A Break with the Past

Until a few days ago I was proud to have been a life-long Democrat. I supported our candidates. I contributed to election campaign coffers (not much but what I could). I voted. I was proud of my party, the party of Jefferson, Jackson, Wilson, Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy and, yes, Clinton. One of my most cherished memories was having the opportunity to meet RFK during the Indiana primary of 1968. (I was 10 at the time) As a moderate I was never really comfortable with the manner in which my party of choice, the party of my parents and grandparents, was overly influenced by its more extreme liberal elements, but I stood beside it. Then came last Monday’s City-County Council meeting, I was ashamed of the behavior of the elected representatives of my party. Now I see someone affiliated with the state party organization ridiculing the tax paying citizens of Marion Co. for exercising their constitutionally guaranteed rights of assembly and speech to obtain a redress of grievances against a haphazard and capricious application of property tax assessments. I was there last Saturday and I do not live in Meridian-Kessler. I live in a neighborhood on the Near Eastside which is trying through rehabilitation of older homes to bring revitalization to a blighted and crime-ridden area. My property taxes increased 850% mostly due to reassessment (TRENDING!) Before you jump to the conclusion that this is only fair since I was getting by for years paying less than my share, I would like to point out that I have only lived there since 2004 and have paid taxes on that parcel only for the years 2004 and 2005 (due to Indiana taxes being collected a year in arrears). I would also like to point out many of my neighbors, whose homes are comparable to my own in terms of renovation; size and condition were not reassessed and only saw very modest increases in property tax. The Center Township assessor’s office did not do their jobs correctly; else all of us would have been reassessed. Again this is an office under the control of an elected Democrat.

Just to make my position clear, I will not endorse the Republican Party either. They are as equally responsible for the failure of the last General Assembly to adequately address the need for property tax reform as are the Democrats. Additionally, I cannot countenance their stands on many social issues such as abortion, the separation of church and state and freedom of speech to name but a few. From this day forward I will throw my undying support to the Libertarian Party and work diligently for the election of their candidates as a viable and preferable alternative to the stalemate produced by maintaining the current status quo.