Dunkirk: Keep BMV open (9/15/05)

DUNKIRK — Residents here like their local license branch.

That was the overwhelming sentiment expressed at Wednesday night’s public hearing on the possibility of closing the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles license branch in Dunkirk.

More than 300 people crowded into the West Jay Community Center gymnasium to address state officials, including BMV Commissioner Joel Silverman, about keeping the Dunkirk branch open.

Speaker after speaker praised the convenience of the Dunkirk branch, as well as complimenting the branch’s two full-time employees, Lois Leavell and Carol Whitesell for their friendly attitudes and conscientious, efficient work. The orderly meeting lasted approximately two hours.

During several presentations, the large crowd spontaneously burst into applause. Dunkirk resident Oma Scruggs presented petitions bearing 1,730 signatures urging the BMV to keep the branch open, and Silverman said at the outset of the hearing, “It’s not a done deal.”

However, Silverman also said that the average Indiana BMV branch handled 57,800 transactions in 2004, while the Dunkirk branch registered 12,838. In 2004 Dunkirk’s branch ranked 156th of 168 Indiana license branches in number of transactions. Following the closing of several branches in 2005, Dunkirk’s ranking now stands at 149th of 153 branches.

“Basically we’re being punished because we’re a smaller community,” Scruggs said.

Earlier she told Silverman that without a local BMV branch, area residents would be forced to spend more for gasoline to drive to branches further away. The closing would especially hurt senior citizens, she said. In response to comments from Silverman about the need for all Hoosiers to make sacrifices to help the state and bureau save money, Scruggs asked, “What about residents in the big cities like Indianapolis and Fort Wayne? Are they sacrificing?”

Also speaking during the hearing were State Sen. Allen Paul, R-Richmond, and State Rep. Bill Davis, R-Portland.

“I’m not in favor of closing this branch, and it’s just not politics with me,” Paul said. The audience greeted his comments with applause, as he continued that he thought Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels and the BMV were “moving too fast” on their plan to close branches.

“Our small communities need these type of services,” Paul said.

Davis said that he had already been talking to Dunkirk Mayor Sam Hubbard about developing some alternative proposals including one to set up a limited-service BMV office inside one of the businesses in town. The BMV transactions there could be administered by the employees at the business, according to this plan.

Hubbard stressed these options are still in the talking stages, and it was too early to release any details.

Among those complimenting the good service at the Dunkirk branch was former Muncie resident and current Dunkirk city librarian Ailesia Franklin who said that she once waited two and a half hours at the Muncie BMV branch, only to be told that the office was closing for the day, and she would have to come back the next day.

Pointing out that Dunkirk’s economy had suffered in recent years from plant and store closings, Franklin added, “You’ve got a community here that’s worth saving, and one of the steps toward that is to keep our license branch open.”

Silverman said he and his staff would probably announce their decision on the fate of the Dunkirk branch during the first week of October. He added that written comments could be sent to him at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Indiana Government Center North, 100 N. Senate Ave., Room N440, Indianapolis, IN 46204.[[In-content Ad]]