There's a New Boss in The Weeds

There's a new political boss looming in Zionsville, who wants his way without interference from the nattering naybobs of negativism.

For the past three years, certain elements have been at work behind the scenes, rounding up the players to control, and keep a tight leash on the Town Council.

The process involves control of the Republican precinct committee persons, which despite all the hoopla of the high profile campaigns in the May 8 primary, has a very significant impact for Zionsville and Eagle Township.

Why worry, or make a big deal of this?

When a vacancy occurs, say on the Town Council, or for a Mayor, it falls to the precinct committee folks to pick the successor. So, if certain elements didn't want any outsider to gain a foothold on a council seat, those powers would seek control of the precinct committee persons confident they would follow orders as who to elect on the Town Council.

As an example, when David Carr stepped down from the council three years ago, there were a few contenders for the opening, which went to Valerie Swack, who was not the anointed one, but a broad-minded thinker who subsequently became a fly in the ointment of Matt Price's administration.

And, as a lesson to anyone who dares fly in the face of the powers-that-be, here's what happened to Swack's most ardent supporter, Tim Bennett, who was the committeeman from precinct 9 in Zionsville. In the precinct caucus, which is the political name of the gathering of committee persons, Bennett passionately touted Swack's attributes as to why she should serve on the council, and Bennett was convincing, and the caucus elected Swack.

Guess what? Bennett is now on the outside looking in. He was dumped as the precinct committee person and replaced by Kevin Swan, a buddy of Chad Pittman and his henchman Doug Rapp.

Which gets us back to what's been going on for the past three years.

Pittman; then council person Michelle Barrett; and Steve Jacob, the Boone County Council president, began strategizing meetings to find people of like minds to run for precinct committee positions from Zionsville and Eagle Township.

When voters take a gander at the ballot in Tuesday's May 8 election, they will see there are 12 contests for precinct positions in Eagle Township, which encompasses Zionsville. And, in each of those 12 races there is a Pittman candidate. And Pittman himself is also running from the Eagle 4 precinct against his neighbor Bill Ferree.

If any of this causes anyone any angst, here are the candidates for precinct committee person that Zionsville Confidential believes voters should seriously consider voting for, and to the best of my knowledge are not beholden to Boss Pittman:

Eagle 2 - Tom Santelli

Eagle 3 - Guinn Doyle

Eagle 4 - Bill Ferree

Eagle 8 - Valerie Swack

Eagle 10 - Kyle McMillan

Eagle 11 - Ralph Stacy

Eagle 14 - Jim Holden

Eagle 15 - Amy Stehr

Eagle 16 - John Notarianni

Eagle 18 - Ron Beck

Eagle 19 - Pat Taylor

Eagle 20 - Steve Guillian

Vote your conscious.

Hey Big Spender

Candidate Steve Braun, running for Republican state representative from the newly created 24th district, which includes Zionsville, says in his mailings he was an all-state wide receiver in high school.

Take a look at his campaign report and from the list of his contributions and there's no doubt he's still an all-state receiver - of cash - but not all his fat cats are from Indiana.

href="http://campaignfinance.in.gov/PublicSite/SearchPages/FilingDetail.aspx?FilingID=44976">Just click here on the link below and take a gander at his list of big daddys and who they represent.

And, if you've been paying attention to the expensive mailers his campaign has been sending, there is a glaring omission - none mention what district he proposes to represent, and in the third and most recent mailing it even fails to mention he's a Republican.

http://campaignfinance.in.gov/PublicSite/SearchPages/FilingDetail.aspx?FilingID=44976

Braun and his brain trust are betting that claiming to be a ''lifelong conservative'' will register with Democrats who will ask for a Republican ballot in the May 8 primary.

But, don't be fooled.

Though Braun's family has spent the last 10 or so years as Zionsville residents, he spent his time commuting to and from Chicago to work. Although he's running on the Republican ballot, he cast his last vote in a Boone County primary election as a Democrat.

But, Braun knew how to fix that - get a letter from the Boone County GOP chair who would attest that he was a Republican, and that's what good old Debbie Ottinger did.
Why? Ottinger knows how her political bread is buttered.

And, it's all legal.

But, the $64,000 question was when did Braun ask for Ottinger's blessings to run as a Republican - before he filed for office, or after he filed?

If he asked for her approval after he filed, then that's an issue for Boone County Election Board, but don't hold your breath for the GOP controlled courthouse mummy dummies to question Braun's legitimacy. There's too much cash at stake.

Consider this:

To make sure there were no speed bumps for his candidacy, he coughed up $15,000 of his own moola to the Indiana State Republican House of Representatives committee, basically gaining the party's favor to get him positioned against Mindy McMillan in the May primary.

And, guess who's one of Braun's fat cats? None other than master wheeler dealer Chad Pittman.

How can he lose?

Folks, it stinks.

