LESS GOVERNMENT
The Commission headed by former Governor Joe Kernan and Chief Justice Randall Shepard has come out with its list of recommendations to streamline the more than 3000 units of local government in Indiana.
They include…
Counties
Establish a single-person county elected chief executive. Establish unified legislative body for county government. Transfer county administrative office duties (coroner, surveyor, auditor, etc) to the county executive. Put local assessments under a county executive. Create a countywide body to over see all public safety. Consolidate all emergency dispatch services.
Townships
Transfer all township duties to county government. Move small claims court in Marion County to the superior courts.
Local Governments
Give voters more power to force consolidation. Prohibit employees of a local government from serving as elected officials within the same local government unit. And only elected officials will be allowed to raise taxes.
Schools
Move school board elections to November in even years. Reorganize school districts to have a minimum population of 2000 students. Require school bonds be approved by the fiscal body containing the greatest proportion of assessed value in the district. Encourage joint purchasing.
Cities and Towns
Move all municipal elections to an even-year cycle. Transfer municipal health departments to the county health department.
Libraries and Special Districts
Reorganize library systems by county and provide permanent library service for all citizens. Require all bonds and budgets be approved by the fiscal body of the municipal or county government containing the greatest proportion of the assessed value in the unit seeking approval.
The State would also set up a system to monitor these recommendations.
I’ll have more later today.
December 11th, 2007 at 9:50 am
Those ideas sound good to me on the surface. But, whoa! Is that going to bring out those whose lifestyle will be threatened by the prospect of having to get a real job! Brickbats will begin flying almost immediately from those who think no one else can get their jobs done.
December 11th, 2007 at 10:24 am
These changes have about as much a chance as seeing the light of day as Santa dropping a set of keys to a new Ferrari down my chimney on Christmas.
Anyone who’s been around Indiana politics for a while, not just here in Marion County, will tell you that this commission’s boat won’t float. In Indiana, good government does not equal good politics.
They’ve wasted their I’m afraid to say but their ideas are sound, just not poltically possible.
December 11th, 2007 at 11:02 am
These are great recommendations! There will be a lot of resistance from the politicians who stand to lose personal power or prestige. To be successful, the public will have to be real vocal in support of these proposals.
December 11th, 2007 at 11:57 am
My only reservation so far:
Centralization and consolidation of authority leaves voters with less individual control over local governance. Local representation and the ability to influence our immediate community is the cornerstone of maintaining individual liberty. Cast it aside at your own risk.
I would recommend utilizing current technology to increase efficiencies rather than eliminating local representation.
If fiefdoms are a concern, regulate them and prosecute them.
If redundancy is a concern, what happens on my block is never redundant. It won’t be fixed by a guy on the other side of the county who’s listening to a developer who’s promising to place him in the State House.
Local government has a distinct and important role in our nation. If we can justify it’s removal due to costs, why can’t we justify removal of State government due to cost as well? The reason is simple. Government by the people works best when it’s conducted at the local level. It allows Americans to have a direct impact on their local quality of life, rather than a larger “catch-all” umbrella that socialist nations have adopted.
December 11th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
MAJOR recommendations with regards to the Courts. Not surprising considering the CJ has been looking for this opportunity for years.
December 11th, 2007 at 4:00 pm
Oh, these recommendations will see the light of day…no one need worry!
The power shift is moving back to the people…where it belongs! Now, hopefully we can keep people awake and dedicated to reforming our state.
We see hope that The People are going to be just fine and TOGETHER (The People & The Legislators) we are going to fix our broken state.
December 11th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
Abdul, did you know that the city is moving all its contracts this week to a new building? Do you have any idea why? There’s a blurb about it on our blog.
Here’s what is known:
http://hoosiersforfairtaxation.blogspot.com/2007/12/city-records-moving-at-record-speed.html
December 11th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
More important question is “who owns the building and will profit from this lease”?
December 11th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
I assume they’re moving the contracts to a building that has a much bigger shredder.
December 11th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
Maybe it’s the U.N. black helicopters transporting those secret Indianapolis contracts to an undisclosed location in San Francisco for the Carlyle Group or the TriLateral Commission?
December 11th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
It’s a dam conspiracy taken those contracts. That’s what it is, a dam conspiracy.
December 11th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
I just hope the commission’s report gets some consideration. It will be interesting to see who is going to scurry to protect what jobs.
December 11th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
Hurray! We finally have a proposal. I can’t wait to amend the state constitution to conform with contemporary needs of Indiana!!!!
December 12th, 2007 at 12:38 am
Wilson46201
December 11th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
Maybe it’s the U.N. black helicopters transporting those secret Indianapolis contracts to an undisclosed location in San Francisco for the Carlyle Group or the TriLateral Commission?
What flavor is the koolaid tonight, Wilson? Grape?
December 12th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
Check out the Commission’s website for details. Please take the time to read this important report.
http://indianalocalgovreform.iu.edu/index.html
December 12th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
I like the one that states..”Prohibit employees of a local government from serving as elected officials within the same local government unit. And only elected officials will be allowed to raise taxes.”
I have always thought there is too much room for “back-scratching”.
December 12th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
Wilson, I think you may have a point about thise black helicopters and the Carlyle Group.
The Carlyle Group is listed as the 15th largest contributor to Senator Evan Bayh(D). They’ve sent him loads of cash from the time he first ran. Total this year is over $32,000.
Didn’t Peterson use to work for the Senator?
December 12th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
John,
Interesting info. Why would a Bush/Saudi defense contractor be contributing to the Dems?
hold on a second, I hear a rumbling sound…. I think its a black helicoptor outside – I gotta go…
OK, I’m back. It was only wilson – he was mumbling something about pinto beans and Taco Bell.
December 13th, 2007 at 8:35 am
Shorebreak,
For a complete list of who gives money to who please go to OPENSECRETS.ORG. They track and keep current all the contributors that have bought our elected officials.
I surprised to see that Goldman Sachs had give Evan Bayh over $132,000.
Money always seems to be the smoking gun.
December 13th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
John, if I had asked you the question in person “Why would a Bush/Saudi defense contractor be contributing to the Dems?”, you could have collected the sarcasm in a bucket as it dripped off of my words. I should have used the in my post.
In reality, there is only one leading political party in Washington. It’s called the Corporate Party and is comprised of both GOP and Dem officials. Membership is obligatory to gain a senior appointment (committee chair, cabinet position, President, etc). Just as you can follow the money trails, as you have stated, you can also follow the the money to the corporate board member trails. They all lead back to the same places, and they all flow to the leading officials (aka the media darlings) on both sides of the imaginary political aisle.
As you connect the dots, the leadership of four primary groups become very close indeed – government, business, media, and education.