Candidate for Posey County County Commission Gives Speech To Kiwanis Club

Good evening everyone! First I’d like to thank Kiwanis President Tom Stahl for inviting me to speak with you.

I’m happy to be here tonight and to be given the privilege of announcing my candidacy for the Posey County, District 2, Commissioner’s Seat in the November election as a Libertarian. I’m Dan Barton, Publisher of The New-Harmony Gazette. I am no career politician! I’m just like many of you sitting in the audience tonight. I have been an interested observer and a sometimes commentator on the political process that we all witness here in Posey County every day.

This discussion tonight will be a discussion about facts!

As Abraham Lincoln once remarked in a speech he gave nearly 160 years ago – “The facts with which I shall deal this evening are mainly old and familiar….”

On the morning of August 19th, 2014, over 200 Posey County residents gathered at Hovey House in Mt. Vernon. They were there to plead with the County Commissioners to allow Posey County to take title to the closed Harmony Way Bridge from the White County Bridge Commission. They had hoped that it would be reopened for the economic and social benefit of our county, town, and region.

After more than a dozen speakers came forward, Commissioner Carl Schmitz called for a vote on the County taking ownership of the Harmony Way Bridge.

When asked, Jerry Walden voted “YES.”

When asked if he was ready to vote on transferring ownership of the Harmony Way Bridge to Posey County, Commissioner Jim Alsop said, “With great reluctance, ‘YES’. You ask my wife, that wasn’t what I was going to do coming in. I haven’t slept for three or four nights, and I probably won’t sleep tonight. It’s tough folks, being from New Harmony. It’s really tough. Because I do have a responsibility to the community as a whole. There are 25,000 people in Posey County that I have the responsibility to. I’m putting myself out there, but I think that we can try to find a way to make it happen and if we don’t, we tried. And I want to do this stuff for four more years!” He was up for re-election in the Fall.

Commissioner Schmitz said, “Being as the other two voted yes, I’ll go with a “YES” too, then…” They all voted “Unconditionally” – “YES” – to transfer ownership of the Harmony Way Bridge to Posey County.

The room erupted into applause and cheers. I thought, “What a great and courageous community I have come into!” I was happy that I had made the decision to come to New Harmony the previous Spring, to live and open my newspaper. But all was not as it appeared that day! Everybody at that August meeting knew that Commissioner Alsop was up for reelection in November 2014.

In the back of their minds, many audience members that day were no doubt worried, like me, about something going wrong on the bridge ownership vote after the November Commissioners election was held.

But the vote was “Unconditional” and so, at least for the time being, most seemed to accept that it would stick. As we know now, it was not to be! The County Commissioners election of 2014 came and went. Jim Alsop has re-elected that November to the County Commission.

Almost immediately following the election a memo from Posey County Commission Attorney Jacob Weiss was sent to all of the County Commissioners.

Weiss, who’s also employed by the William H. Bender Law Firm, stated in the private memo, not shared with the public, and dated November 17, 2014, that he thought the Commissioners “Owed an answer on how the County Commission would move forward regarding the Harmony Way Bridge to the two remaining White County Bridge Commissioners, to the Study Committee, and to the residents of Posey County.”

Weiss further stated that He and Bill, “Have laid out the best way forward.” It seems they were taken aback by the vote of the County Commission in August when the County Commissioners unanimously voted to take “Unconditional” title to the Harmony Way Bridge.

Weiss goes on, “We need to give the Study Committee a ‘Mission Like Statement’ that consists of a list of Our enumerated concerns.” He seems to be directing these elected officials on how to handle this surprise August vote. Call it damage control, if you will.

In fact, he says later, “Lastly, there will always be a slight element of surprise with a public meeting, but let’s not surprise each other if it is within Our control.”

The ‘Mission Like Statement’ the attorneys conceived was called, ‘A List Of Our Enumerated Concerns,’ and it said, “If Our concerns are not answered to Our satisfaction then We ‘do not sign’ the deed and bill of sale for transfer of the ownership of the bridge. Bill and I know this is why the Study Committee was established, but We feel We need to be explicit in Our direction.”

Here is the list of some of their Concerns, at least, “For starters!” says Weiss:

1)…How much and where will the money come from to pay for the land survey?

2)…To pay for the initial inspection?

3)…To pay for the Bridge repair?

4)…To pay for the annual inspection?

Remember ladies and gentlemen, if these are not answered to the lawyers’ satisfaction, then the County Commissioners are ordered not to sign the deed and bill of sale. A marked change from the vote on August 19th to take ownership of the Harmony Way Bridge, with no conditions specified.

Weiss continually uses the word “We” as though he is speaking for the elected body. For instance, he says, “We need to be explicit in our questions to the Study Committee…” or, “I am not comfortable with ‘Federal Grant’ as an answer.” He also urges in the memo, “ I know you wouldn’t take ownership of something you cannot afford in your personal lives; why would you do it as a steward of Public Funds?”

