From Councilor Ben Hunter’s Twitter:
“Just heard the Franklin Twnsp Brd voted 7-0 to merge their fire dept with IFD. Proposal will now go to the full Council for consideration.”
Assuming approval by the City-County Council, Franklin will join Perry, Warren, and Washington Townships as merged fire departments with Indianapolis Fire Department. This leaves Decatur, Pike, Wayne, and Lawrence as the remaining township fire departments in Marion County.
Proposal would scrap Indiana’s township governments:
Wire Reports
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – A state lawmaker wants to abolish township government in Indiana.
A bill by Democratic Rep. Ed DeLaney of Indianapolis would transfer all township functions to county government. The county executive would assume the powers and duties of the township trustee, and county commissioners and councils would take over the legislative and fiscal powers of township boards.
The transfer would begin January 1, 2013, if the bill becomes law.
DeLaney says the bill would save millions of dollars by streamlining government.
The full Legislature reconvenes Tuesday.
Oh boy, now we’re talking! This is reform out on a limb. What say you?
Remember back in November of last year when the Washington Township Advisory Board voted 4-3 along partisan lines to give themselves a pay increase? Well the same shenanigans could happen again tonight in Wayne Township. Word is that the Wayne Township Board will be reviewing the salary schedule as it relates to the 2010 budget tonight at 6pm at the Wayne Township Government Center.
What’s on docket for the vote?
According to Abdul over at Indiana Barrister, these guys make $8,500 a year at about $700 per meeting and they feel like they deserve a pay increase….and benefits? Are you kidding me? Township government may not be a problem all across the state, but it’s certainly a problem in Marion County and there needs to be reform!
If you’re interested, the board meeting info (again) is at 6 p.m. at the Wayne Township Government Center, 5401 West Washington Street. (317) 241-4191
UPDATE 6:33 PM: Abdul reports via Twitter:
“AttyAbdul Wayne Tship board turns down raise benefits. Common sense rules!”
Editor’s Note: I came across this article yesterday and felt that it merited republication here on Hoosier Access. It is thought provoking and timely as we debate the various pros and cons of the Kernan-Shepard report on local government. Some may disagree with Mr. Ladwig’s points, and others might be more sympathetic-as I am-to what he is saying. Individuals on both sides should realize, however, that we should not rush through these reforms or dismiss them out of hand. They deserve debate and discussion because they have the power to greatly impact Hoosiers in a very real way.
By: Craig Ladwig
Strip away a multi-year, bigwig publicity campaign, complete with unctuous news coverage and a last-minute statewide tour, and the premise of the governor’s move to consolidate local government was just this: People in Indianapolis are smarter than the rest of us.
The governor now says he is “embarrassed” for those in his party who opposed the plan (successfully, so far). The comment implies that they did not do their homework or that they were too dumb to understand economies of scale.
On the contrary, the senators in opposition clearly had thought through the issue. They may have read a comprehensive survey of the academic literature showing mixed results for consolidation of local governments. Or a forensic accounting that debunked not only the tax cuts but the savings promised by a typical consolidation campaign.
In any case, isn’t a smaller, more accountable government what Hoosiers want, not necessarily a more centralized one, however efficient?
(Read More Below the Fold)
The Indiana State Senate, where government reform goes to die:
A key piece of the government reforms backed by Gov. Mitch Daniels was gutted in a Senate committee today, which voted to keep township government.
Senate Bill 512 was reluctantly stripped down by its author, Sen. Connie Lawson, R-Danville. The bill now only bars nepotism in township government, and requires their budgets to be reviewed and approved by county councils. It also asks the county councils to look at the balances of the townships, and if they are higher than 10 percent to consider whether the township needs to raise any more tax dollars.
The committee voted 9-2 for the pared-down bill, but only after voting down another amendment by Lawson which would have abolished only the township advisory boards. Those will now stay in place, along with the townships themselves.
If Mitch Daniels cannot get what he decided would be the signature issue of his second term, local government reform, out of the Republican-dominated State Senate after the crushing mandate he won from the voters in November of 2008, then he might as well be a lame duck for the next four years.
As George W. Bush found out with Social Security reform in 2005, once you win an election and plant your flag on an issue to spend your political capital, you’d better get the job done, because your political capital will vanish if you fail.
I’m not sold on the need for all of the local government reform. In fact, I oppose a good deal of it. But I also don’t want to have a governor devoid of political capital for the next four years, because the road is going to get worse before it gets better.
As a practical matter of politics, Mitch must do or die here. Serious reform legislation must be passed, and not some impotent and gutted fig leaf. Otherwise, all of that effort and political capital are gone with the wind.
Sorry to ask the question, but what group is Senator Sue Landske protecting when she lets Lake County once again skate from reforms intended to clean up messes like … Lake County.
In this current cycle she is working to exempt Lake County from the need to eliminate elected county officials who for the most part we have all seen to be lacking in both ability and fiscal restraint. If any county in Indiana needs total reformation and reorganization it is Lake County. But once again to gain votes, the legislature is looking to exempt Lake County from restructuring laws.
Unless I’m mistaken, and feel free to set me straight, Senator Sue Landske is right in the center of this idea. In an effort to appeal to south Lake County Republicans who are fearful of a north Lake County County Executive getting elected and appointing a bunch of cronies … I believe she is pushing to exempt Lake County, perhaps the most corrupt and embarassing county in Indiana from re-organization and restructuring. Sorry to speak so bluntly, but she is also the GOP’s District Board member. Sounds like time for CHANGE.
Perhaps she needs to hear from you about your thoughts on restructuring county government to save money and reduce or eliminate corruption in all of our counties. Perhaps she needs to hear it’s time to change the makeup of the Republican Central Committee. Perhaps I’m wrong, and there’s a really important game being played in Lake County … go ahead make my day and tell me the rest of the story.
