Mrs. Bloom was my first-grade teacher. As she and Dick and Jane helped us discover reading, she also dealt with all the realities associated with six- and seven-year-olds, from accidents to tears to post-recess vomiting to my classmate Chuckie, who ate a lot of crayons. There were no litterboxes in her classroom. Nor were there … Read more
It’s one of those annual social media posts or the conversation you’re forced to overhear while waiting for a table. “And do you believe they’re expecting us to pay $2,500 for her show choir outfits? It’s a school thing … we pay taxes … so where do they get off making us pay? I bet … Read more
I clearly remember the strangest decision I had to make as an elected official. Sitting in a room with my fellow school board members, our top administrators, and several architects, we were asked to determine and agree upon something fairly amusing but surprisingly important. That something was the average width of the gluteal assemblages of … Read more
Property taxes have been a big topic here in Hoosierland for the past couple of years – so much so that they became the centerpiece of our new Governor’s campaign efforts. We’ve heard a lot about your property taxes from Mr. Braun, his lieutenant, and General Assembly members as they battle over the budget. If … Read more
It’s a zinger of an argument, delivered with all the contempt the arguer can summon. You’ll hear it anytime a developer or town officials propose something we haven’t yet seen in Hendricks County. “They don’t understand this isn’t Carmel!” or “If I wanted to live in Carmel, I’d have moved there and not here!” I’ve … Read more
I’m sure you’ve heard a lot about tax abatements from folks who hold some strong opinions about them. They seem to understand a lot of confusing stuff so they must know what they’re saying, right? Well, not necessarily. For decades, I’ve heard the same incorrect “facts” about tax abatements again and again. Like: Thanks to … Read more
What a mess. So much traffic, so much retail development, so many housing additions that don’t connect with each other, those property taxes, no downtown, unplowed neighborhood streets, and did I mention all that traffic? Whenever someone in other Hendricks County communities wants to point to something as an example of what’s wrong in community … Read more
Did you realize children in Hendricks County schools are being forced to learn Arabic numbers? It’s true! Every day, local teachers force children to memorize and use Arabic numbers, no matter what their families may prefer. Does that upset you? It shouldn’t. You use Arabic numbers all the time and probably don’t realize that’s what … Read more
(The latest in a series of columns on local government from the Republican newspaper.) In many years as an elected official, I frequently talked to groups of students. I usually explained my role by asking if their parents ever complained about the idiots who were raising their taxes. Then I’d introduce myself as one of … Read more
This is the first in what will be a long series of posts reprising my weekly columns about local government for the Republican newspaper, which has been published in Danville, Indiana since 1847 — seven years before the political party of the same name existed. Enjoy and learn! Why would anyone write a column about … Read more