For Those Who Missed It

WTHR Reports:

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (WTHR) — A former town executive of Speedway is taking a plea deal after being accused of misusing the town's money.

Kenneth Scott Harris served as a redevelopment contractor and stepped down in 2015 after the start of a state inquiry.

He was accused of owing the state of Indiana nearly $20,000.

In 2017, he told Eyewitness News he had made some mistakes and would be able to clear it up.

Now he's agreed to plead guilty to counterfeiting for submitting an altered invoice to the Speedway Redevelopment Commission. It was for a payment for a service at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The plea include no jail time according to court records obtained by Eyewitness News.

I have questions:

• Who put this guy in charge? I presume it was the Speedway Town Council; which of our current members were members when the decision to put him in charge was made? Who voted in favor of putting him in charge? I believe that an answer to these questions would allow me to make a determination as to the judgment of such Town Council members.
• He is only charged with wrongdoing from March - May of 2015; he is charged with forging invoices on behalf of the Redevelopment Commission. It was not until December of 2015 that he stepped down. Who on the Town Council knew of his actions and allowed him to remain in his position?
• What qualifications did Scott Harris present to the Speedway Town Council that would justify the trust they put in him?
• Were those qualifications ever vetted?
• To what degree was there any oversight exercised as to Mr. Harris' activities running the Redevelopment Commission?
• I have noticed that the Town of Speedway has an enormous environmental liability for land purchased from PraxAir during Mr. Harris' tenure; where was the oversight on that? Where was the Town Council?

It may seem as though I am being overly harsh on our Town Council. I certainly don't mean to be. I am a supporter of the Redevelopment Commission generally. However, actions like those of Scott Harris engender mistrust from the community and undermine the effort as a whole; officials who enabled such actions should be called to count for their acts and/or omissions. It is not lost on me that Town elections are coming up. These questions, and many more, should be presented to our incumbent Town Councilors who seek re-election. 

If they are worthy of our trust, then they owe it to us to answer these questions.

Speedway Super Center: Horrible Design = Horrible Traffic

Anyone who lives in Speedway knows that the Speedway Super Center (home of Kroger et al) seems to be custom designed to simultaneously waste space and create traffic jams. As I've noted before, I live in the Meadowood Park area, and the access point to this shopping center (Parkwood Dr.) probably could not be designed worse even if you tried.

Of course, I (quite clearly) do not own this property, nor am I an elected official, so my input on what happens there is minimal (if it exists at all). Nonetheless I recognize that the Speedway Redevelopment Commission will sooner or later have to tackle this property and, as such, I have a few suggestions.

First, let's recognize that the Speedway Super Center will not ever look like Main Street. It was originally built in a different era, for different needs. Main Street was designed to be just that: a main street, where commercial activity could be centrally located for those who lived in the immediate vicinity. The Speedway Super Center, on the other hand, was designed to be a shopping center to which people would drive from many miles. If you ask me what the best-case scenario of the Speedway Super Center is, post-redevelopment, I would point to Clay Terrace in Carmel or Metropolis in Plainfield.

These endpoint goals are for another day, though, because I just want to discuss traffic. Here is an aerial view of the area I'm referencing:

Aerial view of Speedway Super Center. 25th Street, more or less, runs  across the top; Lynhurst is on the right, and you can't see H.S. Rd. on the left.

A few things about this design stick out to me:

1. The parking design is really terrible.

Here is what I'm talking about:

Notice that this is essentially the main artery going East/West through the north end of this shopping center. It is important for traffic to move freely through there, yet it is designed to require pedestrians to cross the artery.

Another view of the same general area:

This is a bit further down. Note that one can't get to the nearest grocery store without driving along this route; again, it's not thoughtfully designed.

It doesn't have to be this way. Some thoughtful redesign of this parking/traversing area would vastly improve the experience there.

Below is a picture of one random portion of Clay Terrace:

Note that there is parking along the building, and the degree to which that seems to change the character of both the walkways and the driving lanes.

The "traffic" through the mall is less obstructed, parking is easier, and the walkways are friendlier. In fact, we have already deployed this tactic in Speedway:

So, my point as to the parking and the layout of the Speedway Super Center is that the buildings themselves don't need to be rebuilt. I am agnostic as to their condition, but I believe that their location lends itself just fine to some redesign that would make the area considerably nicer.

2. The streets are poorly designed.

The thoroughfares of the area should cross at different points. Again, here is an aerial view of what I'm talking about.

You can see that I've superimposed on the area where the major intersections are. I think that the middle one, especially, needs work.

Imagine for a moment if the traffic flowed through the area like this:

You can see, in orange, where I've superimposed a roundabout within the existing area. The part of Parkwood Dr. that goes through the shopping center would be transformed by a roundabout, further south. This would enable more of the curbside parking discussed in point #1 above, and would render this thruway considerably more pedestrian friendly.

3. Green Space Helps

I note that nearly every place in the world worth being has something growing there; perhaps the plants and trees know something we don't. Anyway, given that the parking lots there are, quite literally, never full, wouldn't it be worth it to put some green space in there? Some place where the citizens of Speedway could enjoy a cup of coffee and a book, or perhaps simply read the newspaper or have lunch? Green space makes everywhere better,even the Speedway Super Center.

So there it is; three things that could be done on the "reasonably" cheap that would make a world of difference for the Speedway Super Center. I have heard that the property owner is a pretty good corporate citizen; I see that they've dumped a bunch of money into the eastern portion of this development.

Here's to hoping for the best!

On Golf Carts

A discussion erupted on Next Door regarding how people intend to get their guests to IMS on Race Day. Someone asked whether golf carts are allowed in Speedway, and the consensus appeared to be that they are not. I have reviewed the municipal code and see no reason to disagree with the consensus.

