On June 19, Portage Mayor Olga Velazquez took unprecedented action in voting against Valparaiso's ChicaGo Dash bus system at the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission meeting. Many Valparaiso residents have employment through these difficult times because of this service.
On June 19, Portage Mayor Olga Velazquez took unprecedented action in voting against Valparaiso's ChicaGo Dash bus system at the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission meeting. Many Valparaiso residents have employment through these difficult times because of this service.
The vote was unprecedented because we are hard pressed to find any time that the two Porter County mayors have ever voted against one another's city projects regardless of their party affiliations.
One of the reasons she chose to vote no to this job opportunities service was because she was concerned about the residents of Valparaiso having an increase in taxes. As a Portage resident and business owner, I have seen my taxes raised a total of five times in the past year because of fees proposed by Velazquez.
Portage people are struggling to pay bills, Portage business are struggling to keep people working, and our city is balancing its books on the backs of its residents and its business community.
The other reason stated was that our mayor was concerned that no other cities were asked to participate in ChicaGo Dash. Maybe our mayor should have called and asked Valparaiso for a ChicaGo Dash stop in Portage instead of waiting to be asked. After all, Portage is on the way to Chicago. While Portage raises taxes on it citizenry, Valparaiso is looking for ways to help people find work.
It would be disappointing if Porter County Commissioner Bob Harper convinced our mayor to take this action as he was the only other vote against jobs in this program.
He has definitely been the leader of job suffocation in Porter County with his anti-jobs agenda. Yet his leadership has yet to find a way to get tax bills to Portage residents on time since he has been in control of the county.
The Portage mayor should be at each of the Porter County Council and commissioners meetings demanding for a plan for the hospital proceeds. Had there been a plan for these funds, the citizens of Portage might not be suffering from the burdens of these new taxes and fees. Our city and our schools have paid more than $1 million in interest over the past few years because there has been no leadership to get the problem fixed. We are tired of the blame game and the "it is not my fault" refrain.
As a former mayoral candidate and in the opposition to Velazquez, I have been reserved in my judgment and criticism of her governance. This vote hurt the future of every citizen in Portage, as our reputation regionally has been injured.
I respectfully ask our mayor to do as she stated on each of her yard signs -- to work hard for Portage. Valparaiso has its own mayor.
Jim Snyder is Portage Township Republican Chairman. The opinion expressed in this column is the writer's and not necessarily that of The Times.
