Tim Joyce has posted a lengthy rebuttal (pdf) to the re-petition submitted by the Southwest Indiana counties, paying particular attention to Knox County, on the subject of switching from the Central Time Zone to the Eastern Time Zone. The introductory paragraph:
I hope the following information will prove that the Knox County Commissioners with the help of the Law firm Ice Miller LLP and the other petitioning counties have chose to mislead the Federal Department of Transportation in their quest to change to Eastern Time. I do not understand why they were allowed to petition as a group as it is each county that should petition on their own. I will start by saying that all these counties do have one huge connection and that connection is Evansville, IN. Knox County by itself has very little in common with the other petitioning counties after that. I hope to show that a majority of our workers either come from or go to Central Time Zones even if you take away the other petitioning counties. Our Healthcare Industry, the number one industry in Knox County, has the biggest part of their patients coming from the Central time zone even if you take away the other petitioning counties. Knox County has more people working at just one of our local McDonalds then we have working at Crane Naval Base. Toyota is more of a driving force then the Crane Naval Base or any other industry in any of the petitioning counties. I believe that all the counties should be left on Central but Knox County has the greatest case to stay on Central and I hope to prove that.
A thought of my own on procedure: I don’t really think any of this stuff is correctly put on the old 2005 docket. In my mind, the rule making process stopped when USDOT adopted the rule shifting the time line. Now, you’ve got a new petition from that group of Southwestern Indiana counties. The USDOT should first decide whether a joint petition of this kind is acceptable in the first place. If it is, they should then decide whether the petition makes a case sufficient to begin the rule making process once again. If it does, then and only then should USDOT open a docket with their Notice of Proposed Rule Making after having let citizens know what they have in mind.
I don’t know if following that procedure helps or hurts Central Time proponents. But I don’t think lumping the re-petition in with the old rule making docket is appropriate. I could just be talking out of my hat though; I certainly haven’t done any research on the subject.
I recall Judy Koleta saying at the South Bend hearing that the DOT liked to keep the time zone petition process somewhat informal, and, I think, flexible. It is certainly flexible in who can petition (and I don’t believe the list is actually exhaustive): the executive for the area in question; the legislature of the state for the state or a part of the state; the governor for the state as a whole or for a part of the state. In that respect I suspect the DOT will handle the petitions for the Southwest counties as a group, though they could ask for formal indications of endorsement by a majority of the Boards of Commissioners from each of the counties rather than just a signature of the president of the Boards. As Mr. Joyce effectively points out the glaring defects, even reckless claims, of parts of the new petition this is a step the commissioners should (but probably won’t) take with care, should such a request come to pass.
Given that the new (southwest) petition was forwarded to the DOT under a cover letter from the Governor and the rule change requested was endorsed by him, it could be considered his petition, which would give the DOT another reason to handle it as a group. I am sure though he would deny it was his petition, having carefully avoided actually endorsing any assertion contained in the new “joint” petitions. On that note though he did make his own “reckless” statement that “It is important to note that during the initial petition process, the counties in these affected regions were forced to make their petitions not knowing for certain which time zone their neighbor counties would land in.” That statement is completely misleading with regard to Knox, Pike, Daviess, Dubois and Martin counties, who argued for treatment as a group (with Perry County, which has not repetitioned) during the first request.
I would keep all of matter in the same docket. What is being said today deserves to be immediately seen in connection with what was being said just a year ago.
The docket is closed to comments yet the DOT still places all comments and documents received on this matter on this docket.The petitions,the Governors letter, and DOT correspondence with Pulaski county.My guess is if the DOT issues the NPRM that the commissioners say they will they will simply place a statement on the docket that says it is now open to comment along with notifying the media.
If the rebuttal petitions are not even considered until a NPRM is issued or have to be resubmitted in my opinion it is a DONE DEAL as local commissioners say it is.
If anything that has proven itself to be true through out this whole process is that the Governor will get what he asks for.He asked the DOT to deny the St Joseph county petition after they issued the NPRM to move the county to Central which the DOT did exactly what he asked.The Governor asked the DOT to grant the Martin,Daviess and Dubois county petitions for Central after the DOT had first denied them again doing exactly what the Governor asked.Does anyone see a pattern here?
Phillip-
The first NPRM did not propose to move Pulaski County, the Governor agreed with the denial, but in the final rule Pulaski County was moved.
I would caution strongly against assuming that a “fix” is in place. It questions the professionalism of the DOT officials who, I would guess having now read the Governor’s several letters on the subject, think little of his musings of his opinions on the subject of time. Consider the possibility that the Governor’s office was guessing at the likely outcome of the first proceedings, and made its recommendation on the basis of what it thought would happen in order to make it appear that he had pull with the DOT.
Doug,
As far as the DOT first determining if a joint petition is acceptable heres the way that situation has played out.First the counties contacted the DOT and asked them if they could submit a joint petition.The DOT told them no that each county would have to submit their own petition seperately.This is what the commissioners of Daviess and Martin counties stated in the Loogootee Tribune and Washington Times Hearld.
Enter Governor Daniels who gets involved in the process again and puts the counties in contact with the firm Ice- Miller and a joint petition is now able to be submitted.
This is the way it was presented in the local papers. Were the commissioners making truthful statements on this matter I have no idea but this is the way it was reported.