Of course, I can't help but question why it is that golf carts are outlawed in Speedway. I did a bit of research on golf carts a few years ago for a lawsuit I was defending, and I came across the following information: Indiana Code § 9-21-8-57 provides that "A golf cart or off-road vehicle may not be operated on a highway except in accordance with: (1) an ordinance adopted under IC 9-21-1-3(a)(14) and IC 9-21-1-3.3(a) authorizing the operation of a golf cart or an off-road vehicle on the highway; or (2) IC 14-16-1-20 authorizing an off-road vehicle to operate on a highway."

So, the fact that golf carts can't be driven in Speedway is a function of local choice. My question is, does this choice reflect the will of the community? I wonder whether this has ever been considered.

Of course, the Next Door forum focused on Race Day. Maybe Speedway would be wise to allow golf carts only on Race Day; maybe Speedway would be wise to allow golf carts on any day except Race Day. 

Frankly, I don't know.

What I do know, however, is that Speedway has the right to pass an ordinance allowing residents to travel around on golf carts. The fact that it has not reflects on the priorities of our elected town council. My question is whether that reflects the priorities of the town council's constituents (i.e. the residents of Speedway). I, for one, would fully support an ordinance allowing residents to use golf carts on public streets within the town, particularly if such ordinances only allowed for golf carts to traverse, but not drive on, the main roads such as Lynhurst, Crawfordsville, etc. 

Anyway, those are my thoughts on golf carts. I don't own one, but I probably would buy one if I had the opportunity to drive it to my kids' local events, high school events, main street events, etc. Taking people to the race? I guess . . . but it's not even close to my primary concern.

More on Speedway Public Transportation

And I don't mean a train or even a bus system going through Speedway.

Rather, and I've talked about this before, I think that designating Winton Ave. as a pedestrian-friendly, bike-friendly corridor, from Lynhurst to Crawfordsville, would do wonders for connecting each end of Speedway to its counterpart. In addition to the basic designation, I think that painting the actual roadway, as well as some signage, would be beneficial as far as notifying motorists. Finally, it would be absolutely essential to have some manner of controlling the traffic light on Crawfordsville from a bicycle on Winton . . . something akin to a pedestrian button.

To ride a bicycle from Meadowood Park to 10th/Main doesn't take much more than 10 minutes, tops. It is a simple ride, and there is no reason that someone should have to drive from the Meadowood Park neighborhood to Big Woods. This is easy enough to accomplish, would barely require any public funds, increases quality of life for Speedway residents (and is a targeted measure to improve the quality of life for Speedway residents, i.e. we aren't spending a bunch of money to make someone else's life better without any return thereupon), and as a bonus just happens to promote public health and be good for the environment.

I fail to see the downside.

Why I Support Transit Innovation

Speedway has been around for a long time. The houses are old. The land has a lot of history, to put it kindly. While my neighborhood was initially seen as green field development at the edge of Indianapolis, that is no longer the case. Some 40 years after my house was built and 100 years after Main St. and IMS were built, these things are about as near Monument Circle as much of anything else. Don't forget; Monument Circle is the spiritual, if not physical, center of the State.

Speedway will never again be the newest suburb with the newest houses. That ship has sailed. I tend to believe that Speedway must, imperatively, capitalize on its assets while it still can. I read an old piece in the Urbanophile that discussed the life span of suburbs:

When you offer an older, inferior version of the same basic auto-oriented product as the suburbs, but with higher taxes, don’t expect many takers.

I think that is the essence of it; Speedway can either be the "older, inferior version" of Carmel, Avon, etc., or it can be the place where you can live and be connected with the remainder of Speedway as well as downtown Indianapolis. Frankly, I could not care less if they construct something out to the east side; I don't live there and rarely go there (if I can help it).

This goes along with my previously expressed beliefs and thoughts about golf carts and bike paths through Speedway. Urbanism is the key, people. We are not a green field suburb anymore. We can either be a part of "slumburbia" or we can remain a bona fide neighborhood set inside of a great American metropolis. We can embrace our urban nature or fight and deny it. As I say with so many things, the choice is ours. We get the future we deserve.

Aspirations for 2018

I hate resolutions. I'm not generally a resolute individual. However, I do like to believe that I am an aspirational person. With that in mind, I offer aspirations for 2018:

1. Reform of Occupational Licensure Requirements

I am not a conservative, so I am told, but nothing erodes freedoms more than economic regulations that can deprive one of his ability to make a living and feed his family. It matters not to me whether one makes his/her living braiding hair, making dog treats, doing paralegal work, or coding medical bills. I don't see that a license is necessary to do any of this, much less a license that necessitates thousands of dollars in training that an employer used to provide(s).

Instead of having a highly trained and mercenary work force, we instead have the same work force with large tuition debt hanging over them; we have made society worse. Let's stop doing that. Instead, how about we allow people to pursue a livelihood without throwing up gratuitous barriers.

As a final note on this point, I can't help but think that so many occupational licensure requirements are simply "incumbent protection rackets." For example, the fact that an English teacher who is fully certified in Michigan has to sit through a battery of tests in Indiana to teach English is nothing but a protection racket for IN English teachers (a member of such group as I used to identify). Requiring thousands of dollars in gratuitous and unnecessary "training" to become a hair stylist merely serves to limit the universe of hair stylists and drive up the cost of stylist services. This makes everyone except incumbent stylists poorer: consumers pay more, aspiring stylists can't get into the industry. I could go on and on about this, as there are so many useless occupational licensing requirements it makes one's head spin.

