Substance of the O'Donnell call

Tom said that the County budget is cut to the bone and is as lean as it can be.

Keep in mind that the county owns a water park and a $7 million "Children's Discovery Center".

The County owns a brand new multimillion dollar helicopter. It has satellite offices. It has satellite courts.

The county still offers defined benefit pensions, something that is almost gone from the private sector.

The State of Indiana has gone to consumer directed, catastrophic type health insurance, which offers huge savings.

There's PLENTY left to cut, some symbolic, some substantial.

Just got off the phone with Tom O'Donnell!

Tom O'Donnell wanted me to correct the record on this blog. He says that he is no longer a public defender.

I'm happy to correct the record, Tom.

Also, I wasn't ENTIRELY serious that I'd quit the race if you switched parties, but give it a try and see what happens. ;)

Tom also wasn't happy that I said that he was for the income tax before he was against it, but I think I'm going to stick by that one. I've got some blog posts about that from waaaay back that I'll go back and pull up.

You know, Tom is just the nicest guy that he could be (certainly way nicer than I am), but I don't think that that's a big advantage in the Lake County Democrat party. Guys like Van Til and Philpot must steal this guy's milk money. ;)

"The Candidate of NO!", Eric Krieg loves the DLGF

You know, I posted about the DLGF, asking if they had their trending analysis available in excel format. And we got a comment from someone at the DLGF that they did have the analysis on their website, freely available, as well as a nice explanation as to how they did the analysis (multiple linear regression).

I downloaded the file, and I have to say that they've got some good data there. Everything that you need to replicate their calculations is there.

How refreshing to see a government agency that is so open about what they're doing. That needs to be the standard for every governmental unit at every level.

What are the chances that Booker Blumenberg is so open about his trending and assessments?

Tom O'Donnell know a little something about property tax assessment appeals...

...because he lost one!

Boy, did he tick off the tax judge or what? Look how that thing is worded!

Indeed, Mr. O’Donnell stated to this Court: “I don’t believe that I need to hold [the Indiana Board’s] hands and show them what an appraisal of [$]480,000 means in 2003. The reasonable inferences that can be drawn from that are that it was probably less in 2002 and probably less in 1999.” (Oral Argument Tr. at 10.)

This Court has repeatedly reminded taxpayers that as part of making a prima facie case, “it is the taxpayer’s duty to walk the Indiana Board and this Court through every element of its analysis.” Fidelity Fed. Sav. & Loan v. Jennings County Assessor, 836 N.E.2d 1075, 1082 (Ind. Tax Ct. 2005) (quoting Clark v. Dep’t of Local Gov’t Fin., 779 N.E.2d 1277, 1282 n.4 (Ind. Tax Ct. 2002)) (emphasis added). See also Davidson Indus. v. Indiana State Bd. of Tax Comm’rs, 744 N.E.2d 1067, 1071 (Ind. Tax Ct. 2001). Therefore, the O’Donnells were required to trend forward the 1997 construction costs to a 1999 value and/or trend the 2003 appraisal back to its 1999 value. Because they did not, neither the O’Donnells’s 1997 construction costs nor the 2003 appraisal carry any probative value. Accordingly, the O’Donnells have failed to make a prima facie case that their assessment is improper.

OUCH!

BTW, I found this because I googled "Tom O'Donnell Lake County". This document was the third hit, the first two were this blog!

And if you google every variation of his name that you could mistakenly make, you also get this blog as the first hit!

"The Candidate of NO!", Eric Krieg's opponent leaves a message!

I was out of the office yesterday afternoon, and when I got back this morning, there was a message on my voicemail from Tom O'Donnell, asking to talk to me.

I'm not entirely sure how he got my work phone (might have been on my filing, might have given it to him in a previous e-mail exchange).

This should be an interesting day!

How the unions are behind the RDA

The dynamic of Democrat vs. Democrat is weird, but so is Porter County. ;)

VALPARAISO | Porter County Council candidate Jeremy Rivas already has received $14,443 in contributions, with more than half that money coming from various unions.

The large amount of union money and donations from people outside the county has fellow Democrat and incumbent council member Rita Stevenson and others convinced an attempt is under way to tilt support on the County Council in favor of the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority.

Stevenson is the only council candidate up for re-election this year who voted to withdraw from the RDA and take the opposition to court.

The move came by a narrow margin of 4-3, though RDA supporter Mike Bucko has since been replaced by Marilyn Johns, who could not be reached Thursday for her view on the RDA.

Rivas, who currently serves on the Portage Township Board, said Thursday restoring council support for the RDA is not his objective as a candidate.

He said he is focused on keeping taxes down and creating jobs.

Rivas, who serves as chapter chairman for the Bricklayers Union Local 4, said the $8,250 he has received so far from the unions is part of a push to encourage members to get more involved in politics.

He also has received $250 from Lake County attorney Calvin Bellamy, who was among a small number of people contributing to a failed last-minute push in November to persuade voters to support the proposed Regional Transportation District.

Also contributing to Rivas was Speros Batistatos, president and CEO of the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority at $200; state Sen. Jim Arnold, D-LaPorte, at $100; Randy Palmateer, business manager for the Northwest Indiana Building and Construction Trades Council at $100; Portage Mayor Olga Velazquez at $100; and James Jorgensen, chairman of the Valparaiso Economic Development Corp. and city School Board member at $100.

Rivas has attracted far more contributions than Stevenson, who carried over $3,273 into the reporting period that ended Dec. 31.

The only other contested council race so far is Democrat incumbent Johns, who reportedly was not required to file a financial disclosure, and Republican James Polarek, who had $406 in his campaign account at the end of last year.

Stevenson, who had initially voted in support of the RDA in 2005, said she is standing firm with her opposition.

"I'm sorry I voted for it the way it turned out today," she said.

Rivas said he would first have to talk to constituents and others before deciding how he would vote as a council member on the county's membership in the RDA. But he said the effort has had a positive impact, such as the lakefront development in his council district in Portage.

He said on his Web site -- voterivas.com -- he is "someone who will build bridges and not walls" and that the district needs someone willing to be an advocate for not just the county, but the region as a whole.

Posted in Porter on Friday, February 5, 2010 12:05 am Updated: 12:29 am. | Tags: Indiana, Nwslttr

Once again, we see Cal Bellamy is behind this guy.

Democrats who agree with "The Candidate of NO!", Eric Krieg

Just because I'm a Republican doesn't mean that I'm not going to gun to get honest Democrats to switch.

I think I could get this guy:

Recently, various town and city councils in Porter County have voted to support the Regional Development Authority.

As a member of the Porter County Council, I voted to withdraw from the RDA. I did this because it became clear that contrary to the way the RDA was sold, it would not have nearly enough tax dollars to support all the projects it claimed it could do.

The continuance of this regional agency will simply result in tax after tax after tax being put on the citizens of Porter County.

This was made very plain when a few short years after the RDA was formed, the members of the RDA actively supported the creation of a regional transit district which would have resulted in another tax.

The proposed tax raised by the regional transportation district would not be nearly enough to cover the projects it intended to do.

If anyone would simply look at other areas of the country where these regional agencies have started, they will see that the taxing never stops.

I voted to get out of the RDA, and I pledge to continue working to keep Porter County out of the RDA.

- Rita Stevenson, Porter County Council, 2nd District

Who funded the RTA referendum?

Who funded the pro-RTA side in Porter County in last fall's vote?

Stop the RTA spent less than $5,700 in purchasing yard signs and newspaper ad space in an effort to reject a regional transportation district while another political action committee spent nearly $30,000 pushing for its creation.

The two political action committees battled for votes leading up to the regional transportation referendum in November which was sounded rejected in Porter County.

