Thread: Form Follows Function: Paul Wyman and Dave Trine... interpreted... Part I

A few weeks ago, the Kokomo Perspective published a story that basically accused a Howard County Commissioner of nepotism.

In the article, Dave Trine's son was hired for an advertised part-time position at the county's Howard Haven home.

This article generated some controversy on our own site, eventually motivating Perspective reporters Pat Munsey and Tim Turner to defend their writing.

Nepotism, by its definition, is favor granted to friends or relatives without regard to their merit. The Perspective article made no effort to determine Bobby Trine's 'merit'. Too bad, as that determination is a vital part of declaring whether nepotism is afoot in County government.

In case you're interested, the Perspective was also clear that Howard County's own personnel policies were in no way violated by the hiring of young Trine.

The question then begs: Why did the Perspective choose to print this article, and what was the intended purpose if not to (poorly) report (a lack of) nepotism? Why would Don Wilson, the main editorial force behind our venerable weekly, do such a thing?

Several sources tell us the answer lies buried in a long and bitter relationship between Mr. Wilson and Howard County Prosecutor Jim Fleming. You may recall Fleming (who NIK contributors claim was 'one hell of a trial attorney in his day, but seems to not care anymore') bogeyed up an indictment against Mr. Wilson and his partner years ago claiming all manner of felonies were violated when the businessmen engaged in friendly gambling activities.

The charges didn't amount to a hill-of-beans and eventually faded off into some vague conclusion so non-dramatic I can't recall what the final outcome was....

The outcome was that, of the 11 felonious acts Mr. Wilson and his partner were accused of.... and the tens of thousands of Howard County taxpayer dollars expended.... Don Wilson eventually was handed a sentence for one misdemeanor.... for a 'crime' many Hoosiers probably engage in weekly... casual bets.

So now you know the history. Perspective Publisher Don Wilson and Howard County Prosecutor Jim Fleming are not friendly bedfellows in the local political landscape... but they are... make no mistake... players within it.

Wilson was justifiably angry in 2006, and he's still angry today. Don Wilson is attempting to exact his revenge through whoever in Howard County can punish Prosecutor Fleming.

Dave Trine, as President of the County Commissioner's Office, is in that position. County Commissioners are the equivalent of the City Executive Branch... the Mayors. They have a tough part-time job in Howard County. They also have a lot of decisions to make at their short meetings.

Don Wilson was apparently inconsolable when Jim Fleming bought a new SUV for his office with money he had every legal right to spend under Indiana law. Wilson wanted the County fathers to take Fleming's fancy car away from him.

It couldn't be done... but that apparently didn't stop Wilson from applying pressure on County office holders to try.

Dave Trine may have been of those office holders. I don't know that for a fact but it appears likely.

The non-nepotism our Kokomo Perspective reported had no basis in any fact other than a County Commissioner's son got hired by the County in a department far removed from the main-stream operations of government. It was truly a non-story until Wilson made it one. You can draw your own conclusions.

As an aside, we heard from nearly a dozen folks who expressed story-after-story detailing the great job Bobby Trine does at Howard Haven...

That tells me whoever decided to hire the young man made a good decision.

Finally, you may be wondering why I titled this piece the way I did. There's a reason.

Because of this controversy I was afforded the opportunity to speak with Paul Wyman (Dave Trine's declared opponent in the upcoming elections) and the County Commissioner's President at great length.

I'll comment on those conversations in future contributions to this series.

NIK