Critical of economic agency, Braun removes 9 board members
Olympidis, a past member of the board of directors of the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority, owns a network of Family Express convenience stores/gas stations.
Fagan is financial secretary for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 and is a commissioner on the board of directors at the Ports of Indiana.
Braun didn't retain any of the previous members in the quasi-state agency that he's heaped criticism on for its lack of transparency.
Among those removed were Newton County's Fair Oaks Farms cofounder Sue McCloskey.
'I spent my life building a business here in Indiana, and I know that having an entrepreneurial, high-energy team in your corner makes all the difference,' Braun said in a release.
As governor, Braun chairs the IEDC board.
One of Braun's new appointments, John Gregg, is a former Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former Indiana House Speaker.
Improving transparency on the IEDC board was one of Braun's campaign pledges last year.
In April, Braun ordered a forensic audit of the IEDC's private fundraising foundation.
Braun also signed an executive order seeking financial disclosures from the foundation.
The foundation, which has been exempt from IRS disclosure filings since 2012, funded many of former Gov. Eric Holcomb's overseas trips.
It's declined to provide information on money spent on the trips, saying no public money was used. Some foundation donors have also not been disclosed.
The foundation's website, however, lists five 'contributors,' including the Northern Indiana Public Service Co.
Like many states, Indiana had a traditional commerce department until 2005.
Former Gov. Mitch Daniels established the IEDC with legislation stating it wasn't a state agency. The IEDC board was allowed to create the foundation.
Other new board members include, George Thomas, a Granger entrepreneur of the companies Adorn, Duo-Form and more; Billie Dragoo, of Indianapolis, RepuCare founder and CEO; Greg Gibson, of Terre Haute, a commercial real estate, food service, and waste industry entrepreneur; Richard Waterfield, Waterfield Enterprises and Asset Management chairman; Runnebohm Construction vice president Chris King of Shelbyville; and Indiana State Department of Agriculture leader and farmer Don Lamb.
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- New York Post
Zohran Mamdani declares only $2,000 in bank in latest disclosure
Self-described 'nepo baby' Zohran Mamdani declared a measly $2,000 in the bank on his latest state disclosures. That's despite his privileged upbringing and family money — and an annual salary of $131,000 as a state lawmaker, a job he's had for five years. 9 Mamdani, here celebrating his recent primary win with his parents, had by all accounts a privileged upbringing. Getty Images Advertisement The 33-year-old socialist Democratic nominee for NYC mayor did list one unusual asset — four acres of land in his native Uganda that he acquired about a decade ago, worth between $150,000 and $250,000. He disclosed no US property or investments on the documents, released by the state this week. The $2,000 on his form comes from a retirement plan from the housing-focused social-justice organization Chhaya, where he worked briefly as a 'foreclosure prevention counselor' in 2019, before he was elected in 2020 to represent Queen's 36th District in the state Assembly. Advertisement 9 Mamdani lived in Kampala, Uganda until he was five, before the family moved to South Africa, and two years later NYC. Adrian Solumsmo – He's declared the exact same amount of 'less than $2,000' for five years in a row in filings to the state Legislative Ethics Commission. 'More drama from a guy who grew up with three silver spoons in his mouth,' quipped political strategist Hank Sheinkopf. 'If anybody believes that Mamdani is a poor person, they need to see a psychiatrist. This is a complete lie. He's trying to sell people this nonsense that he's this poor kid,' he told The Post. Advertisement 9 Mamdani lives in a rent-stabilized apartment and grew up in subsidized housing but complained about rent hikes. Getty Images State lawmakers are only required to report investments and retirement plans, and don't have to disclose how much they have in regular savings or checking accounts. They are also not required to reveal trust funds established by their relatives — and in Mamdani's case that could be a windfall, observers have noted. 9 Mamdani attended the Disney premiere with his mother Mira Nair in 2016. Getty Images for Disney Advertisement 9 Nair directed Disney's Queen of Katwe, a story about a girl from the slums of Uganda who becomes a chess champion. Getty Images for Disney Mamdani's mother, Mira Nair, is an Academy Award- and Golden Globe-nominated filmmaker, who has made movies for Disney and a series for Netflix, and whose productions have starred the likes of Denzel Washington. Nair sold a posh West Chelsea 2-bedroom that she had owned for more than 10 years in 2019 for $1.45 million. 