A Bridge Too Far

Confidants to Zionsville Confidential have reported that Bridge 220 - Ford Road over Eagle Creek - has taken another turn.

Apparently, now the Zionsville Town Council and a County Councilor have a concern that the bridge won't hold the amount of traffic they have planned. The bridge served busy state highway 44 over a river in Shelby County, so one wonders - just what does the developer backed council have planned for traffic?

It isn't for future business traffic, since the Economic Development planning area is nowhere near this bridge.

A week ago, the Boone County Council delivered what could amount to a death blow to the bridge when it voted unanimously to hold back funding until all sides reach a consensus on how to proceed, which could come to the boiling point at the council's June meeting.

''All sides'' involve the county council, the Boone County Commissioners and the Zionsville Town Council.

The Gordian knot to untangle is because the law gives the county commissioners authority to build, replace, and maintain bridges, but the purse strings to fund bridges is the pervue of the county council, and that's where Bridge 220 is in limbo.

The commissioners have voted to proceed with the bridge, but the county council is on the fence. Zionsville, which has no authority over the bridge, wants a say because the bridge is on a thoroughfare in its transportation planning area.

One wonders why the commissioners don't bite the bullet and ask a judge to mandate the county council to cough up the funds, because as it stands, the current bridge is a public safety disaster waiting to happen.

Dating to 1994, the county has examined replacing the existing concrete two-lane span. In April 2004, the Greater Historic Traders Point organization proposed replacing the bridge with a 1940s-era steel truss structure from Shelby County on Indiana 44.

The state transportation department sold the bridge, which was dismantled, rehabed, painted, and awaited the reassembly over Eagle Creek.

At that time, it appeared all sides were on the same page about relocating the structure in Boone County.

But, with elections came a change of elected officials, some with strong opinions about the bridge.

And, one of those officials who has been leading the charge against relocating the steel span is Gene Thompson, of Zionsville, who is a member of the Boone County Council.


Thompson has succeeded in gaining traction for his opposition with several members of the new Zionsville Town Council, headed by Tim Haak. Just why Thompson has taken a Greek stand in all this has raised eyebrows: Is Thompson building a base from which to further himself politically? Whose dog does he have in this fight?

The irony in all this is the amount of money it will cost taxpayers.

Rejecting the steel truss structure, engineering and building a new concrete bridge, reconfiguring the curve at Ford Road at 96th Street will cost county taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars more that using the existing, rehabiliated steel bridge.

Oh well, it's only money.

Slightly Out of Focus

How independent is independent?

VS Engineering, Inc., of Indianapolis, has been retained by the town ''as an independent engineering firm to evaulate the proposed plans for adherence to normal design standards for road and bridge projects.''

Specifically, the firm was hired to discuss current plans to replace Boone County bridge 220 - the Ford Road bridge over Eagle Creek.

The plans to replace the bridge with an historic steel truss span has been ongoing for longer than the gestation period of an elephant.

In a memorandum to the Boone County Commissioners from Tim Haak, Zionsville Town Council president, dated April 12, in reference to the named bridge, it states:

''The Zionsville Town Council has reviewed the proposed design and has arrived at the following conclusion.

The Town Council objects to the project as a whole as currently presented. We are not comfortable with proposed treatment of several key design issues within minimum or less than minimum standards.''

The memo cites four ''main concerns.''

A committee composed of County Commissioner Mark Applegate, Robert Clutter, county attorney; Haak and Elizabeth Hopper, town councilors and VS Engineering. met March 22 to discuss plans to replace the bridge. There is no reference in Haak's memo who represented the engineering firm.

But Zionsville Confidential knows VS Engineering.

The president of VS Engineering is Sanjay Patel, who was a member of the group which assisted in developing the Zionsville Master Transportation Plan last year.

Mr. Patel, a resident of Zionsville, is also a member of the Zionsville Storm Water Board, and his firm has a contract for the redesign of First Street in Zionsville.

A real cozy relationship.

