According to Matt Tully’s column in the Indianapolis Star this morning, Mayor Greg Ballard is totally done talking off the cuff because the mean ol’ media keeps printing the dumb things he says.

Mayor Greg Ballard is tired of putting his foot in his mouth — and, he insists, he’s not going to do it anymore.

“Every time I do that, it comes back to bite me,” he said, referring to casual conversations with the media. From now on, he said, he’ll be much less inclined to stray from the talking points his staff pummels into his head.

That seems like a huge mistake, because the main political advantage Ballard has is his average-guy persona. Why would he want to turn himself into another slick politician — a role he doesn’t play very well?

Not to mention, Ballard’s administration has not been the most communicative in history. I’m still waiting for one substantial policy speech or one detailed explanation of his vision for the city. If anything, this guy should be talking more, not less.

Ouch.

But Tully’s right: It’s been nine months, and we’ve still seen nothing even remotely resembling vision from the 25th floor of the City-County Building.

What we have seen is a guy who can’t talk coherently on any subject and who throws things out on the table without thinking them through.

That, not his inability to string words into good quotes, is Hizzoner’s central problem. Lots of people can’t talk pretty.

Ballard is surrounded by two groups of people: powerful lawyers and lobbyists who want contracts from his administration and staffers who are either too inexperienced or incompetent to guide him in the right direction. He has no one by his side who’s looking out for his interests and who isn’t afraid to tell him when he’s about to screw up.

I’ve argued before that every elected official needs that person in his or her administration. Ballard, to make up for his complete lack of political comprehension, needs three of them.

Instead, he’s just going to stop talking altogether, which will give the other side (that’s me!) the chance to keep defining him as a bumbling newbie who hasn’t followed through on his campaign promises and has no vision for our great city.