Indiana

STATE OF THE CITY

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz

Tackling crime, improving education, getting city finances in order and focusing on the future were all themes laid out tonight in Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard’s first State of the City address.

Ballard delivered his speech at Union Station in downtown Indianapolis.

He said Indianapolis was a strong city, but citizens would to work together to endure for the future. The mayor touched on recent accomplishments such as getting control of the police department and restructuring it to improve the chain of command and put more officers on the street as well as getting help from the legislature in the form of pension relief and assuming other property tax levies.

Despite of those accomplishments the Mayor noted the city had work to do in eliminating abandoned houses, ex-offender re-entry and fixing its financial situation.

Ballard said government consolidation was crucial to solving the city’s financial problems, pointing out the city’s massive financial obligations;  $5.7  billion in long-term debt with $2.8 billion of that supported by property taxes.

He said the city had saved $9 million by holding back spending, but it would need the recommendation in the Kernan-Shepard report to fully complete the job.

The Mayor said, as reported here earlier, that by implementing the recommendations and convening the Indianapolis High-Performance Government team would produce the necessary savings to fully repeal the increase in the public safety tax.

The Mayor also talked about improving education and using the city’s resources to coordinate a county-wide mentoring program to meet every child’s needs.

Ballard did give credit to the Peterson Administration for its Greater Indianapolis Neighborhood Initiative and he also touched on his ethics reform package which he said will make government more transparent.

If you are wondering why the Mayor chose Union Station as his venue, he told the audience that for the city to stay competitive, it must increase its international profile by improving the cultural flavor of the city as well as its visibility abroad.

Union Station is the home of the Mexican Consulate.

The Mayor said he wanted to expand the sister-city program and promote Indianapolis abroad.

At the end of his address the invited the public to come to Mayor’s night out, call the action center or contact him through the city’s website.

He told the citizens it was their government and he encouraged them to get involved.

Any takers?

Full post as published by Indiana Barrister on April 09, 2008 (boomark / email).