04282015 - News Article - FBI continues investigation around Portage city government

FBI continues investigation around Portage city government
NWI Times
April 28, 2015 3:15 pm
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/fbi-continues-investigation-around-portage-city-government/article_6eb4c990-d14a-5eaa-99d7-9b710c29e688.html

PORTAGE | The FBI is continuing its investigation in and around city government.

Agents recently requested and were provided with meeting minutes from the Portage FOP Lodge 145, which is made up of officers from the police department, said Recording Secretary Sgt. John Ryan.

The agency was after the lodge's monthly meeting minutes for all of 2011, Ryan said. The FBI gave no indication of a target or what they were looking for, he said.

The request came by phone and the minutes were transferred over electronically, Ryan said.

News of the request comes in the wake of several subpoenas being served last year around city government.

Clerk-Treasurer Chris Stidham confirmed in October he received an electronic subpoena from the FBI seeking records of all payments and invoices from Circle R Electric between Jan. 1, 2008 and the end of September.

Stidham also confirmed he was interviewed the month before by an FBI agent for more than an hour. During the interview, Stidham said they discussed a "wide range of topics" involving the mayor's office, Redevelopment Commission activities, property purchases and relationships between various individuals.

Stidham said he was also asked to provide certified copies of Board of Works minutes by the city attorney's office involving contracts for the purchase of garbage trucks. The information was necessary, he said, to fulfill a subpoena the city's street department received last month.

The clerk-treasurer subpoena was the latest in a string delivered by the FBI to various officials. In July, the FBI requested Mayor James Snyder's campaign finance records and records from his political action committee Portage Mayor Elect 2011. The Utility Services Board also received subpoenas that month seeking documents related to a trip Snyder took to Austria he initially funded through the department, but then paid back the cost.

Snyder declined comment at the time, but had previously said Portage will cooperate with all requests.

04252015 - News Article - Politics, Lake County style - ROBERT CANTRELL

Politics, Lake County style
NWI Times
Apr 25, 2015
nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/elections/politics-lake-county-style/article_cee89cf2-237d-5817-9ff3-be6efe254d23.html

CROWN POINT | Running for public office in Lake County is a full-contact sport.

Lake Station Mayor Keith Soderquist was recently asked at a Times candidate forum about public corruption charges alleging he gambled at a casino with money donated to the mayor's campaign organization and a city food pantry.

"I have pleaded not guilty. I have the right to run for public office as do these other candidates. I will be found not guilty," he responded.

He's back
Robert J. Cantrell, an East Chicago political operative, is back in the game, according to City Councilwoman Gilda Orange and Jesse Gomez, an East Chicago school board member and veteran Democratic precinct committeeman.

Cantrell, often described as a brilliant but mischievous political strategist, recently finished a federal prison sentence for tax fraud and a kickback scheme involving government contracts.

Orange said she has received calls of Robert Cantrell working out of the East Chicago law office of his son, John Cantrell. "I don't care who he is helping, but he's gotten out of jail and come back to do the same thing. It is just a shame," she said.

Gomez similarly complained about Cantrell's apparent involvement in the spring primary. "I have mixed emotions about this. I'd like to out the guy, but I don't want to make him a rock star."

John Cantrell, Robert's son and a trial lawyer, responded that his father "has the right to support anyone he wants to. It's my office. I can support whoever I choose. I'm supporting someone who is running against Gilda and somebody who isn't Jesse Gomez's relatives.

"I was born and raised in East Chicago. I am a business owner. I have family members who live in the city. It is in my best interests to help choose the best candidates. The people who are complaining need to stop crying and start campaigning harder."

Read the sign
Lake County Councilman David Hamm, who is supporting Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr.'s re-election, lamented last week, "Yard signs are stolen in almost every election."

He said the thieves are rarely caught and almost never prosecuted, but he thinks the scale of this illicit practice has reached a new low.

"We've had to provide about 1,200 replacement signs for those that may have blown away or were stolen. Those signs cost $4 apiece. Tom is lucky because he raises a lot of money. It's not the money, it's the principal," he said.

