FROM THE ARCHIVES: Mayor Pabey, tear down that wall of secrecy

Some things never change,

Take, for instance, the lack of sunshine in East Chicago.

For years, the public has had problems accessing public information from public agencies in the city.

Dating back more than 30 years, I can remember how hard it has been for people to get information. The fight is legendary.

There was the disorganized travel records turned over to The Times in shoe boxes after a protracted legal fight. Or the "Glad bag" ties loosely found around voter records. The list goes on and on.

Well, it may be a new administration in the city but the old problem persists.

For more than a month, Times Staff Writer Dan Hinkel has sought records about work in the city engineering department, work that supposedly involves property owned by Mayor George Pabey.

Dan has followed the necessary procedures to inspect the records. He's stopped by City Hall in person several times. He's written letters. He's called, and he has e-mailed messages. Not only did he not get to see the records, but he didn't even get a response.

I decided I'd give it a try. I sent certified letters to Pabey and his legal counsel, Carmen Fernandez. No response.

I called Damian Rico, the mayor's public relations guy. Damian said he'd get back to me. He hasn't.

And so last week I filed a formal complaint with Heather Neal, Indiana's public access counselor. She has promised a prompt review, which will include her inquiring about access in East Chicago.

What I expect is for the good public servants in East Chicago to say they haven't denied access. After all, they haven't even responded to the requests.

Whatever they do or don't do, I assume we might end up before a downstate judge who will order the records produced. The question then likely will be, can the records be found or have they in traditional East Chicago fashion disappeared?

What is so sad is that Pabey has many great projects under way in the city. He has done much right since ousting former mayor Bob Pastrick.

But his lack of response to a simple request to inspect public records smells of Pastrick-era arrogance.

So let me make a final but public plea to His Honor to let the sun shine in East Chicago. Don't follow the sullied traditions of the past. Prove it's truly a new day in East Chicago by opening public records to the public.