It’s official – Governor Pence signed SB 621, the bill that drastically reworks Indianapolis city government to take power away from the Indianapolis City-County Council and hand it over to the Mayors office. If you want to understand a bit more about what this bill does, read more about it here: [The Brutal Republican Power Grab of Indiana Senate Bill 621 (SB 621)]
Congratulations, folks. We now have a Mayor King. You don’t need to worry about what’s going on in city government, because you won’t be able to change it anyway. Your council districts are so gerrymandered that only Republicans can get elected in Marion County, and so much power has been redirected to the Mayors office that the city council and other public offices are rendered impotent anyway.
Also, the rules about how long you have to live in Indianapolis before running for office have been relaxed drastically – so it’s now easy for the white folks who live in Carmel and Fishers and rural areas to “hop the line” and “reside” in Marion County just long enough to get into office and control politics, without actually having to live for very long next to the poors and the blacks and the Mexicans. Because god forbid rich white folks might have to mix with the great unwashed. Rule them via imperial fiefdom – yes. Live next to them? Certainly not.
A picture is once again worth a thousand words! Welcome to the Ballard Monarchy. Don’t worry, tho’, he’s not really in charge. Even his handlers know better than that.