ZC welcomes tips and inside information

Zionsville Confidential
wants to hear from any members of the public concerning tips, inside information or anything you think the site needs to cover.







E-mail zionsvilleconfidential@gmail.com. You do not need to provide a name or any contact information, though that is your option.







Any personal information you do give will not be shared unless you specifically ask that it be public.































Wednesday, November 30, 2011

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.





No comments:

Post a Comment