Locke to Clere: "We need engaged and active representation, not more status-quo political fence-sitting."

Odd that Sam Locke is a "reader", sans identity, while a letter following it identifies the writer's last name in the headline, but as the basement growers association might say -- what the hey. Inconsistency is the mother of detention, or something like that.

As Jeff previously pointed out, even the Clere Channel history lesson on the Bridges Project referenced in Locke's letter was blandly ineffective: "It might have been nice if Clere had provided some context for his 1920s/1930s comparison."

Kudos to Sam Locke, a ranking local Democrat with a pulse. We need a few more; the nuclear winter of the GOP's one party state rule in Hoosierstan is going to be a chilly one.

Reader: We need active representation

I expect to learn about history from books and the History Channel. I expect to receive news updates from a variety of media sources. From my state and federal legislators, however, I expect strong leadership — not history lessons or summaries of already widely reported public meetings.

In the Jan. 11 issue of The Tribune, State Rep. Ed Clere made a choice. He chose to provide a history lesson rather than taking a hard stance on the issue of bridge tolls, a subject of critical importance to already-struggling Southern Indiana families and small businesses. To be fair, he is not alone. It is a position of ambivalence shared by state legislators, sadly, on both sides of the political aisle and also by U.S. Rep. Todd Young.

Clere, other legislators, and Young (given the role the federal government plays in approving tolling on the project) have the ability to exercise oversight and utilize their political capital by advocating for a solution that allows for the project to enhance economic development in the metropolitan area without placing an unfair burden on Hoosiers in comparison to our friends across the river. They should be generating ideas to make the project better and conducting their own independent analysis instead of marrying their position to a Bridges Authority not representative of the most deeply impacted constituencies on either side of the river.

These legislators should join Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, and, even coming from this Democrat, Gov. Mitch Daniels in taking a hard look at finding workable solutions and learning what their constituents want, not waiting on someone else to do the legwork for them. We need engaged and active representation, not more status-quo political fence-sitting.

— Sam Locke, Treasurer, Floyd County Democratic Party, and Chairman, Ninth District Indiana Young Democrats