Just when you thought political news in our region couldn’t get any weirder, it does. In addition to the daily Blagojevich-Burris-Obama drama, there comes the news of Gary, Ind., Mayor Rudy Clay and the tale of his new Hummer H3.

According to the Northwest Indiana Times, a day after begging the state for a financial lifeline for Gary in the form of relief from new property tax caps, Mayor Clay defended his purchase of a 2009 Hummer H3 that was bought with taxpayer money.

“What do you want me to do, walk around here?” Clay reportedly asked. “I’ve got to have a car.” The purchase price of the car is to be paid in three yearly installments that total $29,970.

As the article states, one member of the panel charged with deciding Gary’s fiscal fate cast doubt that the city has proven its need for state help if it still is buying automobiles. “It’s disappointing to learn this the day after Mayor Clay asked the Distressed Unit board to raise the property tax caps,” said Ryan Kitchell, chairman of the appeals board and director of the Indiana Office of Management and Budget. “We will only consider doing so after the city has cut all that it can. The new Hummer and testimony presented yesterday clearly show that much more spending can be cut.”

More than 30 Gary residents submitted comments to the board opposing the bailout, some of which blasted the city for funding the vehicle purchase.Some Gary residents compared Clay’s actions to the CEOs of the Big Three automakers arriving in Washington, D.C., in their corporate jets to ask Congress for a bailout. But Clay justified the expense by saying, “We’re saving taxpayers money by riding in a Hummer. I could’ve bought a $50,000 Expedition.”

It’s enough to give you a stomach ache, especially because so many of us are conserving our funds in line with the economic times. Not to mention that there certainly are more fuel-efficient vehicles he could have chosen (the H3 receives an estimated 14 mpg in the city and 18 mpg on the highway). Or that Mayor Clay could have scooped up a gently used
vehicle for a song.

It’s a political saga that we here in Illinois can relate to, all too well.

Source: Northwest Indiana Times