Jan
5
Feds Ask Mayor Clay To Step Down As GSD Admin & Taxes Could Still Rise
Filed Under COIT, Gary, Gary Indiana, Gary Sanitary District, Income Tax, Lake County Council, corruption, federal investigations, government waste, political machines, property tax crisis, tax revolt, taxes | 4 Comments
Higher fees might be the result of mismanagement of funds at the Gary Sanitary District and the Lake County Council is still talking about the premature declaration of death of the proposed Lake County income tax needed to continue business as usual.
Gary Mayor Rudy Clay refuses to quit his job as special administrator at the Gary Sanitary District, despite requests from the U.S. Attorney’s office that the mayor do so because of allegations of mismanagement of funds, reports the Post-Tribune.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has asked Mayor Rudy Clay to resign as special administrator of the Gary Sanitary District alleging mismanagement of funds, a city attorney said Friday.
Hamilton Carmouche, the attorney for the Gary Sanitary District and corporation counsel for the city of Gary, said Clay has refused the request from Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Ault.
Meanwhile, Carmouche said the district is likely to raise its rates for the first time in about five years. He said it probably should have happened sooner, but he said Ault put additional pressure on the commissioners.
The Post-Tribune reports “the city borrowed about $11 million from the sanitary district to cover operating expenses” in 2006.
The news of the U.S. Attorney’s Office investigation another case of mismanagement of funds within a Lake County governmental unit comes right at the time that the Lake County Council is talking about the need to “regroup” because a proposal to raise taxes was defeated by voter opposition. Councilman Will Smith’s departure — he was a key tax proponent despite his own personal opposition to taxes which resulted in a conviction — also hurt the proponents of higher Lake County taxes.
Writes Bill Dolan in the Northwest Indiana Times:
Former Councilman Will Smith Jr. worked behind the scenes last fall to pass the tax following his conviction on a federal tax fraud charge. Smith resigned last week after the tax failed. His sentencing is scheduled for Wednesday, although Smith is asking for a delay.
It’s just too bad that people didn’t see the need to sacrifice some of their hard earned money in the form of higher property taxes and a brand new income tax so that government officials and their kids can have several lucrative government jobs and money to spread around to their cronies.
It’s selfishness!
Shame on you, anti-tax protesters asking local government to cut back at a time when it is obvious that the only people who think there is waste and abuse of taxpayers’ funds are those folks at the U.S. Attorney’s Office with all of their investigations and such.
Dec
27
Mayor’s Son Awarded $25K Contract
Filed Under Gary, Rudy Clay, city contracts | Leave a Comment
The Post-Tribune reports in a breaking news story that Gary Mayor Rudy Clay’s son — Rudy Clay, Jr. — was awarded a $25,000 six-month contract to videotape and photograph events in the city of Gary that weren’t already “covered by the existing employees who film public meetings for the government access channel.”
The contract that begin in July 2007 was approved December 26, according to the newspaper.
Writes reporter Andy Grimm:
Mayor Rudy Clay’s son received nearly $25,000 this year to take photographs and videotape city events in 2007.
Rudy Clay Jr. was given a no-bid, six-month contract for the work that started in July, but city officials did not formally approve it until a Board of Public Works and Safety meeting Wednesday.
“I was just looking through the minutes and saw that the contract hadn’t been approved in July,” said Public Works Department Director Rinzer Williams III.
“We had several contracts in the process of being approved at that time, and this one just slipped through the cracks.”
The contract extended from July 1 to Dec. 31, and is capped at $25,000, Williams said.
Clay’s bills have been approved by Mayor Clay’s secretary and deducted from the mayor’s professional services budget, the same one that funds consultants, attorneys and accountants hired by the mayor.
It’s just more of the same and a reason why Lake County’s taxes are such a sore issue with taxpayers.
Our local governments are never going to cut back — especially since it appears that the Lake County income tax is going to be approved.
Nov
25
Lake County Homicides Up 26%
Filed Under East Chicago, Gary, Northwest Indiana, crime, quality of life | 2 Comments
Bad news on the crime front in Lake County.
Homicides in Lake County have increased 26 percent over 2006.
Writes the Northwest Indiana Times’ Christine Kraly:
Lake County slayings that escalated in summer months have continued into the colder seasons, contributing to the bloodiest year the county has seen in five years, county records show.
Homicides in Lake County have jumped 26 percent over last year. Of the 110 countywide slayings, 14 have been in East Chicago. That’s one less than last year’s homicide totals in East Chicago — with more than a month to go in the year.
Gary and Hammond already have surpassed their 2006 homicide totals, jumping to 68 slayings so far in Gary and 13 in Hammond.
