Mayor picks Democrat for housing initiative

Will the Mayor ask Hillary Clinton to be in charge of pot hole repair when/if she visits?

There are currently 3 houses for sale in my neighborhood that neighborhood groups have rehabbed. The work looks terrible--crooked windows, cheap vinyl siding falling off, etc. These houses have been for sale for over 2 years. They went from being condemnable vacant homes to vacant homes wearing cheap lipstick. Neighborhood groups do NOT do a good job of turning houses around. Pumping city money into projects like this would be wasteful.
I also find that the drug-dealing in our neighborhood is not happening in abandoned houses, but in run-down rental properties.
We should contract with groups like Habitat for Humanity, which has experience rehabbing homes and an ethical record. Then we will need mortgage programs to help families buy a home and keep it.

I think Sherron is kinda cute...tight body as well.

We need a visit by a bulldozer for each abandoned house. Get rid of the shelter for the rats and roaches of society, then have a competent group build homes, not these "Neighborhood Development Corporations" that build crap.

It has been long known that many of the "abandoned" houses are owned by fly by night developers who wind up bailing on these investments.
I vote to see many of them torn down, then have the legislatures tighten the regs that allow slum-lords to buy and flip these eyesores. Indiana, especially Indianapolis is a developers paradise. The rules are so lax that properties can be abused, left vacant for years and tax breaks given to the "owners" for loss of revenue. The neighborhoods suffer while these slimeballs profit from the misery they cause. For those who don't like rules and regs, move to the inner city where people have to put up with the "freedom for slumlords" environment and see how they like it.

Also, Sherron has a fulltime job. Unless the new job Ballard is appointing her for is simply a token, then a real, fulltime person would need to be involved. There are many folks at NESCO and other neighborhood organizations who are much more qualified and available to commit fulltime to addressing this problem.
Ballard, you'll get what you pay for and the citizens of the community deserve more than a token position to address this problem.

PS-Part of Sherron's lack of support from the Demo party occurred when she voted for a bill that would have allowed employers to discriminate against hiring on the basis of gender identity.
Like it or not, it's discrimination and that is not a democratic principle.

Mad In Indy wrote:

I don't understand how she can be both an IMPD police officer and be the point person in charge of abandoned houses? I mean, there is no position in the IMPD manning table for this? What is her chain of command? Besides, she appears to now be in violation of IMPD Rules and Regs, which clearly states that IMPD is to be the officers PRIMARY job and source of income. I don't think that this will work. While I think she is a fine choice for the position, she should resign IMPD before she takes it. It's not fair to others whom want to be an IMPD officer and are waiting to be hired to "patrol" like a police officer should, to have Ms. Franklin in a "police position" and working on abandoned houses. That's not right.

No she shouldn't resign! Sherron is a good officer and one who had brought important issues to the ccc. I would rather she maintain her position as a police officer while attacking the abandon home issue. Her salary will be less than what Ballard's other appointees make. If she resigned then we would lose over 15 years of experience to put a rookie on the street who doesn't even know what crack rock looks like! You fit that description???

Local landlord wrote:

Any plan for the city to buy houses from HUD and give them to neighborhood groups is ridiculous and not within our budget. I hope Franklin has a better plan than that. We need rapid condemnation and demolition. She needs a fast track condemnation court she can turn to for authority. This business of thinking we'll spend city money buying houses and then give them to black run neighborhood organizations for renovation into section 8 housing is unacceptable. We didn't put Ballard in office to increase the blight on these neighborhoods. Indianapolis is not a social services agency. We don't purchase and then gift real estate. Tear down these properties.

Time to phreak out --- someone wrote ridiculous instead of rediculous. We're all going to die!!!

dewey wrote:

She's not a Democrat!

Thank You.

In the March 3 edition of the Indianapolis Star, Mayor Ballard discusses his efforts to strengthen the ethical standards by which the Mayor's office operates. Shortly after this announcement, he placed police officer Lincoln Plowman into a top city job, and now he puts in Sherron Franklin. Mr. Mayor, this is clearly an ethical violation. Everyone know IMPD officers helped you fall into office. If you are going to claim you are cleaning up city government, please do it, don't lie to the public.

When are you people going to accept the fact that with Bart gone and the Sheriff run out of town we (IMPD) can return to running Indy with a puppet Mayor. Oops, time for my union break, gotta go.

What I don't see discussed here is the fact that Ballard has announced another initiative and another position added without a specific plan of action. Once again its "we're working on a lot of things". And without a specific policy plan he of course doesn't have any idea of the financial resources necessary to get anything done in this area or where those resources are going to come from.

STAR REPORTERS: Please ask these simple questions!

I know this is off topic but there is news.

http://indianapolsnewgoverment2008.blogspot.c...

Council person Virgian Cain has called a meeting for this Thursday, March 20 to start this commitee invasigation of Monroe Gray. The Metting will be at 6 pm at the city county building and I plan to attend.
It will be interesting to see if anyone else in this matter shows up. Stay tuned.

DavidM wrote:

I know this is off topic but there is news.
http://indianapolsnewgoverment2008.blogspot.c...
Council person Virgian Cain has called a meeting for this Thursday, March 20 to start this commitee invasigation of Monroe Gray. The Metting will be at 6 pm at the city county building and I plan to attend.
It will be interesting to see if anyone else in this matter shows up. Stay tuned.

Thanks for the tip, David. Strange I've not heard anything in the news about this (well, OK, not really). I think I will attend, if only for the comic relief (sad though it is) of hearing Sweet Pea stammer and blather on.

Known her for almost 12 years. Started off being quite competent, running for election got to her head, now, tries to pass off work to others and take credit for their work - typical management! Im sure she'll clean up Center township and the east side in the next 10 - 20 years....she's that good!

Looks like the Mayor is rewarding all of his IMPD supporters who got him elected. Sherron is not a Democrat. She is a member of the police department, first and foremost. Next, Mayor Ballard will change the name of our fair city to Indianapolice.

Uh Clem wrote:

<quoted text>
Thanks for the tip, David. Strange I've not heard anything in the news about this (well, OK, not really). I think I will attend, if only for the comic relief (sad though it is) of hearing Sweet Pea stammer and blather on.

It seems that this has been a lone fight on my part Clem. I can not get the star, or media to pick it up. Lets see what happens.

maybe wrote:

Maybe Sharron should wake up every day wondering how to keep her daughter out of trouble. Any good public intox arrests (while underage) lately?

Your allegations have absolutely nothing to do with the subject---one's personal life, unless it hurts the general public in some way, is out of bounds. and YOU, are out of bounds and cruel, besides.