Fetter 1, Hammersmith 0.

Paul, you've got some nerve pre-empting another of One Southern Indiana's self-congratulatory exercises in irrelevance, described by a reader as one of the area's "premier events" (huh?), by smacking down the organization's utility monoply chairman. The oligarchs ain't gonna like it.

GUEST COLUMN: A response to One Southern Indiana Chairman Kevin Hammersmith, by Paul Fetter in One Combined Newspaper

Our name is Organization For A Better Southern Indiana, Inc., and our agenda is exactly that. No2bridgetolls.org is the name of our cause and website. We are all Southern Indiana business owners and operators that have decades of experience in eking out a living in Southern Indiana. We know by these years of experience the challenges of drawing Kentucky consumers and visitors to Southern Indiana. It is the knowledge we have gained in operating successful businesses that give us the understanding of the division that will occur if you toll the bridges that connect our river city, charging admission to visit and do business in Southern Indiana.

Good news on the anti-tolls front: Southern Indiana business owners create a 501 c-6, build a website and purchase billboard space.

Less than a week after its first organizational meeting, a new anti-tolls coalition powered by Southern Indiana businesses already is in position to take the tolling facts to the people.

Businesses come together to oppose tolls as Rep. Clere remains AWOL.

With a series of critical Bridges Authority meetings on the immediate horizon in early December, Wes Johnson and Mike Kapfhammer (owners of Buckhead’s and Rocky’s), Chris McCarty (S & S Powersports) and Paul Fetter (Clark County Auto Auction) have committed monies to found a 501 c-6 organization called the Organization for a Better Southern Indiana.

Already a website has been built, and the group has purchased two billboards: On northbound and southbound I-65, both of them just north of the Eastern Blvd exit. Installation could come as early as December 1. The billboard designs are pictured above.

In an e-mail, Paul stresses the importance of the group’s next meeting on Monday, November 29th at 5:30 p.m. at the Buckhead Mountain Grill (707 West Riverside Drive, Jeffersonville, Indiana).

Please remember to invite other businesses to our next meeting. Work on new connections, and try to bring two or three new businesses with you. Remember, this is our fight. We must stay focused and engaged.