Hammond City Councilman Homero "Chico" Hinojosa, who is challenging McDermott, told The Times in an email response, "We are experiencing many calls from supporters saying that their 'Chico' signs are missing.

"I ask the homeowners if I can put up my sign rather than surprising them with it. Many homeowners that I've been talking to say that McDermott never asked to put up his signs. Maybe no one is stealing them. Maybe he should have asked the homeowner if he can put up his sign. If they are accusing the Chico for Mayor campaign of taking signs, that is ridiculous."

Hamm said McDermott advises his campaign workers not to steal signs and would ban them from the campaign if they were caught do so.

She wants her name in lights
LaVetta Spark-Wade, one of seven candidates for Gary's Common Council 6th District seat, complains one of her opponents, Dwight A. "Twin" Williams is getting top billing, not on the May 5 Democratic party ballot, but on the marquee of The Glen.

The former movie house on Ridge Road in Gary was converted to a live performance theater with federal and state grants obtained by State Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, and his African-American Achievers Youth Corps. non-profit organization.

She believes The Glen shouldn't be flashing "Elect Dwight Williams" on the electronic sign above its front door, since political endorsements are forbidden by federal non-profit organization rules and the group's own bylaws.

Williams, who is Smith's nephew, said, "She doesn't know what she is talking about."

He and Smith said the theater doesn't get involved in politics, but does rent its electronic sign to anyone, including political candidates, as a way to generate revenue for the group's educational programs.

Williams said, "It's like a billboard. She could rent it, too, and has been told so," Williams said.

Spark-Wade said she did try to rent it, but was told Williams has it tied up until Election Day, May 5.

04242015 - News Article - Christopher Anderson, Lake Station mayoral candidate

Christopher Anderson, Lake Station mayoral candidate
nwitimestv
Published on Apr 24, 2015

Christopher Anderson discusses his top issues in running for Lake Station mayor.

04182015 - From Abbi's & Bailey's doghouse - The latest on Portage Mayor James Snyder

Also See:

Portage Indiana Mayor James Snyder - Indicted for public corruption

Portage-Mayor-James-Snyder--INDICTMENT--11182016--Case-216CR160

******************************************************

Um... Who in the hell contributes money to someone who is under federal investigation? 

Portage Mayor James Snyder - who is under an FBI investigation - has raised $37,286 so far this year for his re-election campaign.

[IN] Portage Mayor James Snyder - FBI Investigation

http://abbiandbaileyfromtheheart.blogspot.com/2014/07/portage-mayor-james-snyder-fbi.html

04172015 - News Article - Electronic poll books get early high marks in Porter County

Electronic poll books get early high marks in Porter County
By Amy Lavalley
Post-Tribune
April 17, 2015
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-porter-elect-board-st-0418-20150417-story.html

Electronic poll books are being used for the first time at Porter County's three early voting sites, and everyone is getting used to them.

Clerk Karen Martin, who also is a Republican representative on the county's election board, said during a meeting Friday that she's hearing both poll workers and voters like the streamlined process, in which drivers licenses are scanned in when voters enter a polling place and they sign in on a touchpad.

"It's so much faster," said David Bengs, also a Republican and president of the board. "I think it's going to help."

The poll books are in place at the early voting centers in the county administration building, the North County complex in Portage, and at the Chesterton Town Hall, with one at each site. Martin said all 57 precincts in the May 5 primary would have poll books.

The Voter Registration Office staff, the poll workers and the voters are all adjusting to the new system, board members said.

"It's a good thing this is a slow election year," Bengs said of the municipal elections coming up, adding next year's presidential election will drive up turnout. "If there's something wrong that's going to happen, this the year it's got to go."

The election board voted 2-1 to approve an order for use of the poll books. Democrat Kathy Kozuszek, sitting in as a proxy for J.J. Stankiewicz, voted against the order.

