It's Spring - Snakes Are Shedding

It's Spring when snakes, and politicians facing elections shed their skins.

In Zionsville, with the primary weeks away, two Town Council members - Steve Mundy and Jeff Papa - never put in office by the electorate - have cast off their disguises.

Papa was the only candidate before a Republican caucus, called to replace Judith Essex who resigned. Essex had been the Eagle Township trustee and became an adjunct council member with the passage of the consolidated government ordinance.

Mundy, a retired human resources employee at Eli Lilly & Co., came to the council when Michelle Barrett abruptly resigned because of an overload of domestic responsibilities.

Papa, an attorney for the Indiana Senate, had been a member of the committee which put together the nuts and bolts of the consolidation and was sphinx-like throughout the process. According to the Indiana Economic Digest, at $153,000 a year Papa has the "highest salary in the legislative branch and in the top 20 of all state employees."

Soon after taking his council seat, Mundy set out ingratiating himself to the two factions on the council. His HR approach was atypical, "Some of my colleagues are for it, and some of my colleagues are against it, and I'm for my colleagues.''

But, now Papa and Mundy have joined the pro-development slate being engineered once again by Chad Pittman, who gave you Matt Price, Tim Haak, and Barrett in 2007.

But, Pittman is in the shadows this time around and has his company commander, Doug Rapp, fronting the Citizens for a Better Zionsville, a political action committee formed by Pittman in 2007 to swell the coffers of the Pittman slate.

In a Zionsville Times -Sentinel article of Feb. 5, 2007 entitled , "Fighting for Hope," it states that Pittman started Citizens for a Better Zionsville and outlines how the Pittman and Rapp served in the military together.

Coincidentally, of the $25,500 raised by the CBZ in that election cycle, only 4.6% came from actual Zionsville residents. The vast majority of the cash came from law firms, corporations or individuals in Marion and Hamilton counties engaged in the development industry.

The probable reason for Pittman's disappearing act is that any engagement in politics could jeopardize his position in state government.

But, that doesn't stop Capt. Pittman from hosting a fund raiser on May 13 in the Mayfield cabin at his residence on Ind. 334. In an email circulating around town, invitees are asked to "Move Forward Together" and join Larry Mitchell (past MIBOR president), Mark Plassman (Tim Haak's brother in-law), Heather Gallagher (Judith Essex's daughter) and Chad Sweeney (appointed to the EDC) and Citizens for a Better Zionsville to meet the candidates.

Pittman's stake in the Town Council is development-related, and what he didn't get accomplished during the first term of his hand-picked council, he'll get this election cycle.

For how the new Zionsville Transportation Plan would have been a bonanza for Pittman Enterprises, stay tuned.