Writing as though to say that it was a foregone conclusion that the Harmony Way Bridge was not affordable or profitable.

THE FACTS:

One only has to look at the bridge engineering studies by V.S. Engineers or Jim Barker, P.E., to know that the bridge is repairable at a reasonable enough price to get it operational, profitable and running in a very short time.

The latest study by V.S. Engineers put the total cost of repairs at under $500,000. Jim Barker put the price even further below that; under $100,000. As low as $30,000, in his September 2012 Harmony Way Bridge Inspection Report.

Barker believed that the bridge could have been reopened with minimal repair within a month of its closing. If that’s not enough, then all one has to do is review the January 2013 Operations Status Report on the Harmony Way Bridge by Certified Public Accountants, Botsch, and Associates. It covers that last full year of operations, 2011.

If anywhere near the 300,000 or so vehicles that passed over the bridge in the last full year of operation had been tolled at two dollars per car, the bridge would have grossed around $600,000. By applying the 2011 total expenses for that year of nearly $300,000 the bridge would have had a net profit of around $300,000.

What happened to the Harmony Way Bridge shouldn’t have happened. The things that doomed the bridge to disrepair and closure should not have doomed it to annihilation! Certainly not to a permanent state of deactivated disablement!

The bridge was paying out 54% of its Operational Expenses, or $175,613, in 2011, as combined labor costs of one form or another. These labor costs were grossly out of line with all other Operational Costs and could have adversely affected operations. They should have been addressed.

But the Harmony Way Bridge was not and is not the “Unaffordable” risk of public funds that attorney Weiss portrays in his memo. That’s proven in the documents.

Those financial documents were available to Weiss, Bender, Alsop, Schmitz, and Walden way before the August, and the December 2014 Posey County Commissioners meetings. The true numbers say that the Bridge had good profit potential.

Over the last seven years, the bridge’s closure can be estimated to have cost all of us nearly a million dollars a year from lost tolls and lost transient spending by motorists traveling through Posey County on Indiana 66.

Now that “IS” something New Harmony and Posey County can’t afford from these “Stewards of our Public Funds.”

None of our County Commissioners should have put themselves at the mercy of an attorney, to be directed on how to make a decision on this very simple problem. Remember Weiss’ memo was put together after the County Commissioners vote in August 2014 to take “Unconditional” title to the Harmony Way Bridge. That vote was not stated as a vote to take the title and then later add conditions after Commissioner Jim Alsop was re-elected.

The new conditions demanded that New Harmony adopt, under a partnership with Posey County, obligations and expenses that the Town couldn’t meet. And in effect, would kill any initiative to go forward on the acquisition of the bridge.

Once the Commissioners had Jim Alsop’s re-election behind them, they now had an opportunity to ignore the August vote. They then developed, with their attorneys, two more documents with conditions, that, as we’ll see shortly, New Harmony couldn’t take on.

It would all but ensure that the partnership was dead on arrival. The bridge deal would never happen.

Don’t you think it would have been known ahead of time, that if New Harmony was forced into a position to take on all financial responsibility for all future bridge expenses and liability, with no control over any bridge income, that New Harmony would not go along with the Partnership? Then the Commissioners could back out of their August commitment to take ownership of the bridge. I ask myself, “Could this have been a planned exit strategy? A fait accompli?”

In the August 2014 meeting, Commissioner Jim Alsop asked New Harmony Town Council President Joe Straw the key question directly:

Q – Alsop – “Joe Straw, has the Town entertained any interest in purchasing the bridge? They came to you and asked you at one time!”

A – Straw – “There’s no way that New Harmony can afford to accept that liability of what we’re talking about here this morning!” One of those two additional documents the lawyers prepared was called “Contract for Purchase of The Harmony Way Bridge.” It contained a clause entitled “Buyer’s Special Conditions to Closing.” It stated – “As a Condition Precedent to closing, Buyer must have executed an interlocal agreement to Buyer’s [Posey County’s] satisfaction with the Town Council of New Harmony, Indiana that protects the interests of the Buyer [Posey County].” But it would not protect New Harmony!

That Document was dependent on a second Document called – “Agreement for Assurances for Purchase of The Harmony Way Bridge.” This was a contract where the County Commissioners proposed that the Town of New Harmony sign and agree that they would take ownership of the bridge as “Partners.”

This was the Document that would have tied New Harmony into an arrangement whereby New Harmony took on all of the expenses and liabilities and relieved Posey County of everything but access to the income. It was an agreement doomed to fail from the beginning, based on the August comments by the New Harmony Town Council President Joe Straw. I have made copies of that Document and passed them out prior to my discussion for your own review, at your convenience. I think you will see what I mean.

The Partnership Agreement goes on to state: “Upon the failure of the Town to meet any of the deadlines set forth in any of the conditions described in the proposed agreement, the County has the sole discretion to convey the Harmony Way Bridge to the Town. This Right to Convey is unconditional and not subject to rejection by the Town for any reason.”

