Mark Messick responds to earlier letter-to-the-editor

The White River Township Board Chair provides his personal thoughts on the Greenwood and Bargersville proposals

Earlier this week Steve Welch, head of the Bargersville Town Council, provided his personal views concerning the “merger” proposals from Greenwood and Bargersville. Today, Mark Messick, WRT Board Chair responds.

December 30, 2008

 

Re: Letter to the Editor 12/30/08 – Titled Bargersville annexation plan a fairer option

 

To the editor:

 

Let me open by stating that the opinions expressed in this letter are mine and have been expressed openly before this writing.

 

First, the title of the letter to the editor is misleading. The resolutions which both the Town Council of Bargersville and the Common Council of Greenwood sent to the White River Township Board were all about the reorganization of their political subdivisions and never once mentioned annexation.

 

Reorganization is the operative word…not merger, not annexation…but reorganization for a more efficient and effective manner to govern.

 

The idea that each political subdivision must have equal representation on the reorganization committee has some merit, but the truth of the manner is that a substantial number of residents of White River Township already live in Greenwood and are served by both political subdivisions. I felt it more important that the reorganization committee not find itself in a stalemate on issues and the uneven number of members made more sense to me. To imply that the resolution from Greenwood made demands, while the Bargersville resolution only proposed solutions is contrary to the fact that both resolutions were written as resolutions and used like diction.

 

In reference to the legal counsel which the White River Board wishes to hire, an open honest discussion has been given and I welcome members of the community and Mr. Welch to ask any question which they feel need answers.

 

The resolutions from Greenwood and Bargersville were very different. The Bargersville resolution put many stipulations on what the Town Council proposed or demanded, while the resolution from Greenwood left the details of the reorganization to the reorganization committee to study and propose after input from the community.

 

The Greenwood resolution allows for the good people appointed to serve on the reorganization committee to do so without demands and without a preconceived notion as to what the final report should look like. The Greenwood resolution allows for the study committee to put it all on the table. The committee will be charged with the responsibility to not only look at what a more efficient and effective form of government may look like but to determine how it would best serve all the people.

 

The resolutions passed by both the Common Council of Greenwood and the White River Township Board will allow us all an opportunity to reinvent how we are governed locally. I encourage all the citizens of Greenwood and White River Township to be more actively engaged in this process as we openly watch the Reorganization Committee do the good work of the people.

 

Mark Messick

White River Township Board

We’ ll let the letters speak for themselves. You can see them both on this page. But, we remain resolute that the citizens of White River need to explore options beyond a reorganization with Greenwood. In the end, that may be the right path, but with nothing to compare it to, it will be impossible to tell if it is the best option.

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