Post-Gazette
Whether the money being spent by the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority to promote the South Shore commuter rail expansion is propaganda or educational depends on each reader's viewpoint.
The RDA gave the Northwest Indiana Forum Inc. $130,000 to prepare and mail fliers touting the benefits of the South Shore expansion. The fliers talk about less traffic, cleaner air and the creation of 26,000 new jobs.
Porter County Commissioner Robert Harper last week ripped into the RDA for what he says is using taxpayer money to promote a contested public issue. Harper, of course, probably wouldn't be saying anything if he favored the expansion. He doesn't.
Tim Sanders, RDA executive director, said the campaign is designed to educate the public about the benefits.
"We've explained what the South Shore will do," Sanders said. "We've talked about the number of jobs, the investments, the kinds of income jobs in Chicago will bring relative to jobs in Indiana, the higher wages (in Chicago) than in Indiana. It's all educational."
The RDA, which is composed of members from Lake and Porter counties, appropriated the money during a public meeting.
We're not interested in joining the battle over whether this is an issue of education or propaganda.
What we want to see -- and the public has a right to see -- is the study that details the claim that expanded commuter rail will result in the creation of 26,000 jobs. What types of jobs? Where will they be? How soon will they be created? The public shouldn't be expected to take the word of the Forum.
Commuter rail has worked well in Chicago and some other parts of the country. That also could be the case here. But the proponents need to state their case more clearly and convincingly.