Marion County Republicans are blaming Indianapolis's poor job growth between 2000-2005 on Melina Kennedy:
Last week, Democrat candidate for Marion County Prosecutor Melina Kennedy said "Just like in any business, government is the same. You have got to have performance be part of what we look at."[1] A review of Kennedy's performance as Director of Economic Development for the City of Indianapolis from June 2001-September 2004 and Deputy Mayor of Economic Development from September 2004-September 2005 reveals significantly poor results.
According to data released by CNN[2], when Melina Kennedy was in charge of economic development for the city, Indianapolis suffered from -1.37% job growth from 2000-2005.
"Kennedy continues to say that "results matter" but she was unable to produce positive results in her last job. When Kennedy was responsible for economic development, cities neighboring Indianapolis prospered while Indianapolis failed to produce positive job results," said Marion County Republican Party, Executive Director Mike Biberstine. "Her sole responsibility was to provide a positive economic climate so that Marion County residents could earn a decent living to provide for their families, but Kennedy failed to produce results."
Two cities surrounding Indianapolis saw job growth top 30% from 2000-2005. Fishers was ranked 15th in the nation in fastest job growth while Carmel was ranked 24th in the nation.
"We're seeing phenomenal job growth in cities just one county north of Indianapolis, yet when Melina Kennedy was responsible, Marion County experienced less job growth than our neighbors and less growth than Gary, Indiana" said Biberstine.
"The economy is a major factor in crime rates. We should not reward Melina Kennedy for results like this. We cannot afford to elect a Prosecutor who has zero experience prosecuting criminals and has negative results in her last job," said Biberstine.
Melina Kennedy has never filed a charge, never tried a case, and never put a criminal behind bars.