NIRPC board opposes right-to-work

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Updated: January 19, 2012 9:36PM

PORTAGE — Politics typically takes a back seat at Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission meetings.

Not Thursday. Commission members, who are elected officials from Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties, quibbled, then ended up supporting opposition to right-to-work legislation now before the General Assembly.

New Portage Mayor Jim Snyder made a motion to oppose right-to-work after the NIRPC board was asked to endorse two other unrelated legislative initiatives.

“The Pandora’s Box was open,” Snyder said after the meeting on why he brought up right-to-work opposition. Snyder, a Republican, opposed right-to-work legislation in Portage’s recent mayoral campaign.

New LaPorte Mayor Blair Milo was caught off guard by Snyder’s motion.

“All of a sudden, we’re being asked to make a decision on an item that’s out of our jurisdiction,” she said.

Chesterton Town Council member Jim Ton agreed.

“I wouldn’t presume to vote for other people on my council,” Ton said.

After a motion to table Snyder’s motion failed, NIRPC commissioners approved a letter to lawmakers voicing NIRPC’s opposition to right-to-work. The state GOP-supported legislation would restrict unions from collecting dues or fees from nonmembers or making payment of dues a condition of employment.

Their vote was “weighted” meaning that cities with larger populations, like Gary and Hammond, had a stronger voice. Just one board member voted against the bill, while several abstained.

“Generally, our meetings aren’t this contentious,” Hobart Mayor Brian Snedecor said.

It marked the first meeting for new board members Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, Snyder and Milo.

Beverly Shores Town Council President Geof Benson is the board’s new chairman, taking over from Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr.

Reach reporter Carole Carlson at 648-3154.