According to the Indy Star, Fulton County wants to be on Central time
At a public hearing Thursday, the commissioners voted 3-0 to recommend joining the Central time zone, even though the county does not border any of the other Indiana counties currently in that zone.
That lede is a bit misleading in that all of the counties to the north and west of Fulton have decided to petition for Central time. Marshall, Starke, and Pulaski have voted for Central. Last I heard, there was some talk that Elkhart and Kosciusko would go for Central if St. Joseph did. (Actually, since writing that, I’ve seen where Elkhart might be opposed to central time).
Right now, it’s looking like (if the USDOT were to grant the requests), we’d have a band across the north stretching 2/3 of the way across the state and then the southwestern corner in Central time. The Eastern Time Zone would be about 2 counties thick in the eastern time zone before you’d get to a Central Time Zone county.
Oh, and in the tin-eared, passing the buck department, we have Governor Mitch Daniels. From the Evansville Courier Press:
Gov. Mitch Daniels on Friday responded to county commissioners upset that the decision on whether to apply for a time zone switch has landed squarely on their shoulders.
“I think that some of these folks would rather not have been forced to deal with an issue of local importance – but in that case they shouldn’t have run for their job,” Daniels said. He said deciding from a state-level perspective where time zone hearings should be held would have caused a backlash.
“I think the most irresponsible thing we could have done is to try to dictate an answer from (Indianapolis),” Daniel said.
Dubois County Commissioner Larry Vollmer is among thosewho wish state lawmakers or the governor’s office would have resolved the issue. He said legislators, backed by a push from Daniels, opened the debate by moving the entire state to observing daylight-saving time.
“I never had a complaint or call on the time issue until the General Assembly passed that,” he said. And Vollmer, a Democrat, said Daniels campaigned on moving most of the state to one time zone and expressed his preference for Central time.
“But then that didn’t get accomplished and it almost looks like (Daniels has) just left the ball in our court,” he said.
That’s right, ladies and gentlemen: Governor Daniels says that the issue of a proper time zone in Indiana is a local issue. In fact, it would have been irresponsible of the General Assembly to try to make a decision on the proper placement of a time line. In fact, County Commissioners who feel like the State passed the buck on this issue are just so many whining ninnies who shouldn’t have run for their jobs.
That’s a jaw-dropping sentiment when you think about the history of this process. Daniels can’t leave well enough alone, passes a law that only addresses half the equation, and then criticizes local officials who don’t feel like they should have to try to solve the hardest part of the problem for him. I hope local officials remember this when Gov. Daniels comes to their town or county.
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