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Commentary: Buttigieg For President?

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Commentary: Buttigieg For President?

January 24, 2019, 

By Mary Beth Schneider
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS—I can tell you all the reasons why Pete Buttigieg shouldn’t run for president.

First, there’s the fact that a bunch of you are now saying: Butti-Who?

Then there’s the fact that he’s the mayor of South Bend—a city of about 100,000 people. Not exactly a power base, and no one has jumped directly from a mayor’s office to the Oval Office.

Throw in that he’d be the first openly gay man to be president, with his husband the first man in the spouse’s role; he got clobbered in his only statewide race, 2010 run for treasurer; he has no campaign war chest.

But I can also tell you why Buttigieg is most definitely considering a run for president — and I believe has already made the decision to join a bulging Democratic field.

He’s smart, a graduate of Harvard and Oxford universities. He’s a U.S. Naval Reserve veteran who served in Afghanistan. He was the pick of every former Democratic National Committee chairman to win that job last year, wowing activists even as he lost. He’s had a flood of glowing national profiles that use words like “wunderkind.” And his name was among only four former President Barack Obama cited as representing the future of the Democratic Party.

It’s practically a law that you can’t run for president without authoring a biography/policy book and Buttigieg’s comes out Feb. 12, “The Shortest Way Home: One Mayor’s Challenge and A Model for America’s Future.” (If that doesn’t sound like a campaign stump speech, I don’t know what does.)

Wednesday, squeezing in a quick call as he drove between mayoral stops in South Bend, Buttigieg would admit only to “getting close” to a decision. The questions he’s weighing aren’t about fundraising or polling.

“To me, the process of determining to run for office at this moment is: Do the needs of the office match what you bring to it?” Buttigieg said. “It’s asking whether what you bring to the table is different.”

Some of his differences are obvious. And at 36, he’d be the youngest nominee for president ever taking on the oldest president. But he’s also a white man facing a Democratic base that in 2018 supported more women and people of color than ever before. Still, more than anything Democrats are looking for someone who can beat Donald Trump. Buttigieg is an unapologetic progressive who can sway those who wanted Bernie Sanders in 2016. And his story — turning around a dying city lamenting the past by helping them reach for the future — may win over the swing voters who didn’t see Hillary Clinton as someone in touch with their lives.

“We need more voices from the middle of the country,” Buttigieg said. “This is a part of the country that Democrats to our dismay lost touch with in recent years. I have very high regard for a number of leaders in our party who are from the coasts. But I think it would be a terrible mistake if the only faces our party put forward were people in federal office who come from the east or west coasts.”

Buttigieg thinks some misconstrued the lessons of the 2016 election. “There’s this theory that our part of the country is all about nostalgia and resentment, and I don’t think that’s true.”

But they do want to thrive again. His message: “To recapture what made the innovators of the early 20thcentury so productive … one of the things we have to do is emulate the fact that their focus was on the future, not the past.”

Buttigieg said Democrats will be tempted in the 2020 election “to talk about a restoration of normalcy. We’re going to want to come out and say, ‘this is just chaotic, it’s exhausting, let’s go back to where we were before, let’s have it be like 2009.’ If there weren’t some real deficiencies with the way things have been in the past, we never would have gotten to the messed-up state we’re in in the present.”

He doesn’t mention Trump, but his message is clear: A winning campaign has to be more than anti-Trump; it has to lay out a vision for the future.

He’s a long shot, of course. But in 1975 I sat on a couch at the University of Illinois student union, one of only four or five students who came to meet a candidate for president. His name was Jimmy Carter.

FOOTNOTE:  Mary Beth Schneider is editor of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

This article was posted by the City-County Observer without opinion, editing or bias.

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University of Evansville Announces Details for the Community Changemaker Challenge

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The University of Evansville launched its inaugural Community Changemaker Challenge today during a press conference on the UE campus. This competition’s theme is to Make Evansville More Fun and Exciting, and community members of all ages and backgrounds are invited to form a team.

