What’s missing? Real government reform!

In the opening section of the Indiana Commission On Local Government Reform it states “President Harry Truman kept a sign on his desk. It said, ―The buck stops here. When it comes to local government in Indiana, few of us know where the buck stops. Our many complex layers of government are often difficult to understand, monitor and hold accountable.”

Following the release of that report by headed by Joseph E. Kernan, Former Governor of the State of Indiana and Randall T. Shepard Chief Justice, Indiana Supreme Court (the reason the report is also known as the Shepard-Kernan Report) the Indiana legislature passed a law allowing sweeping reform of Indiana’s township and local governments. Governor Daniels quipped “If a Hoosier from the 1850′s came back to Indiana today the only thing they would recognize is the form of local government.” The reorganization of Greenwood and unincorporated White River Township provided the best test of the legislation allowing a thriving city and the state’s most populated unincorporated area the chance to throw off 150 years of bureaucracy and start fresh.

As of today what do we see? A Reorganization Committee with the clear opportunity to reinvent government has simply created what appears to be a plan that simply expands government, right down to street lights and mosquitoes, not reinvents it. Fortunately we have yet to see the final plan so there is still time for real reform.

The law, Indiana Code Article 1.5 Government Modernization  allows the “new” city government to be established in virtually any manner the reorganization committee sees fit. As I stated months ago taken to its illogical extreme the city could be funded by the White River Township Lottery and houses of ill-repute. I don’t condone, nor expect such action, but the law states in section 5. “This article shall be liberally construed to effect the purposes of this article.”

So what do we get? Eleven council members instead of nine as current state law allows a second class city to have. Now that is really stepping out and being creative. And then there is, um, just a minute there must be something else. Oh yes, I believe that some of the boards, such as zoning and parks (just an example not necessarily actual examples) may have more members than state law allows. Where is the creativity, did anyone read the law and look for new ideas?

Governance chair Don Hanlin put together a list of options that could have replaced the current city council/mayor form of government. You can view them at this link. Lots of options, the results? More of the same old same old. At one governance subcommittee meeting I inquired if they had considered  a council & city manager form of government, the comment was met with laughter and a comment from a non-subcommittee member that “Charlie wouldn’t stand for that” followed by a good laugh by all. But mayor “Charlie” Henderson doesn’t have a vote in the matter. But why should the sub-committee risk angering the mayor of the “new” Greenwood?

Following the meeting I asked a group of attendees, including committee members what they thought of making the council “non-partisan” same as the school board. More chuckles and a few thoughtful comments. But the same result, the council will remain partisan. Which in Johnson County means dominated by Republicans, just as in Lake County it means dominated by Democrats. Time to put on your thinking caps, do you vote for school board members based on their party affiliation? Do you even know what party the members belong to? You cast your vote based on their stance on issues and your belief in their qualifications. When it comes to local government is there really a party line difference? Do Republicans stand for a strong defense against the potential invasion by Whiteland, and do Democrat council members defend a “woman’s right to choose”? Face the facts, if you are running as a Democrat in Johnson County or a Republican in Lake County do you really stand a good chance of your party ending up in the majority?

The reorganization committee had a chance, wait, still has a chance, to provide real change in local government as the law expects them to do. White River Township cannot survive as an island of homes surrounded by Greenwood and Bargersville. We either need to self-incorporate or seek reorganization with Greenwood. The only way I see a reorganization plan can receive a majority of the votes in White River Township, and probably Greenwood as well, is to provide real local government reform. Heck people might even vote for a tax increase if they think they will get representative government. The Shepard-Kernan report is subtitled “We’ve got to stop governing like this.” There is still time, the committee has done the research, now let’s see some innovation in the final plan.

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