2. Minimization of Land Use and Zoning Regulations

I view land use and zoning regulations, to a lesser extent, in a similar vein as occupational licensure requirements. Zoning does nothing but make incumbent landowners wealthier in most cases. Why can't someone who owns a home on Lynhurst open a public business there? What about on 15th St?* I also think that if someone is so inclined, he should be able to buy a parcel on Main St. and build whatever the hell he wants on it so long as he is not bothering others with his use of his own property. Sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas. I fully recognize that some in this community don't necessarily see eye to eye with me on this. I do sincerely hope we can all agree to disagree.

3. Decriminalization of Harmless Behavior

There is a concept in the law known as "standing." It essentially says that you can't bring a lawsuit unless you can show a few things, including that you, the complainant, have been harmed. Generally, the enforcement of a law is presumed to be in the public interest, conferring standing on the prosecutor's office.

What if the elimination of the criminalized behavior is not in the public interest? What if enforcement of certain laws creates more of the undesirable behavior that we seek to eliminate in the first place?

The War on Drugs is the first thing that comes to mind. Unless a prosecuting authority can demonstrate that an actual human being was harmed, the prosecution should fail as a matter of policy. If there is an arms-length transaction, who really cares what is exchanged? Particularly with respect to marijuana, who cares? If an adult, who has full agency and freedom, decides to spend his hard-earned money on some pot, who cares? Why do we then tax that same adult to hire police and build prisons so that people who participate in this exact same behavior can become wards of the state? What in the hell are we doing?

Another example is prostitution. I certainly have a problem with human trafficking and the like, but again with the arms-length transaction . . . if a woman wants to sell an hour of her time doing "whatever" for a considerably larger amount than she could otherwise command for an hour of her time, who am I to say that I know better? I grant you that if there were "ladies of the night" "plying their trade" in Meadowood Park, my position would be different, as the entire community would be harmed in such an instance. However, if she sells her goods for three hours per night, out of her own home, what business is it of mine?

I could go on, but I think that the point has been made. Enough expenditure of public resources on morality crusades, which brings us to the next point . . .

4. Judicious and Equitable Use of Public Funds

I could go on for some time about this, whether we are talking about using public money to finance a private developer's parking garage or using public money to finance enforcement of some theocrat's version of morality, enough is enough.

Along those same lines, I know that there has been considerable discussion of late of the antics of Scott Harris vis a vis the Redevelopment Commission and the State Board of Accounts. Is it too much to expect to have the system, from which Mr. Harris repeatedly embezzled thousands of dollars, to institute reforms? Is it too much to require that anyone who handles public funds post a performance bond? I don't think so, but I'm not on the Town Council. Perhaps we should ask them.

Additionally, as pertains "equitable" use of public funds, can we think long and hard about who benefits from public expenditure and whether they need it? Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled that IMS is here and I recognize that it is the lifeblood of Speedway, if not Indianapolis. Nonetheless, I don't think that IMS needs taxpayer handouts any more than Mr. Billionaire/3 and 13/$750m stadium Jim Irsay needs our money, or the Simon family needs our money. Somehow, they all manage to get my tax money; I guess they need that money more than I do? I am perfectly happy to see my tax money spent to maintain and improve Speedway's schools, roads, sidewalks, parks, etc. I'm happy to see public money go to having free meals for poor kids when school isn't in session. It grates me a bit when those who are wealthy beyond my wildest dreams have their hands in the public till. Have you no shame?

5. Forward-Looking Use of Public Resources

This is the flip side of the "use of public funds" wish. I am given to understand that the Speedway Redevelopment Commission presently owns approximately $5m worth of real estate, primarily near the intersection of Crawfordsville Rd. and I-465. To those on the SRC, PLEASE think ahead when you determine what to do with this property. I do not believe that time is of the essence when it comes to alienating and developing that property; getting it right is of primary importance.

I am sure that a developer is more than willing to put a medical office park there. Woo frickin' hoo. Isn't that what was initially at the development just northwest of Crawfordsville/Lynhurst? Look at what a blight that is now. If you want to see more examples, just drive around Indianapolis and look at all of the initially-profitable-but-now-blighted medical office parks around the city. They're useful for perhaps 10 years as Class A office space, then they become Class B, eventually turning into essentially garbage office space, suitable for very little except for exceedingly cheap rent.

I am similarly sure that a developer would be willing to build a regular office park there. I believe that the same dynamic applies that applies to medical office parks. Office buildings retain their value when they are in desirable places, i.e. on the Circle, on Mass Ave., etc. Perhaps an office building would retain value on Main St., but even that is questionable.

I could sit here for hours and list all the things I don't want to see there. What would I like? Frankly, I don't know; an outdoor concert venue would be wonderful but I question whether it would be viable.

CONCLUSION

I write this post not as a rant but as an aspiration for the new year. As I am not an elected official in any capacity, there is very little I can do about these things other than apply pressure to public officials. That is one of the beauties of Speedway. I am one of only about 12,000 people who live here. Compare this to a citizen of Indianapolis, who is one of roughly 864,000 people who live there. As far as I can calculate, that means that I have 72X the influence in Speedway that I would have in Indianapolis.

As 2017 (a truly horrible year that I am happy to see close) fades into memory, I can reflect on my good fortune to live in a community such as this one and do my best to see to it that Speedway continues to thrive and improve. Here's to 2018; Cheers!





* As with most of these ideas, there is a legitimate end point even if I can't explicitly state where that is. I do not believe that food regulations should be eliminated, nor do I think that someone should be able to open another Crystal Clean in the middle of a residential area. I do, however, think that people should be able to do business in more places than they currently can. Also, I believe that some occupational licenses are necessary. I prefer that my healthcare provider be trained in providing healthcare. Unfortunately, however, so many of these licensure requirements have become rackets designed solely to protect the incumbents in the market at the expense of new entrants and a dynamic market.