After a series of initial rounds, the top four teams will each receive $1,000 in prize money. Teams will then hone their presentations for the final round-a “Shark-Tank”- style competition to be aired on WNIN. During the televised event, each team will have the opportunity to make a pitch to real community investors for funding up to $10,000.

“We are looking for fun, creative, or interesting new ways to increase the fun factor in our city,” said Jill Griffin, executive director of the Center for Innovation and Change at UE. “Ideas could include events, activities, businesses, art installations, or anything else you can imagine.”

UE has hosted the annual High School Changemaker Challenge since 2015, awarding full-tuition scholarships to members of the winning teams and the Collegiate Changemaker Challenge since 2013, awarding prize money and other incentives to UE students. Both of these programs are designed to motivate young people to take a leading role in identifying and solving challenges in the world around them through innovation and creativity.

“UE believes strongly that everyone can be a Changemaker,” said UE president Christopher M. Pietruszkiewicz. “To that end, we’re opening the challenge to the entire community this time and inviting people of all ages and walks of life to share their ideas.”

Many Changemaker Challenge projects have already been implemented throughout the Evansville community. The Upgrade Bike Share hubs around the city, solar panels at Carver Community Center, and the CommuniTree at Mickey’s Kingdom all stemmed from these competitions.

“At WNIN, our mission is to deliver engaging public media content that informs, entertains, and inspires,” said Brad Kimmel, president and CEO at WNIN Tri-State Public Media. “A Changemaker Challenge, where everyone in the public has a chance to make their community a little better, directly aligns with this mission, and we’re excited to partner with the University of Evansville.”

In addition to WNIN, other community partners involved in the challenge include the Rotary Club of Evansville, Leadership Evansville, the Evansville African American Museum, and the Growth Alliance of Greater Evansville.

Interested teams are invited to two information sessions in February, and video submissions are due April 8. The top 12 teams will each present at a pitch event on April 30. The top four teams from this event will each receive a prize of $1,000 and will be invited to the WNIN studios on June 7 for the recording of the final televised round where they will pitch their ideas to local community investors for further funding assistance, suggestions, and advice for implementation.

“The Center of Innovation and Change at UE is thrilled to provide another opportunity to get the community working on quality of place initiatives,” said Griffin. “We all have a stake in our comm

Legislative Update From Indiana Courts.

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Legislative Update From Indiana Courts.

