TERRE HAUTE — It will be business as usual for many city officials despite a decision by the Indiana Court of Appeals on Thursday regarding the results of the 2007 mayoral election.
In a 2-1 ruling, the court ruled neither former Mayor Kevin Burke nor current Mayor Duke Bennett should occupy the seat and that a special election should take place to determine who should fill the position.
“The most important thing is that we continue to do the business of the city and to wait for the next official step and try to set aside speculation about what might happen and play the hand we’re dealt,” said City Council President Todd Nation, D-4th.
Nation said the decision was not expect to affect council business, a sentiment echoed by many of his colleagues.
“I think that from my perspective, being a freshman councilman, coming in here you realize how much your fellow councilmen and your fellow elected officials care about the city, those that win and those that lose,” said councilman John Mullican, D-6th. “So I don’t have any doubt that somebody who goes through the rigors of a campaign really wants the best for the city, so no matter how it comes out, we as a council will work as hard as we can to keep everything stable and I’m confident that whoever inherits the job will work hard to maintain stability and get us through this tough fiscal challenge that we face with our budget in the next few years.”
Though Bennett won the race by 110 votes last November, Burke challenged his win stating he was ineligible to run because he was in violation of the Hatch Act. The law limits federal employees and employees of not-for-profits that receive federal funding to run for any political office.
Before becoming mayor, Bennett was the director of operations the Hamilton Center Inc., which received federal funding for its Head Start program.
Councilman Rich Dunkin, D-1st, wasn’t surprised by the decision because it could have been “a coin toss” and gone either way, he said. He agreed with his fellow councilmen in that the decision shouldn’t affect business until a decision comes down from the Indiana Supreme Court.
Thursday’s decision both did and did not surprise councilman Norm Loudermilk, D-3rd, he said, because he always thought Bennett violated the Hatch Act, but that it wasn’t intentional. He thought the court would have said the spirit of the Hatch Act wasn’t violated and allow the popular vote to stand, he said.
Loudermilk said the special election portion of the decision was the most surprising — and disappointing — because an additional election is expected to cost nearly $600,000, a tab the taxpayers would have to pick up.
“I would never stop anybody’s right to appeal,” he said, “but that’s an awful lot of tax dollars to prove a point.”
He emphasized the decision would not affect the council and its business.
“I want to make sure the public knows and it’s extremely clear that this council is united in the effort to provide the best service that we can provide for the taxpayers and do the job that we were duly elected to do,” Loudermilk said. “So therefore, the discussion and the contest with the mayor’s office only affects the council in that we need to know who signs the bottom of the ordinance.”
For councilman Don Morris, D-at large, it’s about the upcoming fiscal challenges the city will face and not about the decision and who becomes mayor.
“When I heard this, I thought both of them have won and both of them have lost because whoever comes in is going to inherit these cuts coming down from the state and that’s the biggest concern,” he said. “It’s very scary what’s going to happen in the next three years, so do they really want the job?”
Getting over economic problems was more important for councilman Jim Chalos, D-at large, who said too much energy is being spent on other things.
“… It’s getting to sound a lot like two kids fighting over a Tonka toy. Unfortunately, whenever you get two kids fighting over a toy, the toy gets broken, so I just think it’s time to get along,” Chalos said. “We’ve got a lot economical problems, we’ve got economic problems in this country, we’ve got some in the city, so it’s just time to move on with the city business and start planning the future of our kids and for the people of the city. We’re concentrating too much on fighting than on getting work done.”
Councilmen George Azar, D-at large, and Turk Roman, D-at large, agreed this decision would not have a huge impact on council and city business, but noted it could affect some larger appropriations or long-range plans the administration was planning as it’s unclear who will lead the administration.
“This will not have a significant effect on the council, on city business,” Roman said. “… There are certain plans, long range, the mayor and the council are working on that we’re going to be a little apprehensive, but otherwise we’ll proceed.”
At the end of the day, it’s not about who the mayor is, but what’s best for each councilman’s district, said councilman Neil Garrison, D-5th.
“It’s not really what I think or feel sometimes, I still have to remain in a position to represent my district,” he said. “I’ve been back and forth for months thinking that there’s no way this would go through and then I’d go the other way, so I don’t think I would have been surprised either way. Like a lot of folks, I got a little bit numb to it because I’ve been so close to the people involved and the issue.”
Crystal Garcia can be reached at (812) 231-4271 or crystal.garcia@tribstar.com.
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City Council plans business as usual despite court decision
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