Bike/Golf Cart Route - An idea

So, here is the image that I have come up with that is a first-stab effort at a bike/golf cart route going through Speedway. As I've said before, this is essentially a suggestion that we mark certain roads that key people into the idea that they're "on the path" and won't get lost.

Admittedly, it is not perfect. However, all great ideas start off as partially formed, so-so ideas.

The comically oversized line represents where I would suggest we mark a bike/golf cart lane. You'll notice a few things about this map:

1. This is clearly a rather outdated map, as it does not show the development on Main Street, the roundabout (though it's covered up by my comically oversized line), the 10th Street "swerve" or various other developments in Speedway.

2. You'll also note that Main Street and the "main" network are not connected. This is by design, as 11th through 15th Streets are perfectly acceptable for bicycle/golf cart travel.

3. The routes through the Meadowood Park area are the most thought out, as I live there and think about this often. Along those lines, the area around Leonard Park is not all that well thought out, as I spend very little time in that area. This is by no means a slight of that neighborhood; it is merely a recognition of my limited understanding. Any and all suggestions are welcome.

4. I still haven't figured out the best way to connect the route across Crawfordsville Rd. on the western edge of town. Again, any and all suggestions are welcome.

5. The "Winton Corridor" is probably the main artery going north and south; I chose this as it crosses Crawfordsville Rd. at a light already, and that intersection could probably be adapted to handle golf cart/bike traffic.

6. The route also cuts through the high school parking lot. This is by design to attempt to keep bicycle traffic off Lynhurst Ave.

OK. There it is. If Speedway had a parking problem, this would be one suggestion to solve it.

On Bike Lanes and Neighborhood Connectivity

As much as I would like to advocate to have some sort of a shuttle that takes residents of Speedway from one end to the other, I fully recognize that such a service is likely prohibitively expensive. I would, in its place, like to advocate for a bike "thru-way" through our town. Such a thru-way could be done for a fraction of the cost and would provide a wonderful amenity for the people of Speedway.

First off, I think that the goals of the thru-way need to be clearly defined. I, for one, don't think that this bicycle trial should necessarily be built for the fitness gurus of the world. While it is great that some people slather on the spandex and want to go riding for scores of miles, I think that a lot more people simply want to ride their bikes down to Main St. or over to the grocery store.

Thus, Tabletop Joe's Principle #1: the thru-way is primarily for transportation.

The second thing is that it has to be inclusive. The way I figure it, there are essentially four (4) Speedway "neighborhoods" (for lack of a better term). I live in Meadowood, and I believe that Meadowood is one neighborhood. Some good friends live by Main, and I believe that the Old Speedway neighborhood (10th - Crawfordsville; Main - Lynhurst) is a second neighborhood. I think that the Allison neighborhood (Lynhurst - Georgetown; 25th - Crawfordsville) is a third neighborhood. I think the last neighborhood in Speedway is essentially the area that is from the River to Lynhurst, and 10th to Crawfordsville.

Tabletop Joe's Principle #2 is inclusivity. The bicycle thru-way should go through, and connect, each of these four neighborhoods.

The third thing is cost. I don't want boondoggles. We already have roads that go through Speedway's neighborhoods. I see no reason why some of these roads can't be painted something uniquely Speedway (probably checkered flags, or some sort of racing theme) to let people know what roads the bicycle thru-ways are on.

Tabletop Joe's Principle #3: Don't overspend. We don't need newly built trails a la Carmel. Simply paint the bicycle thru-way on the existing residential streets.

The fourth thing is access. I don't want to ride a bike on Crawfordsville Rd. or Lynhurst. I don't imagine many of my fellow townspeople do either. Keep the thru-way focused on the residential streets. Also, people generally don't want to ride a bike in the dark, as they're afraid they'll get run over. Keep the thru-way well lit via street lights.

Tabletop Joe's Principle #4: Access. Make it something that as many people as possible can use as often as possible.

My suggestion would be to ensure that people could get to the main commercial "hubs" at the four corners of Speedway: 30th/High School Rd.; IMS; Crawfordsville/High School Rd. strip mall; Main St.

I will post more in the future regarding proposed routes.

Be The Change

I attended the meeting of Concerned Citizens and Business Owners of Speedway at the American Legion on Georgetown Rd. yesterday. I'm not sure what to say about it. Karlee Macer was there. She's nice I guess, though I could have done without her comment about how she is a Democrat, but she has common sense. Uhhh. What about being a Democrat necessarily implies that you don't have common sense, and what about being a Republican necessarily implies that you do?

Anyway.

I noticed that there was a lot of general griping about how people don't feel as though they are being properly respected by their town councilors. (I do note that one gentleman, to his credit, had a specific complaint about the town council's procedures).

I would say two separate things about this:

First, if your town councilor does not pay you the mind or attention that you think s/he ought to, unseat him/her. It's really that simple. If your ideas/demeanor/instincts are superior, you should be able to defeat your town councilor. Take a page from the Tea Party and get people together to protest. Hang out in front of Kroger on Saturday afternoon and at Charlie Brown's on Saturday morning and talk to people.

Be the change.

Second, as to the gentleman's (very well done) criticism regarding the town council's procedure, that too is a political problem that is to be solved with political means. The gentleman asked Rep. Macer if there was some sort of state law that could be passed to require that town council meetings be conducted a certain way, and I couldn't disagree with that approach more. I don't want some know-nothing state representative from Fort Wayne or Buck Creek coming into Speedway and telling us how to run our community. I do, however, want to see a competitive political environment in Speedway.

Be the change.

