The face of Lake County politics
Candidates scamper for Bob Cantrell's support, even as they denounce his old-style politics
NWI Times
Apr 30, 2006
nwitimes.com/news/local/the-face-of-lake-county-politics/article_729cf219-431f-50a4-b49c-90fb58778458.html
In the shadow world of Lake County politics, people do funny things around Bob Cantrell.
Some fresh young Democrats say they want a new era of cleaner, leaner government, but behind closed doors they welcome Cantrell's support and whatever connections and tactics may come with it.
Meanwhile, otherwise-rational Republican lash out in attacks at each other over alleged secret alliances with Cantrell, who has haunted the GOP like a ghost since officially leaving the party three years ago.
That's the paradox of Bob Cantrell: So many officials fight the label of "Cantrell's candidate," even though he's routinely called one of the most influential unelected men in Lake County politics.
And Cantrell said that as long as voters continue to turn out to the polls in low numbers, as he predicts they will Tuesday, they give up their right to take part in their governments.
"If they voted, and came out, they could pick who they wanted. But they don't do that," Cantrell said. "You'll see it Tuesday more than anything else. People by nature don't care. The apathy runs high. They don't give a darn about who's in there."
His critics contend that the fewer people who cast votes, the more power and influence accrues to backroom figures like Cantrell, which is bad for good government.
"He treats it as a sport, and the full object seems to be to win. Public service is an afterthought, and ethical behavior is not a consideration," said George Van Til, a Democrat and the county surveyor.
"Is he brilliant and effective? Yes. But part of his effectiveness comes from ... his view that the end justifies the means."
Cantrell said such sentiments sound like sour grapes from candidates who he has opposed during his 40 years in politics.
His ability to befriend county party chairmen and pick promising candidates and, as he said it, "maneuver to win," has made him influential in scores of political races. But he has never served in elected office.
"Bobby is a very interesting person," said Peter Thayer, another Republican operative and a decades-long enemy of Cantrell. "He is a political operative of the first order. He is a master."
Plagued by his success
Cantrell said he's a victim of his own success. Resentment from his conquered competitors follows him like it follows the New York Yankees.
"They resent that I can take a Philpot, I can take a Petalas, I can take a Ralphie Flores, a Mrvan, and maneuver to win," Cantrell said. "The most unique win was McDermott," he said.
For those keeping scorecards, those candidates, in order, are: County Clerk Tom Philpot, County Treasurer John Petalas, North Township Advisory Board member Ralph Flores Jr., North Township Trustee Frank Mrvan and Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr., all of whom Cantrell said he supported, and all of whom won their office.
Whether they mind being associated with Cantrell varies. Philpot did not return a half-dozen calls for comment; Petalas and Flores both said Cantrell had small involvement in their races as one of many supporters; and Mrvan, who is Cantrell's boss at the township, said Cantrell's support was just one of many factors that won him his seat.
McDermott, who is also deputy chairman of the state Democratic Party in northern Indiana, said he's comfortable with his relationship to Cantrell, who does not oppose him or actively work on his behalf.
"Nobody likes to be associated with him right now because there's a lot of speculation, and maybe he's under investigation," McDermott said. "Among elected officials, people want Bobby on their side. But it's a double-edged sword ... because the media views Bobby in a negative light."
Regardless, Cantrell is entering his fifth decade of politics now without any sign of slowing.
While he acknowledges that the Democrats have had rocky years with their frequent interactions with prosecutors, he maintains that the purging process is complete. And the new guard doesn't play the old games, he said.
"The Democrats here have cleansed their problems," Cantrell said. "They got all young guys, sharp guys, tough guys, good guys. ... They don't have these problems anymore. It's all gone now."
Fortunes rising or waning?
For nearly all his adult life, Cantrell was cast as a double-agent for the Democratic Party working to weaken local Republican organizations from the inside, according to press accounts from decades ago to the recent past.
Now that he's officially registered as a declared Democrat, leaders of that party deny working with him.
It makes for an odd public reception of someone who is perceived as a ringleader or even kingmaker in the Lake County political universe after decades in power.
Cantrell said he was among "a team of us" who put together the "package" of many uncontested races that voters will see Tuesday.
The comment came during a wide-ranging interview with The Times, a transcript of which is posted on The Times' Web site, www.nwitimes.com.
Observers said Tuesday's primary will be an interesting test of Cantrell's new role as an independent operator.
In every election since then 1960s, Cantrell has had alliances through political heavyweights like former Democratic Chairman and Sheriff Stephen "Bob" Stiglich and longtime East Chicago Mayor Robert Pastrick.