* Calvin Bellamy, partner at the law firm Krieg DeVault LLP and former chairman of Bank Calumet -- $1,000

* Vincent Galbiati, former CEO of the Northwest Indiana Forum -- $150

* Dean White, CEO of Whiteco Industries --$7,500

* Mark Maassel, former president of Northern Indiana Public Service Co. -- $250

* Stewart McMillan, CEO and president of president of Task Force Tips -- $18,000

* Construction Advancement Foundation of Northwest Indiana -- $500

Voters in Porter County defeated the ballot question 4-to-1.

The referendum asked voters whether they would favor the creation of a four-county district with authority to impose an income tax of up to 0.25 percent to provide a four-county rail system and a bus system serving Lake and Porter counties.

According to campaign finance disclosure forms filed with the Porter County Voter Registration Office, expenditures for Stop the RTA, organized in mid-October, were covered by its chairman, Porter County Commissioner Bob Harper and his political campaign committee.

Robert Ordway formed Citizens for Northwest Indiana less than a week before the special election.

Despite the late start, the committee received thousands of dollars from donors, including Whiteco Industries CEO Dean White, and Stewart McMillan, president of Task Force Tips in Valparaiso.

Ordway said donors to his committee were "people who have a long-term vision for the region."

"That's why they were willing to contribute, to back the cause that benefits everyone in the long term."

Most of Citizens for Northwest Indiana's expenditures went toward mailings advocating the transportation district.

Harper and his supporters relied on mailings and yard signs but also on social networking sites and a Web site to get their message across.

"Money helps sometimes," Harper said. "It helps get that issue out there."

"Money can affect an election to an extent but when you have a real issue-oriented issue in Porter County, you can't buy an election. People know what's going on," Harper said.

You can see that you've got some big time Democrats (Cal Bellamy), some big time Republicans from the money side (Dean White) and the building trades.

Sorry, Rob, but I need to call you out. Whatever you think the merrits of the RDA or RTA, the whole thing is a slush fund for Democrats. As Republicans, we're never going to get the votes of the trades, and Cal Bellamy is certainly not on our side.

The RDA just ensures that our enemies are well funded. It also gives a lot of power to guys like Cal Bellamy, who gets to decide what "progress" is.

"The Candidate of NO!" picks up anti-RDA chatter

It's real interesting right now. I've been noticed by Porter County DEMOCRATS for my anti-RDA stance.

They say, "We've never heard anybody from Lake County talk like that before. You sound like us."

Weird, huh? When Democrats are the anti-tax party, you REALLY have a problem. ;)

What the heck is this blog anyway?

This blog is a two and a half year committment I've made to analyze and comment on Lake County politics. It is raw, often self righteous, and almost always a rant of some sort.

It is NOT what you usually hear from politicians. If you are easily offended, do yourself a favor, go look at something else and don't vote for Eric Krieg for Lake County Council. My opponent is a very nice guy who says nothing controversial, he's the candidate for you.

The reason that I'm now admitting that Eric Krieg is Buzzcut is to show the conservatives, Ron Paulers, Tea Partiers, Republicans, and certain Democrats that I've ALWAYS been about 97.5% on their side on their issues.

I've had my differences with certain people on certain issues. For example, if you go back and look, I wasn't a fan of the 1/2/3 tax caps, because they raised the sales tax, treated Lake County differently, Lake already had a 2% cap, and it was likely at the time to result in a Lake County income tax.

Since that issue passed, and since we've avoided the income tax so far, the tax caps have grown on me, although I'm still upset that Lake County is treated differently and our debt is outside the tax caps. I wish that could be fixed, but it doesn't appear it can be. Oh well, half a loaf is better than none.

I hope that this shows that I'm nobody's lap dog. The Republicans don't own me, certainly not the way my opponent is beholden to Democrat interests. While I respect Dr. Ron Paul, I don't drink his cool aid. Same for the Tea Parties. I'm my own, free thinking man.

