Northwest Indiana Discussion

Sunday, October 13, 2013
Why did Hammond give $600k to the United Way in 2012?

Do you guys know about the Indiana Gateway? https://gateway.ifionline.org/report_builder/unit_reports/unitReports.aspx It is a web application that you can create financial reports for Indiana municipalities. It is a "killer app", very cool and very useful.

Click on the link, choose Lake County, city/ town, and Hammond Civil City.

That will take you to a page with various reports you can generate. Under "additional reports", choose "non-governmental entities".

This will take you to a report for 2012, a listing of all the charities that the City of Hammond "donated" to in 2012.

I put "donate" in quotes because politicians obviously don't "donate" anything to a charity. They spend YOUR MONEY on it. It is ethically questionable, although probably not illegal, much like Mayor Tom McDermott's "donations" to St. John Bosco school from his campaign account. But I digress.

So about 3/4 of the way down, we see a donation to the Lake Area United Way for $635,816.75!!!

Isn't it strange that most of Hammond's donations can be measured in the hundreds of dollars, a few go into the thousands, and then you have this outlier? What could be the reason that they made such a large donation?

It couldn't be because the Mayor's brother was heading up the United Way's fundraising, could it? http://lauw.org/media/United_Way_Announces_2011_Community_Campaign_Chair.pdf




No, I'm sure that I am mistaken, and that is just a total coincidence.

BTW, look at what other municipalities "donate" to. I think that Munster, Highland, and Griffith are all rather well run towns (for the region, anyway), and none of them "donate" ANY money to charity. They realize that it is ethically questionable for a municipality to "donate" to a charity.

Everyone must never forget that Mayor McCheeze boasted on WJOB one time that he is "very ethical" and did not need Cal Bellamy's ethics training. I think the facts show otherwise, don't you?
Posted by Buzzcut at 10/13/2013 No comments: Links to this post
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Saturday, October 12, 2013
Is Mayor McCheeze listening to Buzzcut?
Yes.

In Hammond, the city will use the approximately $7 million to $8 million in revenue anticipated from the tax to supplement its general fund.

Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. told City Council members prior to a Sept. 23 meeting that while he believes in offering pay raises every year, the city must be sensitive to taxpayers.

Hammond's 2014 budget proposal offers a 1 percent salary increase to municipal employees, which is covered by gaming revenue received from the Horseshoe Casino.
“We have to be very sensitive to the fact that taxpayers are hurting right now,”

McDermott said. “We just passed this local option income tax...if we are going to give pay raises it needs to be 1 percent max.”

When the taxpayer is getting a 1.5% DECREASE in his or her pay, it is outrageous to give even a 1% raise.
Posted by Buzzcut at 10/12/2013 No comments: Links to this post
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Buzzcut doesn't get Aquavor situation
So what's the deal with Michael Temmores' favorite club, Aquavor?

The nite club is obviously politically hooked up. After all, the owner of the club Ray Rapchak's son works for... Aaron McDermott!

Myles Rapchak Property Listings Latitude Commercial 2342 Cline Ave Schererville, IN 46375 (219) 864-0200 (219) 864-4144 mrapchak@latitudeco.com http://www.latitudeco.com

The building the club is housed in is also being marketed by Latitude.

So why is the Hammond city council giving it such a hard time about parking?

It makes no sense. Hammond was touting Aquavor as evidence of a new entertainment district in downtown Hammond. It made a lot of sense to me at the time.

The ordinance, sponsored by Councilwoman Janet Venecz, D-at large, could mean the end of business for AquaVor Nightclub, in the 5200 of Hohman Avenue. An attorney for AquaVor said the club would not have opened if city staff hadn't given permission for the business to use a nearby city parking lot.

The club, which has been closed since no-parking signs were posted earlier this summer, had operated from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

I had no idea that they actually closed up shop. The parking thing does seem bogus. Downtown Hammond is hardly a residential neighborhood. Where did the Hammond planners think the patrons were going to park?

Then there is this:

Following the vote, council members Robert Markovich, D-at large, and Homero “Chico” Hinojosa, D-6th, expressed concern about a potential lawsuit by AquaVor if the club originally was allowed to use the city lot for its patrons. The club spent about $2 million to open.

Markovich, Hinojosa and Higgs wanted to table the ordinance for further discussion, but they were overruled 6-3.

“I hate to be passing some kind of ordinance where we’re going to get sued and we’re going to lose,” Markovich said. “This ought to be tabled.”

I heard from one person that there was a lawsuit filed, but I can't find evidence of one.

What are the chances that this is a "friendly lawsuit"? This thing just smells fishy.
Posted by Buzzcut at 10/12/2013 No comments: Links to this post
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Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Mayor McCheeze campaign finance push ethical boundaries
Having taken another look at Mayor McCheeze's 2011 campaign finance reports, I think that, if they're not actually full of legally provable wrongdoing, definitely push the boundaries of ethics.

Take, for example, his campaign's donations to St. John Bosco school. Don't his kids go to this school? I know that Catholic Schools are always fundraising, and there's pressure on the parents to donate. If you or I donate with our own money, it comes out of our own pockets. But McCheeze is paying for this out of his campaign account, getting a direct benefit, and it is never considered taxable income.

Not sure that it's illegal, but it pushes the bounds of ethics.

What about all the money he spends on Kelly Services? That's his wife's company. What is she really doing for $30k per year. Isn't this just a slick way to turn campaign funds into personal income? Now I'm SURE that they take all this into account on their taxes, so we don't have a Jesse Jackson Jr. situation here, right? RIGHT?

There are some regs about paying family members out of campaign accounts in Indiana, I need to look into that, and I am sure the Kelly Services thing gets around that, but again, pushing the boundaries of ethics.

There's other stuff: cellphones, Comcast, a Times subscription. These are really ALL campaign expenses? All of it?
Posted by Buzzcut at 9/25/2013 18 comments: Links to this post
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