My Take on the HPR interview with Graham Richard
FWO linked to this HPR interview with mayor Graham Richard. I cut it down to just a few points. I'll hit the broadband issue at a later time. My comments are in red.
HPR: Are you looking at a re-elect in 2007?
Richard: Too early to tell. Probably make a decision by September. Still raising funds. Richard is waiting to see how the Bayh Presidential campaign progresses. If it looks to be in good shape he will jump on board with hopes of a cabinet position in the Bayh Administration.
HPR: Have you talked with Paul Helmke.
Richard: Only casually. My guess is if I don’t run, he’ll definitely be in and if I do run he may be in as well. There was a lot of fanfare about his survey, but he’s not telling anybody what he found out. Probably because it says he's vulnerable in Republican areas of the city such as Aboite, St Joe, and Pine Valley. I wonder why that is? I can tell you that Win Moses polled his district and we look very good. Sounds like they both fear Matt Kelty running against them.
HPR: How about Richard for governor?
Richard: No. He's not about to make a mistake like Helmke's It’s either another term as mayor or go help Evan (Bayh) run for president. See my first comment
HPR: I watch the House Democrats and they’ve been opposed to Major Moves, the inspector general. I’ve been asking, well what is it that you guys are for? I see the innovation in the Indiana Democratic Party coming from the mayors.
Richard: I strongly support enabling legislation that would allow more consolidation. Quietly and behind the scenes, my whole approach has been to take program by program and work for merger and collaboration. Consolidation with business practices. If you look at Louisville, they brought in some really talented people who have business background to help them manage the way you fold together the city and county operations. He's re-using talking points from an Indy Works study on consolidation. The the results of that study are in question as other studies contradict it. That is the way you drive change and rethink your practices. After annexation, we went from 850 to 1,200 miles of streets and roads and the number of non-public safety employees has gone down by almost 30 percent. That’s how you keep the costs of government down. Costs? Yes. Quality of service? No.
HPR: I was amazed to see the Fort Wayne City Council and the Allen County Councils vote 15-0 to pass consolidation. I was not surprised
Richard: The problem in Indiana is the county commissioners. Every county is different. What are you going to do in Mishawaka and South Bend? What are you going to do in Lake County? The problem is that the needs of people living in the county and needs of people living in a city are different. Unigov is receiving resistance because it is perceived as not taking care of the needs of both.There is an opportunity for innovation in the local government structure. Why is it that we can’t have, as 60 percent of the cities in the country our size have, non-partisan elections? Why shouldn’t that be a local decision? It might make a fundamental difference what happens in Lake County or our county. Richard has figured out that the (D) label won't win most elections. I don't remember him making this argument when the Democrats were in control.
HPR: Are you looking at a re-elect in 2007?
Richard: Too early to tell. Probably make a decision by September. Still raising funds. Richard is waiting to see how the Bayh Presidential campaign progresses. If it looks to be in good shape he will jump on board with hopes of a cabinet position in the Bayh Administration.
HPR: Have you talked with Paul Helmke.
Richard: Only casually. My guess is if I don’t run, he’ll definitely be in and if I do run he may be in as well. There was a lot of fanfare about his survey, but he’s not telling anybody what he found out. Probably because it says he's vulnerable in Republican areas of the city such as Aboite, St Joe, and Pine Valley. I wonder why that is? I can tell you that Win Moses polled his district and we look very good. Sounds like they both fear Matt Kelty running against them.
HPR: How about Richard for governor?
Richard: No. He's not about to make a mistake like Helmke's It’s either another term as mayor or go help Evan (Bayh) run for president. See my first comment
HPR: I watch the House Democrats and they’ve been opposed to Major Moves, the inspector general. I’ve been asking, well what is it that you guys are for? I see the innovation in the Indiana Democratic Party coming from the mayors.
Richard: I strongly support enabling legislation that would allow more consolidation. Quietly and behind the scenes, my whole approach has been to take program by program and work for merger and collaboration. Consolidation with business practices. If you look at Louisville, they brought in some really talented people who have business background to help them manage the way you fold together the city and county operations. He's re-using talking points from an Indy Works study on consolidation. The the results of that study are in question as other studies contradict it. That is the way you drive change and rethink your practices. After annexation, we went from 850 to 1,200 miles of streets and roads and the number of non-public safety employees has gone down by almost 30 percent. That’s how you keep the costs of government down. Costs? Yes. Quality of service? No.
HPR: I was amazed to see the Fort Wayne City Council and the Allen County Councils vote 15-0 to pass consolidation. I was not surprised
Richard: The problem in Indiana is the county commissioners. Every county is different. What are you going to do in Mishawaka and South Bend? What are you going to do in Lake County? The problem is that the needs of people living in the county and needs of people living in a city are different. Unigov is receiving resistance because it is perceived as not taking care of the needs of both.There is an opportunity for innovation in the local government structure. Why is it that we can’t have, as 60 percent of the cities in the country our size have, non-partisan elections? Why shouldn’t that be a local decision? It might make a fundamental difference what happens in Lake County or our county. Richard has figured out that the (D) label won't win most elections. I don't remember him making this argument when the Democrats were in control.
posted by Indiana Pundit at 12:21 PM
2 Comments:
It would be easier to give your comments come credibility if you perhaps knew the name of Fort Wayne's mayor. His name is Graham Richard--not Richards. Karen Richards is the county's prosecuting attorney--perhaps you are confused.
Oops. My bad. This is what happens when you blog from your sickbed.
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