Can't we all agree that Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard is incompetent and needs to go?

[IndianaGreen]

Ballard rode the wave of discontent regarding property tax assessment, an issue over which the mayor of our fair city has no control over. Since becoming mayor, Ballard has allowed the usual cabal of GOP privatizers to grind our city down, and nearly bankrupt the pension fund for police officers. I will add that snow removal has become a problem during Ballard's tenure.

There are some wonderful names being mentioned as potential challengers to Ballard, a man that clearly has had too many hits to his head.

Here is my choice for mayor. I hope she learned a lesson or two from her failed race against prosecutor Brizzi, including the fact she was too nice with such a short man.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Mayoral Marathon: Melina Kennedy Files for Mayor

Brian Williams has company in the race for Indianapolis Mayor. As expected, Melina Kennedy is filed her exploratory committee today for a run at Indianapolis Mayor. If elected in the primary and the general election in 2011, she would be the first female Mayor of Indianapolis.

Kennedy, an attorney by trade, has extensive experience in city government serving as a Deputy Mayor under Bart Peterson. She also ran unsuccessfully for Marion County Prosecutor against Carl Brizzi in 2006. Her campaign came up short (51.7 percent to 48.3 percent) after being outspent mightily by the incumbent.

While some criticized Melina for her lack of experience during the Prosecutor’s race, Mayor is well within her wheelhouse. She will also admit that the experience of running against Prosecutor Brizzi toughened her up as well. She has impeccable credentials and experience to be a great Mayor of Indianapolis and has a loyal following of people inside the party and people who worked with her on many projects downtown in the Mayor’s Office.

When I spoke with her face-to-face a few months ago as she was first considering a run, I was impressed with her knowledge of local issues pertaining to my area. Melina already had a great familiarity with the unique issues of my neck of the woods and provided me with proposed solutions if she were to be elected.

Kennedy also has, along with unfiled candidate Joe Hogsett, made the most visits to the various township club events even going as far as to concentrate some effort on areas where Mayor Peterson was decimated in 2007. The joke is that Melina and Joe should carpool.

Melina’s exit from the probable candidates list to join Williams in the race leaves Hogsett, Jose Evans, Kip Tew, and potentially a few others exploring runs. The question for all of them has to be…can I beat Melina or Brian in a run at slating? What will I do if I lose at slating? Can I run a campaign outside the slating agreement and still maintain good relationships with the party for the future? Are there other offices local or statewide that I might be better for?

http://indydemocrat.blogspot.com/#uds-search-results

[AwakeAtLast]

1. He can't be gone too soon.

Good for Ms. Kennedy! Let's hope she is able to run a successful campaign!

[Myrina]

2. You mean "Mayor Hoo-Rah Photo Op" ?

He's even more useless than I thought he was going to be. If that's at all possible.