9 Nair has received multiple awards for her films. Getty Images for Disney His father, Mahmood Mamdani, is a chaired professor of African history and colonialism at Columbia University who won multiple prizes and published more than a dozen books. Professors in similar positions make an average of $308,000 a year, according to American Association of University Professors data. The Harvard-educated couple still live in the stylish Ivy League and taxpayer-subsidized 3-bed, 3-bath corner apartment on Riverside Drive — with weekly maid service — where Mamdani grew up while he attended elite $66,000-a-year Bank Street School. 'This is all nonsense and an attempt to show that he's a man of the people when he's about as close to the people as Nelson Rockefeller was,' said Sheinkopf. Advertisement 9 The complex on Riverside Drive has 38 apartments, exclusively for Columbia faculty and staff. Google Maps 9 The family has lived in this bright 3-bedroom corner unit in upper Manhattan for 25 years. via Zillow Critics pointed to Mamdani's recently resurfaced hand-eating stunt as proof of the 'tax the rich' socialist trying to sell his narrative. 'A perpetual theatre kid who's pretending to be 'Third World.' It's all so, so performative + stupid,' railed Manhattan Institute fellow Renu Mukherjee on X. Advertisement 'He looks uncomfortable eating with his hands,' she noted. Mamdani was a self-described 'B-list rapper,' performing under the stage name 'Mr. Cardamom' before he went into politics. 9 Mamdani had a stint as a rapper under the moniker Mr. Cardamom before he went into politics. Mr. Cardamom/Youtube He also sometimes went by the moniker 'Young Cardamom,' like in the song '#1 spice' that was part of the soundtrack for his mother's Disney movie. Advertisement The former rapper turned politician disclosed up to $5,000 in royalties in 2024 from his musical stint. Mamdani's office declined to comment.
New York Post
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Why the best Independence Day present would be more US citizens
You wouldn't have known it from the Democratic mayoral primary — dominated by promises of free stuff and anti-ICE grandstanding — but New York keeps driving residents away. Only Andrew Cuomo, in passing at a Queens rally, mentioned that from 2023 to 2024 Gotham lost 327,000 residents, per a May 15 Census report. That 3.7% drop was the largest hemorrhage of any big city in the country. It might make sense to stop the trend by doing something about high taxes and subway crime — but progressives are actually panicked about something else: a looming loss of still more Empire State seats in Congress, as determined by population count. Their solution isn't to hold on to high-earning taxpayers fleeing to Florida. Instead, they want to make sure residents not even eligible to vote — non-citizens, including illegal immigrants — aren't so afraid of ICE that they don't respond to Census surveys and don't get counted. Advertisement 5 Protestors in the Bronx holding signs that read 'I heart immigrant NY.' Getty Images They're particularly concerned about House legislation that would require the Census to ask about citizenship status. The New York Times, in what amounted to a recruiting campaign for their cause, reported on the efforts of 'a coalition of elected officials, community activists, and labor and civic leaders in New York City' that is 'already stirring ahead of the next census in 2030 amid a brewing battle over whether to include noncitizens in the population count.' Advertisement Their concern: 'threats from the Trump administration and the Republican-led Congress to exclude noncitizens, which could lead to a significant undercount of the city's population.' Lower East Side Council member Julie Menon, who in April keynoted a New York Law School conference kicking off the effort, has filed a bill to establish a City Office of the Census 'tasked with maximizing local participation in the federal decennial census.' 5 House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters about the U.S. bombing of three sites in Iran, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, June 23, 2025. AP This Fourth of July weekend suggests a better approach: A campaign to encourage legal immigrants to be counted by becoming citizens. There's a reason liberals don't mention that. Advertisement Dems are not trying to help residents vote, but merely to buoy the city's population to protect their congressional seats, including those of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and progressive star Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. In both of their districts, voter totals are abysmally low — because so many non-citizen residents can't vote. They represent a new version of what England used to call 'rotten boroughs,' districts guaranteed representation despite low population. All 435 congressional districts are required to have an equal number of residents — about 740,000. But they don't have to have an equal number of eligible voters. That means that districts with high numbers of immigrants — legal and illegal — are likely to have low voter rolls. In Jeffries's Brooklyn district, there are 267,000 foreign-born residents. Advertisement 5 A recent Census Bureau report revealed that New York City lost more residents than any other big US metro between 2023 and 2024. There's no way to know how many are citizens, but we do know that Jeffries was elected in 2024 with just 168,000 votes. Ocasio-Cortez needed 132,000 in 2024 — in a district where 300,000 residents are immigrants. 