Randolph commissioner backing Davis (10/19/04)

As a lifelong Randolph County resident and current county commissioner, I hope that I can convey to voters in Jay County how important the race for State Representative is this year.

Ronald Liggett, who has represented all or part of Randolph and Jay counties in the Indiana House of Represenatives for more than 10 years, initially helped to sponsor a special county economic development income tax (CEDIT) to fund the renovation of the Randolph County Courthouse. Our courthouse, built in 1876 and last remodeled in 1954-55, is one of the oldest and most outdated in East Central Indiana. The CEDIT was created through the efforts of Mr. Liggett, State Rep. Tom Saunders, State Sen. Allen Paul and all of the Randolph County councilmen and commissioners, regardless of party.

Unfortunately, Mr. Liggett was so dissatisfied with his inability to control the actions of elected local officials (who were simply seeking to keep costs low for taxpayers) that he set about the single-handedly destroy the CEDIT plan that had been crafted. Mr. Liggett authored legislation that prevented Randolph County’s CEDIT money from being used in the courthouse renovation, instead directing the money to fund entities that had not solicted it. It seems clear that Mr. Liggett’s son Troy, an aide to Indiana’s House speaker, Pat Bauer, used his influence to insert the legislation into the final form of the state budget during the 2003 legislative session. Unfortunately, almost no one in the legislature noticed the change or had time to alter it, and the original intention of the CEDIT legislation was totally destroyed. As a result, work on the aging Randolph County Courthouse ground to a halt, leaving missing ceilings, decaying walls and other serious problems.

As a result of the changed legislation, Mr. Liggett was met with a firestorm of protest. Both the Palladium-Item (Richmond) and The StarPress (Muncie) editorialized against his actions. Numerous citizens of Randolph County, both Republicans and Democrats, expressed dismay at Mr. Liggett’s blatant attempts to use his personal political power to “punish” Randolph County’s citizens. In response to the bad press, Mr. Liggett even took out a series of ads, paid for by his political committee, with several serious misrepresentations of the facts of the case. In an effort to correct the problem, Randolph County’s Circuit Court judge mandated that the funds be made available to fix the problem.

Finally, through the efforts of Sen. Paul, State Rep. Saunders and Randolph County officials, Mr. Liggett was forced to allow the Randolph County CEDIT legislation to be re-written during the 2004 session of the general assembly, resulting in some money for the courthouse and some money re-directed to other interests.

While those other interests are certainly deserving, the resulting higher taxes are unfortunate and are the result of Liggett’s earlier actions.

The main point of this matter is this: Mr. Liggett used his power as a state representative to attempt to thwart the will of the people and officials of Randolph County. These actions have resulted in a courthouse that is still inadequate in its present state and in higher taxes for the people of Randolph County. As a local official, I would prefer a partner in the Statehouse, not an adversary. I would ask that all Jay County citizens give serious consideration to the election this year and vote accordingly for Bill Davis.

Sincerely,

Ronald J. Chalfant

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