Sound like a good deal to you?

Commissioner Jim Alsop now spoke! Even though he had voted to take ownership of the Harmony Way Bridge and his re-election would have feasibly benefited from his bridge ownership vote in August, he now said, “We have two choices! The choices are, we can agree to enter into a contract for the purchase of the Harmony Way Bridge, Subject to the Conditions of the Contract, or we can rescind our vote of August 19th and decide not to take ownership of the bridge. I am prepared to go either way, but with that being said, I will agree to enter into a motion, to enter into a contract for the purchase of the Harmony Way Bridge, Subject to the Conditions Listed in the Contract. If all the conditions are not met, we will not take deed and title to the bridge.” Sound familiar?

Walden then said, “This is the first time I’ve seen this contract, I haven’t really had a chance to read through it…What I’m concerned about is whether or not this gives ample authority to start applying for grants. That’s the question in my mind.” Alsop’s reply- “You do the legwork! Those are things you can do!”

The final vote was 2-1 to enter into a contract with the White County Bridge Commission to purchase the Harmony Way Bridge, Provided the Conditions Outlined in the Contract Are Met!”

Walden voted, “NO”

New Harmony was not able to meet the conditions and did not reply to the “Assurance Contract.” Just as Joe Straw said to Alsop in August, “There’s No Way!” Posey County never entered into the Purchase Contract with the White County Bridge Commission.

THE CONCLUSION: Hopefully this has been a trip of discovery. A trip on which you might ask yourself, “Do we want to continue the next four years with this same type of leadership? Or do we need a change?”

The Harmony Way Bridge could have been opened in 2015 if one of the Commissioners had just spoken up against the documents that demanded the conditions that New Harmony clearly couldn’t meet. The one “NO” vote should have been a unanimous “NO” vote by all three Commissioners, eliminating the Conditions. These unacceptable demands on New Harmony gave the County Commission the opportunity to do nothing regarding their August 2014 vote.

Some of you are probably thinking, “That’s all water under the bridge. We now have a Harmony Way Bridge Authority and the bridge problem is behind us!” But is it? What about the next problem that comes down the pike?

Why should we care? Well, we should care. Because whether someone wants to believe it or not, we are all one County. There is no dividing line between North and South Posey. Because the effect of poor leadership on anyone small town has an effect on every town in the county. The capacity for weak decision making will show up again.

It saddens me to look at some of the small towns in Posey County that were once bustling centers of activity and commerce and are now dusty back-country villages just hanging on. I wonder if County disinterest, and channeling money away, was a cause of this small town deterioration and depopulation?

Jim Alsop, at his Kiwanis discussion in January 2015 and Carl Schmitz at his Poseyville Cracker Barrell pronouncement in March 2017, made references to the effect that re-opening the Harmony Way Bridge would cost millions upon millions of dollars. But neither Commissioner can back those statements up with fact. In fact, it would cost thousands! Not tens of millions!

Lincoln might have said at this point: If a commissioner believes that it costs many millions of dollars to re-open the Harmony Way Bridge, then that Commissioner has a right to express that opinion, and to support that argument with factual data, but not with conjecture and made up facts. For an elected official has no right to lead others, who have less access to factual material and less leisure time to study it, into a false belief about costs.

I know it now looks like the efforts of private citizens such as Lora Arneberg and the new Bridge Committee may pay off. We may yet see the Harmony Way Bridge in operation again. But, as it stands today, County Commission President Jim Alsop has not yet named his choice to be on the newly approved Bridge Authority. Nor has New Harmony Town Council President Blaylock or Indiana Governor Holcomb. Without officers, the Bridge Authority only looks good on paper.

Most recently, December 2017, Commissioner Jim Alsop turned down New Harmony Town Councilman David Flanders on a request for $1,850 to assist the Town of New Harmony in covering the costs of a needed U.S.G.S. shoreline study. County Commission President Alsop said that Posey County just didn’t have the money available. They’d committed $16 million dollars on a jail expansion. Lack of funds was the same excuse Alsop used in 2014.

We citizens must have full access to the same data as our elected officials. It’s called transparency, and I stand fore-square for it. I mean to be pro-active on that subject if elected. It’s the only way we can ensure that what we are hearing is the truth.

If our citizens had been given the opportunity beforehand to see and review the Partnership Documents that the County Commissioners brought out suddenly in the December 2014 meeting, there would have possibly been a different outcome on their decision. Without full access and disclosure, we are at the total mercy of their word. And their word, as I have just shown, will not stand the test of examination and can cost our small towns millions of dollars and perhaps their very survival. The Harmony Way Bridge is a perfect example. This is one of the reasons I’m running for District 2 County Commissioner. To pry the doors of secrecy open!

As I said in my opening remarks, I am running as the Libertarian Party Candidate, so I will not appear on the Democrat or Republican Party ballots. In the event that any of you are looking to cast your vote for me, I’m listed as a Libertarian.

Thank You

Dan Barton

New Harmony