latin word meaning “separated from the rest,” initially thought of in negative terms, mostly having to do with deprivation of the ability to participate in government.
The question continues to be pondered by many people and seems to always rise to a high level during each session of the General Assembly. The issue is typically considered and debated regularly by those of us from around the state who live outside of Marion County.
In modern politics, the term “fair share” has endured more than its fair share of political contortion. I’ve never enjoyed engaging in that kind of debate. What I’ve always enjoyed are facts.
Some of the most secret governments are on the local level.
Roll Call reported several weeks ago that Indiana’s clout in Washington, D.C., has slipped in the rankings from 27th to 42nd. This is certainly no surprise in the wake of Sen. Richard Lugar’s departure, in addition to former Sen. Evan Bayh and former congressman and now Gov. Mike Pence.
Our delegation is a lot like the Indiana Pacers. Both are young. Both are made up of talented people. Both are generating results sooner than expected. Both are likely to grow to be even more effective for many years to come.
This time of year, as college students return home for the summer, many parents may notice how many politically correct ideas they have acquired on campus. Some of those parents may wonder how they can undo the brainwashing that has become so common in what are supposed to be institutions of higher learning.
Having graduated from college this past month, I have now joined the ranks of the college-educated work force.
It should come as no surprise to anyone who’s read what I’ve written in Forefront that I didn’t buy a ticket to ride the “Hope and Change” express. Just because I wasn’t a passenger, however, doesn’t mean I didn’t want the train to reach its station.
It’s hard not to miss first lady Karen Pence these days. From reading to kindergartners to supporting the arts to visiting schools in Fort Wayne, she’s everywhere.
I recently participated in a planning session for downtown Indianapolis that included cultural and civic leaders whom I consider very pro-urban Indianapolis. As the conversation turned toward the urgent need to recruit more taxpayers into city neighborhoods, one of my colleagues stated that it really wasn’t practical to raise a middle class family in the city, and many others agreed.
We continue to analyze, visualize and contemplate the expansion of an urban transit system for the Marion County area. All accept the blessing of reduced traffic during rush hours, but alas, to do so entails a cost-benefit ratio that might be troubling.
Indiana has said farewell to former Gov. Otis Bowen. Much has been written in tribute to “Doc,” and all of it deserved. He surely was the most popular governor in anyone’s memory. Even his political enemies respected him as a thoroughly decent human being.
