Time zone chaos

What a mess.

That, in a nutshell, is Ind. Rep. Dave Crooks’ initial reaction to the news that Daviess County could end up on a different time zone than Knox, Pike and Perry counties.

That is, if a proposal handed down Tuesday by the federal Department of Transportation becomes final.

In it, Knox, Perry, St. Joseph, Pike and Starke counties will make the switch to Central time while Daviess, Martin, Dubois and another nine counties remain on Eastern. That means Washington, Jasper and Loogootee residents would be next door and north of counties whose clocks run an hour behind theirs all year-round.

“I mean, the last thing we need is to split Pike and Knox counties from Daviess, Martin and Dubois,” said Crooks, D-Washington, who not only opposed a move to daylight-saving time but also requested a statewide referendum on the time issue. “But based on the preliminary information, the DOT is willing to do just that.”

Representing four counties that petitioned for a switch to Central time, Crooks said he never opposed their Central time zone choice, believing as he does that most of Indiana should observe Central time. Still, he worries that changing five more counties to Central — when a number of Indiana’s 92 counties already observe different time zones — will further divide the state. Though the law ratifying daylight-saving time called for a decision on time zone preference, Crooks said this isn’t what he had in mind. Because rather than unifying the state and moving Hoosiers forward to economic vitality, Crooks said the opposite will happen if southwest Indiana is divided by time.

Especially since it was left to individual counties to decide if they preferred Eastern or Central time instead of state leaders presenting a unified plan to the DOT, the agency regulating time zones.

“I still think it’s a shame the buck had to be passed on to the counties to begin with,” said Crooks, talking on a cell phone within hours of the DOT announcement. “They didn’t ask for this headache, and county officials were given an issue they didn’t want to deal with, and now they’re about to get a bigger mess than anyone ever imagined.”

In a statement released not long after the DOT presented its initial plan to keep Carroll, Cass, Dubois, Fulton, Lawrence, Marshall, Pulaski, Vermillion and White on Eastern time along with Daviess, Martin and Dubois, Gov. Mitch Daniels made a statement reminding Hoosiers that it isn’t over ‘til it’s over, and it won’t be over for at least 30 days.

“Clearly, there will be changes in this proposed rule before this process is complete,” said Daniels, indicating that hearings are the next-to-the-last step in the process. “Some counties that failed on the first try will, I believe, ultimately make a credible case to move to the Central time zone, and it is obviously unworkable to divide St. Joseph and Elkhart counties, which form one economic, social and cultural region.”

A similar situation would face Daviess County neighbors to the west and south. If the federal proposal passes, Vincennes would always be on Illinois or Central time, with Washington remaining on Eastern time all year. Up north, however, Elkhart County didn’t seek the switch to Central time as St. Joseph County did.

The federal agency will hold public hearings so local and state officials can appeal the preliminary plan and present reasons why they should either switch to Central or stay on Eastern. Some appeals may be based on the fate of neighboring counties as the specter of varying times for sporting events, work schedules and family gatherings sinks into the collective psyche of residents.

While Knox County, located west of Daviess County, borders Central time-observing Illinois, Pike and Perry counties are located south and east, with Perry County lying farther east than even Martin County, which also wanted to switch to Central time. Sullivan County, which also borders Illinois and lies northwest of Daviess, and Martin County, lying to the east, also failed to make a case for a move to Central time, at least until after the hearings planned in Logansport, South Bend, Terre Haute and Jasper. Expected to take most of the month of November, precise dates for the hearings have yet to be set.

Meanwhile, the DOT calls its proposition “tentative,” making it clear the counties will have the chance to offer more compelling reasons why they should or shouldn’t switch time zones.

“If additional information is provided that indicates that the time zone boundary should be drawn differently, either to include counties currently excluded or to exclude counties that are currently included in this proposal, we will make the change at the final rule stage of this proceeding,” according to the DOT.

Commercial benefit for counties remains the primary reason the agency allows a county to change which time it observes, according to the Associated Press. It analyzes factors involved in business dealings, including where suppliers are located and where products are shipped, as well as where television and radio stations are located. The DOT also considers how many residents work outside the area, and where they travel to work. Which is one glaring reason Crooks believes leaving Daviess and Martin isolated from Knox and Pike would be a colossal mistake.

“People not only work in those areas, but their kids are involved in school activities,” he said. “I’d rather the dividing line be the Illinois state line versus the Daviess-Knox county line. You know, most people believed we were going to find a way to unify the state, but this preliminary report would divide us more than we already are, and that’s no solution.”

Now Crooks hopes everyone can take a deep breath, refuse to panic, and work in the upcoming legislative session for a bipartisan effort to approve a statewide referendum on the time issue in November 2006. Since it wouldn’t be a constitutional change, the measure wouldn’t require being approved twice by the Legislature, Crooks explained.

That way, Hoosiers can vote one way or the other, “winner take all,” Crooks said, on whether they want to live and work in Central or Eastern time. Daniels, however, doesn’t want to begin the new year without answers for every county.

“It is important to nail down that we will have final answers by the end of the year,” Daniels said.

“We’ll be down to two time zones and not three, and Indiana will be in step with the rest of the national economy as our businesses deserve.”
© 2005, The Washington Times-Herald