Mary Beth Schneider has an article for the Indy Star entitled Time zones put counties on defensive.
The article puts the tally as, definite Central: Daviess, Fulton, Marshall, Pulaski, and Starke. It characterizes St. Joseph as being on the fence with a quote from Commissioner Cynthia Bodle saying that it was not certain St. Joe would petition. Also on the fence is Dubois, Jay, Johnson, Pike, and Tippecanoe.
And Daniels response continues to be breathtaking in its disingenuity, acting like this patchwork approach to time zones is a great development. Part of his master plan, almost.
County commissioners in both parties, and in all areas of the state, said they are angry that the state legislature, Gov. Mitch Daniels and the federal government have stuck them with this issue.
Daniels said he doesn’t think most county commissioners feel that way.
“Oh no, they don’t,” Daniels said. “The most irresponsible thing we could have done is to try to dictate an answer from here. Some of these folks would rather not be forced to deal with an issue of local importance, but in that case they shouldn’t have run for the job.”
Daniels fought in this year’s legislative session for passage of a bill moving all of Indiana to daylight-saving time. The bill lawmakers passed required Daniels to ask the federal government for time zone hearings.
In his campaign, Daniels said Central time made the most sense for Indiana, but he refused to state a preference to the federal government.
Instead, he asked for a series of regional hearings. In July, U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta turned down that request and said the issue should be decided county-by-county.
That was not entirely a surprise to the Daniels administration.
An e-mail the state government released to The Indianapolis Star last week shows that on May 20 — the day Daniels sent the initial letter to the federal Department of Transportation asking for the hearings — the governor’s office already was concerned that regional hearings would not be possible.
The e-mail from Debbie Hohlt, who represents Indiana in Washington, D.C., notes that “there is some concern on our part that the (transportation department) counsel may insist we have a more specific proposal in order for the DOT to conduct public hearings in Indiana.”
. . .
Yoder said the people in his county are angry the time issue ever came up at all. “Overwhelmingly people want to be left alone,” he said.
A Republican in a strongly Republican county, Yoder said Daniels’ popularity is hitting bottom in his part of the state. “I don’t think I’ve talked to anybody in the last two months that had anything good to say about the governor. I don’t think he could get 10 votes in this county now.”
. . .
Daniels said the debate has been worth the angst.
For too long, he said, Indiana has had three time zones: “Central Time, Eastern Time and the Twilight Zone.”
Now, he said, the whole state will be on daylight-saving time, with two time zones.
“The era of total confusion will be over.”
Contrast this with the Daniels statements and analysis posted by Paul yesterday:
According the Indiana Law Blog for 9 February 2004 citing the Indy Star:
“Republican candidate for governor Mitch Daniels today called for the state to adopt one time zone. On the politically sensitive topic, Daniels said Indiana should observe Daylight-Savings Time and would be best served under Central time, which is what is observed in Chicago and Northwest Indiana.”Indy channel 6 reported:
“Republican gubernatorial candidate Mitch Daniels said Monday he wants to move most of Indiana to the Central time zone and have it observe daylight-saving time statewide.”“Daniels’ statement was part of a series of economic development initiatives he announced. He said the time change would put Indiana within two hours of everyone in the continental United States and make it easier for companies inside and outside the state to do business.”
Pretty clear that he thought the time issue was a matter of state wide concern I would think. Of course he may still think so, but is now hoping that inertia and the pull of Indianapolis will keep us “eastern” and that the issue will slowly fade. Of course, if it is the case that he has adopted stall and obfuscation on this issue, then Indianapolis will decide this issue for most of the state. Or rather, I should say the Indianapolis and Indiana Chambers of Commerce and the local political establishment in Marion County, since it appears that at least a plurality of Marion County’s residents would prefer Central.
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