By VICKI URBANIK

It appears that the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority isn’t going to carry out a request from the Porter County Commissioners when it comes to publicly funded promotional campaigns.

RDA Executive Director Tim Sanders, responding to a resolution passed this week by the commissioners, said use of RDA money to promote the projects for which the agency was created is entirely appropriate. Further, he said he suspects there will be other promotional efforts in the future for other RDA-endorsed projects.

“This is a perfectly legitimate thing for the RDA to do,” he said.

In October, the RDA board granted $130,000 to the Northwest Indiana Forum to promote the South Shore extension to Lowell and Valparaiso. The Forum’s marketing campaign has included a series of mailings to Northwest Indiana residents.

The commissioners this week passed a resolution critical of using public funds for such promotional efforts and made two requests of the RDA: To develop procedures so that its public money is not used in the same manner again and to obtain from the Northwest Indiana Forum a full disclosure of how the funds have been used and who else has contributed to the promotional effort.

The RDA, consisting of Porter and Lake counties, is funded in part by $3.5 million a year from the Porter County income tax. The members in Lake County -- the cities of Hammond, Gary, East Chicago and the county government -- are contributing a portion of their casino revenues to the RDA.

Sanders said the Forum is a private economic development organization and does not have to make the disclosure as requested by the commissioners.

However, he said the RDA will get a complete accounting of how its funds were used in the promotion.

Sanders noted that the legislation creating the RDA cited four development projects in particular, one of which was expanded commuter rail service.

The other projects in the RDA legislation are the Gary/Chicago Airport, regional bus service, the Marquette Plan for the lakefront, and economic development projects in general.

As part of the RDA’s strategic plan, the RDA has agreed to fund $150 million toward the capital costs of the South Shore extension. Sanders said because the RDA has already endorsed the South Shore extension, it makes no sense now for the RDA to say “well, we just decided that we aren’t going to do the South Shore” project.

The mailings are a “public education component” of the South Shore extension, Sanders said, adding that it’s important for people to know the number of jobs and other benefits from the project.

“I just think there are people out there who are hearing from some contrarians” who are critical of the extension, he said.

Sanders said the Forum has retained the Ice Miller firm as a consultant on the promotional effort, and that the RDA funds are likely going toward the consulting fees. “From our perspective, this money went into this fund,” he said, adding that he believes the RDA Board is comfortable that the money was properly spent.

Based on media reports, another public agency -- the Lake County Convention and Visitors Bureau, which is funded by a tax on hotel customers -- also contributed public funds to the Forum’s marketing campaign.

Posted 1/25/2008