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There's no way to know how many have become naturalized citizens—but there's no mystery about how to become one: those who have been legally in the US for at least five years need only pass a citizenship test. Common sense Democrats might actually want to encourage that approach. Doing so means learning enough English to read the questions. (The test is only offered in English.) That would help immigrants advance economically, too. Advertisement 5 Pres. Trump — here at the 2025 SOTU address — has threatened to disallow illegal migrants from being counted in future census polls. Getty Images The test, it's worth noting, consists of just 10 questions — but they're chosen among 100 possibilities, and cover US government and history. For July 4, let's make it possible for immigrants to have a real voice in government — by becoming citizens and voting. Howard Husock is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Former AOC backer has stark warning for young Mamdani fans: ‘They're selling a fantasy that doesn't work'
A former AOC supporter has come out with a stark warning for young Big Apple voters in the wake of socialist Zohran Mamdani's Democratic primary victory. 'If I was 25, I would've been obsessed with Zohran,' Lucy Biggers admits in a video she posted last week on X. 6 Lucy Biggers says socialist programs don't work because rich people flee to avoid higher taxes. Lucy Biggers/X 'Now I'm 35, and I've grown up. The feel-good promises of free college, free food, free housing might sound great, but they don't work.' She goes on to explain her view that socialist policies make cities poorer because rich people leave, while everyone else is left stuck with higher taxes — and little to show for it. 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions.' 6 Biggers said she was really taken by AOC when they met in 2018 and they were both in their 20s. Lucy Biggers/Instagram Biggers, who works in media, says she helped propel AOC from a virtual unknown to political juggernaut in 2018. 'I met AOC when she was basically a nobody. And I really thought she had something special going on, so I booked her for an interview at our studios,' Biggers told The Post. She produced a viral video for progressive social media site Now This which Ocasio-Cortez' campaign ended up paying to promote on social media. 6 Biggers was a big supporter of AOC back in 2018. Lucy Biggers/X 'They downloaded it, and they used it as a campaign asset . . . they used it as a digital ad,' said Biggers, who's now social media editor at The Free Press. AOC shockingly defeated 10-term incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley in the 2018 Democratic Primary for New York's 14th Congressional District, before she went on to win the seat in the midterm election that November. 'The video got her message out. At that time, no one cared about AOC, she was not on cable news,' Biggers recalled. 6 Ocasio-Cortez was a big boost to fellow socialist Zohran Mamdani mayoral campaign for NYC. LP Media Fast forward seven years, and Biggers, who now is a homeowner and a mother of two in Connecticut, is seeing things a bit differently. She said the pandemic and the impact of government spending was a big turning point. 'As you grow up, you start to see the world less black and white. You can't sell this bill of goods that promises to create a utopia in America,' said Biggers, who works in the city. 6 Biggers said she met AOC on a few occasions back in 2018. Lucy Biggers/Instagram 'There's a glorification of socialism among young people. They don't know what happened in Cuba, Venezuela, the USSR. They glamorize these countries and are indoctrinated into thinking the US is bad. It's very naive . . . it's embarrassing,' she said, reflecting on her own views back then. Voter energy behind Mamdani is authentic, but the enthusiasm is entirely misplaced, Biggers said. 6 Biggers said she is seeing many parallels between Ocasio-Cortez and Mamdani. William Miller 'It's young people who want to make a change. And he ran a really great campaign honestly,' she said. 'But I just think it's selling a fantasy that ultimately doesn't work.' Ocasio-Cortez' and Mamdani's offices declined to comment.
