An Open Letter to Greene County, Your Rights

Much has been said recently about economic development and job creation. I think we should consider these things, but before we look at job creation, let’s look back at how jobs were lost. I remember growing up in Linton in the early 60’s. Some of our elected leaders today were not even born then and might gain some insight by looking back to those days. Members of my family and many others worked at the “Chair Factory” or “GE” in Linton; at “Form-fit” in Jasonville, and many other small factories and businesses in other towns too numerous to mention. Other people carpooled and worked in Bloomington at “Sarkes Tarzian”, “RCA”, and “General Electric”; at Crane; in Terre Haute, at “JI Case”, “Anaconda”, and, “Visqueen”; and even in Indianapolis, Vincennes, Jasper, and Evansville. Many families raised children and made a reasonable living during those years. These were times when most of what was sold in America was made in America. But no more, for all of the places I’ve mentioned are now gone, and this change has taken place over a period of 30 years or more. The causes of these losses are national in scope, just as are the solutions, if there are any, and efforts at the county level simply cannot address a problem so large and universal, and not the fault of the county. Gone with these jobs though, is something even more precious than the jobs themselves; for gone is our sense of well being, security and optimism for the future. It is from these things that confidence, self esteem, and courage arises. And in their place we now have fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. People who live in fear are particularly vulnerable to influence, and our elected officials, like us, are no exception. Fear, being one of the greatest motivators, does not respond to reason, rational thought, or even obvious facts. People in fear will believe anything they’re told as long as it seems to reduce or eliminate their fear.

Since those earlier years I have seen many efforts at job creation in the county. The City of Linton has tried on several occasions to rejuvenate the old Chair Factory. Public funds and grants have been used as incentives to get companies to come in and set up shop. Monies were used to assist the company in a variety of ways, with limited restrictions I suppose, and possibly even helping to subsidize wages paid to the county residents they hire. Each time, as soon as these funds are exhausted, the companies leave and the city is holding the bag. Linton has done this on several occasions. The Greene County Economic Development Corporation has used these same methods on several occasions and produced essentially the same result. It should be obvious by now that you can’t buy jobs for county residents and these companies are coming here not to create jobs but rather to get the money. This may be a booming business for name changing companies to make money by going from place to place. It would be revealing to find out who the investors are behind some of these companies. Let’s quit deceiving ourselves and simply look at the record for the last 20 years. The record on job creation efforts clearly shows that successful companies locate or leave areas for only sound business reasons and not because of incentives.

Today though, the efforts at job creation are centered on the Greene County Economic Development Corporation (GCEDC) and its activities. GCEDC now says that after nearly 20 years, it has the formula for success. That formula has only 2 words; planning and zoning. This is despite the fact that for nearly18 years, and four previous directors, no one thought of it. Without getting into the relative merits or worth of zoning now, let’s look at the zoning facts (without fear). In our surrounding area we can observe both zoning and no zoning in action. Two counties come to mind, both of which are more metropolitan, populated, and industrialized than Greene County and do not directly compare to Greene County in many ways. They are Vigo and Monroe. Both of these counties are zoned. Both had most of their industrial development prior to zoning, so zoning can’t be said to have attracted industry. Both, like Greene County and everywhere else, have suffered heavy job losses and factory closings over the past 25 years. Since economic development is as much about maintaining development as it is about creating it, is clear that zoning in these counties had nothing to do with either job creation or preventing job loss. It can be seen that zoning in these counties was clearly irrelevant to economic development and growth. To our north and south are Owen, Knox, Pike and a couple others, which, like Greene County, are primarily agricultural and very comparable to Greene. All of these counties adopted zoning for many of the same reasons the GCEDC are emphasizing. There are, in fact, no more jobs in these counties today than there were before, except for the zoning board and inspectors. Zoning clearly has not benefited these counties. Ask the residents; they will tell you. I interact with a number of people from these counties through the mining industry and they all say the same thing about zoning and jobs. But surprisingly though, to our west is Sullivan, which exactly like Greene is agricultural and not zoned. Sullivan is probably the most comparable county to Greene in this area. The Brampton Brick Company is nearing completion of a multi-million dollar brick foundry. This company will not leave and it will provide jobs and economic benefits for Sullivan County residents for years to come. I think it is significant to note that this company purchased farm land for their plant and were not hamstrung by meddling county officials who thought they had a plan and or could tell them where to locate. The evidence is clear, that contrary to what the GCEDC says, zoning has not been a factor in economic development in these areas and not been shown to be economically beneficial in any county.

