'Wrong in every way': Vanderburgh County commissioner votes against funding for E-REP

EVANSVILLE — The business community wants to control the school board.

That was an assertion from Vanderburgh County Commission President Cheryl Musgrave on Tuesday before she voted against a service agreement between the county and the Evansville Regional Economic Partnership, citing issues with political activity.

Annually, the Vanderburgh County Commission signs into a service agreement with E-REP where the county gives $300,000 of taxpayer money for economic development efforts. Commissioners Justin Elpers and Mike Goebel voted in favor of the agreement Tuesday, with specified amendments in place.

This year the commission was set to decide between two versions of the agreement. One prohibited E-REP from engaging in political activity, partisan. The other would enable certain political activity, "… via its separate affiliated registered (political action committee) entity to recruit and endorse candidates for state and local offices, but not candidates for county board of commissioners, county council, mayors or city or town fiscal bodies.”

Musgrave wrote the first agreement which would ban political activity, stating in a news release prior to Tuesday's meeting that using taxpayer money for political purposes undermines the trust of the public.

“I will not vote to use taxpayer funds to pay for political activities. I have been asked to support giving tax dollars to big corporations to fund their political activities. I won't do it," she stated in the release. "It is wrong in every way to allow tax dollars to be spent on political candidates for public office or non-partisan candidates such as school board or judicial candidates. It is wrong to allow direct or indirect use of taxpayer funded staff and equipment to be used for political candidates or purposes.”

Jobs for Southwestern Indiana Political Action Committee

The PAC in question is the Jobs for Southwestern Indiana Political Action Committee, originally an entity connected to the Southwest Indiana Chamber. When E-REP was formed in 2021, enveloping the chamber, Musgrave said she was told the Jobs for Southwestern Indiana Political Action Committee would cease to exist.

JPAC has not made any political donations since 2020. Filings with the Indiana Secretary of State show the most recent political donations totaled $6,000 in 2020.

The commissions 2-1 vote allows the activity of JPAC to continue, and gives E-REP the traditional $300,000 commitment. But any filings for JPAC must be completed by a third party, not an E-REP staff member, and all meetings must be held outside the E-REP office.

Mike Schopmeyer, an attorney representing E-REP during Tuesday's meeting, said the PAC is no different than the local firefighter and police unions supporting political candidates.

Schopmeyer also told the commission E-REP focuses heavily on nonpartisan races such as school board. The latest finance report from 2020 shows JPAC donated $250 each to two school board candidates in 2020. The rest were for partisan races.

Musgrave took umbrage with both of Schopmeyer's comments. She said the county does not use taxpayer dollars to fund unions, and also questioned the non-political nature of school board seats.

"We have the head of the local Republican Party, Mike Duckworth, who is a member of the school board, so presumably would be eligible for your funding," she said, "certainly not non-political."

Duckworth and Musgrave have public political and personal issues with each other, as do Musgrave and for Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke, who is now the CEO of E-REP. Musgrave most recently called for Duckworth to resign as Republican party chair.

Musgrave said the business community wants to control the school board. When Schopmeyer pushed back against that, Musgrave said, "You want to pick candidates."

Schopmeyer said businesses pay the most in taxes, so of course they have an interest in the school corporation.

Musgrave said taxpayer-funded staff work to collect money through a program members of E-REP participate in to designate if they'd like to contribute to the PAC.

She likened it to an elected official in the Civic Center using their office to stuff envelopes for a campaign.

"It is absolutely different than that, completely, certifiably different than that," Schopmeyer said. "That is a grotesque characterization and you know it."

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Cheryl Musgrave: No county money for E-REP due to political donations