March 15, 2009
Township reform may hit too close to home for legislators
Legislators unlikely to OK changes to restructure local government
By Mary Beth Schneider
mary.beth.schneider@indystar.com
They've heard the evidence of nepotism, of extraordinarily high administrative costs in delivering aid to the poor and of cash reserves that in many cases far exceed budgets.
Yet state lawmakers appear unlikely to do anything this year about the problems associated with township government.
Many lawmakers don't agree with the solutions that have been offered, most notably the elimination of township government.
But for some in the Statehouse, the issue isn't just about policy. It's about politics. And it's personal.
All state lawmakers participate in local-level political parties in which townships play an active role. Almost a dozen got their political start in township government. Some have relatives who had or continue to hold jobs in township government. And some profit from the existence of township government, including House Minority Leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, who is among the handful of lawmakers who do legal work for townships.
No reforms have passed both the Senate and House. After it was clear that there was little appetite for a bill to eliminate township government, the legislation was amended -- and passed in the Senate -- to deal specifically with nepotism issues and the massive reserves. Those reserves, as much as $200 million statewide, were revealed as part of an ongoing examination of township government by The Indianapolis Star.
But in the House, Democrats pushed to return the bill to its original state, only to then vote it down. Nothing is now likely to pass unless it is tucked into other bills, which most say is highly unlikely.
Among those disappointed by the turn of events, though not necessarily surprised, is Gov. Mitch Daniels, who is the chief champion of eliminating township government.
"We all know that change comes hard, and particularly change in a political system in which people have friends and allegiances, and maybe sentimental memories of their own days in these other jobs," he said. "(Lawmakers) are creatures of the system, the very system we are asking them to consider changing."
Publicly, lawmakers have presented myriad reasons for defeating the legislation, including keeping government closer to the people and a fear and distrust of turning over township responsibilities to a larger layer of government: the counties.
But as Rep. Dan Stevenson, the Highland Democrat who is fighting to eliminate township government, puts it, "it's a lot more about politics than anything."
Obstacle or necessity?
The Indiana Chamber of Commerce has been one of the leading groups pushing for the elimination of township government. Chamber President Kevin Brinegar views the political ties between lawmakers and local government workers as the biggest obstacle to enacting the sought-after changes.
"They're the worker bees back home," he said of township and county employees. "These are people who help in their campaigns."
That's certainly true for Sen. Dennis Kruse, an Auburn Republican who is among the most vocal critics of the governor's push.
Township trustees and advisory board members are among the foot soldiers of the political parties, helping to fill the seats at the parties' annual fundraising dinners, volunteering on campaigns and working the polls on Election Day, Kruse said.
What's more, party precinct officials and trustees are often the same person, he said.
"They're the ones who vote for the replacement in the special elections," Kruse said.
In fact, he won his first elections to the House and to the Senate in a vote of precinct committee members filling vacancies.
"I've had several trustees and advisory board members volunteer on my campaigns over the years," Kruse said. "They campaigned for (state Rep.) Dick Dodge, who took my place in the House. They've helped him win elections."
But if Kruse's concern is primarily political, the concerns of House Minority Floor Leader Bill Friend, R-Macy, are more personal.
Friend has been a township trustee, County Council member and county auditor in Allen County. He acknowledged it would be hard for him to vote to eliminate the jobs of the people who followed him in those positions.
"They are my neighbors, my constituents," Friend said. "I would expect some hard feelings from those folks whose jobs are eliminated."
Asked about the appearance of cronyism, he said: "Call it whatever you want, but who are the cronies who are going to step in and take the jobs? That's the question I keep asking. Who's going to do it?"
The will of the people
For lawmakers, there is another political calculus to consider: What do their constituents want?
The support of Marion County's Center Township leadership clearly benefited the campaign of state Rep. Mary Ann Sullivan, D-Indianapolis.
But Sullivan said her constituents favor government reforms. So, if given the chance, she would vote for them.
But many others whose careers have been helped by township government -- including Reps. Dennie Oxley Sr., D-Taswell, who came to the legislature this year after 16 years as a trustee in Crawford County, and Dodge, a Pleasant Lake Republican who spent more than 20 years in county and township offices -- say their constituents are telling them to vote no.