Update: I’ll agree this isn’t an issue of right or left …. blue or red … this is an issue of changing the 100 plus year we’ve been doing government, a way that isn’t all that efficient.
I’d sure like to get some engaged debate on this issue over the next couple days. The General Assembly is currently looking at proposed legislation to eliminate township trustees and township boards. I am actually in Indianapolis today to watch the hearings myself, and get a better feel for what the options really are. Like anyone else, I’d like to see the cost of governing reduced as much as possible … but frankly here in Porter County 10 of the 12 trustees are Republicans and rolling all their duties to the county building will pronounce a large change in control to Democrats.
Some links though if you need to get an idea to engage in this issue with us here:
The latest post on the General Assembly website for Senate bill 512. This version would set January of 2013 as the date to implement the proposed re-organization desired by Governor Daniels.
Advance Indiana in a strongly opinionated post today shows that townships are sitting on $200 million in cash, and refers to at least one situation where a township has maxed out their tax levies each year while maintaining enough cash to pay the entire budget for 10 years.
CPA from Indiana Township Association says the cost savings promised are suspect, and even takes the opportunity to suggest that Uni-Gov in Indy isn’t all that great either.
And of course My Smart Gov tells a completely different story in their run down of savings and crazy statistics of unaccountable costs and power bases.
Who should provide fire service for Porter County residents not in a town or city?
Who should provide poor relief?
The Chesterton Tribune routinely spins articles, in some odd desire to create chaos where there was some sanity. Not sure that was taught in journalism, but it appears to be the current model for this media outlet.
Now, I may have missed some key points, feel free to add in the comments. But, it’s getting a little old having a pretty simple issue politicized to the point that it loses any memory of the truth.
I have my issues with township government. I believe its time has come and gone, yet because Hoosiers typically are slow to accept change, the system has stayed despite numerous attempts to get rid of it.
Well, I’m writing to this to heap praise on three of the seven Washington Township Board members who decided to turn down the pay raise that the board approved for themselves back in November. It should be noted that the three who turned it down, also voted against it in the first place.
Three members declined a raise the board voted itself at the end of last year, saying their workload doesn’t merit it and a raise sends the wrong signal in a faltering economy.
“I cannot, in good conscience, take this raise in this economy,” said board member Don Barr, who joined fellow Republicans Maureen Faul and Jack Werner in rejecting the pay upgrade.
The board voted 4-3 in November to give itself a 69 percent raise in 2009 — from $2,250 to $3,800. Board members who voted in favor of the raise argued that it isn’t as big as it appears because the board had cut its salary in half in 2007.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that the three who are turning their pay increases down are all Republicans while the four who voted for it and have subsequently taken it, were Democrats. But turning the pay raise down also makes good political sense considering that Washington Township has become the poster township for complete elimination of township government. And despite this goodwill gesture, I still remain firmly entrenched in the mood for reform.
That said, in tough ecnomic times, a board that meets four times a year, didn’t deserve that kind of hefty pay raise and this move was a wise decision. Let’s hope their counterparts who still hold tightly to their 69% pay increase will consider similar action.
I think we know that I’m for the government reform proposals backed by Governor Daniels. What continues to evade me is how legislators, who seem to have a firm grasp of the economic situation our state and nation are facing refuse to back reforms that intend to make our government more streamlined, more efficient and more cost effective.
Not to be callous to the some of the concerns among legislators, Governor Daniels, in his state of the State address said:
As intended at the outset, we have all had a full year to study the report and meditate on its recommendations. The public has spoken loudly, in referenda, in opinion surveys, and in the most recent general election, each time in clear favor of change. The hour for action has arrived.
After a year of listening to you, to local officials, and to our fellow citizens, I have sent you a package comprising some two-thirds of the (Kernan-Shepard) Commission’s 27 recommendations, either as proposed or in some close variation. Treat it as a starting point, but please treat it seriously, in a spirit of reform. This area is ideally suited to bipartisan cooperation and craftsmanship. Let’s move forward together, and boldly. The only motion out of order is no motion at all.
It would appear as if legislators aren’t taking this issue seriously as some of the legislation they are counter-proposing would move local government reform about as fast as bone turning into fossil.
The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette Reports:
(Read more after the leap)
These two paragraph’s in Matt Tully’s Sunday column really got to me (and no, I’m not picking on Matt for this):
The push to streamline local government will be a bruising fight. The governor wants to enact a series of local government reforms. Among the proposals are efforts to reduce the number of elected officials and consolidate small school districts. It’s no surprise that these proposals face strong resistance. That’s what happens when you try to shake up, and shape up, an entrenched political system.
….
Meanwhile, the public, which expresses so much outrage about property taxes and dysfunctional government, isn’t spending much time calling or writing lawmakers in support of government streamlining. This much is clear: Without such an effort from voters, state lawmakers will take the easy way out. And that means leaning toward the status quo and not irritating their political pals.
Listen, I know property taxes were more immediate and tangible hit to voters wallets, but we can’t forget good and efficient government goes beyond property taxes. Changes are easy. In Indiana, it’s been painfully obvious, but we as an electorate can not just sit back on our laurels and let opportunities for government to say “you know what, we should probably cut back on the excess” pass us by!
In a few years when the economy still sucks and you have less money are you going to say, “you know, I may not have as much money as I did before and my 401(k) is shot, but thank goodness my government is still bloated and inefficient!” Yeah I didn’t think so. So pick up the phone, write a letter or send an email to your legislator now! Heck, go to mysmartgov.org to find out how to get involved as well!
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