Northwest Indiana Discussion

Consider excerpt:

DOUG ROSS: McDermott leads weigh, but not way, on Illiana
December 13, 2013 • By Doug Ross doug.ross@nwi.com

Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. threw his weight around Thursday, but it didn't land where he wanted.

McDermott wanted a weighted vote on the Illiana Expressway proposal at the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission meeting, but it ended up backfiring on him.

The final vote was 76-20, with the vote weighted by population. Hammond, for example, has 11.2 percent of the population of Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties, so McDermott's vote against the Illiana was more than half of the "anti" vote.

Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson controlled nearly 13.9 percent of the vote, with NIRPC using 2000 Census data instead of 2010 to determine the weight of each vote.

Had it been a straight show of hands, rather than a weighted vote, the project would have won by a mere two votes...
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Strange strategy? Was it for media, because it seems counterproductive on its face?