MERRILLVILLE | Northwest Indiana leaders pledged a renewed commitment to cooperation Thursday and vowed to sort their "dirty laundry" at home -- instead of taking it to the state Capitol.

The luncheon crowd of mayors, legislators, business and community leaders gathered at the Radisson Hotel in Merrillville for a One Region, One Vision forum sponsored by The Times. The group received a pep talk intended to inspire greater unity, but first came a bit of a scolding.

Both Times Publisher Bill Masterson Jr. and Bishop Dale Melczek lamented the verbal spat before a state Senate committee in February that helped derail funding for proposed South Shore commuter rail extensions to Lowell and Valparaiso.

"Strong arguments have been advanced on both sides of this contentious issue," said Melczek, who has led the Gary Diocese for 16 years. "My concern is that the unity of purpose among us in Northwest Indiana that has emerged so slowly and with so much difficulty over the last decade was dealt a blow in the 2008 session. Leaders from various walks of life aired Northwest Indiana's dirty laundry before ... the General Assembly."

The crowd of 150 also heard video pep talks from U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Merrillville, and Gov. Mitch Daniels, who urged the leaders to unleash the potential of Northwest Indiana by throwing off the "shackles" of political corruption, bloated government and Balkanization.

In the discussion session that followed, the community, business and local government leaders from Lake, LaPorte and Porter counties expressed interest in establishing informal groups that would meet for lunch or dinner every few months to share concerns and strive toward consensus. Masterson suggested each group appoint a spokesperson to report to an overarching committee or region leaders.

Masterson credited state Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, with sparking the unity discussion during a Times-hosted legislative reception in December.

"I said there's an imaginary border between north and south Lake County, I think mainly centered around a racial divide. And I said we need to work on breaking that down," Brown recalled. "I am overwhelmed by the broadening -- to talk about the three counties and not just race but economics, education, law enforcement, the whole works. And I'm hoping and praying that this does not fizzle in any way."