Anyway, if you're going to delve into this blog, please keep an open mind. It's not easy to comment on the news every day, and some days are better than others. My self rightous rants are my (and my wife's) cross to bear, take 'em with a grain of salt. I'm as human as anyone.

Also, I have a wicked sarcastic sense of humor. I use ;) for a reason!

And if you're a long time fan of Buzzcut's, for God sake come out and support me! I can't do this alone. There's a paypal button on the campaign web site, please use it!

The "Candidate of NO!" responds to Democrat hack Rich James

I wrote this on the Post-Trib website:

Rich James and the Post-Tribune are as much a part of the problem as the McDermotts, Philpots, Cantrells, and other bigwigs that pollute the Democrat party in Lake County. James and the P-T are nothing more than mouthpieces for the Democrats, in fact, James' wife is an employee with the Sheriff's department, so he has a vested interest in the status quo.

As for Tom O'Donnell, he stood by and let two votes on the County "option" income tax happen while convicted felon and Democrat Will Smith was still seated. He could have been courageous and said, "no votes until the convicted felon is gone", but he went along with the votes.

Tom is a perfectly nice person, and I agree that he's better than most of the others, but he has shown a willingness to go along with the bad guys.

I won't have that problem. I don't have anything to gain by being a councilman, and as a Republican, nobody owns me.

Tom is a part time public defender for the county, so he's got a direct financial stake in the system. In fact, the whole system of having part time public defenders like Tom rather than full time defenders is so that more Democrat lawyers like Tom can get health insurance benefits from the county.

Anyway, those people that want to support me can go to my website www.krieg4council.com

Post-Trib brings the knives out for the "Candidate of NO!"

Remember, no publicity is bad publicity. With that philosophy, I really am quite pleased with this.

The congressional Republicans may have started the "Party of No," but they may pale in comparison to Eric Krieg of Munster.

Eric Krieg isn't yet a household name, and based on his initial venture into the public forum isn't likely to become one.

He has, however, charged into the political arena. He declared his candidacy for 4th District County Council that takes in all or parts of Munster, Highland, Dyer, Griffith, Schererville and St. John Township.

"I have dubbed myself 'The Candidate of No'," Krieg said in a news release.

He is, of course, a Republican.

In explaining that he is the Candidate of No, he went on to say, "No Lake County income tax, no food and beverage tax, no South Shore extension, no convention center, no buses, no garbage-to-ethanol plant, etc."

About the only thing he left out was apple pie and motherhood, but they may have been part of the "etc."

Wow. Talk about vision. I don't know that Lake County can stand that kind of foresight.

Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh on Krieg. He did say there are some things he'd like to see government doing -- like getting property tax bills out on time and getting property tax assessment challenges done in a timely manner. Me, too.

Unfortunately for Krieg, a county councilman has as much authority over those two goals as he does over abortion, war funding and national health care. But, hey, that shouldn't put a damper on his candidacy.

I'm not for an income tax, either, but I can see merit in some of the other things Krieg opposes.

But, I have interrupted before Krieg had a chance to finish -- to explain what other things he's against.

"I don't work for the government, I'm not a lawyer and none of my relatives are deadbeats looking for a job at the government center," Krieg said.

Ouch. I guess he is suggesting there is something inherently wrong with being a lawyer.

Or perhaps that was just a shot at Tom O'Donnell, the incumbent 4th District councilman, who happens to be a lawyer and a Democrat. Maybe Krieg is just opposed to Democratic lawyers.

And while he says he doesn't work for government, he wants to become a part of it. I guess you have to be against something before you can be for it.

You've got to like the line about none of his relatives being "deadbeats looking for a job at the government center." Does that mean:

A. Only Democrats have deadbeat relatives?

B. If a Republican had a deadbeat relative, he or she wouldn't be looking for a job at the government center?

C. Since county government is controlled by Democrats, are most of the county workers deadbeats?

D. Krieg, if elected, will look to get rid of all county employees?

I guess this is one where you'd have to ask the audience.

Krieg had more to say in his release.