I've written before, and I will reiterate, that we get the political representation we deserve. If 51% of Speedway's voters automatically vote for the Republican on the ballot, regardless of who it is or what they know about that person's past, agenda, etc., then the Republican candidate will win, regardless. If the Republican candidate only has to ensure that she stays in the good graces of a half dozen Marion County Republican Party officials, then she could not care less (literally) about what the people of Speedway think. After all, why should she? As long as she gets on the ballot with an R next to her name, she is guaranteed victory. Everyone else can go pound sand.

If you don't approve of the way that Speedway is run, be the change. Talk to the candidates. Talk to your neighbors. Protest the town council, if you want. They have publicly noticed meetings. Conduct a protest march down Main St. if you want.

As a final note, to all those who talk about their disapproval of the Redevelopment Commission . . . if you feel that nobody listens to your complaints about the Redevelopment Commission, and you feel like it is going to do what it wants to do despite popular opinion, then perhaps you are misreading public sentiment. Perhaps the Redevelopment Commission is doing what it does because of popular opinion. My general impression is that people support the Redevelopment Commission's (imperfect) efforts. If they didn't, the SRC would not have the mandate that it does.

Speedway - "Kind of a nice little town"

We were just watching the news, and they were interviewing a couple that was clearly from out of town, heading into the Brickyard. I believe the couple was from California, though I didn't catch where. The couple was raving about what a great place IMS is to see a race and what a cool city Indianapolis is. She also added that Speedway is "kind of a nice little town."

That comment struck me . . . "kind of." That sounds like, "Speedway has nice parts, but . . .". The first part is good, but the second part of that statement (but . . . ) is bothersome. What to do?

For my part, I intend to shop locally as much as I can. Would that there was more competition in certain sectors locally. For example, Ave's Auto Repair is a place that I will not patronize. 500 Automotive, while not in Speedway, is the place to go; owned and operated by a bona fide gentleman. Charlie Brown's is good, but I think I like it more because it is a Speedway original than for the food. Dawson's is very friendly and the food is good enough. Union Jack is the Speedway Pizza King (TM) and in the running for the best bar in Speedway (along with Dawson's).

I am disappointed that Mister Lino's closed, but I am as much to blame as the next person for that. I was only in there, perhaps, three or four times. Then again, I live near Meadowood park; I would probably patronize a place like that a lot more if it was in the complex w/ Kroger or across the street. (Replacing the Dollar General?)

I must confess that I have not been to the Speedway farmer's market, and I am disappointed in myself for this failure. I intend to go and make purchases; hopefully it will be this coming week.

I think what can be done, on a public level, is an investment in the "small things." One thing that I will compliment locally is the manhole covers in the old town near Main.

I think that our bus stops could be improved. They don't necessarily require more money, but they do require investment of thought, energy, and creativity.

A quick google search gets this:

The idea of a library at the bus stop seems fun, if maybe ill-fated. Nonetheless, I can't imagine that there is more money wrapped up in building a bus stop with some character, like the one above, as opposed to a bland IndyGo stop.

If I had a wish list to fulfill, I think at least two more roundabouts through Speedway would be at the top. I will have more to say on that later.

In the end, I suppose we (myself very much included) get the Town we deserve.

Origination

For the 4th of July, I will leave aside the cheap jingoism that too often accompanies the holiday and instead focus on what I believe was the founding idea of this great nation of ours.

For millennia, the commoners (like my ancestors) were expected to live at the pleasure of their royal "betters." The "landed gentry" was a term that arose in the context of a society where there were a few people who had land, and then there was everyone else who worked said land for the pleasure of its owners. These were the feudal lords, and at the culmination of this system were the titular royals who had the authority to grant land and titles, both of which directly correlated to more bountiful and comfortable lives. Pardon the oversimplification.

At some point, our founding fathers determined that they could set up a new system whereby power and wealth amassed not based on one's parentage but based on one's merit. Again, pardon the oversimplification.

I still believe that this is a beautiful aspiration: the populace governs itself, instituting policies that are based on objective evidence, and rejecting the policies that repeatedly fail. . . stubbornly refusing to repeat the mistakes of our peoples' collective history. A place, not unlike ancient Rome, where good ideas are always welcome; where we understand that those good ideas make our society better and are more than a mere vehicle to launch people into perpetual un/underemployment.

Maintaining such an idea requires vigilance and a constant longview. What may be good for today and tomorrow may be immeasurably bad for the day after. We need to be mindful of such things.

As I've written before, good policy outcomes in the past don't necessarily mean good outcomes in the future. Perhaps, we should have a conversation as to what outcomes we want. Then, we can move on to how we get there. That is the essence of self governance.

Happy 4th of July. Be careful.

Commercial Property on Main St.

I keep hearing about how the incumbent business owners on Main St. are being harmed by the redevelopment thereof. I keep getting confused about what their problem is.

This is two distinct parcels on Main Street. Clearly, the picture is dated, as the building that used to house the Town Press now houses Tacos & Tequila (I can't wait . . . sounds so delicious), and the vacant lot to the right now houses O'Reilly's (here again . . . ) and Wilcox Engineering (unaffiliated with "Wilshaw," by the way).

Anyway, I choose these two properties because they are two of the original properties on Main, in their more-or-less original state. These properties were assessed, for taxation purposes, at $69,900 (on the left) and $37,800 (on the right). Links to the publicly-available property tax assessments can be found here and here.

Based on that property assessment, one could own both of these buildings for $107,700. Call me skeptical on that, and my skepticism was born out.

Just today, I was perusing the internet and came upon this listing. For those who prefer not to click through, the listing is for Ted's Beauty Shop, located at 1344 Main St..

This property is presently assessed, for tax purposes, at $99,100, as of 2016. The asking price for the property is currently $489,000.

