million since April and still had that much on hand to spend. At that point, Ballard had only $51,000 left, meaning Peterson had 30 times the funds that Ballard had during the last three weeks of the campaign. On November 6, 2007, Ballard defeated incumbent Mayor Peterson 50%–47%, a difference of 5,312 votes. Unhappiness with rapidly increasing taxes and crime were seen as the biggest reasons for Peterson's defeat. Republicans also recaptured control of the City-County Council for the first time in four years. In his acceptance speech, Ballard told the audience he considers this campaign "the classic, if not the ultimate, example of grassroots politics." 2011 Ballard won re-election to a second term, defeating former Deputy Mayor Melina Kennedy, 51%–47%. Mayoralty Ballard was sworn into office on Tuesday, January 1, 2008, at the Indiana War Memorial, in downtown Indianapolis. Ballard chose this site saying that it honored the men and women of the armed services. Ballard said his first act as mayor would be to put the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department back under mayoral control, instead of its then-current control by Marion County Sheriff Frank J. Anderson. The Ballard administration took steps to sell the city's water and wastewater utilities to Citizens Energy Group and spend the $450 million the city received in return on street repair. Improvements included paving, resurfacing, new sidewalks, more greenways, and bridge repair. On September 9, 2010, Ballard announced the first batch of projects in the city's RebuildIndy initiative. The $55 million package of street, sidewalk and bridge projects is spread around the city, with many side streets selected for resurfacing as well as some major roads. Ballard also announced a $2 million set of projects that will improve traffic flow and pedestrian access in targeted areas along Michigan Road from Cold Springs Road to 86th Street—a stretch with few sidewalks—and along 71st Street and Westlane Road in the same area. The projects kick off an aggressive infrastructure improvement program. The mayor's office anticipates spending more than $500 million on such projects in coming years, largely funded by proceeds from the pending sale of the city's water and sewer systems to Citizens Energy Group, a nonprofit trust, and stimulus money. The utilities transfer is awaiting approval from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission after winning the City-County Council's OK earlier this year. Among its selling points for Ballard is the money to fund infrastructure improvements—though