EDITORIAL: Resurrect local government reforms

Good ideas going through the legislative process in the Indiana General Assembly are a bit like Alice in Wonderland. You never know what to expect next.

That's why there's still hope for the good ideas in Senate Bill 241, which has been buried in the House Committee on Government and Regulatory Reform. At this point in the session, the only way any of Sen. Connie Lawson's local government reform bill can become law would be to tack the provisions onto other legislation in a conference committee, where differences between House and Senate versions of a bill are reconciled.

Conference committees are where the legislative process gets really interesting. And these provisions are really important.

One of the proposals would allow counties to switch to a single county executive. In effect, it spells out how the county commissioners could eliminate their own jobs. County council approval would be needed as well. Having a single county executive would move county government closer to a municipal form of government, with only one CEO instead of a triumvirate. In cities, that CEO is called the mayor. Why should counties pay three people to do what one person accomplishes in a city?

Another proposal would prohibit local government employees from serving on their own county or city council. In other words, the employees would no longer be calling the shots on how the government is run. The need to prevent council members from having divided loyalties should be obvious, but this ethics reform has not yet been accomplished.

Another provision would allow all 92 Indiana counties to use vote centers in order to dramatically cut the cost of elections, in most cases, and to making voting more convenient on Election Day. Having fewer polling places, but with more machines, would require fewer poll workers and allow voters to cast their ballots anywhere in the county rather than in their home precinct. Electronic poll books would deter vote fraud.

The House has been a burial ground for a number of recommendations of the Indiana Commission on Local Government Reform and other proposals for good government. It's time to change that history.

Now it's up to Sen. Lawson, R-Danville, and Northwest Indiana's legislative delegation to push for inclusion of these provisions in other legislation facing a conference committee.

The public should voice loud support for these provisions.

Guide these ideas through Wonderland, Alice.