By my calculations, that is an increase of approximately 493%. Someone, PLEASE, explain to me what it is that the property owners along Main St. have to complain about. I can think of approximately 389,900 reasons why the owner of Ted's Beauty Shop (Stella Szatkowski) should be supportive of Main Street's redevelopment.

Similarly, I can think of plenty of reasons why the incumbent property owners along Main Street should be, give or take, 493% supportive of the redevelopment efforts.

Finally, please note that the property just to the south of Ted's Beauty Shop is owned by the Speedway Redevelopment Commission. It was bought in June, 2015, for $65,000, according to tax records. I will be interested to see the final sale price for Ted's Beauty Shop, but based on the asking price, it appears that the efforts of the Redevelopment Commission are bearing fruit. Keep up the good work!

Case Study in Contrast: Wilshaw v. Marriott

I couldn't help but notice in the Town Press recently that there was an article celebrating the groundbreaking for a new Courtyard by Marriott. The contrasts between the town's quiet embrace of this Courtyard by Marriott vs. the "embrace" it has given Wilshaw could not be starker.

Now, as a preface to this, I am agnostic as to whether Marriott got any public money, directly or otherwise. My feelings on public money lining private pockets are generally well known and I won't get into it here.

Nonetheless, I note that there is no "bland motel committee" forming in Speedway. While those who live near Main St. have been given copious opportunity to rail about a supposed lack of parking, nobody was given any platform to rail about a lack of creative thinking. I mean, look at this:

I'm pretty sure if you look up "bland, disposable building" in the dictionary, this is it. While Wilshaw is designed to be a mainstay on Main St. for decades, this will be a Super 8 within 20 years and a brothel within 40 . . . Who remembers the last time this area was filled in with motels?

While I applaud the efforts to get investment in Speedway, particularly the efforts by the Redevelopment Commission, I am more than a bit put off by the difference in reception that Wilshaw has gotten vs. this. And why?

Parking.

As they say, "This is why we can't have nice things."

Mindlessly Pulling the Lever

I have been told that Speedway will never elect anyone but a Republican to its Town Council. Perhaps, but I have some thoughts on that.

I have noted the frustration with which many have viewed the town officials and decisions made regarding redevelopment. As an example, I got the following comment yesterday:

and I might add the Wilshaw company just got done building themselves a nice office area on Main Street. The Town is corrupt, with all of the players from the redevelopment, town council and chamber all being in on the happenings, each member jumping from one group to another playing president or some other such office. The sad thing about all this TIF talk is just that-talk. Everything has already been decided behind closed doors. The players just think they are being transparent when they "legally" inform the public of these bond hearings, but as any public person can tell you, the players have already made up their mind about how it will go.

This is a commonly voiced frustration: that the same people are in charge of everything and take no input from those they putatively represent.

Am I the only one who sees the disconnect here? If you don't like what your officials are doing, vote them out. You can't simultaneously bitch about the performance of your public officials and then either (a) fail to vote or (b) mindlessly pull the lever for the same party over and over. As they say, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is textbook insanity.

I understand partisan loyalty, mind you, but these greater ideological differences between Republicans and Democrats have no bearing on local government. Consider;

• Speedway's local government has precisely zero say about abortion, gay marriage, or any other social issue
• Speedway's local government has nothing to do with any foreign policy on any level
• Speedway's local government has very little to do with your tax burden

They do, however, have a lot to say about how our local amenities are constructed, financed, etc.

I suppose what I'm saying is that if you have a problem with your town councilor, vote for someone else in the next election. The political parties do not hold primaries and instead "slate" their candidates based on the internal decisions of the party. When the residents of Speedway mindlessly vote Republican, and the "slated" Republican candidate is guaranteed victory, that is democracy in name only and a willful forfeiture of your right to choose your political representatives.

Vote, and do so after considering the candidate, not the party.

TIF Explained

It occurs to me that the post below used the term "TIF" as though it is a well-known term, and perhaps it is not.

What TIF refers to is "tax increment financing." Essentially, what happens is a developer comes into an area and increases the value of the property and then the increased tax revenues associated with that increased assessment are then poured back into the infrastructure to support the project.

Let's have an example:

A developer buys an acre of land for $10,000. She then invests $1m into the acre, thereby making the acre worth $1.5m. The tax rate remains the same, let's say 1%.

Prior to the developer, the government would collect $100/year on that acre. After the development, the government would collect $15,000/year on that acre. There is $14,900 additional tax revenue as a result of the development.

Developers often want a piece of that money. So, they cut a deal with the local government whereby the local government creates a "Tax Increment Financing District" or TIF District, whereby that $14,900 in additional money is diverted from general government funds to dedicated funds to develop infrastructure around the project, think sidewalks, sewers, etc. At least that is the way it is supposed to work in theory.

Unfortunately, that money often becomes a slush fund for well-connected developers to get big fat taxpayer handouts. (The irony is not lost on me that so many of the people involved in these deals rail away about government "handouts" to the poor, but I digress).

Anyway, that is what a TIF district is. That increased tax money then goes into a developer's (or local politicians . . . sometimes they're the same person) project, usually to make payments on a previously issued bond. The money does not go to police, schools, etc. Remember this the next time the City of Indianapolis pleads poverty when it comes to parks, police, schools, or any other traditional government function, yet has the money to subsidize well-heeled developers (ahem, Simon Properties, ahem, excuse me . . . there was something caught in my throat).

I'm not averse to TIFs in principle, but they are too often abused to give kickbacks to well-heeled developers. I don't know enough about Speedway's TIF districts to make any sort of assessment on the propriety of them.