Stay tuned.

Newspaper or Toilet Paper - The Times-Sentinel

This week readers of the Zionsville Times-Sentinel were subjected to a variety of slanted, misleading and biased stories, obviously edited by an employee there who has a vested interest in how these stories were presented to unsuspecting subscribers.

The headline story by Matt Weeney swallowed lock, stock and bagels the pap that the Zionsville Community School svengali Scott Robison has been dumping on taxpayers for years. ''Little Johnnie and Susie are going to lose their teachers if taxpayers don't give us more money.''

The second big story Weeney dribbled out was that the Zionsville Town Council endorsed the controversial school referendum. Is it any wonder the council puppets rolled over? Who dumped gadzillons of cash into their campaigns? None other than Jim Longest, a member of the Zionsville school board.

And just who does Longest represent? The taxpayers of Zionsville who cough-up almost 70% of their taxes to fund Robison's fiefdom, or Longest's company, Beam Longest & Neff, which has the town's contract for engineering services?

But, the most outlandish piece of ''reporting'' was Weeney's other front page story: REI Apartments aid Town, ZCS budgets.'' What is in the water Weeney has been drinking?

As one source wrote Zionsville Confidential:

''I think I am in a bad Alice in Wonderland dream where people can say or do anything they want and it is deemed to be true and people take any story and twist the reality out to some mutant-alter-nightmare. Hard to stomach the actual articles that don't tell the whole truth - hard to believe that the people who write them believe what they are saying, let alone the readers."

''How can anyone believe that an apartment complex, no matter the circumstances and numbers presented can be good for a school system?'' Hey, more students, more state aid, bigger schools, bigger budgets that Robison can manipulate.

Don't forget that Weeney's boss is Andrea Cline, whose spouse is an officer in MIBOR - the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors as public affairs director and also treasurer of MIBOR's political action committee.

And, in case you missed it, MIBOR made significant contributions to members of the current town council in the last election. And, MIBOR never met an apartment they didn't love, and which financing institutions love to bankroll.

It's time that Zionsville residents, tired of being subjected to one-sided and slanted writing by the Times-Sentinel send a letter of concerns to the paper's parent corporation, Community Newspapers Inc. Phone: 334-293-5800 Or online inquirey form.

Thank goodness there is a new news outlet in town. For now, the Times-Sentinel is only giving Charmin a run for its money.

Make way for Candace

As former Union Township trustee Candace Ulmer ascended the dias after been sworn in as a de-facto Zionsville Town Council member two years ago, she was heard to remark, ''Watch out Zionsville.''

Ulmer joined the Zionsville council by virtue of the consolidated government act, and then last May ran and won a seat on the council from Union Township. Ulmer ran opposed in the fall, and

bank rolled with a large infusion of cash, and despite opposition her campaign paid off and she won handily.

Ulmer takes her marching orders from many, including Elizabeth Mueller, a resident of Union Township. Mueller is a well known left-winger, who has moved many times, looking for greener pastures after getting into squabbles with locals.

When the Matt Price/Chad Pittman cabal took over the town council, Mueller, via Ulmer got Mueller's spouse, Steve, named to the Zionsville Park and Recreation Board. Follow? Ulmer is the force behind many of the important appointments, and "un"appointments. Former Park Board President Ellen Butz was unceremoniously dumped from the parks board for an unknown because Butz got cross-wise with Ulmer.

Elizabeth Mueller has been inserting her heft through her husband, Steve, into the business of the parks board. It was no secret to insiders that some parks board members were frustrated with Mueller, who was taking his marching orders from his frau.

And, Councilor Ulmer hasn't been reluctant about an earmark for her hubby, John, in his role on the Eagle Creek Watershed Alliance. Candace persuaded the council to pony-up some $28,000 a year for five years for a water gauging station on Eagle Creek.

But, with the creek's first high water last spring, the gauging station was swept downstream.

Well, to the point of all this - this has been in the works for a while. Town insiders report that within the last two years, Ulmer accompanied a group of the Boone EDC, and went to either North or South Dakota to investigate ''multi-purpose'' arenas, specifically built for ice hockey.

Ulmer turned in receipts for the trip to the town for reimbursement of several hundred dollars. But, know what? Ulmer never gave a report to the town council for spending taxpayers' funds, so as far as residents knew, the trip never existed.

Until now.

The council has approriated $53,000 for Crowe-Horwath to do a feasibility study for a 3,000 - 4,000 person multi-purpose arena (ice stadium) for Zionsville. Click on the preceeding link to read the letter of engagement with Town Council President Tim Haak.

It's hard to follow the dots, but stay with me - remember Allan Rachles - the current president of the Zionsville Plan Commission. Rachles was a former partner with Crowe. Rachles donated heavily to Haak's campaign in both 2007 and 2011.

And, don't miss this one.

