The Porter County Council might not wait to get sued before it tries to find out on its own whether the county is within its legal authority to withdraw from the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority.

By a 4-3 vote Tuesday, the council agreed to retain an outside law firm to handle the anticipated legal fallout from its April 8 decision to withdraw from the RDA. The council offered the work to the Indianapolis-based Hall Render law firm, which helped the county’s attorneys with the 2007 sale of Porter Memorial Hospital. No dollar amount for the work was given.

Council Attorney Scott McClure acknowledged that there could be the perception of a conflict of interest if he were to represent the council on the RDA issue, since he is an attorney for the city of Portage, which has received RDA funds. Portage Mayor Olga Velazquez has also spoken out in support of the county’s continued participation in the RDA.

The RDA held an executive session Tuesday to discuss pending litigation. The Indiana Attorney General’s office is also preparing to issue a non-binding legal opinion on the county’s withdrawal.

Further, Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, has proposed an amendment to a pending bill that would allow cities and towns to stay in the RDA and impose their own local tax if the county withdraws (see sidebar).

Porter County Council member Dan Whitten, D-at large, said the council needs legal representation as it navigates the potentially thorny legal issues. He said the issue of whether the county had the legal right to withdraw from the RDA and, if so, what its responsibilities are must get to a judge quickly for a declaratory judgment.

“Nobody wants this to linger,” Whitten said.

When asked if the council could take the issue to a judge on its own before any one files suit, Whitten, who is an attorney, said he believes so. He said he doesn’t want to incur attorney fees on this issue, but that the legal questions need to get resolved.

One of those questions concerns the most recent $875,000 RDA payment that County Auditor Jim Kopp and County Treasurer Jim Murphy made to the RDA in defiance of the council’s April 8 vote. Whitten noted that both office holders said they made the payment without first getting legal advice, throwing into question what will become of the money if it is determined that the county was within its rights to withdraw from the RDA.

Before the vote was taken to hire an outside law firm, council member Karen Conover, R-at large, asked if the council wasn’t interested in first going to mediation with the Attorney General’s office.

Whitten said it’s important to keep open the lines of communication with all affected parties, but that the council still needs legal guidance as it proceeds. He noted that the legal issues are murky, given that the RDA statute was special legislation and that the council’s decision to withdraw was an “unusual move, to say the least.”

The 4-3 vote to retain the Hall Render firm fell along the same vote lines as the council’s April 8 decision to withdraw from the RDA. Voting to retain the firm were the same four who voted to leave the RDA: Whitten; Laura Blaney, D-at large; Sylvia Graham, D-at large; and Rita Stevenson, D-2nd. Voting against the motion were those who voted to stay in the RDA: Conover; Michael Bucko, D-4th; and Robert Poparad, D-1st.

In another 4-3 vote, but along slightly different lines, the council appointed RDA backer Cliff Fleming as one of its two representatives on the newly created Porter County Advisory Redevelopment Commission, which was formed to give the commissioners guidance on development issues in the unincorporated areas.

Fleming, a Burns Harbor Town Council member and developer of the Villages of Burns Harbor, spoke in support of the county staying in the RDA at the April 8 meeting and again appeared at a pro-RDA press conference on Monday with Velazquez and other municipal officials.

The other applicants seeking the appointment were Porter County Clerk Pam Fish, Larry Chubb of Chesterton, and Russ Franzman and John Spinks Jr., both of the Hebron area.

The decision appeared not to be an easy one for some council members.

Whitten said all the candidates are quality choices. Graham nominated Fish, citing Fish’ experience in grant writing and the need for diversity on the board. Blaney nominated Fleming, saying that she likes the idea of having a developer on a development board.

When it came time for a vote, Whitten initially said he’d like to see both Fish and Fleming, prompting Poparad to suggest that the council appoint Fleming now but replace Bucko with Fish when Bucko leaves the council at the end of this year when he assumes the county treasurer post. Blaney agreed that both Fleming and Fish were good choices.

Voting for Fleming were Blaney, Poparad, Conover, and Bucko. Voting for Fish were Graham, Stevenson, and Whitten.

The other redevelopment commission members are Bucko, Commissioner President Robert Harper, former commissioner and County Drainage Board President Dave Burrus, and Portage Assistant Superintendent E. Ric Frataccia.

Posted 4/30/2009