What also raised eyebrows is the question of when the Zionsville Town Council took this action, as stated in Haak's April 12 memo:

''The Zionsville Town Council has reviewed the proposed design and has arrived at the following conclusions.''

That sounds as though the council had a meeting and formulated a position, but there are questions about when a meeting was held, and was it public?

The folks who have been instrumental in bringing the historic span to Eagle Creek might do well to ask to see the minutes of the meeting when the Zionsville council made the decision on the bridge.

The Leopard Shows Its Spots

Well it didn't take time for the leopard to show its spots.


Remember all that pablum the current Town Council administration spoon-fed the gullible voters during their mega bucks campaign last May - that it ''will work tirelessly to reduce waste and eliminate duplicate services?''

Within a month of being in office, the Town Council fired planning director Terry Jones, and the senior building inspector John Merritt for no reason other than, ''We want to go another direction,'' so said El Presidente Haak.

In the next breath, the council approved hiring an ''interim'' planner from American Structurepoint at $130,000 a year, according to our sources. The combined salaries of Jones and Merritt were never a whisker near $130,000. This particular hire was never reported in our local media.


Merritt was a hard-nosed and respected inspector, who at times ruffled builders' feathers making them toe the line on building codes. He obviously was targeted. So, the council decided to satisfy the complaints of disgruntled builders to make it easier for the contruction codes to cut corners.

And, remember American Structurepoint?

That firm has a $59,000 contract with the Zionsville Economic Development Commission to design an Economic Development Strategic Plan for the town. This is the same plan that is currently under intense scrutiny by several citizens groups who caution the plan will destroy Zionsville's character.

Talk about the appearance of impropriety and a possible conflict of interest.

No wonder one of the first acts the council considered was to waterdown the town's policy on conflict of interest. As originally written, it prohibited the town councilors from voting on anything involving a campaign contributor. As repealed, it tosses all restrictions aside.

So, voters, how can the town expect unbiased planning decisions from an ''interium'' planner, whose bread and butter comes with a company that has a vested interest in a strategic plan that many residents have called into question?
During their campaign, the tag team of Jeff Papa and Susana Suarez touted ''They are convinced that investing in new enterprise can be accomplished without compromising the integrity of our traditional values.'''

The ''new enterprise'' at this point appears to be American Structurepoint, whose principles dumped loads of contributions into the coffers of the campaigns of the Haak et al administration. (See last post.)

Talk about integrity?


The blog Advance Indiana had an interesting post on American Structurepoint.


Another curious matter is that of the longevity of the ''interim'' planning director. How long will the financially strapped town be paying top dollar for an "interim" planning director in an economic downturn?

Since the uncermoninous dumping of Jones and Merritt in January, the openings for those jobs have not been posted on professioinal job sites. Ask Ed Mitro, town manager, why.


Methinks Mitro knows how to count the leopard's spots, but the unfortunate man is wary. He may be the beast's next meal.

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.

Where There's Smoke

Wonder what the flap over an e-mail sent by four Zionsville town council members to the Boone County Commissioners is all about?

Maybe nothing, but again maybe there's smoke, and where there's smoke there's fire.

At the June 6 council meeting when it came time to allow the public an opportunity to address the council, Wendy Brant came forward and claimed the four councilors had violated the Indiana Open Door law.

Ms. Brant, a former Boone County commissioner, is no stranger to the issue of transparency in government. She was president of the Indiana Coalition for Open Government, and testified at the state legislature for the Public Access Counselor.

Basically, the Open Door Law forbids appointed or elected members of municipalities from conducting business privately, outside of the public view.

The e-mail Brant questioned was sent by Tim Haak, council vice-president, to the Boone County Commissioners on Friday, June 3.

It stated: As members of the Zionsville Town Council we are formerly requesting that you table the Ford Road bridge agenda item from your meeting Monday, June 6th. Zionsville is currently updating our Transportation Plan and the proposed bridge replacement plays an integral role in this update. We feel that the item warrants more discussion between the Zionsville Town Council and the Boone County Commissioners and we would like to formally meet to discuss further.
It was signed by Haak, Steve Mundy, Jeff Papa, and Candace Ulmer.
Zionsville Town Council

Ironically, it was Ulmer who on June 1 asked the commissioners to be on the June 6 meeting agenda to express her opinion about the Ford Road bridge, and request that the commissioners delay signing an agreement to proceed with construction of a new structure.

