OPEN is not a hard word

7. December 2007 by Greg Kelver.

It never fails to amaze me how some of the most highly educated individuals connected to government have incredible difficulty understanding relatively simple words like “is” or ”no” - or even a four letter word like “open” - as in open government. 

The latest legal tussle over accessing information about property tax assessment values in LaPorte County 

 http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=7345&TM=16574.56 

 is yet another glaring example of just how far we have strayed from the vision of Jefferson and the men and women who founded this great country.

Mr. Wendt is doing exactly what the Founders intended - taking an active role as a citizen and trying to correct a problem with local government that is obvious to all but those who are on the government payroll.  He certainly has a right to the tax records that he is seeking, 2006 tax records should have been done and “final” a year ago.  It now is just 3 weeks until 2008 and the records he is seeking should not be “preliminary” - 2006 Pay 2007 property taxes should already have been collected in May and November - and the money sitting in the bank to pay for necessary local government services.  Instead, LaPorte County Taxpayers are being forced to foot the bill for the county attorney to continue to fight to deny Mr. Wendt access to public records he is entitled to.  In my opinion, it is simply inexcusable for County Attorney Friedman to try to blame Mr. Wendt for LaPorte County’s tax collection problem while blocking his access to information. The property tax assessment and collection  problem has been 100% caused by ELECTED officials, not concerned citizens like Mr. Wendt who are taking an active role in trying to fix an inherently flawed and  broken property tax system. 

 With Judge Lang’s ruling, it is no wonder that more and more good citizens are finding the Court to be in Contempt - but perhaps LaPorte County taxpayers can take some comfort knowing that the good judge at least got  the decision half right this time around.      

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