It was the perfect “October surprise” for Mayor Greg Ballard. An entrepreneur bringing 1,100 jobs to Indianapolis to build super huge TVs that would rise out of the inside of semitrailer trucks. A melding of old and new technologies to bring dazzling huge video to major events and neighborhoods.
As a beaming Ballard along with Gov. Mitch Daniels stood alongside this so-called “visionary,” the positive jobs bubble began to fizzle.
The entrepeneur, a 21st century Prof. Harold Hill, or Charles Ponzi, first said he had people ready to invest millions with him, then backtracked, according to the Indianapolis Star, admitting the only investor was “him.”
It got worse for Bob Yanagihara and his company LiTEBOX.
The Indianapolis Business Journal first raised red flags about LiTEBOX, reporting his idea was unproven and pointing out inconsistencies with his interview with IBJ and other media.
Learning he had employees in California, I searched the business listings of the California secretary of state’s website, but found no listing for LiTEBOX. Several bloggers confirmed my findings.
Then the Star, in some great journalism the paper doesn’t do enough of, checked out Yanagihara and found a bunch of disturbing things.
Federal and California tax liens for hundreds of thousands of dollars; an unpaid court judgment of $145,000.
A major economic development consulting firm, Greyhill Advisors, pointed out serious flaws in LiTEBOX’s plan, including that their proposed 125,000 foot factory in Pike Township would be far too small for a manufacturing operation with 900 workers in three shifts.
The inconsistencies pointed out by local media were reinforced by Melina Kennedy who blasted the deal saying that the city was “punked.”
Mayor Ballard defended the deal, saying the city and state incentives were “performance based,” meaning if LiTEBOX fails their promises they get nothing. But Ballard was flummoxed when I asked him live on our WTLC-AM (1310) “Afternoons with Amos” about the fact LiTEBOX wasn’t registered in California.
“Well, you sure are curious about all this, aren’t you?” said Ballard adding, “C’mon, Amos. This is an entrepreneur who wants to do the right thing.”
Maybe, but this “entrepreneur” owes thousands in back taxes, hasn’t repaid an investor, isn’t registered as a business where he said he was and perhaps fabricated his educational credentials. Is that the type of entrepreneur we want doing business in Indianapolis and providing tax incentives to?
This deal was constructed by Develop Indy. I’ve raised serious questions about the operation of that entity and their insensitivity towards our community.
Last week, Develop Indy’s haughty VP for Operations Melissa Todd flat lied when she said at the Mozel Sanders fundraiser that she’d respond to my questions about LiTEBOX’s failings.
Though she also stiff armed other media in town, Todd seemingly specializes in total disrespect of Black media.
CEO of Develop Indy is Scott Miller, the newly named head of the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce. The LiTEBOX fiasco occurred on his watch. It reinforces my feelings two weeks ago about Miller’s fitness to lead the chamber at this difficult time for our city.
Four years ago Republicans blasted Democrats for tolerating what the GOP called a culture of corruption.
But now the GOP council majority is doing worse. Besides the LiTEBOX scandal there’s a more egregious one.
Council President Ryan Vaughn levied, without council approval, a $225,000 sweetheart contract to GOP partisan David Brooks to illegally redraw precinct boundaries and redistrict City-County Council districts. A task the GOP hopes to do in the last two meetings of the year by the lame duck council.
To end those abuses and others, it’s imperative that Democrats control a majority of the seats on the council.
There are 15 African-Americans running for City-County Council, four Republicans and 11 Democrats. Nearly all the African-Americans running I’ve known; some for many years.
Regarding African-American Republicans, Sahara Williams (District 7) and Barbara Holland (District 10), I don’t know their records, service or whether they’d serve the best interests of our Black community.
I strongly urge you to vote for these African-American candidates. Leroy Lewis (At Large) and these district candidates Jose Evans (District 1), Maggie Lewis (District 7), Monroe Gray (District 8), José Simpson (District 9), William “Duke” Oliver (District 10), Steve Talley (District 11), Regina Marsh (District 12), Maxine King (District 14), Vop Osili (District 15) and Vernon Brown (District 18).
Robinson, a former IPS Board member; Talley, the former council president; Simpson, a Washington Township Board member; and King, a former Wayne Township Small Claims judge served well in those positions and would make great council members.
Marsh, Osili, Lewis and Evans are part of Indy’s new generation of African-American political leaders.
Now, there’s one African-American council candidate not worthy of our community’s support. Republican incumbent Barbara Malone.
During the UniGov era, there have been Black Republican councilors who served with distinction, standing up at times, against their party, for the best interests of our city and African-American community.
Stanley Strader, Paula Parker-Sawyers, Roger Brown, Ray Crowe, Ron Franklin, Julius Shaw, Beverly Mukes-Gaither and Isaac Randolph were great examples of this principled, independent service.
Barbara Malone is not.
As the lone Black Republican on the council, Malone time and again has supported programs and initiatives that haven’t positively benefited our community. In a mayoral administration tone deaf towards our Black community, Malone could have been a bridge to sensitize and move the Ballard administration to be more receptive to our community’s concerns.
She didn’t. And Malone’s statement that all the city/county’s school districts should be merged together was the most blatant example of her lack of consideration for our community’s best interests.
She isn’t deserving of your vote or re-election.
Twelve years ago, this column said that Republican Jackie Cissell was a “down to earth, energetic African-American woman” who “though Republican is not an ideologue, but a pragmatic realist.”
I believed in those words then when she was running for City-County Council at large and still believe them today. While I want a Democratic controlled City-County Council, if there’s to be a loyal opposition that includes an African-American, the best would be Jackie Cissell.
Make sure you vote Tuesday. And I’ll see ‘ya next week.
You can email comments to Amos Brown at acbrown@aol.com.
