http://www.post-trib.com/cgi-bin/pto-story/news/z1/10-18-05_z1_news_05.html
King's pick for board spurs suit
Oct. 18, 2005
By Andy Grimm / Post-Tribune staff writer
GARY City GOP leaders have sued Mayor Scott L. King for not appointing Republicans to city boards and commissions, but they have no problems with him replacing Democrats with people who have no interest in politics. City Democrats have a few questions for the mayor, who declared himself a political independent this spring.
King recently appointed Christopher L. Turner to a seat on the Gary Housing Authority board, replacing Democrat Harlee Currie. The five-member board now is comprised of two Democrats, two Republicans, and Turner a Jehovah's Witness who spurns political affiliations on religious grounds.
"He doesn't vote (in political elections) at all, as far as I know," city Republican Party Chairman Quentin Smith said. "If it's not a problem for the mayor, it's not a problem for me."
Rudy Clay, county Democratic Chairman and former city chairman, said he was disappointed.
"I'm not sure if he can do that, but I certainly would like to see a Democrat in that spot," said Clay, a Lake County Commissioner from Gary.
Smith sued King for appointing Miller resident Michael Doyne to a Republican-held seat on the Gary Airport Commission. State statutes bar having more than two members affiliated with the same party serving on a four-member airport board. Doyne registered to vote the 2003 Democratic primary, which would officially qualify him as a Democrat unless local GOP leaders approve of him as an appointee.
Turner, a 23-year-old real estate agent, has never voted, Lake County Election Board records indicate.
After winning three terms as a Democrat, King declared himself a political independent after disagreements with state and local party members over jockeying for the Lake County party chairmanship.
Turner's political indifference was barely discussed when King interviewed him for the post.
"He has a background in real estate and he is a bright man and on the youthful side, which I thought was important," King said.
King has questioned whether state statutes that dictate the political affiliations of his appointees are legal, especially now that he has declared himself a political independent. Attorneys for the city and GOP were to have attended a hearing this month, but the date was postponed because King was touring Chinese cities with a delegation from the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
The Housing Authority board may be the only government entity in the monolithically Democratic city in which the GOP has parity, Smith said.
After generations as a non-factor in Gary politics Smith's predecessor as city chairman, Otho Lyles, was removed after it was revealed that party funds had been donated to Democrat's campaigns the GOP is making a push, Smith said.
While he's got no problem with Turner, Smith said the party's lawsuit will continue and he still wants input into King's future appointments.
"When you don't listen (to city GOP leaders), it's an arrogance that bespeaks that (he) doesn't give a (expletive) what (we) say," Smith said.
Clay said that when he led the city party before King's defection, the mayor seldom gave him a voice in Democratic appointments.
"He's always kind of done his own thing," he said.
Contact Andy Grimm at 881-3148 or agrimm@post-trib.com