Punitive damages
01/25/2019 01:19 PM EST
For amend and vote only, the Senate Judiciary Committee heard Sen. Becker’s SB 27 providing that limitations on punitive damages do not apply to civil actions in which the plaintiff was injured as a result of the conduct described in certain criminal sexual misconduct statutes. The bill was amended by consent to clarify the crimes included […]
Fertility fraud
01/25/2019 01:18 PM EST
The Senate Judiciary Committee heard Sen. Sandlin’s SB 174 on fertility fraud. This introduced bill provides that a physician who treats a patient of that physician for infertility by using the physician’s own spermatozoon or ovum, without the patient’s consent or by using donated human reproductive material without the consent of the donor commits fertility […]
License reinstatement fee reduction
01/25/2019 01:17 PM EST
            The Senate Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law heard Sen. Taylor’s SB 210 on the license reinstatement fee reduction reducing the driver’s license reinstatement fee to: (1) $25 for a first suspension; (2) $50 for a second suspension; and (3) $100 for a third suspension. The bill was amended by consent to clarify the […]
Indiana Criminal Justice Institute
01/25/2019 01:13 PM EST
The Senate Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law heard Sen. Freeman’s SB 238 on the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute expanding grant funding beyond the county and state governments, removing duplicate and nonexistent funding, and abolishing certain programs within the institute. Representatives of the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute and Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault testified […]
Opioid treatment pilot program
01/25/2019 01:12 PM EST
The Senate Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law heard Sen. Raatz’s SB 276 on the opioid treatment pilot program extending the program until 2022. The bill removes Marion County from the pilot program. Representatives of Mental Health America of Indiana testified in support of the bill. The bill was amended by consent to put Marion […]
Sentencing after probation revocation
01/25/2019 01:11 PM EST
The Senate Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law heard Sen. Head’s SB 319 on sentencing after probation revocation removing the statutory provision requiring the commission of a new criminal offense from the probation revocation statute concerning Level 6 offenses. The bill was amended by consent to clarify that a person must be charged with a […]
Public defenders
01/25/2019 01:10 PM EST
The Senate Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law heard Sen. Young’s SB 488 on public defenders authorizing the Indiana Public Defender Commission to create a system for and guidelines governing multi-county public defender offices. The bill also specifies term limits, member appointments, and meeting requirements for the joint board of a multi-county public defender’s office. […]
Tippecanoe County superior court
01/25/2019 01:09 PM EST
The Senate Judiciary Committee heard Sen. Buchanan’s SB 568 adding a Tippecanoe County superior court. Tippecanoe Superior Court Judge Randy Williams testified in favor of the bill. The bill passed 10-0 and was recommitted to Appropriations. Read the bill at: http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2019/bills/senate/568
Jurisdiction of the tax court over fees
01/25/2019 01:09 PM EST
The Senate Committee on Tax and Fiscal Policy heard SB 582 authored by Sen. Charbonneau on removing the jurisdiction of the Tax Court over municipal fees. The bill was introduced in response to a Tax Court ruling on December 5, 2018, that a storm sewer fee imposed by the town of McCordsville was a tax. […]
Community corrections and credit time
01/25/2019 01:08 PM EST
For amend and vote only, the Committee heard HB 1080 on community corrections and credit time authored by Rep. Steuerwald and Rep. McNamara. The bill provides that a person who is placed in a community corrections program may be deprived of earned good time credit due to a violation of a term of the person’s […]
Crimes involving synthetic drugs
01/25/2019 01:07 PM EST
The House Courts and Criminal Code Committee heard HB 1186 on synthetic drug crimes authored by Rep. Negele. The bill makes possessing or dealing in a substance that is a controlled substance analog an offense of the same level as possession of or dealing in the controlled substance of which the substance is an analog, […]
Prohibited name changes
01/25/2019 01:07 PM EST
The House Courts and Criminal Code Committee heard HB 1208 on prohibited name changes authored by Reps. Clere, McNamara, Hatcher, and Engleman. The bill provides that a person convicted of certain crimes may not petition for a name change. The bill passed 12–0. Read the bill at http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2019/bills/house/1208

House Republicans Defeat Attempt To Elect State Board Of Education

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House Republicans Defeat Attempt To Elect State Board of Education

January 24, 2019  

By Emily Ketterer
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS — House Republicans voted down amendments authored by Democrats that would have called for the election of the state Board of Education and would have required that the soon-to-be-appointed superintendent of public instruction have education experience.

Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, proposed the two amendments to House Bill 1005, authored by House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis. The bill, as it stands, makes the state superintendent of public instruction an appointed position by the governor beginning in January 2021.

 

Smith argued that appointing both the superintendent and the board of education takes away the people’s voice. With the amendment to elect school board members, districts around the state would have representation, he said.

“The more we cut out the involvement of our citizens, for whom we serve … the less pure form government democracy we have,” Smith said.

Bosma asked House lawmakers to reject the amendment because it is a complete disconnect from the Indiana Constitution. He said the constitution places the responsibility of education policymaking in the hands of the General Assembly, which he noted every Hoosier elects.

“It becomes a partisan election state-wide in some cases, district-wide in others, and just becomes really, I think, a fiasco,” Bosma said.

Ed Delaney, D-Indianapolis, who also authored the amendment and filed a bill to eliminate the state board, said education is in a state of confusion, mostly because of the General Assembly.

“If we can’t get rid of it, we should elect it,” Delaney said.

The amendment was voted down in a 33-66 roll call vote.

The second amendment authored by Smith would have required that the superintendent of public instruction have at least five years of education experience.

Bosma said the requirement could leave out remarkable people who might be right for the job. He used former Indiana governor Mitch Daniels as an example of someone who has no educational background but is performing well as president of Purdue University, he said.

“Why should we handcuff a Republican or a Democrat governor from having the opportunity to select a leader?” Bosma said. “That’s precisely what this does.”