However they vote, it could have ramifications on their political fortunes.
Sen. Jim Buck, R-Kokomo, voted against the township reforms and has heard rumors that he might face a primary election opponent as a result. Stevenson also has heard he might face an opponent for backing the changes.
Steve Dillinger, one of three Hamilton County commissioners, said he and other county officials recently met with their legislators and laid out the stakes for them.
Lawmakers, he said, were told that if they eliminate a lot of township and county offices, the people who hold those jobs now might run for the legislators' jobs.
"The legislators may be giving themselves a whole lot of competition," Dillinger said.
All in the family
The ties go beyond politics to business and family relationships.
Bosma is an attorney with the Indianapolis law firm of Kroger Gardis & Regas, which was paid more than $542,000 for legal work it did for Center, Franklin, Lawrence, Perry and Warren townships from 2005 to 2007. Bosma is Perry Township's attorney and is negotiating the consolidation of the Perry Township Fire Department with the Indianapolis Fire Department.
"Does it present a conflict? I don't think so," he said of his work. "Does it mean I probably know more about mergers and consolidations than the average legislator? It certainly does."
Bosma said all lawmakers run into areas where they are faced with votes that affect their personal lives. Legislators who are teachers, for example, vote on school funding.
"I vote what I think is in the taxpayers' interests, not with my clients," he said. He could recall abstaining just once on an issue when it directly involved a township case he had worked on as an attorney.
MySmartGov.org, the group leading the charge to pass the legislation, points to a newsletter put out by one township trustee as evidence of the sort of coziness it thinks has forestalled the reforms.
The winter edition of the newsletter published by Lake County's Calumet Township Trustee Mary Elgin is headlined "Brainstorming to Save Townships."
An accompanying photo shows three state lawmakers -- Reps. Charlie Brown and Vernon Smith, both Gary Democrats, and Sen. Frank Mrvan, D-Hammond -- sitting around a table with four township trustees. One of those trustees is Mrvan's son.
"My son's job has nothing to do with it," Mrvan said of his opposition to eliminating townships. "He's young enough and smart enough to get another job."
But, he said, after watching the work his son did as the leading provider of relief after parts of Lake County were socked by floods in 2006 and 2008, he thinks township government is necessary -- particularly in urban areas like his, where the township populations are larger than in many Indiana cities.
"Now there's a recession and people being laid off; the township is a lot more important," Mrvan said.
That argument holds a lot of sway among lawmakers.
Indiana's 1,008 townships employ thousands of people making millions a year. Although they would not all lose their jobs if township governments were eliminated, the potential loss of a steady paycheck in a down economy has helped the opposition.
Different towns and needs
Mrvan's stance reflects a "one size does not fit all" philosophy, a way of thinking that crops up repeatedly in the debate.
Legislators who represent farms and small towns, as well as lawmakers whose districts are entirely in the city, say their districts have special needs that are better met at the township, rather than county, level.
For example, Brown said his constituents would see it as a hardship if township government were eliminated and they had to travel to the county seat -- Crown Point -- to apply for poor relief.
Lawmakers in rural communities also argue that keeping trustees closer to home is better.
A related issue uniting the opposition: the deliberate exclusion of Marion County from the bills.
John Gregg, a former Democratic House speaker from the small town of Sandborn in Knox County, said the feeling that Marion County is always getting a better deal is pervasive in the Statehouse.
"Outside of Indianapolis, all you have to do is say, 'We need to stop Indianapolis from getting more than its fair share' and people will just clap and bark like a bunch of trained seals."
"When something is dictated from Indianapolis, it leaves a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths," he said.
Even if Marion County were added to the measures, a resistance to change in Indiana runs deep.
If anything, it's an Indiana tradition, according to James H. Madison, an Indiana University history professor whose book, "The Indiana Way," argues that Hoosiers prefer continuity and security over change.
"I always say there's never been a revolution in Indiana," Madison said. "It's always an evolution, gradual, often reluctant."
Call Star reporter Mary Beth Schneider at (317) 444-2772.
Additional Facts