Another topic related to development recently discussed is I-69. The premise here is that this somehow mandates zoning and a grant was obtained for planning in anticipation of zoning. Any county can plan with either their own or state funds. Planning doesn’t necessarily mean zoning. But, the fact remains; there are many hundreds of un-zoned counties, especially rural counties like Greene, in the US, which have interstates and US highways passing through them. They are doing just fine without zoning, thank you. The existence of an interstate highway in no way justifies zoning in the corridor or in the county. And if a farmer finds his land is now worth more because a hotel or restaurant chain would like to buy it, that’s none of the county’s business and probably both he and the potential buyer would like the county to stay out of it, the way Sullivan county stayed out of Brampton Brick’s business, which is why Sullivan County now has new jobs. It is always best to let private landowners and private business make their own sound and wise decisions in all areas without governmental interference.

When you listen to the advocates of zoning, you will hear vague generalities and meaningless, empty platitudes in their words. Great, but unspecified benefits will come, they say. Ask Owen County about that. Zoning has no success stories and when advocates try to take credit for what would have happened anyway, it’s a little like someone trying to take credit for sunshine. Zoning advocates say that if you will give up a little freedom, we will offer you protection. To which I respond with a very old and still very true cliché; as Ben Franklin so correctly observed, “Those who would exchange freedom for security will have neither”, wise advice in his time and still in ours. Thomas Jefferson said: “Private property is the foundation of all civilized societies”. The operative word here is “private”, not public. Anyone who thinks that government will take care of them will have a rude awakening. And now finally, zoning advocates can only recommend that the precious rights and freedoms of the citizens of the county must now be abridged to accomplish some illusory vision which exists only in their minds. All of this they say, despite the fact that all you have to do is look around to see it isn’t true. Will your fear and anxiety make you buy into this argument? Like anyone else I have fear also, but I don’t fear the future or my neighbors, rather, I fear the zoners and my government, for my government poses by far more of a danger to me than my neighbors.

The quagmire, which is zoning could not be adequately described in so short a writing as this. I would recommend that you follow the advice of the current GCEDC director and learn more about zoning, but not from her. For the Internet savvy, go to Google.com and type in the words “zoning” and opposition”. I got 422,000 hits with that search. That many people positively have something to say. Listen to them; they speak from experience, not elusive visions or plans or vague promises of some benefit. The only true experts on zoning are its victims.

I think it is a shame that we have paid and continue to pay these people so much money for so long to come up with so little. I can forgive them for not bringing jobs to the county because by now we should realize there aren’t any. But, I cannot forgive them for this assault on my rights and freedoms. Industry will seek location and labor just as it successfully did in Sullivan County, and just as it did in the 60s when I grew up and does not require abridging the freedom of its citizens. And now, finally, grasping at straws, these same people who have taken our money for nearly 20 years and given it to people outside the county to deliver something that even they also must know now doesn’t exist, can only recommend that we saddle the residents with a law that robs them of their rights. Zoning is theft! It is theft by the government of a person’s freedom. The concept of zoning is that of control and it is control only for control’s sake. There are those who believe that all things should be ordered and that individual rights are subservient to the “communal” or greater good of the whole. Therefore, everything must be defined, categorized, directed, and controlled to accomplish the greater collective aim. This kind thinking is from a form of governance that this country was dedicated against. Do we still have, or could we possibly regain our spirit and courage as it was in the past? Do we think so little of our freedom and rights that we surrender them for something so obviously not true? Can’t we understand that in these uncertain times controlling our neighbors also means our neighbors controlling us and to control demands still greater control tomorrow than today and each day thereafter? Control is insidious and feeds on itself. Zoning is like an animal, which must grow to survive, and like a parasite, once attached, nearly impossible to remove. Zoning in any form, by its nature, will grow over time to the worst case. The time to stop zoning is now, before it happens, and while we still can.

But oddly enough, this can only happen if we allow it, if your fears and insecurities allow it to rob you of your freedom and rights. But who knows, I suppose there really is safety in a cage.

Otis J. Russell, Chairman
Citizens for Property Rights
RR# 1 Box 140
Switz City, IN 47465
812-659-3334