I do believe, however, that the redevelopment has been a good thing, warts and all.

Wilshaw, Bonds, and Rube Goldberg Devices

I have been thinking more and more about the bond that will be issued to support the Wilshaw Project.

For starters, understand that issuing a bond is essentially no different than taking out a loan, except you're not borrowing from one lender but instead borrowing from hundreds or even thousands of lenders. Each of those lenders is entitled to be repaid.

So, in light of that, here is my understanding of the money flow with respect to the bond. If either reader of this blog know of reasons why this understanding is incorrect, please let me know.

1. The bonds will be issued (i.e. the money will be borrowed) by the Town of Speedway. I have surmised this from the "Notice of Public Hearing of the Speedway Economic Development Commission."

The Bonds will be issued by the Town

2. The Town will then lend the money raised through the issuance of the bond to another entity, the Speedway Municipal Facilities Corporation.

The Town will lend the proceeds of the Bonds to the Speedway Municipal Facilities Building Corporation (the “Corporation”) to finance the construction of a portion of certain economic development facilities, consisting of a two level parking facility, site development work, foundations and related costs (the “Parking Facilities Project”).

As I have stated before, I believe that incurring debt to build a parking facility is short sighted and wrong, but I understand that some in the community disagree with me. We'll agree to disagree over whether publicly financing parking is appropriate.

3. The Speedway Municipal Facilities Corporation will then take the money to finance the construction of a parking garage, the majority (if not the entirety) of which will be for use by Wilshaw.

4. Wilshaw and the Speedway Redevelopment Commission will jointly and severally lease this parking facility from the Speedway Municipal Facilities Corporation.

5. Payments on that lease will be made to the Speedway Municipal Facilities Corporation by Wilshaw and the Redevelopment Commission. The money will come from either TIF money, the Developer, or a special benefits tax levied by the Redevelopment Commission pursuant to IC 36-7-14-27.

The Redevelopment Commission’s lease payments under the Lease will be payable from (a) tax increment revenues generated in the Redevelopment Area (the “TIF Revenues”), (b) payments under the Developer Obligations Agreement and Third Party Guaranty (each as defined in the Economic Development Agreement), and (c) to the extent TIF Revenues and payments under the Developer Obligations Agreement and Third Party Guaranty are ever insufficient to pay lease rentals, from the revenues of a special benefits tax levied by the Redevelopment Commission pursuant to Indiana Code 36-7-14-27.

Presumably, Wilshaw will increase the value of the land upon which it is built so much that the increased value of the land will raise the tax revenues on the land to the point where the debt pays itself. Additionally, Wilshaw has some sort of "Developer Obligations Agreement" that is likely available for viewing at Town Hall from 9-4 M-F (precisely located squarely within the time frame during which I, and most of my neighbors, earn our living) and has not, to my knowledge, been posted online. There is also some mention of a third-party guarantor, the identity of whom is not revealed. Is that the citizenry of Speedway? Vladimir Putin? God only knows. Should neither of those options suffice, the Redevelopment Commission will levy a special tax on the Main St. TIF area.

Schematic Representation of this Financing Deal

I have a variety of thoughts on this scheme, not all of which have been thoroughly sorted out. However, as a first draft:

1. As mentioned above, I believe that spending taxes so that people have a place to park their enormous iron machines (i.e. cars) is a waste of tax money. We don't ask the public to provide us a place to work or sleep. Heck, this nation has had a revolt of late over asking the public to provide us basic medical care, but we don't bat an eye when it comes to spending public money so that people can park their cars? Priorities people. Priorities.

2. Why the rube goldberg device for where the money goes? If we (however wrongly) do decide to publicly finance a parking garage, why all of the misdirection as to where the money goes, comes from, etc? I can't help but think that this is one of those situations where we, the Town of Speedway, shoulder all of the risk while Loftus-Robinson (i.e. Drew Loftus and Kyle Robinson) stand to profit. As they say, if you're sitting around the poker table and can't tell who the sucker is, it's you.

3. The notice mentions a statute but never indicates the import of it. I can't help myself here, as I am a nerd about this kind of stuff. Here is what I think the relevant portion of the cited statute (IC 36-7-14-27) is:

The redevelopment commission, with the prior approval of the legislative body, shall levy each year a special tax on all of the property of the redevelopment taxing district, in such a manner as to meet and pay the principal of the bonds as they mature, together with all accruing interest on the bonds or lease rental payments under section 25.2 of this chapter. The commission shall cause the tax levied to be certified to the proper officers as other tax levies are certified, and to the auditor of the county in which the redevelopment district is located, before the second day of October in each year. The tax shall be estimated and entered on the tax duplicate by the county auditor and shall be collected and enforced by the county treasurer in the same manner as other state and county taxes are estimated, entered, collected, and enforced. The amount of the tax levied to pay bonds or lease rentals payable from the tax levied under this section shall be reduced by any amount available in the allocation fund established under section 39(b)(3) of this chapter or other revenues of the redevelopment commission to the extent such revenues have been set aside in the redevelopment bond fund.

Note that this is a bit opaque. After about a half hour of research attempting to locate the exact locale of the TIF district for Speedway, this is what I was able to come up with:

How much will this cost?Approximately $120 million of infrastructure will be funded by public investment, which will help attract an additional $400 million in private investment in Redevelopment Area One.

How will the public investment be generated?

The Town of Speedway has the financial strength necessary to make the investment through the creation of a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district, which provides the town with a healthy revenue stream and credit. 

Given that they want to obligate people to repay  over a hundred million dollars, you would think that we could get an easily accessible map or something. The best I could come up with is this, with a map on pg. 5 of 33.

I note that, should this not work out, the other business owners on Main will be on the hook to pay for this parking garage.

