When Gov. Mike Braun ordered an audit of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), he said he wanted to shine a light on transparency and accountability.
Well, the light’s on now—and what we see isn’t pretty.
The audit lays out a mess of conflicts of interest, secretive deals, and back-room spending that frankly, pissed me off. We knew this was going on. Millions of public dollars flowed through private hands with little oversight. Board members and insiders steered contracts toward companies they were connected to. Miraculously, when it came time to tell the public where the money went, there was nothing but silence.
Let’s not sugarcoat it: this was our money. Money used like a private slush fund for political friends and pet projects.
Take the LEAP district in Lebanon. State officials formed a secret company to buy up more than 6,000 acres of Boone County farmland—nearly half a billion dollars’ worth—without telling sellers who the buyer really was. That’s not economic development; that’s a bait-and-switch.
Even worse, those land deals and contracts were handed out without competitive bids. One company alone got $77 million. No bidding, no oversight, no transparency.
And when people started asking where the water was going to come from for all this—because the state plans to pipe it out of the Wabash aquifer—Hoosiers were brushed off as if we should be grateful for being ignored.
It exposed the culture of cronies. Executives bouncing from one taxpayer-funded job to another, still cashing in on old connections.
Donors giving to the IEDC’s private foundation and then receiving contracts and tax breaks worth hundreds of millions.
Lavish trips overseas for state officials and their families, sometimes in first-class seats, sometimes staying in luxury hotels—all on our dime.
If an ordinary Hoosier tried to run their household or small business like this, they’d be broke or behind bars. But in Boone County and Indianapolis, it’s just another Tuesday.
Governor Braun NEEDS TO HEAR THIS: talking about transparency isn’t the same as enforcing it. Freezing funds for a few months and promising reforms won’t cut it. He needs to start firing people, canceling bad contracts, and returning power to local communities—not unelected boards and corporate developers.
Hoosiers are tired of watching big names in Indy write checks while small towns fight over who still has clean water and good roads.
We don’t need more “innovation districts.” We need honest leadership and local control. Oh yeah, throw in fair rules! The LEAP project and the IEDC have shown what happens when government and big business get too cozy.
Now it’s time for Governor Braun to decide if he’s going to clean it up—or cover it up.