"I'm just a regular guy, with a regular job, with a wife and four kids who's sick of the nonsense," Krieg said.

Four kids can do that to you, although I suspect he was talking about government.

But then he went a little too far when he said, "Do you ever wonder why Lake County Democrats keep running the same corrupt officials over and over again?"

Oh, man, I'm not sure what he's saying. Does he mean:

A. All Lake County Democratic elected officials are corrupt?

B. Only O'Donnell, the 4th District incumbent, is corrupt?

C. If Republicans controlled county government, there wouldn't be a hint of corruption?

D. If you use the "corrupt" word, you've got a leg up on the opposition?

That one is tough, too. I would phone a friend.

Lake County government over the years has had its share of corrupt officials. I'm not sure, but I like to think they are gone now. At least most of them.

I do agree with Krieg that political competition will make county government a more honest place. That's the nature of the two-party system.

But to use a broad brush to paint all Democratic officials as corrupt is worse than wrong. It's criminal.

Tom O'Donnell isn't part of the problem in county government. He is one of the brighter lights. And thankfully, he isn't "The Candidate of No."

Just the other day, a pretty important guy in Washington said, "If you want to govern, then you can't just say no."

Rich James is the editorial page editor for the Post-Tribune.

I'll have more to say about this in another post.

Trying to get the hang of this.

I got the mobile blogging going, but I'm having trouble with twittermail.

I'm trying to set it up that twitter goes to blogger and my facebook fan page, and eventually the blog will be a tab on the website.

Sent on the go from my Peek

Pabey indicted, one down, two to go

East chicago mayor pabey was indicted today. Now they need to get on McDermott and Clay.

Sent on the go from my Peek

Buzzcut gets results!

Look who left a comment! I'm IMPRESSED!

Thank you for attending the hearing and for taking an interest in the process.

The documentation for Calumet Township is available online at http://www.in.gov/dlgf/2578.htm.

The Commissioner will be responding to your other questions in a forthcoming letter.

Sincerely,



Mary Jane Michalak
Chief-of-Staff / Director of Communications
Indiana Department of Local Government Finance
100 N. Senate, N-1058B
Indianapolis, IN 46204
mmichalak@dlgf.in.gov
P: 317.232.3785
www.in.gov/dlgf

Taxpayer First. Local Control. Excellence.

I like that .sig!

I'm going to download the attachment when I get a chance.

Buzzcut tries mobile blogging

While I'm no Steve Dalton, I'm trying to up my game with mobile blogging. This is a test.

I comandeered my wife's Peek email device, the poor man's crackberry.

Sent on the go from my Peek

UPDATE: It worked. Next step is to get Twitter going, I suppose.

Buzzcut determines Illinois GOP race for governor

As of this morning, Brady has a slim lead in the GOP primary for Illinois governor.

I talked to Brady for a few minutes at Mitch's Chicago fundraiser. He's a good guy.

I have to say that I'm surprised that he did so well. I didn't hear too many commercials for him, especially compared to McKenna.

So there you have it. Shake Buzzcut's hand, win the GOP primary.

Buzzcut e-mails the DLGF

I just sent Tim Rushenberg this e-mail:

Mr. Rushenberg,

I was at your meeting in Griffith last night, and I've got a number of questions I'd like to ask you.

Before I begin, I'd just like to thank you and your staff for your work and coming to Griffith last night. It was an excellent presentation, I learned a lot. Also, I've talked to a number of people involved in assessments statewide, and many have said that you personally are doing an excellent job.

First, would it be possible to get the DLGF to post an excel spreadsheet online showing the work you did to get the trending? I'd like to see how exactly you did the work, especially the regressions you did and how tight a fit they are to the data. I'd also like to see what other analysis can be done with the data.

If posting online is not possible, I would be willing to post a copy of it on my own website at my own expense, all I need is a copy e-mailed to me.

