Eliminating commissioners
Despite support from a powerful governor and a heavyweight, bipartisan commission, efforts to dramatically change county government for the better appear inevitably headed for a significant detour in the General Assembly.
That detour may be the most politically realistic alternative and would be a step in the right direction. But it would also create a patchwork of significantly different government structures and reflects an apparent lack of courage by the legislature to make necessary change.
The esteemed Indiana Commission on Local Government Reform has recommended that Indiana replace its often dysfunctional county government structure with one that in many ways resembles cities. Key to the proposal is eliminating the three-member county commission, which has the much-too-powerful role of both executive and lawmaker.
A single county executive would replace the commissioners and hire employees responsible for duties now performed by elected officials, replacing a system that diffuses responsibility among a number of officials with one that gives citizens someone to hold responsible for county government administration.
The recommendation was clearly not borne of partisan efforts to give one party more political power. The reform commission has excellent credentials: It was co-chaired by former Democratic Gov. Joe Kernan and Indiana Chief Justice Randall Shepard, and it included two highly regarded Fort Wayne residents, business executive Ian Rolland and government expert John Stafford.
But that version of the plan appears to be going nowhere. Two powerful state senators, Senate President Pro Tem David Long, a Republican, and Vi Simpson, a Democrat, say the idea of replacing the commissioners will go nowhere unless they are voluntary.
State Rep. Win Moses, as progressive and politically pragmatic as any House member, is sponsoring a bill that would allow voters in each county to make the decision about replacing the county commissioners with a single executive. Tellingly, the Democrat’s bill is co-sponsored by Republican State Rep. Randy Borror. A similar bill is pending in the state Senate.
Yes, the bill would allow voters to eliminate the commissioners in their counties. Yes, that would be a step in the right direction, especially knowing how difficult it would be to win approval of a total transformation of county government statewide.
But the bill would lead to a patchwork where councils pass laws in some counties, commissioners in others. Hoosiers already have trouble understanding the nuances between the roles of the commissioners and council. The executive would be the point person for economic development in some counties; commissioners would share the duties in others.
State government dictates how local government works in innumerable ways. For legislators to say only voters can decide for themselves what will happen in their counties ignores the many other actions the General Assembly takes every year.
And local governments have a poor track record in initiating change. Indeed, three years ago Long led adoption of a law giving local governments and their constituents broad power to restructure – with few results.
The Kernan-Shepard Commission crafted a well-researched plan to improve county government. Daniels, who has already recorded a long track record of accomplishments, supports it, albeit with minor changes. Regrettably, the legislature is prepared to consider only a watered-down version.
With luck, language changing county government statewide will still eventually emerge, replacing the county commissioners with a single executive. But if Moses’ bill is the best Hoosiers can hope for, the legislature should adopt it and hope for additional steps in future years.
•A woman has been charged with running “escort services” out of a Canterbury Green apartment. •People who have been charged with running a poker game out of Three Rivers Apartments are moving through the courts.