Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Governance

By: Joe Wallace

Is Evansville to “sneaky but legal” governance what Silicon Valley is to innovation and Hollywood is to film making? It is really getting tiring to endure the news of issue after issue that has been decided by appointed committees for appointed commissions who magically come forward with recommendations that reflect the desires of the people affectionately known as the “powers that be”.

This week, in yet another quietly hatched deal the public and even elected officials of Evansville learned that the decision about who will manage the new Arena was a fait accompli. Of course the process has been asserted by Arena project manager John Kish as legal. Other legal scholars are not in agreement with Mr. Kish but that is immaterial. This scheme was designed to sidestep the lens of public scrutiny or even the oversight of elected officials of Evansville and Vanderburgh County.

As it turned out this decision was not irreversible as several elected officials including City Councilman John Friend who was one of the appointed members of the recommendation committee plead with the Evansville Redevelopment Commission to postpone the vote and involve the City Council, and elected officials from Vanderburgh County. This time the ERC listened and postponed the pre-agreed upon decision until February 15th.

Hopefully the elected officials of the City Council, the County Commissioners, and the County Council will take this opportunity to inject themselves into this “sneaky but legal” process by any means necessary and legitimize it with openness and oversight. A diversity of minds and sound open deliberation should emerge with the best decision for the management of the Arena. That decision may very well be the same decision that was recommended by the appointed Advisory Committee but this time it will have the support that only inclusive processes result in.

Mr. Kish’s assertions of technical legality are the same weakening and embarrassing words that have been used to justify the “sneaky but legal” meeting to take the Homestead Tax Credit from the homeowners of Vanderburgh County. They are the same words used to justify using a convoluted scheme to pay Tom Barnett a competitive salary and to purchase a parking lot at the McCurdy that still awaits the first sounds of construction.

Has “sneaky but legal” become a part of the culture of the City of Evansville or is it just our government? Do the people of Evansville expect openness from local government or is the business as usual of manipulating scenarios to avoid the spirit of the law while following the letter of the law an acceptable way to be governed?

The people who were appointed to the Advisory Committee are to my knowledge all fine people who give regularly of their time to try and make this a better community. Their service is valuable and we should all be thankful that talented professionals are willing to serve in this capacity. The unanswered questions at this point are “who created and formed this advisory committee”, and “who appointed the members”. When those answers are known legal minds can definitively state whether or not Indiana’s open door laws truly apply.

Time and time again the machinations of local government find themselves in a position of having to explain away “sneaky but legal” actions that just don’t seem right to a casual observer. This time the scheme was designed to pull the wool over the eyes of the City Council, the County Commissioners, and the County Council. Next time and history would lead us to believe that there will be a next time, who knows where the “sneaky but legal” intent to deceive may be directed.

Just because something is legal does not mean it is right. The government of the City of Evansville is building a reputation for us as the “Sneaky but Legal” capital of America. Is this how the people of Evansville want to be defined and governed or is more transparency and public dialog preferred? I for one would prefer more openness.

If we never have to endure another convoluted explanation about why some sneaky action really is legal from our local elected officials we will all be better off for it.