As reported in the Zionsville Star June 9 edition of the Indianapolis Star, "Brant said the four council members made a decision as a majority of the seven-member council outside the public view, challenging them otherwise to identify what public meeting or where in meeting records the issue was discussed and decided. Official action, under the law, includes to 'make decisions or take final action.' ''

Council president Matt Price, and council members Art Harris and Valerie Swack were not copied on the e-mail. Harris and Swack said they were unaware of the correspondence. Unlike the other four councilors, Price, Harris and Swack are not seeking election in November.

Haak, Mundy and Papa defended their action, Papa the most testily during an exchange with Brant. Papa argued that because the county commissioners did not take any action concerning the bridge there was no violation of the law.

But, the commissioners did take an action about the bridge, delaying further discussion until the July meeting. That action came about when Jeff Wolfe, president of the Board of Commissioners, asked for the delay.

What the four councilors seem to avoid here, is that the four of them formally requested the commissioners to take an action, and the violation is because they did not decide this in a public forum, and consequently there was no record of what they did.

Papa can huff and puff all he wants about the timing of the e-mail, and the urgency of contacting the commissioners, but Ulmer was already on the commissioners' agenda, so why didn't the four amigos let her carry the message from Garcia?

MIBOR Buying the Zionsville Election

It's deja vu all over again - MIBOR trying to buy the Zionsville Town Council election as it did in 2007.

So far, MIBOR, the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors, has dumped $7,200 into the coffers of six candidates of the Citizen's for a Better Zionsville PAC slate.

In 2007, by the spring filing, they had spent only $3000.

And the proof is in the campaign expense reports which shows how deep some candidates for the Zionsville Town Council are into MIBOR pockets; and wonder why?

Namely - Jeff Papa, Candace Ulmer, Elizabeth Hopper, Tim Haak, Tom Schuler, all of whom have been endorsed by MIBOR, which is concentrating solely on the Zionsville races among all the donut counties.

And, what's the tab?

According to the reports of receipts and expenses on file with the Boone County Clerk's office for political campaigns during the period ending April 15 here's who got what from the MIBOR Political Action Committee:

Tim Haak $1,052; Jeff Pappa, $1,500; Candace Ulmer, $1,121; Elizabeth Hopper, $966, and Tom Schuler, $1,069; Susana Duarte de Suarez, $1,500. None was reported for Steve Mundy.

MIBOR helped host a fundraiser on April 30th for the Move Zionsville slate after the filing deadline. The real big money reports come in the next filing. Unfortunately it's after the May primary when the Fat Lady's done singing.

Other contributors to Move Zionsville candidates by candidate are:

Ulmer:
Elizabeth Mueller, spouse of Zionsville Parks board member Steve Mueller, $200
Allan Rachles, Zionsville Plan Commission chairman, $200
Dan Montgomery and Andrea Montgomery, of Montgomery Aviation, $200. The Montgomerys, who are the operators of Indianapolis Executive Airport, were significant contributors to Ulmer's campaign for Union Township trustee.

Haak:
Matt Price, Zionsville Town Council president, $500.
Allan Rachles, $200.
Baker & Daniels, Indianapolis law firm, $250.

