Votes Monday and Tuesday

The first votes on the 1% food & beverage taxes are right around the corner. It is not too late to take action, to try to prevent passage. Keep in mind that if the County Council fails to pass the measure Monday evening, the Noblesville Common Council cannot pass their measure on Tuesday evening. Helping defeat one measure Monday is like defeating five tax measures in all, since Noblesville, Carmel, Fishers, and Westfield would then be thwarted.

The first thing to do is to contact your representatives on the Hamilton County Council. You will have one District Representative, and three At-Large reps. Contact all four of these reps!

It is very important that they hear from constituents who are opposed to higher taxes. If they do not hear from you, they can and will assume that they are voting correctly when they vote in favor of higher taxes. It also puts more at stake for them if you let them know that you intend to vote Libertarian because they have moved towards more and more taxes. If they think you will continue to vote Republican, they learn that they can take you for gratned. Be friendly always, even if letting them know that you are upset or even angry about the direction local government is taking. It's human nature to listen more openly and carefully to friendly voices.

Meredith Carter – Carmel – mlc1@co.hamilton.in.us
John Hiatt – Sheridan & Westfield – jah1@co.hamilton.in.us
Judy Levine – Fishers – jrl1@co.hamilton.in.us
Steve Schwartz – Noblesville, Arcadia, Atlanta & Cicero – sns@co.hamilton.in.us
Brad Beaver - At-Large bdb@co.hamilton.in.us
Jim Belden - At-Large jjb@co.hamilton.in.us
Rick McKinney - At-Large rfm@co.hamilton.in.us

Same phone number for all. They probably won't be there to answer, but you can leave voice mail, and they do pick up their messages. (317) 776-8402

If you are a Noblesville resident, contact the Noblesville Common Council, Follow the link to the City District Map. Determine which district you are in, and then go back to the page with the Councilors on it to find their contact information.

Noblesville residents have two At-Large representatives. Please contact each.

Brian Ayer: 317-773-1078 / BrianA2662@aol.com
Mary Sue Rowland: 317-877-4126 / marysuerowland@yahoo.com

Pass the above info on to family, neighbors, and friends in Hamilton County and Noblesville. Please do this quickly! Hamilton County Council votes Monday, and Nobelsville votes Tuesday.

It is also not too late to write a letter to the local newspapers, urging the Councils to vote against the taxes. Don't worry about writing perfect prose. Make your point in 100 words, and it will be printed.

Here are links to the Noblesville papers:

Noblesville Daily Times; Robert Hansen, Managing Editor: rhansen@noblesvilledailytimes.com
Noblesville Ledger: http://www.thenoblesvilleledger.com/help/letter_to_the_editor_form.html

For publication in The Daily Times, get the letter in by 9am. For The Ledger, get your letter in by 5pm Monday.

Attend the meetings where the votes will take place. It is important that people show up in numbers to let the Councils know that the vote is important to the voters, and that they are against higher taxes. If the Councilors do not see a lot of people, they assume it isn't important to the voters, and they can vote whichever way they want, without immediate accountability. There's nothing more frightening to an elected official than having to look in the eyes of the voters while casting a vote in favor of a tax. They'd much rather have an empty room.

Hamilton County Council meets Monday, June 27 at 7:00pm to vote. Do not be late! The vote may be over by 7:02! The County Council meets in the Commissioners Chambers, in the new Judicial Center, in downtown Noblesville.

Noblesville County Council meets Tuesday, June 28 at 7:00pm, at City Hall. http://209.43.125.203/council/