"Business owner urges no tax dollars for 1Si."

Paul is one business owner who feels this way. I'm another.

It is both funny and sad that now, on cue, one of 1Si's functionaries will deny there's any connection between oligarch enrichment and the star chamber's political endorsements.

Anyway, who else is with us? Kudos to Paul for being a business owner who is not afraid to elucidate a core values system that differs from the unelected Kerry Stemler's.

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Business owner urges no tax dollars for 1si

Last week’s article by Daniel Suddeath in the News and Tribune reaffirms that One Southern Indiana — a special interest group that works most specifically for the benefit of local big business — is backing political candidates. This, by definition, also makes them a political lobbying group.

Jeffersonville and New Albany have given tens of thousands of dollars to One Southern Indiana in the interest of economic development. It is terribly wrong for our tax dollars to fund any lobbying group that publicly backs candidates. Our communities must cut 1si’s funding if they continue this practice. Call your local councilman and mayor and demand that they do not fund One Southern Indiana as long as they continue publicly supporting candidates.

One Southern Indiana’s No. 1 topic for endorsing a mayoral candidate mentioned in this article is the Ohio River Bridges Project. This is a mirror of last year’s election in their backing of candidates. They will pressure their chosen candidate to go along with their goal of building the project at “whatever cost.”

The chosen candidates tend to reciprocate by not listening to what the citizens are telling them. A candidate that goes along with this is only representing the special interest groups that will profit from this project at “whatever cost” and not representing their constituents.

If tolling is used as a funding mechanism on this project, Hoosiers representing a little more than 10 percent population of the Louisville Metro Area will be paying a disproportionate amount in tolls. One of the reasons is far more workers commute from Southern Indiana to Louisville than vice-versa.

Hoosiers know this, and this is why:

• In nine short weeks last fall, 11,000 people in Clark County signed petitions that said they were opposed to tolling.

• During the same period of time, nine local representative councils passed no-tolls resolutions.

• Southern Indiana’s Tourism Bureau passed a no-tolls resolution.

• The Jeffersonville Main Street Association passed a no-tolls resolution.

Our community is overwhelmingly in favor of an East-End Bridge and whatever other parts of the project that can be built without tolls. We need leaders that listen to their citizens and stand up for our community. Do not support candidates that will not.

— Paul Fetter, Clarksville