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Indiana Local Government Reorganization
In December, 2007, after six months of study by a former Governor and a sitting Indiana Supreme Court justice, operating with the help of five other committee members and a staff of 11 and five "public policy and government experts and advisers," produced a slim, 41 page report (with two appendices and a page citing a mere 30 sources) concluding that fundamental changes in Indiana's local government should be made.
(No commission has been appointed, no study has been done, and no report has been issued addressing the structure and operation of state government, however. Apparently, Indiana's current Governor believes we can learn from that model of efficiency.)
The most striking of the suggested changes in the report is to reduce the number of people elected by the citizens whose business they are to conduct. But the report contains many recommendations that seem to brush aside fundamental principles upon which representative government was designed to operate. Because of that, the report deserves some very close scrutiny by Indiana citizens.
It should also be kept in mind that the current Governor's commission produced the report during a time in which Indiana's property tax burden has led to an outcry from citizens rightfully demanding some relief. This is also a time of economic uncertainty for all citizens of our nation. People are fearful of losing their homes and their jobs, and the current chief executives of our state and our nation have done little to protect anyone but the wealthy. But our decisions on such bedrock issues as the structure of how we govern ourselves must not be made from fear. They must be made with cool heads and clear minds. They must be made after serious study and open debate.
The report presents one side of that debate. There are, however, other views that should be considered before embarking on the wholesale restructuring of our system of government. The pages below offer some of those other views, and the Brown County Democratic Party invites further input on the report.
Remember: It is your government they are tinkering with.
Additional pages will be added as they are completed, so please check back.
Incidentally, it appears Hoosiers favor retaining township government, according to a statewide poll conducted by the Indiana Township Association.