HOME BIOGRAPHY PHOTO GALLERY SENIOR CITIZENS NEWS LINKS CONTACT                       By Richard Grey, Post-Tribune I don't like discussing politics. Because like arguing about religion, it seems no matter what side you take, rarely will you sway others' opinions. But what's been going on in Gary shouldn't be considered politics. As a matter of fact, if I called it what I think it is, we couldn't print it. It started getting outrageous six months ago when Gary Mayor Scott King had a huge beautiful 30-day bash for the Miss USA contestants and the pageant everywhere but Gary, then refused to tell anyone exactly what it cost. Failing to share that information is not only arrogant, it's illegal. Then some dolt negotiated a contract with the city's minor league baseball team - that didn't even have a name yet and would offer at most about $125,000 in revenue from rent of the new stadium - to offer the team a $50,000 per game penalty for each home game missed if the stadium isn't finished opening day. That penalty progresses. So do blunders. Like that minor league baseball stadium - a risky proposition for the city at $20 million - it now looks like it could cost as much as twice that amount while other cities seem to be able to build similar stadiums for less than $20 million. Then, almost two weeks ago, Jewell Harris, the mayor's campaign manager - who manages to campaign for nearly every city contract - gets a "retroactive" contract for $1.6 million for his trucking company to haul away debris of structures felled by the wrecking ball in the baseball footprint. The explanation was he had already done the work. To correct what they claim was little more than a "bookkeeping error," city officials admitted when they approved the contract, that previously "we did it wrong." I bet they did. Then there was a brouhaha in the city because the proposed budget included more than a typical 2 percent raise, for a select few - like City Council members and City Clerk Katie Hall, and much of her staff. King got everyone to give up their requests over 2 percent, then shoveled the accumulated amount into his "professional services" budget, raising it to $500,000, requiring no independent oversight. Tuesday for a second year the mayor will request $250,000 for 1,000 Gary Steelheads basketball season tickets. Forgetting it wasn't such a great idea in the first place, how could it have been home games last year with less than 300 people in the stands when 1,000 of the seats were free? Most outrageous, though, is Robinson Engineering, which for five years was paid $1 million a year to make sure city streets and curbs were being rebuilt and repaved correctly. Five years later the firm's first report is finally made public. It says the work has been done so poorly that the mayor calls a halt to all paving work. But then last week the city offers a $70,000 contract to a firm to film the city streets to see how bad they are. The firm - Robinson Engineering. Why? Could it be because the guy who signed the contract for the firm is Ron Smith, who is not only related to the mayor, but lives in the mayor's house? In the history of the world there have been real kings who didn't have this much power.	Clay gives fundraiser to build more wheelchair ramps. Click here.               There is a change in the way lots can be disposed of. Click here.               Clay proposes using casino funds to pay property taxes for senior citizens. Click here.                 Clay holds the "Toys for Kids that Santa Claus Forgot" program. Click here.
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