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Saturday, December 20, 2008

Ind. Courts - "Vanderburgh Little Hatch Act cases set for Jan. 8"

Thomas B. Langhorne reports today in a brief story in the Evansville Courier & Press that begins:

A judge today set Jan. 8 as the hearing date for two Vanderburgh County Republican Party lawsuits seeking to reverse the election of Democratic County Commissioner-elect Steve Melcher and Democrat County Councilman-elect Ed Bassemier.

Circuit Court Judge Carl Heldt's action formally ends any doubt about whether the GOP will be successful in preventing Melcher and Bassemier from being sworn in on Jan. 1.

The lawsuits argue that Melcher and Bassemier were prohibited from seeking office under the Little Hatch Act, a federal law limiting the political activities of people whose jobs are funded at least in part by federal money.

Melcher is facilities manager for the Community Action Program of Evansville, a not-for-profit agency that runs a federally funded Head Start early childhood and health program. Bassemier has been safety director at Evansville Regional Airport since 2002.

Lawyers for Melcher and Bassemier say their clients do not handle federal funds or direct federally funded projects.

The GOP lawsuits are inspired by the Indiana Court of Appeals’ Nov. 13 finding that Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett was ineligible to run for that office in 2007.

See this ILB entry from Nov. 23 for background.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 20, 2008 10:51 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts