From Our Founder September 3, 2009 By Bob Wichlinski Is NW Indiana Ready for Regionalism? In the wake of a rash of racial incidents in Valparaiso, Mayor Jon Costas issued a clarion call for citizen engagement.  The response to his call was deafening silence. Conversely, unsolicited calls overwhelmed the city's switchboard as citizens received their tax bills, and then again as the Porter County Council voted to back out of the Regional Development Authority (RDA). In the wake of Porter County’s decision to back out of the RDA, Dan Lowery, the host of LakeShore Broadcasting’s weekly community affairs program “LakeShore Focus” wondered aloud whether Northwest Indiana was ready for Regionalism. Mayor Costas’s phone didn’t "ring on race relations" because citizens of Valparaiso and Porter County don’t feel they have a race problem … and won’t have a race problem so long as Porter County stays out of the RDA, RBA, Illiana, South Shore or ANYTHING that connects their dollars or their neighborhood to Lake County Indiana and Cook County Illinois. The RDA, the RBA, the Illiana Expressway, and the South Shore commuter rail all require a "regional view" for them to make any sense in terms of investment.  Much of the wealth required to make such a significant investment lies in the hands of taxpaying, voting citizens who migrated to points south and east in NW Indiana.  Which begs the obvious question, "why would a reasonable person invest their hard earned money in anything associated with the nightmare of their exodus?"  The age, the filth, the smells, the noises, the congestion, and the decline are fresh memories.  Regionalism breathes life into all those painful memories  - fear, decline, panic, ruin, helplessness, abandonment, loss, migration. Forced to abandon their home, their community, their church, their school - all that was safe, comfortable, familiar; and risk embrace of the unfamiliar, the unknown.  Is it any wonder then how impassioned these émigrés are about protecting their fresh air, their green grass, their new home, their new school, their pristine shopping center.  One elderly man said to me recently, “I will not let that happen to me or my family again.  I will take up arms and kill before I let that happen again.” Stories in local newspapers reporting the violence, abuse, corruption, waste, and crime serve as powerful reminders.  Boarded up homes, unkempt neighborhoods, and pothole-ridden streets viewed from the tollway or expressway reinforce the fact the decision to move was a safe & sound one.  But most importantly the reports and the witness puts a face on it; the black or brown face of the new inhabitants of the old neighborhood.  Regrettably, race becomes the face of what was abandoned. Call it parochialism, myopia, ignorance, short-sightedness, or stubbornness, but if we fail to acknowledge the psychological and sociological stranglehold race has over daRegion, growth and prosperity are impossible. We must reconcile the contradiction realized each Sunday as the "faithful who fled" espouse virtues in their new churches built in green, verdant pastures  - do as I pray, not as I do.   If they lived their faith their church would not exist, nor would the poverty flourishing in the home they abandoned in “the old neighborhood.” Gary, Hammond and East Chicago serve as the barometers, the least common denominators, the image, the measure of progress and/or decline of NW Indiana.  It matters how people that “moved away” feel about Gary, East Chicago and Hammond.  Consider this.  Elections are typically a measure of how people living in a community prefer to be governed.  Recent elections in Porter County were much more that.  They were more a measure of how people who live in Porter County feel about the place they migrated from and the conditions which effectively forced their family to "escape to greener pastures."  They were manipulated into reliving personal history at the ballot box.  Shrewd politicians cleverly preyed upon the insecurities and fears of those who migrated to Porter County and under the campaign slogan “keep Porter County GREEN” altered the entire political complexion of Porter County in 6 very short years.  Now Porter County mirrors Lake County in that a single political party has seized complete control of county government.  Is this foreshadowing of Porter County’s future.  If so, do those who migrated realize they’ve recreated the political climate that created the world they were forced to leave? One thing is clear.  It will require a bold, courageous, affirmative initiative to reverse the course of the pendulum.  What’s needed is an innovative approach to reconciling the disparities and confronting painful realities. This time …. “kumbaya ain’t gonna cut it,” neither is polite and non-confrontational.  You can be respectful, empathetic, and understanding, but you need to take a stand and provide strong advocacy.  South Shore and Gary Airport Expansion, Regional Bus Transportation, Environmental protection, an Illiana Expressway, Responsible Refuse disposal, Public Safety, local government reform, regional trauma center & medical school – all impossible unless and until this ONE (1) issue is resolved once and for all.  It’s also important to recognize the fact spot varnished glossies, fancy mailers, slicked-out PowerPoint presentations, and back-slapping award luncheons are not components of a solution.  “The illusion of success is worse than failure” and “a healthy, thriving lawn is the best weed prevention.” As always, I can be reached via e-mail at b@219.com Notice to Reader: The following are comments from readers. In no way do they represent the views of editor of the article or 219.com. 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