Jeff Pappa:
Andrea Montgomery, of Montgomery Aviation, operator of the former Terry Airport that Betty Lee Cooper gave away when she was a county comissioner, $200:
Brett Swanson, Zionsville, $325

Susana Suarez:
Allan Rachles, $200
Andrea Montgomery, $200
Javier Ortiz, Atlanta, Ga.,$300
Maribeth Smith, Indianapolis event planner, $500
Bret Swanson, Zionsville, $380

Elizabeth Hopper:
Larry Mackey, (Barnes & Thornburg attorney) Indianapolis, $500
Robert Grand (Barnes & Thornburg Managing Partner), Indianapolis, $250
Jefffery Qualkinbush (Barnes & Thornburg Attorney), Zionsville, $200

Tom Schuler:
Pamela Cutcliff, Zionsville, $200
Debbie Ungar, Zionsville, $300

The other candidates - Tom Santelli, Steve Schanke, Wendy Brant, David Brown, Chris Brooke, Pete Hawryluk, and Marty Thompson - were not endorsed, nor did any of them receive any contributions from MIBOR. Thompson and Brown received no major contributions to report.

Their significant individual contributors were:

Tom Santelli:
Elizabeth Johnson, Zionsville, $300
James Baumgardt, Zionsville, $500
Johnny Johnson, Zionsville, $300

Wendy Brant:
Charles Eaton, Boone County commissioner, $250
Russell Fortune III, Indianapolis, $5,000
Elizabeth Johnson, Zionsville, $300
John Holliday, Zionsville, $500
John Johnson, Zionsville, $300
Welton (Art) Harris, Zionsville Town Council member, $300
James Baumgardt, Zionsville, $500

Chris Brooke:
Michael & Jean Lisch, Zionsville, $1,000

Pete Hawryluk:
Jim Baumgardt, Zionsville, $500
Johnny Johnson, Zionsville, $300

Unfortunately for the voters, the next campaign reports come after April 15 and post primary when the big money will roll in for the fancy yard signs and phone banks.

Remember in 2007 when the challengers each spent an average of $20,000 to buy the council seats, which pays $5,000 a year.

Get the picture folks? Pay to play - but at you're expense - more housing that doesn't pay for schools.

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.

Pay to Play in Zionsville

Ever wonder how some of Zionsville's town business is engineered?
It doesn't hurt that your campaign consultant is a big shot lobbyist, or you were all clubby members of the Zionsville High School Class of '86.

Back in 2007 when upstarts Matt Price, Timmy Haak, Michelle Barrett and Mark Plassman set their sights on the incumbent Crane administration, a hired-gun named William F. Stuart was brought into the stable to run their campaign, according to a highly placed confidential source, Stuart was the brains that got three of the four elected, at an astronomical cost of $80,000, for a town council spot that paid a council member $5,000 a year.

The possible return on the investment must have been mouth-watering to the development interests.

Stuart, a long-time Democrat operative, and a registered agent for the engineering firm of Beam Longest and Neff - (BLN) - worked hand-in-hand with a San Francisco firm of Terris Barnes Walters to design the expensive campaign brochures, and media ads.

Campaign filings show that Price, Plassman, Haak and Barrett paid over $38,000 to the firm for campaign services and mailings.
Those same documents show that Price paid $6,000 to Maple Hill Consulting of Fishers for "consultation.'' The resident of the Maple Hill address is William F. Stuart.
Coincidentally, the San Francisco company's web site also listed Jim Longest as a client along with Zionsville's Reorganization, and several Indiana Democrat legislators. (The reference to Jim Longest's campaign has been taken down now.)
That's the same Jim Longest who is president of Beam Longest and Neff, and a current member of the Zionsville School Board, and also a member of the Class of '86, along with Price and Haak.

And good old ZHS buddy Longest dumped $950 to Haak's campaign coffers, and Longest's brother Tim coughed-up $500 to Timmy.
Fast forward to 2009 when the contract for the town's engineering services was up for renewal.

The engineering firm which had the town business for over 25 years was HNTB, a highly-respected Indiana company, but the newbies pushed for BLN, despite the fact they could find nothing wrong with HNTB's work.

So along with the new council mummy-dummies Judie Essex and Candy Ulmer, (defacto members because of the newly constituted consolidated government) BLN was awarded the contract a few months ago, which is worth approximately a half million dollars yearly.

Did Haak recuse himself from voting for a firm, whose officials gave him $1,450?
Guess again.

Stay tuned for more Pay-to-Play Zionsville style.

Talk about the Pay-to-Play Chicago style!