The amendment failed in a 29-67 roll call vote.

Emily Ketterer is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

Evansville men wrap up trip to Iowa on Saturday

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The trip to Iowa will be completed on Saturday when the University of Evansville men’s basketball team takes on UNI in the first meeting of the season between the squads inside the McLeod Center.  The tip is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+ and the Purple Aces Radio Network presented by Learfield.

Setting the Scene

– UE dropped a 78-66 contest at Drake on Wednesday evening; the team remained in Iowa following the contest and traveled from Des Moines to Cedar Falls on Friday

– Head coach Walter McCarty will not be on the sidelines for Saturday’s game; he was suspended for comments made following the game at Drake

– Evansville has dropped its last five games inside the McLeod Center after winning back-to-back games in 2012 and 2013

– This will mark the second time the Aces have faced UNI and Drake in back-to-back road games since joining the MVC; the last time came in 1996 and the Aces dropped both contests

Last Time Out

– For the second game in a row, Evansville allowed the opposition to shoot over 50% as Drake finished at 52.5% on its way to a 78-66 win on Wednesday inside the Knapp Center

– Evansville took an early 6-2 lead, but the Bulldogs came back to wrestle away a 35-31 halftime advantage; DU led by 19 in the second half before finishing off the 12-point win

– Marty Hill and John Hall paced the squad with 13 points apiece while K.J. Riley scored 12

Takeaways from Drake

– UE fell to 1-8 in its last nine trips to Des Moines; seven of those losses have come by 10 points or more

– K.J. Riley added six more free throw attempts and makes; he rose to third in the NCAA with 158 attempts and 12th with 118 made free throws

– John Hall was 3-for-5 from outside 9-of-15 from long range in the last four games

Rebounding Machine

– John Hall added to his conference-leading rebound tally and continues to pace the league with 8.2 per game

– In home games, Hall has averaged 10.4 points and 9.8 rebounds per game; he also has four double-doubles at the Ford Center

– In the game against Jacksonville State, Hall grabbed a career-high 14 boards

– The Philadelphia native leads the MVC with 8.2 rebounds per game while his total of 7.15 defensive caroms is 29th in the country

– Hall had an efficient outing in the win at Missouri State, going 4-for-4 overall and 3-3 from outside; he is 9-of-15 from long range in the last four games

Scouting the Opponent

– UNI is 8-12 on the season and 3-4 through their first seven league games of the 2018-19 campaign

– The Panthers have dropped their last two contests, both on the road, to Valparaiso and Southern Illinois

– On Wednesday in Carbondale, the Panthers dropped a 70-62 contest

– A.J. Green leads the way for UNI with 15.4 points per game and a total of 40 assists

– Green is an 84.7% shooter from the line and has played a team-high 29.4 minutes per game

– Wyatt Lohaus checks in with 9.7 PPG

Sullivan: Letter of Support on I-69

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Sullivan Letter of Support

Death List Report

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Death List 01-21-19 ti 01-25-19

Secretary Perdue Statement on Reopening the Federal Government

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U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today issued the following statement in response to President Donald J. Trump’s announcement of reopening the federal government:

“President Trump’s announcement of the reopening of the federal government is welcome news, as it will bring thousands of our employees back to work and return us to our mission of providing our customers with the services they rely upon.  I extend my sincere thanks to the thousands of USDA workers who stayed on the job during the shutdown to offer as many of our normal activities as we could.  The President has already signed legislation that guarantees backpay for all employees, and we will move forward on that as soon as possible.  Meanwhile, we will prepare for a smooth reestablishment of USDA functions.

“There will now be sufficient time for Congress to come to an agreement with the President on his pledge to protect our national security by securing our southern border with a reliable, effective barrier.”

ADOPT A PET

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Betty Boop is a female mixed-breed who came in as a stray & was never reclaimed. Her age is estimated at 2 years. Her adoption fee is $110 and includes her spay, microchip, vaccines, and more! Contact Vanderburgh Humane at (812) 426-2563 for details!