Second, I understand how the trending was done and what it says, but I just wonder if a full scale reassessment is in order in Calumet township. My understanding of the 2002 assessment, from a number of people who have gone to tax court and who have successfully challenged their assessments, is that the job done in 2002 was quite superficial. The work was not much more detailed than what you did in your trending. So how much more work would it be for DLGF to do a full blown reassessment?

Finally, I think that you heard that assessment challenges are not being addressed in a timely manner in Lake County. This is my experience. The powers that be are more or less forcing you to go to Tax Court in Indianapolis to get a fair assessment. This is not a trivial expense, considering that they'll throw out your case if you don't have a lawyer. When you then have assessors like Booker who will immediately go back to the fraudulent assessment the next year, you have a situation that creates a feeling of helplessness and anger, which is exactly what you witnessed last night.

So the last question is, can DLGF do anything about the assessment challenge process here in Lake County?

Thank you and best regards,
Buzzcut

Buzzcut's Oscar Pick: "The Hurt Locker"

The Buzzcut's are extremely frugal. We use "Redbox" at Meijer to see movies, because they're only $1 per night.

At $1, you don't get all that much selection, unfortunately. But that small selection resulted in us seeing "The Hurt Locker", one of the best movies I've ever seen.

The movie is about a team of Army soldiers who disarm "Improvised Explosive Devices" (remote control bombs) in Iraq.

I wouldn't say that it was a pro-war movie, or even pro-military, but it treated the soldiers with respect, even as it showed them as the flawed human beings that we all are.

Most importantly, it showed them as the heroes that they are. What these guys do is absolutely amazing.

And that's a story that we haven't heard very much about. Whatever the reasons were that we went to Iraq, whatever hardships we suffered there, at the end of the conflict, the soldiers who were there did what they needed to do to win. This movie shows the amazing acts by amazing men that resulted in our victory.

I just read that it's up for Best Picture this year. It certainly gets my support.

Buzzcut misses the fireworks in Griffith

I stayed at the DLGF meeing until 7PM, and then I had to leave to put my kids to bed.

Shortly after I left, the man responsible for screwing up the assessments in Calumet township, Democrat Booker Blumenberg, took the microphone and made a fool of himself.

Damn, I wish I could have been there to heckle him. ;)

Pete Thayer once told me that the bad guys have a big advantage over the good guys, because they don't care about their family, and can always out hustle the family man. Last night was a good example of that.

What I saw at the Devolution: DLGF meeting in Griffith

I went to the Department of Local Government Finance's meeting in Griffith last night.

The DLGF has done the property assessment trending for Calumet township this year because the Calumet Assessor, Democrat Booker Blumenberg, is a typical Democrat, totally incompetant, and is 11 months late on getting his assessment work done.

The DLGF is doing a drive by trending. As they explained it, they're looking at 6 classes of property (residential, commercial, etc.), and trending each class of property as a group for all of Calumet township.

The analyzed sales data for 2008, and determined that, for example, all residential property in Calumet township has declined in value by 2%.

A REAL assessment would drill down into the data quite a bit more, and compare neighborhoods, home types (ranch or multistory, for example) and a few other factors to more precisely determine the change in your assessment.

The DLGF could have done this more detailed trending, but they claimed that they didn't have the time, manpower, or money to do it.

I just wish that they put their work on the internet, as a downloadable Excel file, so that I could check their work, and perhaps do a more detailed analysis myself. Assessing isn't rocket science, it's just a bunch of linear regressions, something that I'm perfectly capable of doing.

Anyway, the rest of the meeting was a bitch fest by taxpayers. Unfortunately, many of them were ignorant, not understanding that it is Democrat Booker Bloomenberg who is responsible for the mess that is Calumet township assessments. Unfortunately, it is these same taxpayers that keep re-electing Booker.

It's time for the people of Calumet township to take responsibility for their situation. Stop voting for the people who screw things up. Stop voting Democrat.

If you're a Griffith resident, you can take responsibility for yourself by voting for "The Candidate of NO!", Eric Krieg.