The Ties That Bind - The ZHS Class of '86

Ring out the old, and in with the new Town Council.

Well, maybe.

From where we sit it appears the Zionsville High School Class of '86 will still be in the cat bird's seat.

Matt (Powderpuff King) Price will be gone, but his shadow looms large. Don't forget, Price kicked in $11,000 to council candidates and PACs in the most recent election cycle.

Could Price, an attorney with the Indianapolis powerhouse law firm of Bingham McHale, be poised to bump Mike Andreoli as the go-to man when you want something done around town?

Don't forget, it's been Price who has done the heavy-lifting in the past four years as council president, and for that he certainly is due pay back.

Without doubt his title as Class of '86 Powderpuff King deserves something.

But, back to the babes-in-the woods - Susana Suarez, Tom Schuler and Elizabeth Hopper.

It's no surprise that the newly-elected council has already met in private and hashed out the council leadership positions.

So, when curtain rises at the inaugural 2012 council meeting look for Tim Haak to assume the presidency, with Jeff Papa as the vice-president.

How Papa slipped into this elite circle is somewhat a mystery because he's not a Class of '86 member.

If you want to know more about Papa go to his Facebook page or google all the things he's worked on at the state legislature.

Haak will have to watch how he votes to makes sure he doesn't step on his ying-yang because of a conflict with his employer, the National Bank of Indianapolis.

Papa also will have to be careful he doesn't stub his toes because of his position as chief counsel for Sen. David Long, R-Ft. Wayne, president pro-tem of the Indiana Senate.

But, how about the other members of the Class of '86 and their connections to town power?

There's Andy Pickell, whose employer is BLN, the engineering company which picked-up the town's account after HNTB, the town's long-time engineers, was bounced last year for no legitimate reasons - other than Class of '86 ties to BLN.

Pickell kicked in a whopping $2,000 to the Political Action Committee, Eagle Good Governance to pay for political attack ads in the last election.

And, speaking of BLN, there's Jim Longest of BLN - the L is for Longest. Longest, who is a member of the Zionsville School Board, also participated in the revision of the town's Master Transportation Plan this year. Longest donated over $6000 in the last election through his involvement in multiple Political Action Committees and direct donations.

Engineering firm and new roads . . . get it?

Other classmates are Charlie Edwards, who is chairman of the all-powerful Zionsville Economic Development Commission.

Edwards' committee was the entity that engaged Structurepoint to devise a ''new Zionsville'' strategic plan which has many residents fuming.

More about Structurepoint to come.

Hey Buddy, Wanna Buy a Town Council?

Well folks, not two, three, or four, but FIVE weeks have gone by with nary a mention by the Zionsville Times Sentinel about campaign finances raised by the new Town Council and supporting political action committees.

Reports of those funds raised from April 9 to October 14 were due October 21 in the Boone County Clerk's office.

Several readers have reported that when they've asked the Times Sentinel why there has been no story about this, the reply has been "That's not news." Really? Not news? You be the judge.

Is it news that over $160,000 was spent and raised to get the 2012 Town Council elected? Not according to the Times Sentinel. So that's why you have to read it here?

The Times Sentinel did see fit to report on some of the campaign finances on April 20, 2011 - just days before the primary. However, the T-S spent its ink on an "unbiased" report outlined in single paragraphs the amounts of money raised by Steve Schanke, Peter Hawyuk, Tom Santelli, Chris Brooke, and Wendy Brant, the anti-Pittman slate.

Nary a word about the tons of cash raised by their opponents and the PAC's which dumped thousands of dollars into their coffers.

Then, later the paper extolled the virtues of the Pittman slate of candidates being endorsed and funded by MIBOR (Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors.) That entire slate won in a landslide.

And, don't forget the managing editor of the Times-Sentinel, Andrea Cline is married to a MIBOR executive, Pat Cline. Mr. Cline as MIBOR's Political Affairs Liason is in charge of fundraising/donating and running candidate school to train candidates for political office.

Purely coincidence or a convenient conflict that you can't find that information in the Times-Sentinel?