07281991 - News Article - This gamble isn't worth the chance - The land of corruption

This gamble isn't worth the chance 
The land of corruption

Post-Tribune (IN)
July 28, 1991
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One of my frustrations is the attitude in Northwest Indiana toward corruption. Nobody seems to think much about it, least of all the voters. 

There's currently a Lake County councilman, Ezell Cooper of Gary, who is waiting to be sentenced after pleading guilty in federal court to charges associated with embezzlement of steelworker union funds. 

Lake County Commissioner Steve Corey of Hobart has not been charged with anything. But East Chicago political fixer Vince Kirrin has been convicted on federal conspiracy charges that involve a bribe being paid to Corey so that a company controlled by Kirrin would receive the contract to clean the Lake County Government Center in Crown Point. 

Who did Kirrin conspire with if not Corey? 

Last year Corey voted to approve a contract for the county to buy computer voting machines from an Indianapolis company after the company hired his son. And for no apparent reason, Corey and fellow commissioner Rudy Clay now want to purchase 160 more machines from the company than there are precincts in which the machines will be used. 

The putrid smell of Lake County government is not new. 

Former Lake County Commissioner Noah Atterson Spann of East Chicago is serving a federal prison term for taking bribes. 

Rudy Bartolomei, a former sheriff and former county commissioner, was put in the federal witness protection program after he was convicted and began to tell tales about other public corruption. 

The list of corrupt Lake County officials captured in investigations in the last decade alone includes two judges, a county clerk, the chief deputy in the Lake County Sheriff's Department, and assorted attorneys. 

And still little changes. 

DEPARTMENT OF USEFUL INFO 

"Did you know in 1940, 738,000 dairy cows in Indiana produced an average of 4,370 pounds of milk? In 1990, more than 156,000 dairy cows (or 582,000 fewer cows) produced an average of 14,590 pounds of milk." 

So begins a press release from Lt. Gov. Frank O'Bannon, who also is state commissioner of agriculture, touting the 1991 edition of the Indiana Agriculture book. 

Free copies are available by writing: One North Capitol Ave., Suite 600, Indianapolis, IN 46204. 

A REMINDER 

You now can call in your letters to Voice of the People using a push button phone. First, call 881-3226. When prompted by the operator for an extension number, punch 6245 (MAIL) and record your letter, which I suggest you write out first. Make sure to leave your name and address and a telephone number so we can call to verify that you are the one who sent the letter. 

The reaction to the changes made last week on the opinions pages generally was favorable. 

One caller criticized us for soliciting people to call in their letters and then rejecting them. The criteria for phoned-in letters are the same as for letters that arrive through the mail. Because of the volume of mail we receive, in February we established a limit of one letter per month from any individual. The one-letter limit allows us to publish letters from more people. 

The Voice of the People credo and guidelines run about a page and a half, so are too long to publish here. I'll be happy to send a copy to anybody who calls or writes to ask for one. 

04031991 - News Article - Elections scare tactics are bad for area's image and well-being

Elections scare tactics are bad for area's image and well-being

Post-Tribune (IN)
April 3, 1991 

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Cars stolen and fire-bombed, death threats against a candidate and his family - so far it's been a great election campaign for Gary mayor. This is just the type of thing the city needs to regain its pride and its honor. 

The recent incidents involving the mayoral campaign should be denounced in the strongest terms as inappropriate to America's democratic form of government. Attempts to physically intimidate political candidates are a cancer on the election process. They should not be encouraged nor tolerated. 

Gary Mayor Thomas Barnes' city auto was stolen from the driveway of his driver early one morning. Police found it burned several hours later. Earlier this week mayoral candidate Scott King called the FBI for advice on how to deal with death threats against himself and his family. 

It's difficult to sort out what's going on here. Gary police speculate that politics motivated the fire-bombing of Barnes' car. It's not unusual for crackpots to make threats against candidates and public officials, but each has to be taken seriously. 

It would be comforting to think that the potential for violence in local elections is an anomaly. Unfortunately it is not. This year's elections in Chicago had more than their share of violence, including one campaign worker who ended up in the hospital after being beaten by supporters of another candidate. 

Lake County's rough and tumble political scene has a bloody history that gives candidates reason to be concerned. 

Several years ago, Rudy Clay of Gary, an incumbent Lake County commissioner, was the target of a purported shotgun attack. 

Just a few weeks less than a decade ago Jay Givan, a leading Lake County political fixer and East Chicago attorney, was assassinated as he departed a campaign fund-raiser for former Lake County Commissioner Noah Atterson Spann . Unrelated to Givan's shooting, Spann is spending 30 years as a guest of the federal government. 

About the same time another East Chicago official and union official activist, Babe Lopez, ended up in the front seat of his car with a cement block jammed against the accelerator as it rested at the bottom of the Grand Calumet River. 

It is a tradition that will be difficult to break. Unfortunately, it has left Northwest Indiana with a corrupt image. It also lowers the incentive for honorable people to run for office. The area finds itself trapped in a vicious cycle that has gone on way too long. 

OUR OPINION 

Attempts to physically intimidate political candidates are a cancer on the election process.