Today marks the end of an era in local government. Township assessors eliminated in last month’s voter referendum will be closing up shop. That includes all township assessors in Marion County, although some other areas, including Lake County, decided to keep the current structure.

When the offices re-open on Friday, they will be branches of the County Assessor. This is supposed to make the process of assessing property values and issuing tax bills more uniform and more fair, although the current assessors say they are being unfairly stigmatized and that the new process will be a train wreck.

Things will be a little irregular at first, however, since not every change-over is being handled the same way. Most offices will re-open in their old locations, with some, but not all, of the old employees. But at least one (Pike) is closing completely, with the employees being transferred downtown. And while County Assessor Greg Bowes hired some of the existing staffs, he’s letting others go, creating hard feelings in most of the offices. The people without jobs are, of course, unhappy. But so are many of the people staying, because Bowes hasn’t told them exactly what jobs they’ll have and what they’ll be paid.

Bowes says he’s trying to be as fair as possible, hiring based on standardized tests and asking the city’s H.R. people to determine where to place the newcomers and what pay grades in which to put them. But that uncertainty doesn’t make for good morale at this point.

We’ll see when the next round of assessments and bills come out whether things are improved. Since every new development with property taxes always seems to bring a new disaster, optimism may not be warranted. But think of the B.M.V. How many of us ever thought that would be fixed? But it finally was. Maybe it can happen with property taxes, too.

By the way, a final note on last month’s fiasco with the Washington Township Board members voting themselves a huge pay raise, shutting out public discussion, and belligerently challenging Six News for having the audacity to question them about it. Ray Baker, the board president, works (for the next few hours) at the Washington Township Assessor’s office. He was NOT one of the employees hired by Bowes for the county staff. Bowes wouldn’t say exactly why, but I got the impression that Baker’s great P.R. instincts probably didn’t help him in the job-search process. I guess the next time I call Baker about Washington Township business, he won’t be able to chew me out for calling him at his day job.

This wouldn’t be a bipartisan blog if I didn’t chime in with my 2008 Top Ten List to counter Abdul’s take. Those of you who know me know I’m marginally musically inclined, so I’m going to put the year in perspective with song. Let’s take a trip over to my iTunes library for a little inspiration:

10. “When You Say Nothing At All”: This past year, for anyone who was paying attention to local politics, proved that we need to get back to the days when the City-County Council was comprised of true community leaders, not a bunch of part-timers looking for some extra cash to augment the taxpayer-funded paychecks they already collect. Moreover, we need to make sure the people we elect or appoint to these positions don’t do stupid things. You know, like getting drunk, calling the cops and then assaulting an officer. (Runner-up song: “You & Me & The Bottle Makes Three.”)

9. “Start Me Up”: Both local party organizations have some major rebuilding to do after a year when the spotlight fell almost entirely on the presidential race. We’ll see what happens in March when county chairs are up for [re-]election, but for very different reasons, there exist very real challenges on both sides of the aisle.

8. “I Will Remember You”: Buh-bye, township assessors. Voters in every Marion County township and most of the affected townships across Indiana gave you the long-overdue boot, setting the stage for Mitch Daniels — with a little help from his friends Joe Kernan and Randy Shepard — to push for sweeping bipartisan local government reform in the upcoming legislative session. Go get ‘em, gentlemen.

7. “We Are The Champions”: Indiana’s three targeted Congressmen — in the Second, Eighth and Ninth Districts — were untouchable this year. Newly elected Congressman André Carson showed voters — and his nearly invisible but nonetheless perky opponent — in the Seventh District that he’s ready to take on our challenges in Washington.

6. “Nothing Man”: Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard proved that his campaign talking points about putting more officers on our streets and improving our economy were little more than empty rhetoric. His big accomplishments this year? A bureaucratic shift in power over the police department (note: murders are up); paying more taxpayer money to buy foreign cars for officers (note: contract to a big Republican donor); Chinatown (note: Chinatown!); going on an Asian junket with his wife (note: five people travel to bring back five jobs); shelling out big bucks to hire rusty Republican hacks on the 25th floor (note: the highest-paid lobbyists actually get to call the shots). No vision. No strategy. Just a year in the life of our favorite mumbling, bumbling middle manager.

5. “Right To Be Wrong”: House Minority Leader Brian Bosma remains House Minority Leader Brian Bosma despite months of blustering about how Republicans were in a great position to take over the Indiana House. Yeah, right. Not only did Bosma actually lose a seat, but he also faced some internal fire for failing to lead the caucus to victory — and, by some accounts, letting his political staff play fast and loose with the money they were supposed to be putting toward targeted districts.

4. “Against The Wind”: My heart goes out to the two down-ticket statewide Democratic challengers, Richard Wood and Linda Pence, who probably would have won but for Mitch Daniels’ absolute domination over Jill Long Thompson in terms of campaign strategy and management. This should have been a big Democratic year, but I believe the partisan momentum created by Barack Obama faded as voters crossed over for Daniels. Pence in particular ran a solid campaign and will hopefully be rewarded for her efforts with an appointment in the Obama administration.

