A Jeffersonville resident unloads in a venemous letter to the editor:
What is it about Indiana's annexation laws and the way Jeffersonville is using them that is so distasteful? Because people instinctively know that these laws are wrong. At a gut level, voters know that the politicians have stacked the deck against them and in favor of government. It causes a putrid stench that hangs in the air; one that you just can't pinpoint. When government acts against the people it is supposed to serve, it breeds cynicism and contempt for government.
The politicians have traded reason for rationalization and wisdom for cleverness. They rationalize that these laws are just and in the best interest of the people when they are really only in the best interest of the politicians. They cleverly apply these laws and claim they are acting under the law when in reality “the fix is in.” How else can you explain the confidence with which one Jeffersonville council member proclaims that annexation is a “done deal?” He is confident the fat-cat rules cooked up in the smoke-free back rooms will stand and he can pluck us like plums at Christmas. Like the swine in Orwell's animal farm, they have become what they once railed against.
C'mon, fella, Don't be so circumspect by using such waffling terms as "putrid stench," "swine" and "fat cats." If you're against annexation, just come out and say so.
I've always presumed that cities will want to annex as a way to combat the flight of members of its tax base. Those who live closest to the city limits will be the first targets, so it makes sense to plan one's domicile accordingly.
