Time to Plow Those Roads?

 Finally, my street is thawing out from the early January snowstorm. It's been three freakin' weeks of slipping and sliding around after our huge snow.

The problem is that no one seems to want to take the blame for this. DPW ended the policy of hiring contractors for a 6+-inch snowfall and still no one seems to know exactly why. The reasons given have been ridiculous. "We are now plowing connector streets," seems to be the official line from DPW. Of course, that begs the question that many have asked, "How in the hell am I supposed to get to the connector streets I can barely get to the end of my neighborhood street?"

Someone a few weeks back stated that this is why people are moving out of Marion County and into the suburbs if they can afford it, and I have to agree. 

Hopefully, the next time we get a major snow, cooler heads will prevail and the city folks throw some money the way of the contractors, and we won't have to wait until the snow melts. 

At least my old friends, the potholes on my way home from work, are back on West 10th Street. I've resorted to naming them. I try to swerve and avoid Big Frank right along the eastbound lane of West 10th each day. I say hello. His mouth is getting bigger.

I guess that's the next battle. 

Merritt, Indy GOP All Hat and No Cattle on Potholes and Tort Claims

We are one month away from the Primary Election, and we still have no idea what Jim Merritt wants to do if he's elected Mayor of Indianapolis.

He certainly can hold a press conference. We know that! So far, he's held several on potholes and tort claims, but, when pressed for solutions, he comes up empty. Most embarrassingly, the media asked Merritt if he would change the tort claim procedures for Indianapolis (which are largely dictated by state law and not city ordinance), and Merritt became the guy that couldn't find his wallet when it came time to pay the check.

Don't bother to look online for his ideas, either. His website provides no more guidance beyond a promise to roll out his policies during the campaign. Inspiring.

Here's the truth. Jim Merritt, as a state Senator, has been a member of a Indiana General Assembly that has Kathy Bates-in-Misery-style hobbled local governments. Time after time, they've pushed the funding of city governments back to the cities and towns and then cut off the ability for those entities to raise funds. Constitutional tax caps slapped a big governor on the engine of city and local governments.

Years of mismanagement of Republican City-County Councils and Mayors of Indianapolis has also placed us in this situation. Roads were not updated and repaired, and, when they were, they were done so in such a shoddy fashion that many of the improvements have simply fallen apart. Can Joe Hogsett do more? Sure! He has to have the ability to do so, though. In the current funding structure, it's just not feasible.

Indiana has run up is surplus on the backs of local governments, cities, and schools. Jim Merritt won't tell you that at his next press conference. He'll tell you that the General Assembly threw some chump change at the problem when in reality it's going to take a concerted effort and much more political capital to truly fix our problems.

Are the attacks on Joe Hogsett fair? I don't think so unless you're going to do something different than what he's done. Indy's Department of Public Works is doing what it can, and I think Hogsett is, too.

Merritt is all hat and no cattle at this point. His party likes to throw up memes on social media and tag Hogsett as "Pothole Joe", but they ignore their role in getting us here. As for Merritt, he wants your vote without any plan to fix anything in this city, so I've got a nickname for Jim Merritt since he has no plan: "Meritless Merritt".

I think it fits.