Stiglich died last summer; Pastrick is no longer visible in local politics; and scores of other party figures are indicted, jailed or living abroad to avoid prison time.
Whether Cantrell has become more or less powerful these days is a matter of debate; the 20 people interviewed by The Times for this article differed. Some said Cantrell is now unfettered and is more influential, while others said he has far fewer allies to rely on and has become weaker.
Whichever is true, Cantrell-watchers agreed with near unanimity that whether you love Cantrell or hate him, you can't afford not to know what he's up to. And it's a sentiment apparently shared by government prosecutors, who even Cantrell admits have been investigating him with considerable vigor.
Federal investigators don't say what they're looking for. But late last month, the North Township trustee's office -- Cantrell's employer -- cooperated with a request to turn over various internal records to federal investigators, Trustee Frank Mrvan confirmed.
Cantrell has been advised by his attorney not to comment on any investigation into his activities, except to say that he has not received any target letters.
Cantrell has also been an inside player in political organizations that have been accused of vote fraud over the years, but he said the constant investigations have shattered the machines and made stealing votes too risky for any unscrupulous individuals who might try it.
"There's no conspiracy. In the old days, when you had the machines, it was organized and it was tough. But now, there's no machines left," he said. "You don't do it. But you don't sell newspapers if there's no fraud."
D or R? Does it matter?
Cantrell now admits that his nearly lifelong Republican affiliation on the voter rolls was an accident of fate.
When he returned from college in 1964 to become a teacher and school administrator, he was persuaded by a couple of friends to join the political game as a Republican.
He was still widely known in the community for his abilities playing basketball, which helped take his East Chicago high school team to a state title and his University of Michigan team into a Big Ten championship. But his name failed to carry him onto the County Commission.
He quickly became chairman of the East Chicago Republicans, a title he would hold four separate times between 1966 and 2003. Being a Republican in East Chicago also meant he had to work heavily with Democrats, which he admits freely today.
"See, what people don't understand is, when it's Democrat versus Democrat, it's a different fight than when it's Democrat versus Republican," Cantrell said. "I believe all the Republican chairmen and myself as city chairman fought the Democrats in November. It's just in May, there's a lot of interworking between county chairmen, Republican and Democrat."
That attitude never sat well with Republicans who ran the state party in Indianapolis. The state party chiefs also disliked the fact that Cantrell's daughter, Julie, had been elected to a county judgeship as a Democrat. Finally in 2003, Cantrell was asked to leave the party, and he did.
Now that he's officially a Democrat, the people who are supposedly close to him today treat him like he's radioactive. His successful candidates downplay his role in their campaigns, and leaders in the county and city Democratic parties denounce contact with him.
"A lot of people think many of the things he does represents the Democratic Party. (But) he's just a Democrat," Lake County Democratic Party Chairman Rudy Clay said. "I haven't heard from him, haven't seen him. I don't know what he's doing."
Meanwhile, each of the two warring factions within the county Republican Party say Cantrell is working with their opponents.
Depending on who is talking, Cantrell is either trying to re-elect current Chairman John Curley, or he is trying to undermine him and install challenger Rick Niemeyer.
"I'm going to support someone, but I haven't made up my mind," Cantrell said. "There are still some things out there that have to be straightened out."
Effective, but destructive?
There's no question his tactics have been effective in the past, observers said. When asked to describe specifics, detractors and supporters alike tend to clam up.
Observers suggestion Cantrell might put disingenuous "splitter" candidates on ballots; he might exert influence within a precinct organization or on the county election board to get his way; he might use political favors as currency to control jobs or achieve other goals.
He has testified in court and confirmed to reporters that he used his position in township government to recruit absentee voters and poll workers for the East Chicago mayoral primary of 2003.
His critics said that his win-at-all-costs approach to elections are disgusting to voters, who, incidentally, have never elected Cantrell to any office.
"The voter apathy has made it easier for him to thrive. The more people don't want to care and pay attention, the easier it is for a handful of personalities to exert their will," said Ron Tabaczynski, the former county councilman who lost an internal Democratic Party contest for county treasurer to Cantrell-backed candidate John Petalas.
His supporters said he only wants to win races, and is not afraid to use the tactics that have been handed down through the years of Lake County politics.
Alvin Cheeks, a Hammond man with family roots in the East Chicago political environment that produced Cantrell, admitted that Cantrell uses tactics that leave "dirty hands," as everyone does who wants to win races.
"Have you ever worked for a company and taken an ink pen home? Does that make you corrupt?" Cheeks said. "Bobby just wants to win. That don't make him corrupt."
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