03/12/2009 - Follow McDermott’s lead on reforms (Times of Northwest Indiana)

Among the biggest issues facing the Indiana General Assembly this year is the need to streamline local government. And yet the reforms are facing major obstacles.

So it was good to see Lake County Democratic Party Chairman Thomas McDermott Jr. testify Tuesday morning in support of nearly all of the Indiana Commission on Local Government Reform recommendations.

McDermott Jr. deserves credit for his support of these reforms. Now everyone else should rally behind that banner.

The gauntlet has now been thrown down before Lake County Republican Party Chairman John Curley. He should follow McDermott's lead in supporting a change from the status quo in Lake County.

As the commission headed by former Gov. Joe Kernan and Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall Shepard said in its Dec. 2007 report: "We've got to stop governing like this."

Lake County has seen many reform proposals in recent years and has failed to jump feet first into any of these ideas. Some of the Good Government Initiative recommendations are being implemented, but there's a long way to go.

The Kernan-Shepard Commission's reforms are meant to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of local government across the state. It's going to take a groundswell of public opinion to fight the entrenched interests protecting their turf instead of protecting the taxpayers.

McDermott has developed a reputation as a reformer, which is why he was chosen to take the Democratic Party's leadership from former chairman Rudy Clay.

Fellow Democrats in Lake County must rally behind McDermott. And Curley and his GOP supporters must rally behind Gov. Mitch Daniels, a fellow Republican in support of these reforms.

The Porter County Commissioners have voiced their support of these reforms. Let's now hear from Porter County Republican Party Chairman Joyce Webster and Porter County Democratic Party Chairman Jeff Chidester.