Ockomon and Smith: Between Mark Regnier and The Herald Bulletin

The following is from the Indianapolis Star:

Mark Regnier, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said the eventual ruling on the lawsuit could possibly keep Smith in the mayor's office for up to another four years.

"It's our position that if it's in Smith's favor, then he would remain in office for at least a short period of time and perhaps an extra term," Regnier said.

First, I got to point out that Smith is not a party to this suit. Strange but true. The caption reads Carol Auker, Nicholas Vores, Craig Douglas Zook, Larry Davis and John Suko versus Monte "Kris" Ockomon. What the Star quoted makes Regnier out to be that Smith is a party.

Secondly, if Smith gets an extra term that term will be a miserable one for Smith and Anderson. Not that Regnier acknowledges this. Winning is not everything. The Herald Bulletin's editorial came close to recognizing this:

Smith and his administration did a lot of good things for this city, bringing jobs and improving infrastructure. But now what people will remember is the parting shot of some of Smith’s supporters fired at the incoming administration. Smith is responding in a legal manner and doing the due diligence by the letter of the vague law just as Ockomon loosely interpreted the vague election code outlining residence.

Unless the plaintiffs show without any doubt that Ockomon failed in being an Anderson resident, then any other term for Smith will result in a hellish mess for Smith. Which in turn means a hellish mess for Anderson.

I am sure any lawyer reading this will say that but they do not need to prove their case but by a preponderance of the evidence. Here is a reason people do not like lawyers. Hell, it is why I do not like lawyers and I am one of them. This case has as much to do with politics as it does legality. The people of Anderson will resent Smith and the Republicans so long as they hang onto legalities. Put another way, the plaintiffs must leave no ambiguity about the facts.

For my Democratic friends, I think we need to get across the facts clearly and without any games. Many out there expect them (take a look at the comments to the Herald Bulletin's editorial). I would make all the evidence - favorable or not - publicly available. Get a web page and post them.

One more thing: I forgot to mention in my post earlier today that Masson's Blog wrote Ex-Anderson mayor refuses to relinquish power. He is from Lafayette. Also, Blue Indiana published The latest on the Anderson mayoral fiasco.