3. “If I Had $1,000,000″: Democratic gubernatorial challenger Jill Long Thompson started her ramshackle post-primary bid to unseat incumbent Republican Mitch Daniels with practically no money in the bank — and it stayed that way. After losing to Daniels by double digits, the JLTeam complained to anyone who’d listen that if only they’d had cash on hand, they could have competed with Daniels on an even playing field.

2. “My Prerogative”: Mitch Daniels has always had a devil-may-care attitude toward dealing with other people and making stuff up that makes him look good. Unfortunately, he had virtually no opponent in the general election and simultaneously ran a virtually flawless campaign predicated on the same kind of “change” message that Barack Obama brought to Indiana along with 100+ field organizers back during the summer months when Daniels’ challenger was off the air. I don’t like the guy, but he gets big political points for surviving in an historic year.

1. “The Best Is Yet To Come”: We survived a national campaign that started in 2006 and turned brutal this year, a process that gave us the first African-American president in United States history. All that being said, this Obama Mama is looking forward to 2009 when we drop the “-elect” and get down to the business of getting America back on track. It won’t be easy. It won’t be pretty. But I think we’ve got the right man in the White House to get the job done.

Best wishes to you and yours in 2009, and a special thanks to the WRTV family for putting up with us over the past year.

With today being the last day of 2008, it’s only fair we note the top 10 most interesting news events of the year.  I decided to mix local, state and national stories.  As always, feel free to add your own suggestions.

10.  Townships Assessors voted out and the IPS bond referendum is voted in, proving that organization will always win the day.

9.  John McCain picks Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his vice-presidential nominee, DVD rentals of “Fargo” go through the roof.

8. The Chicago Cubs officially go 100 years without winning a world series.  St. Louis Cardinal fans show little surprise.

7. Washington Township Board becomes the official poster child for the Kernan-Shepard Report by voting itself a 69-percent pay raise.

6. The Governors of New York and Illinois both go down, just in different ways.

5. Indianapolis lands 2012 Super Bowl, now the big question is will the Colts still be good enough to play there by then?

4. The City of Indianapolis decides instead of buying American to buy like an American and purchase Toyota hybrids over Chevy Malibus as part of a pilot program.

3.  Indiana lawmakers pass property tax reform; it’s amazing what a 2007 mayoral election can accomplish.

2.  Wall Street collapses.  The only other comparable meltdown was the Jill Long Thompson campaign for Governor.

1.  Barack Hussein Obama, a Black attorney from the South Side of Chicago is elected President of the United States, proving there is hope one day for Abdul-Hakim Shabazz.

Thanks again for reading the Capitol Watchblog in 2008.  2009 promises to be a busy year and I plan to bring you as much perspective and entertaining analysis as possible.  And special thanks to Jen, Norm, Brady and all the folks at RTV 6 who are great to work with.

Talk to you next year.

The WashPo’s Chris Cillizza just proclaimed Gov. Mitch Daniels’ campaign the best of the 2008 cycle. As much as I hate to admit it, Daniels probably deserves the honor, what with his victory despite Barack Obama winning this here longtime red state:

Today we move on to the gubernatorial ranks where, with just 11 races, there are relatively slim pickings. Even so, our winner was obvious. And that winner was:

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels — At the start of the 2008 election, Daniels was widely regarded by Democrats and Republicans as highly vulnerable.

Daniels’s first term had been marred by a high-profile fight over his decision to lease the Indiana Toll Road to a private company and his desire to bring Indiana into line with the rest of the country in observing Daylight Savings Time. (And, no, we are not kidding.)

He also carried the burden of having served as the director of the Office of Management and Budget for President George W. Bush — a tie that Democrats believed could be exploited in an election cycle where any link to the current Administration could prove deadly.

Recognizing his peril, Daniels reprised a successful tactic from his 2004 campaign — touring the state in an RV — to show voters that he was still in touch with their needs and concerns. From his first ad to his last ad, the RV was a potent sign that Daniels was from and of the people.

Daniels, like all good politicians, benefited from a bit of luck in the campaign as well. Democrats played host to an expensive primary fight that produced former Rep. Jill Long Thompson as the party’s nominee. Long Thompson was an uninspiring candidate who was unable to raise the sort of money needed to be competitive against Daniels.

Still, that Daniels won reelection by 18 points in a state that President-elect Barack Obama carried on the same day is a testament to the kind of campaign the Indiana Republican ran and why he is already being touted in some circles as a 2012 presidential candidate for the GOP.

For what it’s worth, I’m still not buying this 2012 chatter. Right now, Republicans are desperately seeking anything other than the disaster they just produced. Yes, Daniels ran a good campaign, but if they want to beat Obama in 2012, they’re going to need someone with a bit more popular appeal. You know, someone who doesn’t make everyone feel three inches tall and 100 IQ points shy of his genius.