The Indianapolis Ice hockey team will be out of a home for two years because the state plans to remodel the Indiana Coliseum. There are rumblings that a site on 421 for the ''multi-purpose'' stadium has already been selected,

So, how does this get back to Ms. Ulmer? Now, she is circulating a questionnaire asking Zionsville residents what strategy they would have the town pursue over the next four years. What variety of strategy isn't specified.

One open-ended question posed asks what sort of big expenses the town may have soon, and how should they be paid for. (Humm, how about a multi-purpose stadium?) No one is sure about the questionnaire's intended audience, nor is it readily accessible on the Town's website. It's invitation only perhaps?

Strange, didn't Zionsville residents weigh-in on their vision for the town in the questionnaire done for the pricey Economic Development Strategic Plan? And, of course Ulmer promises anonymity, which means she can pick and choose which responses fit her/council agenda.

''Watch out Zionsville,'' the Candace cometh.

Big Bucks Council

Zionsville residents should be proud of its' new council - it's one of the fattest cash cows in the town's history.

The Magnificant Seven took in $91,899.89 in campaign contributions for a $5,000 a year position - $91,899 - the tail is wagging the dog folks.


These figures come from campaign reports on file at the Boone County Clerk's office in Lebanon. And, who got the lion's share of the goodies?

Candace Ulmer, the former Union Township trustee, who collected $18,46l, following closely by incumbent Tim Haak, with $18,101. Mrs. Ulmer is going to be "The one to see.''

The balance went to:


Susana Suarez, $16,572
Elizabeth Hopper, $14,236
Tom Schuler, $13,966
Jeff Papa $10,561

The largest contributor to the campaigns was a political action committee, Civic Pride of Boone County, which dumped $24,502 into the seven coffers. Civic Pride's contributors are a mix of developers and their attorneys and those wonderful folks who bring you more apartments.

Civic Pride's largest contribution went to Mrs. Ulmer of $10,458, and close behind was the new council president Haak, who picked-up $6,858.

And following Civic Pride in contributions was the Metropolitan Board of Realtors PAC with $7,210, which doled out $1,000 plus goodies to the seven campaigns.

Wonder why our local newspaper hasn't followed the money?

Publisher Andrea Cline is the spouse of Pat Cline, an officer with MIBOR, whose bank is none other than the Bank of Indianapolis, which employes Tim Haak - just a coincidence.

One name missing as a contributor in any of the seven campaigns was Chad Pittman.

This is the same fellow who gave birth to the Citizens for a Better Zionsville, and in 2009 confided with former councilor Michelle Barrett:

''I appreciate your leadership of our town and the direction you are taking us. Who would have thought that we could have come this quickly to aligning our town planning area with the school district to make it easier to plan and control our own destiny.''

Zionsville Confidential has heard unofficially that lately Pittman has been having a case of the jitters seeing his name in print, closely aligned with bank-rolling the council candidates. This is also the same fellow that still has a Papa/Suarez sign up on his barn on the corner of 334 and Michigan.

Stay tuned. Zionsville Confidential is preparing a complete list of all the contributors.

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.

Mundy joining town council

Steve Mundy was the only applicant for the open District 5 seat on the Zionsville Town Council, after Michelle Barrett resigned early this month.

In case you're not from Zionsville or have been exploring the Andes the last few weeks, Barrett resigned to, purportedly, concentrate on family and personal matters. However, it came out in the newspapers and on Internet blogs that Barrett may have been having an affair with Matt Price, the council president.

Price denied those allegations at the April council meeting and said he was staying on the board. But perhaps more telling, Barrett's husband, Brian, filed for divorce not long after. Rumor has it that Brian has not been taking the news well, even ripping off Barrett's distinctive "peace sign" decal from the back of her red van.

Anyhow, with Barrett's resignation, a seat on the council opened up, which Mundy will fill after going through a ceremonial caucus later this week. How Mundy fits on the current council will be very interesting over the next couple of months. The current factions on the council were Price, Barrett, Tim Haak, Candace Ulmer and Judith Essex v. Art Harris and Valerie Swack.

Mundy, who is also on the town plan commission, seems to be respected by all in Zionsville, and it's interesting that Chad Pittman or some other influential citizen didn't put any candidates forward. Sources have said the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors or the Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis were looking for a candidate, but obviously didn't come up with one in time.

Someone named Mark Thompson apparently expressed interest, but didn't live in the required precincts for the District 5 seat. Not much is known about that gentleman.

If Mundy sides with Swack and Harris on issues, it could lead to more conflict, though Price & Company would still have the 4-3 advantage for official votes. There have been whispers that Price may still resign at some point in the near future, that he only stayed on to dispel the affair in the short term.

Nevertheless, it will be interesting in Z'ville, as it tends to be.

That's all for now, readers. See you next time...off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush....

-David Drexel