Lisa Sirkin does not pay Marion county taxes, she pays Hamilton county taxes.

However, Lisa Sirkin does get paid by the big well funded arts institutions who are getting Marion county tax dollars. Most of them are clients of her communcations firm.

Lisa Sirkin has absolutely no say in what happens in Marion county government. If she wants to have a say in our city, she needs to pack up and move here and pay our tax bills.

You don’t Marion county folks at Hamilton county city council meetings or launching blogs trying to tell Hamilton county how to spend its tax revenue, do you?

Don’t fall for the hysteria she started.

I am the tax activist who led the 2007 property tax protests you saw on the news nearly every week last summer. I am also presenting property tax repeal solutions to the Indiana Senate in September with other activists who have VOLUNTEERED countless hours to our city and state without pay.

I am also an art collector and have produced art events including a huge arts ball in 2004 that drew international art entries, guests from both coasts, provided entertainment on three floors of a national historic landmark, and gave $1000 in prizes to two LOCAL artists. I did this without public funding or arts council PR. I know a whole lot about what I’m talking about.

I combed every detail of the arts council’s IRS financial statement and found some disturbing information that points to self dealing of our money by arts insiders…some of whom don’t live in Marion county.

Read HOOSIERS FOR FAIR TAXATION to learn the truth about how who gets your arts dollars and why they started the hysteria and want you to believe the lie that there will be no art in Indy with Marion county tax dollars.

If you really wanted to do what is best for out community you would think of ways that you could cut down on the budget which aren’t that vital to the citizens. I can tell you right now that the new stadium was not necessary and we could have lived without it. And while your at it you could do things that were better for the environment like using more efficient cars that don’t leave dents in the wallets of hard working parents.

I find it kind of ironic that our school is going through a similar thing. We just got a new football stadium and we had a really great season. But as the end of the school year rolled around and school officials started to realize that they no longer have enough money. So they had to cut some teachers and some performing art class. And some teachers even THREATENED us that if we didn’t fund raise more that our dance team could be cut!

This should never be a problem if you were more wise with your purchases. The fact that your trying to fit the blame on our shoulders when its all because of your irresponsibility is selfish. Arts is VERY important to kids my age and I know from experience is one of the few things that I can look forward too.

Quite frankly an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure this short sighted thinking that just because funding of the arts for a couple years did not prevent crime is ridiculous. Crime stems from poverty which stems from ignorance and its not the victims of poverty solely to blame. Provide a decent public education system and opportunities to engage in more than just athletics or crime and crime will fall over time.

Continue to reward only those at the top as we have in Indiana for last 100 years and things will continue to be more of the same and worse and worse year after year. The definition of insanity is repeating the same action over and over again and expecting a different result. Its time we made our communities and our future generations a priority for once in this state’s abysmal history.

If 1000 people who signed the petition each gave $1500 in time, resources, or cash to the city arts, we would have the budget.

We need more officers on the streets because the arts has not managed to reduce crime as some on this blog purport that it does.

It is important to bring the arts to people who cannot afford it. And free art is everywhere.

I’ve never been to a gallery that charges admission.

Most events will give you a ticket if you volunteer.

And there is free public art everywhere.

Last I checked even the art museum has one day a week you can go for free and I’ve never been charged to walk the grounds.

I’m not buying this alarmism regarding the arts. Not one person so far has stepped up to volunteer to find solutions other than to support putting the taxpayer into deeper debt which is the same thing many of you despise about sports funding.

From my understanding, downtown property owners were given tax breaks so that thy may be able to put that money towards improving their properties and increase the attractiveness of downtown. It obviously worked.

But that was put in place years ago, and these property owners are able to now give back. So, they should.

peace.