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Friday, December 31, 2004

Indiana Government - East Chicago transition is abrupt

East Chicago has a new mayor as of the election on Tuesday, Dec. 28. George Pabey readily defeated long-time mayor Robert Pastrick in a special court-ordered election following evidence of widespread corruption in the mayoral primary. (Type "Pabey" in the search box to retrieve numerous background ILB entries on this.)

A story in the Munster Times yesterday reported:

EAST CHICAGO | Fresh off Tuesday's special election victory and four days before his scheduled swearing in, East Chicago mayor-elect George Pabey took control of the city this morning without advance notice.

Pabey interrupted a scheduled 9:15 a.m. meeting of the East Chicago Board of Works to inform its members they should not call the meeting to order. Then attorney Carmen Fernandez, by virtue of being a Notary Public, gave Pabey the oath of office. East Chicago's new mayor then proceeded to fire a number of outgoing mayor Robert Pastrick's top aides and directed them to clear out their desks and leave the premises.

Pabey's attorney, Ned Ruff, said Special Judge Steven E. King's ruling gave the victor in Tuesday's general election the power to assume office upon the Lake County Board of Elections and Registration's certification of the voter tally. That certification took place Tuesday night.

Here are some quotes from a story today in the Munster Times describing the East Chicago transition in power:

EAST CHICAGO | After 32 years in office, former Mayor Robert Pastrick said he was "embarrassed" by the way he and top aides were unceremoniously driven from their offices.

After unexpectedly taking the oath of office Wednesday morning [Pabey's inaugural ceremony is set for this coming Sunday], new Mayor George Pabey interrupted a meeting of department heads at the mayor's office adjacent to City Hall, informed them they were fired and told them to leave. Pastrick, who had yet to arrive at his office, was called and told not to come into until later in the afternoon to clear out his office.

Although surprised at not being allowed to finished out the week, Pastrick wasn't holding it against Pabey. "George has been a gentleman and has shown me respect," Pastrick said.

However, Pastrick said some Pabey appointees have been "mean minded," but didn't name any specific instances. Pastrick said he felt sorry for those people who lost their jobs, saying they were very capable employees who may have deserved more consideration.

In the waning days of the administration, Pabey had complained about new vendor contracts and board appointments for key Pastrick allies. "I tried to protect some people," Pastrick said, adding that he believed the employees could not legally be fired without a valid reason.

Both stories are by Times correspondent Jim Masters.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 31, 2004 07:51 AM
Posted to Indiana Government