Seems like a bad idea to me.

I don't suggest for a moment that our officials on the Redevelopment Commission, Town Council, etc., are in any way acting in bad faith. However, please remember that Loftus-Robinson is a fairly new company that does not have an extensive track record, and Ice Miller has been playing this "get public money for private projects" game for a long time. Please see Lucas Oil Stadium as Exhibit A.

It seems to me that we are allowing ourselves to be lured into quite an obligation that benefits Wilshaw rather handsomely and is rather dubious with respect to its benefits for Speedway. As I've stated before, if we want to publicly fund a garage, we should do it and have the Town of Speedway own it, operate it, and service the debt. Straight forward.

When I hear the words "public/private partnership," I tend to assume that I'm about to be taken to the cleaners. If it's worthy of public money, then it's worthy of public ownership.

Possible Parking Solution

For all of the talk about the Wilshaw and the possible parking problems it will create, it seems to me that the debate could be more constructive if we focus less on recriminations and more on offering solutions. Here is but one solution among many that occurs to me: Speedway public transit.

We could have a "free" streetcar/trolley that runs basically from McGilvery's to Big Woods in the evening and on the weekends. The trolley could go through the neighborhoods, perhaps once per half hour, between 6 and 10 p.m. during the week and 5 and midnight on the weekends. How much could that really cost? Inasmuch as people want to come to Main St. and dine, drink, etc., they could park essentially anywhere in Speedway and be transported to their destination of choice. Similarly, any resident of Speedway could simply hop on the trolley and be taken across town: no parking concerns, no drinking and driving concerns.

Taken a step further, I see no reason why the free market couldn't provide this service as well, though they would have to limit service and charge fares. A free market solution would likely just run from Kroger to Main St., as Kroger has an abundance of parking. That would be more directed at visitors only, whereas the public trolley would also benefit residents.

A flawed and not-fully-developed plan to be sure, but ideas have a way of refining themselves over time.

Some food for thought.

Wilshaw, Board of Zoning Appeals, and "Inside Baseball"

So, last night, the Speedway Board of Zoning Appeals held a hearing on 5 specific variances that the developers of the Wilshaw wanted from local zoning codes.

While I tended to disagree with the remonstrators' comments against the development, one thing that I noted was the difficulty of being heard in the right forum about the right topic.

Frankly, I don't know what the solution is. However, I noted that most citizens who spoke up about their concerns were not doing so in the right forum . . . they all wanted to discuss the bond that was under consideration a few weeks ago. To the contrary, the meeting was about five specific things that the Wilshaw developers wanted to do that were technically in violation of local zoning ordinances. The meeting had nothing to do with the bond, and the Board of Zoning Appeals does not (to my knowledge) have anything to do with floating bonds.

I understand the frustrations felt by people who feel like the game is rigged and show up to meetings that sound like so much "inside baseball" to the average citizen and provide little opportunity for input or feedback, as the meetings are about specific, discrete issues.

Hoosier BBQ

I have nothing but good things to say about Bourbon & Barbecue. I am super impressed by their local beer list, as well as their bourbon list. As far as their BBQ goes, I tell people that it is sufficient. This is Indiana, not Kansas City or Texas. We don't fetishize BBQ here the way they do there. Nonetheless, I think Bourbon & Barbecue holds up well to every other place in the city.

But this post is not about Barbecue & Bourbon. This post is about Speedway. I think that we need a Barbecue competition in Speedway; it would be especially awesome if we could do some sort of a Pro-Am tournament.

I think that this would help create community cohesiveness, and could be a vehicle whereby the community raises money for some good cause or another. I imagine having a dozen or so entrants in Leonard or Meadowood Park, or maybe along Main Street; engage a few rock n' roll bands to play; have a brewery or two serve beer.

I imagine having 3-4 categories of competition: ribs, chicken, pulled pork, brisket. I, for one, would definitely enter some pulled pork, and maybe some chicken. As far as the money goes, perhaps the contestants pay an entry fee and the people who come to the competition either buy a plate or pay a "judge's fee" so that they can have samples of all the different entrants and vote thereupon. Perhaps we could engage IMS or Allison as corporate partners to help underwrite.

As far as the "prize," I think it would be more of a bragging rights prize than anything. I don't imagine we would be able to involve enough money to make it "worth" the money for people who would only do this for the money. As for me, I'd rather have a trophy that gets passed around every year and the bragging rights that go along with it than a hundred bucks or so.

Just a thought on this beautiful Saturday morning.

Bonds and Parking

Thank you to the Town Press for posting information on Nextdoor.com regarding the upcoming Town Council meeting whereby residents can voice concerns about the Redevelopment Commission floating a few million dollars in bonds to build a parking garage.

I am by no means an expert in public finance, so to the experts out there, please accept my apologies.

That said, I can't help but wonder why it is that our Town sees the need to run such a convoluted deal. If the Town wants to publicly finance a parking garage, they should do so in as much of a straight-forward manner as possible . . . preferably by raising a visible and dedicated tax (so that people know what they're paying for the things they get).

Contrarily, if the Town doesn't want to publicly fund a parking garage, don't fund a parking garage.

This isn't long division. We don't need some sort of a convoluted lend/lease deal that completely hides who benefits from the deal.

If you're going to fund something, fund it openly and honestly. If not, don't do it. By all means, though, if you're going to fund stuff, don't obfuscate to the point of incoherence such that your citizens/taxpayers (you know, those actually paying the bills) can't understand what is going on.

UPDATE: Full disclosure, I should note that I am an attorney and, to some degree, understand what the legal notice is getting at. Nonetheless, I stand by my original point that it should not require a law degree to understand what one's elected officials are doing with public money.