As the final days count down toward the upcoming May 7th municipal primary election, Carmel’s incumbent mayor Jim Brainard and his campaign apparatus are pulling out all of the stops in an all-out media blitz to make sure you vote for him. This blitz includes many different mailings sent out on his behalf, full-page advertisements in local publications and – unusual for a mayoral election in a city the size of Carmel – commercials on Indianapolis area radio and television, as well as on select cable television channels on local cable systems.
Carmel residents in their mail this week received a direct appeal for donations from Friends of Jim Brainard. For a candidate that (according to his pre-primary campaign finance report) had already raised more than twice as much and spent more than twice as much as his opponent, it begs the obvious question of why Brainard’s campaign is prepared to spend almost four times more than the $139,052 per year (2018) salary that the office pays.
Perhaps, there are several reasons to explain the massive out-of-scale spending and last-minute blitz:
Commitments to deep-pocketed donors. Brainard’s pre-primary campaign finance report and supplemental reports list several prominent local, out of region and out of state donors. The common thread? Most are firms or principals within such firms that are engaged in current or prospective projects with the city, either directly or through one of Carmel’s redevelopment entities. Developers, engineers and pro-development political action committees (PAC) and interest groups.
As a voter, you should take a moment to look at the campaign finance report and ask your what each of these donors expects from Jim Brainard (and by extension, Brainard-aligned candidates) in return for these large donations.
Cycle of density and tax base growth as a result of the growth of debt obligations. As Carmel’s outstanding bonded debt has grown massively and caused a downgrade of the city’s bond rating, so has grown the debt-service obligations now and going forward into the future. In order to boost revenue to meet these increasing debt-service payments as appreciation in local real estate flattens out, the city has embarked on a strategy of encouraging increasing density to maximize revenue per acre. With the entire township now annexed into the city, no further expansion of the tax base via annexation is possible. Therefore, ever-increasing density is the path that Brainard and his allies see as the necessary path to continue fueling his developer donors.
As a voter, you should think about the ramifications of dense development, in terms of traffic follow, congestion and stress on our utilities. What is the tipping point when areas of the city become too dense?
Propping up Jim Brainard’s personal prestige. The mayor has used his position to showcase many innovative projects within the city. To do this, the city employs a Tarrytown, New York-based public relations firm to promote the city – and Jim Brainard. Brainard spends nearly as much time out of town on speaking engagements touting sustainability and environmentally-friendly initiatives as he does tending to city business here in Carmel. Only he can speak to his future personal and political goals, but it is clear that he views his quarter-century as mayor as a springboard to more lucrative opportunities.
As a voter, ask yourself how it benefits you, your well being and the value of your home to have your mayor travelling extensively abroad to speak about subjects that have little or no direct material effect on you.
Deflecting attention away from liabilities. Jim Brainard has been in the headlines quite a bit lately, but not in a good way. First came allegations of attempts to entice (some would use the word “bribe”) his opponent, Hamilton County Councilor Fred Glynn to drop out of the campaign and pave the way for Brainard to run uncontested to another four-year term. More recently, incumbent Carmel Clerk-Treasurer Christine Pauley alleged sexual harassment by the mayor (and even made public personal e-mail messages from Brainard). All of this in the wake of two tow-away motor vehicle accidents by the mayor during the past year involving city-leased vehicles (the third and fourth tow-away accidents by Brainard involving city-provided vehicles during his time as mayor). These events combine to suggest an individual whose very fitness to serve is in question.
As a voter, you need to ask yourself why Jim Brainard puts himself in these situations. Is it simply a matter of poor judgement, or is there indeed a fundamental issue with his fitness for office at this stage of his life?
Spreading misinformation about low taxes. Jim Brainard refuses to discuss the over $1.3 billion in outstanding bonded municipal debt that has accumulated on his watch. Instead, he points to Carmel’s low property taxes as vindication that his spending and development strategy is succeeding. Except that he refuses to discuss the looming large increases in debt-service obligations and the amount of revenue that is going to be necessary to meet those obligations. He further insists that there will be no further tax increases for “the next 10 – maybe 20 years”, when history and the public record shows that Carmel’s city tax rate increased by just under 60% between 2008-2016 and is poised for another large increase in 2020 after two years of modest decreases.
As a voter, you should bear these trends in mind. Our economy – locally, regionally, nationally and globally – is subject to cycles of growth and recession. Ask yourself what will happen when the next economic downturn occurs and local businesses – the backbone of the Brainard administration low-taxes strategy for residents – are forced to scale back, relocate out of town or even close altogether.
The success of council rubber-stampers depends on Jim Brainard and vice-versa. Part of the last-minute appeal for campaign donations from Friends of Jim Brainard is to also help close the gap in campaign funding for those council candidates alleged with his slate. As in 2015, the Brainard campaign will again be giving direct funding to these council candidates in return for another four years of loyalty to him and his agenda. For many of these candidates, it becomes their single largest source of funding.
As a voter, ask yourself why council candidates aligned with Jim Brainard rely on him funding their own campaign and why they cannot at least give a pretense of independence. What does reliance upon Friends of Jim Brainard for funding their campaigns do to further erosion of checks and balances between the mayor and the council, should they be re-elected?
Your vote is yours and cannot be bought. It has no price. Beware the glossy postcards and other mailers. Beware the slick, professionally, produced ads. None of these – or the lack thereof – by any candidate have any bearing on the actual ability to govern our great city. They are all forms of advertising and nothing more. Just like a Hollywood movie that costs millions to make but suffers from poor advance reviews, massive amounts of money put into promoting a candidate helps cover up the rough spots – but only for a short time.
Look past the propaganda. Ask the tough questions. Then cast an informed vote on May 7th.
Brought to you by our friends at Essayists of Carmel, Indiana
