Editorial Roundup:

The Munster Times. February 25, 23020

School board operates in shadows to fire Crown Point superintendent.

The Crown Point Community School Corp.'s school board is operating in the shadows, and taxpayers and the community deserve answers.

This weekend, Times readers learned that longtime Superintendent Teresa Eineman was being pushed out of her job.

But the real question is why, and the people who pay the taxes that fund the public school system deserve an explanation.

Eineman has held the post for 15 years, presiding over a school district that perennially ranks as one of the elite public school corporations in the state.

Crown Point superintendent placed on paid leave; board names acting leader

Yet she received word from the school board last week that she would be placed on administrative leave, that she was forbidden from stepping onto school property and that the board intends to terminate her contract before its expiration date.

To say Eineman's dismissal has created public confusion is an extreme understatement, considering:

The school board admits it is pursuing termination of Eineman's contract without cause.

The forced administrative leave and attempted ouster of Eineman comes less than a year after the school board renewed her contract to run through 2021.

The Indiana Department of Education graded the district's performance in 2018 with an "A," which is the highest ranking under the state's school accountability system.

Six of Crown Point's 10 elementary, middle and high schools won Four Star School designations in the most recent list made available.

More than 96% of Crown Point's students graduated high school in 2018, which is higher than the state average.

Consistently high marks are noted on Eineman's performance evaluations, including a 99.4% effectiveness rating for the 2018-19 school year, according to her attorney.

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The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. March 1, 2020.

Airport flying high as city's ambassador

To truly appreciate good airport service, one must imagine the impact of bad airport service on a region that's trying to grow.

To a deplaning traveler, the airport conveys the first impression of a community. How easy it is to fly into town, or out of it, may determine whether that traveler returns or relocates there. In the increasingly global American economy, businesses won't move to or may even leave a community whose airport doesn't provide easy access to other markets. Skilled workers considering a new place to live and work may be reluctant to relocate if limited air service will make it difficult to keep in touch with relatives, get their kids to and from college or take a vacation.

For many people adding up the merits and drawbacks of living in northeast Indiana, the Fort Wayne International Airport surely falls into the plus column. For the past decade, the airport has kept pace as Fort Wayne emerged from the Great Recession and began to reimagine its future.

The airport added service to business hubs in Newark, New Jersey, and Philadelphia, and to leisure draws such as Punta Gorda and Sarasota, Florida. As new routes succeeded, airlines were persuaded to add extra flights and new destinations.

After 10 straight years of growth, the Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority announced passenger totals had once again broken the airport's all-time record '“ for the fourth straight year. More than 791,800 passengers flew in and out during 2019, a 4.53% increase over 2018. The Sarasota flights were announced in November. Last month, Allegiant said seasonal flights to Las Vegas would begin in June '“ giving the airport 14 nonstop destinations.

It seems clear the airport's growth has helped drive Fort Wayne's growth as well. But Scott Hinderman, the authority's executive director of airports, steers away from that concept like an airliner avoiding turbulence.

'œAn airport is a good indicator of how the economy is in a region,'ť he concedes. 'œIt would be great if we can take the credit, but we can't. The increase in growth is absolutely an indicator of the economy. People are flying out of Fort Wayne to do business, or people are coming into Fort Wayne to do business.'ť

Formed in 1985, the authority is a public entity that oversees Smith Field Airport, a general aviation airport, as well as Fort Wayne International. Federal airport development grants, lease payments and other fees provide most of the funding; 15% comes from a small countywide tax levy. The authority is governed by a board of trustees selected by Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry and the Allen County Commissioners.

The authority focuses on operations and upkeep, not only to serve passengers, but to persuade airline companies to keep investing here, Hinderman said. Among recent projects, the airport's entranceway has been redone and its signage has been improved. This year, parking lots will be repaved and canopies topped with solar panels added in the rental-car area.

Now in the design stages is a modernization and expansion of the terminal, with groundbreaking planned for early next year. Among the state's four primary airports, Hinderman said, Fort Wayne's has the smallest terminal.

Whether it is the chicken or the egg of economic development, Fort Wayne International is this area's front door to the world. Its continued success, and northeast Indiana's, are inextricably linked.

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Kokomo Tribune. March 1, 2020

Reformers will keep fighting

ndiana lawmakers have clearly forgotten how democracy is supposed to work.

Voters should be choosing their representatives, but in Indiana again next year, it will be the other way around. Lawmakers will be choosing their voters.

Early in the current session, legislators introduced five separate measures aimed at reforming the once-a-decade redistricting process, but the effort went nowhere.

Not one of those bills got even a committee hearing.

This happened in spite of a grassroots campaign led by Common Cause, the League of Women Voters and the Citizens Action Coalition.

These groups held public meetings across the state. They wrote letters to the editor. They called their legislators. They even showed up at the Statehouse to talk to lawmakers face to face.

And none of it worked. Their elected representatives ignored them.

We should all be disappointed.

When politicians are in charge of this process, they tend to look at things from a partisan perspective. They frequently draw districts that favor one party or the other and ignore communities of interest such as cities and counties, school districts and neighborhoods.

In way too many cases, these districts leave one party with such an advantage the election is effectively over in the primary. Candidates too often find themselves speaking to the fringes, and compromise becomes a dirty word.

Gridlock is the order of the day.

Just to be clear, this should not be a partisan issue. A decade ago, Democrats were in control of the Indiana House of Representatives, and Republicans were advocating reform. Now, Republicans are in charge, and Democrats are the ones calling for change.

Through it all, reform advocates will keep working. They'll be back again next year insisting that lawmakers carry out this effort in the light of day.

The last time Indiana drew new districts, lawmakers held public hearings, but the timing was off. The maps were not yet finished, so there was little to talk about. And when the maps finally did come out, the public had less than three weeks to offer feedback before the maps were ultimately approved.

Next year, reform advocates will push for more time, and they'll work to expand opportunities for public input, giving average citizens a chance to draw their own maps.

The goal here is to make voters part of the process, and reform advocates will work to do that with or without the help of Indiana lawmakers.

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