Published: May 20, 2008 12:15 am            

Crowd gathers to fight annexation

County officials lining up to oppose city plan

Anti-annexation forces were marshaling Monday evening at Oakbrook Community Church, vowing to take legal action against Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight’s plan to take more than 14,000 county residents into the city.

More than 500 county residents attended the meeting, led by Harrison Township Trustee John Harbaugh, who would see 59 percent of his township’s population join the city under the plan.

Oakbrook, south of Center Road on 200 West, lies in the heart of several higher-income neighborhoods targeted by the West Side Annexation plan. The city is hoping to pass two separate annexation ordinances — one for properties east of the city, and another for those west of the city.

“There are two trailer parks in Harrison Township along U.S. 31, but are they going to be annexed? No, the city isn’t going south of Ind. 26,” Harbaugh said. “If they did that, they’d have to annex the trailer parks, but they don’t want to annex lower net value properties. They want to annex high-value homes.”

That sentiment was echoed by Howard County Councilman Paul Wyman, who said annexing high-dollar homes offers the city a chance to reap a lot of tax dollars “with low maintenance for all the money.”

Those statements, however, didn’t square with comments by Kokomo attorney Dan May, who is hoping to represent a formal remonstrance in court.

May told the audience the city specifically “gerrymandered” the low-income Indian Heights area into the West Side Annexation plan to keep a remonstrance from succeeding.

May estimated that of more than 4,000 parcels of property which would be brought into the city in the West Side Annexation, about 1,500 already have remonstrance waivers attached to the property title.

That means, he said, about 90 percent of the property owners without waivers would have to sign a formal remonstrance to meet the 65 percent threshold needed to kill the ordinance.

Goodnight, who said Monday he’d been rebuffed when he offered to participate in the Oakbrook meeting, also said he was dismayed by some of the claims being made by annexation foes.

“I have talked to literally hundreds of people inside the city who tell me this is the right thing to do,” Goodnight said. “But how do I counter people who go out and misinform people, and play on people’s fears? I’m not sure how you counter that.”

At the Oakbrook meeting, Wyman said a group of county officials met earlier in the day to discuss hiring an accounting agency to independently look at the numbers.

“We received the numbers [May 12]. That was the first time the county was able to get a hold of the numbers,” Wyman said. “We’ve heard the county may take a $3 million loss ... We’re seeking information as much as everybody else. We have no authority to make the city hand it over.”

In response, Goodnight said he’s using the same firm — Crowe Chizek from Indianapolis — that county officials have used repeatedly in the past.

“You hope that people look at the truth, and the facts,” Goodnight said. “Unfortunately, there are some professionals — some just flat-out politicians — that have personal agendas.”

Goodnight singled out May in particular.

“Dan May’s not accountable to anybody. He can make wild accusations. And not only does he get to make them publicly, he’s also out to make a profit,” the mayor said.

During the meeting, May said the city has thus far refused to share an electronic file showing the parcel numbers and owners of properties to be annexed.

May said the only realistic way of killing the annexation is getting notarized signatures in large bunches, and said he needs the list to do that.

“I can’t imagine the city council passing it if we show up at the meeting with the remonstrance signatures, and say ‘Here it is — do you want to do battle?’” May said, slamming his hand on the Oakbrook stage for emphasis.

Harbaugh asked property owners to gather after the meeting to elect points of contact for each neighborhood.

But he also said property owners David Schulte and Ralph Reddersdorf have already contacted an Indianapolis-area attorney connected with the Geist/Fishers annexation battle.

“Find yourselves a leader, and we will make contact with you, and we will get organized,” Schulte told audience members. “We’ve got an army started.”

“When my family moved here 20 years ago, we came for Northwestern schools; we came for county living,” Reddersdorf said. “We didn’t come to be a part of Kokomo.”

Scott Smith may be reached at (765) 454-8569 or via e-mail at scott.smith@kokomotribune.com

        

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