opinion

Tully: This is what's wrong with politics

Today's column is about the best and the worst of politics.

The best is a guy named Jeff Miller, an independent-minded City-County Councilman who has spent the past four years working harder than any politician I know to tackle some of the toughest issues facing Indianapolis. A first-term moderate Republican, Miller has taken on nuts-and-bolts challenges such as abandoned homes, scrap theft and potholes, working with Democrats as often as Republicans and trying to give his District 16 constituents more of a voice.

At a time when politics disappoints on so many levels, Miller, 48, embodies exactly what you want in an elected official.

That's the best. Now to the worst.

It's probably not surprising that this would be the Marion County Democratic Party, a uniquely cynical and mean-spirited organization, one that puts politics above common decency and so much else. Proving this, the party recently sent Miller's constituents a series of devious and reprehensible mailings attacking him for, of all things, "playing politics with our public safety."

With Election Day on Tuesday, one mailer goes so far as to essentially accuse Miller of lying, saying he "has been telling us one thing and doing another."

That accusation itself is a lie. A big, fat lie.

I don't think I can overstate the absurdity of this attack. In it, you have the most blatantly political operation around, one that exists to divide and play politics, accusing one of the most nonpolitical public servants around of "playing politics." The level of ridiculousness here is mind-boggling, and I hope nobody buys it.

Yeah, that's politics. I get it. But it stinks. And it underscores the damaging win-at-all-costs mentality that pollutes our political system.

"I was stunned," Miller said of the mailings.

That's understandable. Wouldn't you be stunned if you'd spent four years working your tail off and crossing party lines to get things done for your council district and your city only to have the other party dishonestly portray you as some sort of gridlock-inducing political ideologue?

I'm writing this column a few days before the election for one reason only: In the hope that any voters who might be persuaded by the Marion County Democratic Party's antics understand that these mailings and these charges are pure garbage. I don't care how anyone votes on Tuesday — that's a personal choice — but it is troubling to think even one person would base his vote on something as cynical and pathetic as these mailings.

I first heard about them from John Winter, president of the Bates Hendricks Neighborhood Association on the Near Southside. He was so bothered by the mailings that he fired off an email to residents in the newly redrawn 16th District, which includes Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and the University of Indianapolis, as well as numerous Near-South, Southeast and Southwestside neighborhoods.

"These accusations are baseless and simply untrue," he wrote. Miller, he said, "volunteers at countless neighborhood events. If we're cleaning up the neighborhood, he's next to us bending down to pick up the trash. If we're planting trees, he's digging the holes. If we're painting over graffiti, he's holding the paint bucket."

Winter pointed to Miller's work to get local streets repaved and on behalf of ordinances that attack the district's problems with graffiti, break-ins and abandoned homes.

"Jeff Miller is NOT playing politics," Winter concluded. "Jeff Miller is a public servant at his core."

The Democratic Party's mailings are based on two of Miller's many votes and suggest that he "raised our taxes" and "voted to slash public safety funding." As is often the case, these votes are quite dishonestly not put into context.

First, Miller was among the many councilors desperately looking for new money to pay for more police officers in 2013. He initially supported a tax plan that would have cost most homeowners about $5 to $10 a year at most, before voting with Democrats and Republicans to instead raise the money with a new tax on tickets to Colts games and other events.

Second, he did not vote to slash public safety spending. He simply at one point this year voted to uphold a veto from Mayor Greg Ballard in hopes of moving beyond a partisan impasse and working out a new spending plan. For the record, it worked; the council was able to work out a deal, and Ballard signed it recently.

It's worth noting, by the way, that Miller has received the endorsement of the local police officers' union. You don't get that if you "slash public safety funding."

Several Democrats have come to Miller's defense in the days since the mailings began landing in local mailboxes. One constituent, "an avid liberal political activist," wrote on Facebook that Miller "makes decisions based on what is best for the people he represents." Another apologized "for my party's actions and misleading statements."

"So in a way it's paid off," Miller told me with a laugh. "But you hate to see something like that."

Yes, you do.

I've written about Miller several times over the years. One column detailed his advocacy for preschool programs, work inspired by his wife, who died of cancer four years ago. The column talked of how he was balancing his work and council duties with the job of suddenly being a single dad. Earlier this year I wrote about him and Council Democrat John Barth running the Mini-Marathon together, a display of bipartisan unity that raised money for teenage mothers facing homelessness.

That, folks, is Jeff Miller.

And here's another example of who he is. As we talked, amid the mailings and with Election Day approaching, I asked about his Democratic opponent, Emily Shrock, a local deputy prosecutor.

"She's such a wonderful person," Miller said. "If she was running in another district, I'd be rooting for her to win."

That's the best of politics.

You can reach me at matthew.indystar.com or at Twitter.com/matthewltully.