Times of Northwest Indiana
Tuesday's vote in Porter and St. Joseph counties -- and only those counties -- shows what an abomination this referendum is.
Porter County is spending $120,000 to hold the election with paper ballots, a less expensive means than the electronic voting that is now de rigueur. St. Joseph County is holding an election as well but planning to spend far less.
Lake County officials, citing the need to cut spending, are ignoring the state's mandate to hold this special election for this referendum only. So is LaPorte County.
So regardless of the outcome in Porter and St. Joseph counties, the vote is meaningless. For election results to be valid, all the voting must take place on the same day. Otherwise, the outcome in one venue could influence results elsewhere.
What this referendum shows is the lack of backbone in the Indiana General Assembly to do what needs to be done to fund public transportation in Northwest Indiana.
The Hoosier Holy Land got its bailout of downtown Indianapolis convention and sports venues without a vote, but Northwest Indiana didn't get the same treatment for providing a basic need -- public transportation.
Now there's even talk of holding a referendum in central Indiana to determine funding for public transportation there.
Seeing how that scenario is playing out in Northwest Indiana, central Indiana officials should quickly quash that idea.
So much misinformation swirls around this election -- or lack of election, depending on where you live -- that the idea of a well-informed populace making the right decision is foolish. Even public officials who should know better don't know how this proposal would work, as Bob Kasarda's story last week revealed.
The regional transportation district would be able to levy an income tax of up to 0.25 percent to fund the operation of bus services and the expansion of commuter rail service.
Property taxes wouldn't be affected.
Nor would the regional transportation district render the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority obsolete. The RDA is for development, not for continuing operating costs, including public transportation. These missions are separate.
Nor would large buses operate on fixed routes even in sparsely populated areas.
Normally, we'd encourage people to get out and vote. But this time, we're not so sure that there's much point in it.
The elections in Porter and St. Joseph counties appear to be a waste of taxpayers' money.
The Legislature will have to take this idea back into the shop for major repairs anyway. This time, the job needs to be done right. Provide the funding and the services the people truly need.