Fishers Reorganization, Part 1

In the wake of the lawsuit I participated in, and lost, against the Town of Fishers, the Town gained the green light towards placing two questions on the ballot. From the Town's website:

The questions will appear on the ballot as follows:

1. "Shall the Town of Fishers and Fall Creek Township reorganize as a single political subdivision?" (all voters in Fall Creek Township and all incorporated voters in Delaware Township will be able to vote on this question)
2. "Shall the Town of Fishers change into a city?" (only incorporated voters in the Town of Fishers will be able to vote on this question)

The following table shows which form of government you are selecting by how you vote on questions 1 & 2:

 

Question 1	Question 2	Outcome
No	Yes	Second Class City
Yes	Yes	Reorganized City
Yes	No	Reorganized City
No	No	Remains a Town

 

What do I favor? Question 1. Yes; Question 2. No.

Short explanations. On Question 1, for the reorganization, the functions of township government are minimal, can be easily enough absorbed into the Town without need to hire additional personnel, cost savings in the elimination of a layer of government, and that absorption does not worry me in the functions becoming too remote as to cause a lack of accountability. So, a 'yes' vote.

On Question 2, I have never been in favor of Fishers becoming a city, even while I was participating in the suit. My fears upon becoming a city lie with Carmel (esp) and Westfield- both former towns, both now cities, both now have a bloated executive branch with pet projects galore, and higher taxes to match. Proponents of Fishers becoming a city have touted checks and balances, and that could be a compelling argument, except for the real-life result that checks and balances are completely absent in our neighboring cities. The councils could not effectively thwart the spending on the arts and sports palaces, on TIF district issues, on bonding, on borrow and spend, etc. In fact, there was the recent episode in Carmel with the Mayor doing an end run around the city council. No thank you. So, a 'no' vote.

This will result in the Reorganized City. I could as easily accept a 'No-No' vote where Fishers remains a town, except that I prefer the reorganization of Fall Creek & Fishers together. My biggest fear, one that outstrips all other concerns by a country mile, is becoming the Second Class City, with the mayor a la Carmel's Jim Brainard.

At the end of the day, I had to look at what I thought would be the best form of government for Fishers given the choices available on this ballot.