 

Public Defender Commission seeks funds for misdemeanors, appellate office

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Olivia Covington for www.theindianalawyer.com

Guided by a task force report that calls for major reforms to Indiana’s indigent defense system, the Indiana Public Defender Commission is seeking additional funds in the state’s next biennial budget to improve defense services for indigent clients.

The commission presented its budget requests for fiscal years 2020 and 2021 to the Indiana House Ways and means Committee on Wednesday. Highlights from the proposed budget include a $4.47 million per fiscal year base budget increase, $5.7 million per fiscal year allocated for misdemeanor reimbursement and $4.9 million per fiscal year for the creation of a state appellate office to assist defenders.

“A person has a right to an appointed attorney if they cannot afford one when the state seeks to take their liberty or their children,” Larry Landis, commission vice-chair and former executive director of the Indiana Public Defender Council, said in a Wednesday statement. “This budget request protects these precious rights.”

Gov. Eric Holcomb’s proposed budget would freeze public defender funding at current levels.

The commission’s budget request draws heavily on a 2018 report from the Task Force on Public Defense, a 13-member group tasked with studying Indiana’s indigent defense system and recommending improvements. The task force was created after the Sixth Amendment Center issued a report in 2016 finding several shortcomings in Indiana’s public defender services.

The task force likewise identified several areas of necessary improvement, noting many counties have public defenders who are overworked because of limited resources — a situation that could hurt the quality of representation indigent clients receive. Though Indiana operates under a county-based public defender system, the commission said the state and federal constitutions place a “clear responsibility” on states to provide lawyers who can provide constitutionally adequate indigent defense services.

“The Task Force on Public Defense … spent a year evaluating our system,” commission chair Mark Rutherford said in a statement. “The Commission’s request represents the most critical, urgent priorities that need the immediate attention of the legislature.”

According to the commission’s budget presentation, the $4.47 million base budget increase is necessary to enable to commission to meet its reimbursement obligations. Counties that comply with commission standards can receive 40 percent reimbursement for all non-capital cases, except misdemeanors, while capital cases receive 50 percent reimbursement.

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If the commission fails to meet those obligations, public defenders have said that counties will have little incentive to comply with commission standards, which could lead to higher caseloads and, thus, poorer defense work. Without the budget increase, the commission told the Ways and Means Committee proration will occur.

Also related to reimbursement, the commission is following up on a task force recommendation of also offering reimbursement for misdemeanor cases, seeking $5.7 million per fiscal year for that purpose. According to the budget presentation, 65 percent of all adult criminal filings are misdemeanors that can carry serious collateral consequences, which could lead to loss of employment or other serious life-altering events.

Finally, the $4.9 million per year for a centralized appellate office would mirror a practice found in other states and in Marion County. The commission’s request is for the creation of a statewide office, which appellate attorneys say could help counties share resources and expertise, thus providing better defense services for defendants in smaller counties with limited resources.

Funding these initiatives, the commission said, can help curb issues such as jail overcrowding and recidivism. The commission also noted the number of children in need of services cases has skyrocketed, creating a greater need for indigent defense services for parents involved in CHINS proceedings.

“We know that high quality public defense services can impact CHINS cases,” commission senior staff attorney Derrick Mason said in a statement. “Statistics show that kids are in placement for shorter times in Commission Counties.”

Outside of the budget realm, the commission is pursuing reform initiatives through other legislation. One such initiative is the creation of multi-county public defenders’ offices, which would allow counties to share indigent defense resources in their regions. Senate Bill 488, allowing the creation of regional offices, unanimously passed the Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee on Tuesday.

Also, the commission has identified changing the composition of county public defender boards as priority for this year. SB 488 addresses that issue by allowing judges to appoint only one member to their three-member local boards.

The current Indiana state budget allocates a total of $25.75 million per year to the commission, drawing on money from the general fund and other dedicated funds. Holcomb’s proposed budget for FYs 2020 and 2021 would allocate $18.35 per fiscal year to the commission, plus additional appropriations of $7.4 million per year authorized under Indiana Code section 33-37-7-9(c) for reimbursements. The governor’s budget notes that $1 million per year is set aside for the defense of the parents of CHINS.

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