Yes, I know what the committee claims on their web site in the FAQs section. To quote one passage, “The merger results in a new municipality (that could be given any name) that is governed by new rules, new structure, new budgets and new elected and appointed officials.” Frankly I tend to think it is all a load of garbage. Come on, let’s be realistic. The current city of Greenwood already has the bureaucracy in place, so why go through the trouble of building something new? It would be much easier for Greenwood to just take over unincorporated WRT, and I, for one, think that this is nothing more than an annexation plan in disguise. They can call it whatever they want to call it, but its nothing more than another case of Greenwood wanting to be like big brother across the street with their own little merger plan.

In several portions of the FAQ section on the committee’s official web site, they mention “growing government”, and claim that’s not what their plan will result in. Hog wash. It couldn’t result in anything but growing government. Johnson County tends to be a fairly politically conservative area. One of the core beliefs of conservatism is limited government at all levels. Therefore I find it unconscionable that such a plan would even be seriously considered in this area.

The Annexation, or rather Reorganization Committee needs to really think hard about what they are doing, and compare it to what they claim in their mission statement.

As Dann pointed out take garbage collection as an example. Why is the reorg group not talking to the two garbage collection companies that currently service Center Grove and asking them to quote taking over the services for the entire new city? As a part of the deal Greenwood could sell all of it’s assets (trucks and equipment) to the company with the winning bid and make arrangements for that company to take in all current employees. Not only would garbage collection costs go down for all citizens in the new city, but the city would reduce it’s annual expenses. No need to buy new trucks or hire new employees. They could also establish performance criteria in the contract that must be met by the new company. Garbage is garbage. We don’t really care what the name on the side of the truck is that hauls it away. We just want to know that it will be taken away at a reasonable price.

Need another example, how about governance. If the reorg goes through we will become the 6th largest city in Indiana. Take a look at the following numbers for the four cities above us in population and their number of council seats.

Ft. Wyane: 223,341 pop. 9 Seats Evansville: 115,918 pop. 9 Seats
South Bend: 105,262 pop. 9 Seats Gary: 98,715 pop. 9 Seats

Greenwood: ~90,000 pop. 11 Seats

Does anyone else see a trend with the larger cities here? I realize that the reorg group is trying to accommodate the township leadership with this arrangement but why?

Governance has also proposed that a redistricting committee would draw the city council voting districts. Instead, why not make all council seats at-large. This way all members would serve the entire city instead of smaller districts. This radical idea might raise the ire of some but most innovative thought provoking ideas do.

Finally, while I lean towards self-incorporation, I maintain that the Center Grove area needs to be incorporated one way or another, for all of the reasons that the reorg group is discovering. We need planned infrastructure and development in our area or at some point in the future our property values will suffer. If the reorganization is going to have a chance the effort needs to refocus on the bigger picture and their mission statement. While details are necessary what is much more necessary is a compelling vision for the future. Right now my future appears to be financing the growth of local government.