INDIANAPOLIS - Daviess County Commissioners were the first in Southwestern Indiana to cross a threshold when they voted Monday to apply to the federal government to be moved to the Central Time Zone.
Now county workers are compiling information they will use to make their case that the county's economy would be best served by being on the same time as Evansville.
But many more Southwestern Indiana counties are still straddling the fence as the deadline looms for making an official application.
The Legislature opened the time-zone debate when it voted to move all of Indiana to observing daylight-saving time starting in spring 2006. That means most of Indiana will be on Eastern daylight-saving time.
But to get the bill passed, a provision required Gov. Mitch Daniels to ask the U.S. Department of Transportation, which controls the time zone lines, to review Indiana's time boundaries. Daniels first asked the federal Transportation Department to review the issue. His letter was neutral on the proper time zone. In a later letter, he asked for statewide public hearings.
But the Department of Transportation chose instead to request that counties interested in moving to Central time apply by Sept. 16 so all requests could be reviewed as a whole. Counties have always been able to request a time zone change.
County officials are not happy that the issue has fallen into their lap, saying instead that it should be solved on a state level.
In fact, in Dubois County, the commissioners invited state lawmakers and even Daniels to attend their public hearing on Sept. 6, but none are going to make it.
"I wish our forum would be sooner," said Commissioner Larry Vollmer. "I've never run into an issue like this before."
"I really truly hope that people understand that we (commissioners) are just three human beings and we just have to pick one or the other," he said.
Notwithstanding the political heat the issue is generating, county commissioners across the state are now faced with the decision: Vote to pursue Central time or by lack of action, start observing Eastern daylight-saving time.
Only the Daviess County Commissioners in Southwestern Indiana have voted, but many other counties have hearings planned. Some have also tentatively scheduled votes.
Knox County Commissioner Jerry Brocksmith said the move to observe daylight-saving time has him leaning toward Central time.
"(Moving to daylight-saving time) motivates us to think harder about aligning with the Central zone simply because of the work patterns," he said. "I think the economic pressure is to go ahead and align with the rest of the (Evansville) pocket."
But Vollmer said he's leaning towards Eastern.
"In Eastern time, we'd be tied to Louisville and Indianapolis and just out of sync with Evansville," he said.
Perry County Commissioners President Terry Lock said that what Dubois County decides will vastly affect the opinion in his community. He said that of those who leave the county to work, a slim majority travel to Central time areas. But the vast majority would travel to central if Dubois joins in.
"We're being real cautious," Lock said. But he said their commission will vote Sept. 1 on whether to petition and won't wait for Dubois County to decide.
In northern Indiana, the push to move to Central seems to be gaining more speed with more county commissioners having taken concrete votes. Commissioners in Marshall, Pulaski and Starke counties have all voted for a petition for Central. In St. Joseph County, local bodies have also supported a petition though the commissioners have not yet voted.
Meanwhile, the Indiana Chamber of Commerce is sending Brian Bergsma, director of economic development policy, across the state to make the case for Eastern time to local officials.
"Counties ... have had 30 years to petition (for a time zone change) and have never chosen to do so," Bergsma said. "That only screams for the argument for why they should stay in (Eastern)."
Rep. Dave Crooks, D-Washington, was the lead rallier of pro-Central time forces during the daylight-saving time debate but said he's mostly kept a low profile while the counties consider the issue. He said that's due in part to the fact that he still thinks a statewide debate on Central time would be better.
"I told (Daviess County officials) not to move to Central because it won't help the statewide debate but they felt enough pressure to go themselves," Crooks said. "I'm a little torn at this point because I hate to see just a few more counties added to Central and that's the end of the debate."
© 2005 The Evansville Courier Co.