Evansville-Vanderburgh County merger hearings get backing

Public hearings on Evansville-Vanderburgh County government consolidation may be in the cards this year, even if a referendum isn't.

Rebecca Kasha, chairwoman of the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Reorganization Committee, said she has made a final decision to push for public hearings on a consolidation proposal before the committee's statutory January deadline to turn it over to the City Council and the County Commissioners.

A schedule for the hearings depends on when the reorganization committee completes a proposal, but there is time.

By law, the committee has a year, or until Jan. 11, to complete its work. That clock began ticking when the City Council approved a resolution allowing consolidation to move forward in January.

Kasha said hearing out residents — and possibly making changes as a result — would allow the reorganization committee to give elected officials a proposal that reflects public opinion.

"I don't see how you can ask the public to comment on something that they can't see," she said. "To get up and talk in the abstract doesn't seem very beneficial to me. And that's something the committee is going to be talking about in the weeks to come, how to lay that out.

"I'm not going to say that just because 10 people get up and complain about it, I'm going to change something, but I would like to give the public an opportunity to react to it."

H. Ray Hoops, temporary chairman of the 12-member reorganization committee before Kasha was tapped for the position, said Kasha will have his full support in the quest for public hearings.

"She's the one who takes most of the feedback, so I'm going to be supportive of her," said Hoops, a former University of Southern Indiana president.

According to the complex statutory process necessary for a referendum on consolidation, a completed proposal would go to the local governing bodies, who would have to reconcile their versions of it if they approved it.

If they voted no, it would go back to the reorganization committee for a rewrite. If governing bodies voted no again on the rewrite, it would die unless 10 percent of voters who cast a ballot in the 2006 secretary of state's race — about 5,200 voters — signed a petition to force it to a ballot question.

Officials weigh in

Here is a look at what government officials say about the status of the plan:

"By taking what they hope is their final product and walking it around, they may get more public input," Winnecke said. "Maybe someone will have an 'aha' idea no one's thought of yet.

"I think it will be more difficult to vote against something if (the commissioners and the City Council) know this committee has taken the extra step to get public input."

"I think there's a lot of cultural issues, I think there's a lot of pension issues," Tornatta said.

"Both groups need to get together on an ongoing basis in a roundtable to see if there are places where they can combine forces. ... It's not going be done overnight."

"I believe with all my heart that the men and women of the Evansville Police Department are perfectly capable of coming out in the county and policing," Williams said.

"I believe with all my heart that the deputy sheriffs in the Sheriff's Office are capable of going in the Center City and policing — but it would be difficult at first because it would be new."

"(The reorganization committee) comes up with ideas, and all of a sudden they thought they were going to do something and then they change it and they change it back," Melcher said. "Once they hear what the public has to say, I think it's going to change again before we get it."

Melcher said he warned some committee members that it was unwise to try to get a referendum on this year's ballot.

"I said, 'Whatever you do, do it right and take your time,'" he said.

"It would seem to me kind of odd that (city and county executives) want to spend $100,000 (supporting the work of the reorganization committee) on a project that has no committed end to it," he said.

"With every political concept, things come and go. ... Political topics are sort of like sharks — they've got to keep going. They've got to keep swimming."

Adams said he can't believe consolidation planners and advocates will be able to keep residents interested for as long as it may take to get a referendum on a ballot.

"We can listen to everybody's opinion, but somewhere down the line you've got to make a commitment," he said. "Until I know what they're putting out, I've got other things to work on."

"I don't think I will support it unless there is something in it that will be beneficial.

"Government is working well as it is right now. I don't see how consolidation will make it any better. But I can't say it won't. If they consolidate all that government, I think it will be giving too much power to one or two people. I don't think the voters will vote it in."

"It is such an undertaking to try to get done in six months," he said. "And it doesn't matter when we get it done. It's just that we get it done the right way."

Watts said he is of two minds about the public safety subcommittee's recommendation that law enforcement be placed under the sheriff instead of a police chief.

Watts said he can understand why the reorganization planners would leave that responsibility to Williams.

"But we have to understand that Eric isn't going to be sheriff forever," he said. "Anybody can run for sheriff. It does bring politics into play."

"I think we need to look at other communities because we can learn by their mistakes, and ask Lexington and Louisville, 'If you had to do it over, what would be a better way to go?'" John said. "I think if they rushed it and left too many questions open in it, that would work against the passage. I think they ought to have a well-developed plan to show the public, if they are wanting the public to accept it."

"You might attract more people to public service," Bredhold said. "You wouldn't have people trying to do the city's business in what time they have left after they get done with their work day."

The reorganization committee has recommended the Common Council's 11 members be paid $18,668 annually, the same amount now paid to members of the County Council.

But with a combined 16 members of the County Council and City Council making similar salaries, and three commissioners earning $31,998 each, Bredhold wonders whether a smaller number of full-time salaries could still result in savings.

Just three of the City Council's nine members have full-time jobs, she said, while the other six are retired or working for themselves.

"There's three of us who are called upon to do things during our work day that make it difficult to be everywhere that you would like to be," she said.

"We want to cut costs wherever we can and make government more responsive to the people," Friend said. "I've asked if they have had any cost-cutting measures yet, and I haven't heard. That's what people are going to look at."

"I'm glad they slowed the process to make sure they have an opportunity to talk to everybody," Robinson said.

Robinson said she is in favor of unifying city and county governments.

"I think in the long run you will have more efficiencies and it will be a cost savings," she said. "But I'll wait and see what they will bring back to us."

"It's more complex than they thought. I'm not sure quite what to think about the police department," McGinn said. "We are fortunate to have good people running two fine departments.

"I'm still optimistic and hopeful there will be some consolidation — not necessarily to save money but to reduce bureaucracy and streamline government."

Staff writer Dan Shaw contributed to this report.