Remember the advice during the pre-Watergate hearings, when the admonition was ''Follow the money?''
In this election for the Zionsville Town Council it was never more blatant than in the campaigns of the Seven Dwarfs - Papa, Mundy, Suarez, Hopper, Ulmer, Haak, and Schuler.
And, the Prince? It's none other Chad Pittman, who despite his appointed position at the state, is not permitted to openly campaign but he still can host an Ulmer fundraiser on his property. Are you listening Gov. Daniels?
Pittman, with his brothers, are mega developers in Hamilton County, and recently have run into financial doldrums there, but have their sights and pocketbooks set on Boone County.
Upset that he was never able to crack the Zionsville development ceiling, Pittman orchestrated the ''Citizens for a Better Zionsville'' in 2007, which fielded a winning ticket of Matt Price, Michelle Barrett and Tim Haak for a majority of the then five-member council.
The CBZ, a political action committee, raised thousands of bucks for the Pittman appointees. The lions share of its war chest came from individuals, attorneys, and firms representing development interests outside of Boone County.
The other two candidates elected were longtime members David Carr and Art Harris, who soon became a vocal minority.
Subsequently, Carr resigned and Valerie Swack took his place. Then, Barrett resigned for personal reasons and Steve Mundy assumed her place.
With a majority on the Town Council, Pittman pulled the strings and his puppets danced, appointing his dunces on the Zionsville Plan Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals.
But, because of the vocal minority of Swack and Harris, the brothers Pittman did not always hold sway.
Pittman wanted a clean sweep - no voices crying in the wilderness. With Swack and Harris tired to tilting with windmills, the openings were there for a 100% Pittman coup this year.
And, along comes the Civic Pride of Boone County, LLC PAC with offices in Zionsville, and its bank none other than the National Bank of Indianapolis, where Tim Haak is a VP.
Stay with me folks, it only gets better.
Matt Price, current Town Council el presidente, is the chairperson of Civic Pride with board members Paul Kite, home builder; Tom Longest and Jim Longest, of the engineering firm of Beam Longest & Neff, and Bob Harris, all of Zionsville.
The BLN firm is currently the engineering firm hired this year by the Town Council, which tossed out HNTB, that had served as the town's engineers for over 20 years.
Harris is a substantial property owner along Zionsville Road, south of Eagle Creek, who has long eyed the extension of the Village Business District to connect with his holdings.
Civic Pride's latest report of campaign contributions and expenses filed with the Boone County Clerk Oct. 21 showed it has raised $33,000.
And, guess which Zionsville Town Council candidate's campaign benefited the mostest - Candace Ulmer, $7,100, followed by Haak's campaign, $6,500.
The deep pockets came from Harris, no relation to Art Harris, and his family interests, which kicked-in $11,000, one-third of the contributions.
Others contributors were:
Robert Fisher, Carmel, $1,500
David and Peggy Matson, New Palestine, $1,500
Thomas C. and Darci Longest, Zionsville, $1,000 (loan)
James B. and Annie L. McIntosh, Zionsville, $1,000 (loan)
Matthew and Beth Price, Zionsville, $3,000 (loan)
John Demaree, Zionsville, $100
Matthew M. Price, Zionsville, $6,000
Mark and Kathy Downey, Avon, $500
Teachers Tutoring Inc., Indianapolis, $1,000
Committee to Elect Matt Price, Zionsville, $2,343.97
AMECO, LLC, Greenwood, $1,000
Midwest Financial Company LLC, Indianapolis, $1,000
Harris FLP, Zionsville, $3,000
Barbara Harris FLP, Zionsville, $3,000
Harris FL?, Zionsville, $1,000
Harris Capital Investments LLC, Zionsville, $4,000 (loan)
Civic Pride made the following contributions:
Elizabeth Hopper for Town Council, $3,250
Candace Ulmer for Town Council, $7,100
Committee to Elect Tim Haak, $6,500
Tony Cotton, Lagrange, Ky., $3,500 (drafting)
The campaigns of Tom Schuler, Susan Suarez, and Jeff Papa, each received $358.83.
$ivic Pride indeed.
I'm posting a comment to see if you actually post comments by readers. You haven't in the past so as to prevent those of us who disagree with your one-sided vitriole from stating another perspective.
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