The board also received an update on the complaint filed by Democratic Party Chair Jeff Chidester over the campaign finance reports for Portage Mayor James Snyder, a Republican who is seeking another term in office.

The complaint contended that Snyder's campaign received funds in excess of the state limits set for donations from corporations. Kenard Taylor, Snyder's campaign treasurer, has said the excess funds would be returned and the finance repots would be amended to reflect that.

"We did file it on Thursday and highlighted the sheets where we returned the excess funds," Taylor said, adding in a recent meeting with the state election board he learned a business could be fined for making a donation over the limit, but candidates are not bound to return the funds.

"We did it because it was in the best interest of the businesses not to be in violation, and I think it's a good practice. And we restructured so we don't run into any problems this year."

Additionally, as directed by the board, board attorney Ethan Lowe sent out letters to all current and former candidates with open campaign funds, stating that the board would be cracking down on delinquent and defective campaign finance reports.

"Obviously, only some campaigns are responsible for filing reports this year," he said, adding there had been some confusion after the letters went out that has since been resolved.

Three people have not filed end-of-year reports for 2014. They are Democrat Chuck Scheuer, who unsuccessfully ran for county coroner; Republican Ed Morales, who unsuccessfully ran for Porter Township Trustee; and former Auditor Robert Wichlinski, also a Republican.

Lastly, the voting place fort the Center 16 precinct, for voters in the Valparaiso school referendums, has been moved from the county's highway department, at 1955 S. Indiana 2, to the emergency services building, at 1995 S. Ind. 2.

04172015 - News Article - Portage Mayor Snyder tops fundraising

Portage Mayor Snyder tops fundraising 
in race for City Hall
NWI Times
April 17, 2015
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/elections/portage-mayor-snyder-tops-fundraising-in-race-for-city-hall/article_fc462b7d-44e1-51d2-8aaa-cf9a64555ea9.html

VALPARAISO | Portage Mayor James Snyder has no primary election opponent, but the first-term Republican has already raised $37,285 this year, according to campaign finance reports due Friday.

This compares to $27,920 raised by Brendan Clancy and $7,211 raised by Leo Hatch, who are seeking the Democratic mayoral nomination and the chance to unseat Snyder.

As was the case when Snyder filed his 2014 year-end financial report, he used some of the funds ($5,200) to pay rent for a campaign office at his business, SRC, at 3173 Willowcreek Road; paid his wife, Deborah, $2,844 for consulting work; and paid himself $1,629 for various reimbursements, according to his report. Another $395 was spent on babysitting and Snyder's campaign owes $2,953 in outstanding debt, primarily to himself.

Snyder's campaign treasurer Kenard Taylor, of Valparaiso, said the money paid to SRC was to cover various campaign-related costs.

Snyder's wife was compensated for event planning and coordination, volunteer coordination, maintaining a contact list and handling mailings, Taylor said.

Only one of the 10 individuals contributing a total of $8,120 to Snyder's campaign is from the city, according to his report.

"Most of the people who have given us money at this point in the campaign are people who have been supporters for several years and knew we would need additional help this year and stepped up early in our campaign," Taylor said. "Also while many of them have out of town addresses they have business connections in Portage. We will have local fundraisers as soon as the primary is over."

Clancy reported that $2,510 of the $6,432 he collected from individual donors came from outside the city.

He said this percentage reflects the local flavor of his campaign, with much of the balance coming from family and friends outside the city.

Clancy paid $433 to his business, Clancy's of Portage, to cover food costs for a volunteer envelope-stuffing gathering, he said. He said he has not paid any rent costs to his business because he has not really used the site for much other campaigning yet.

Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas, who is unopposed in the primary and thus far for the general election, posted contributions since the first of the year of $18,550.

Portage Clerk-Treasurer Christopher Stidham has raised $6,845 this year to fend off a Democrat primary challenge from former Clerk-Treasurer Donna Pappas, whose only contribution was a $3,000 loan from herself, according to finance reports.

Stidham loaned $2,295 of his own money to his campaign.