Polls are open in Porter and St. Joseph counties today for the special referendum on the proposal to create a Regional Transit Authority. At a public forum yesterday, Bill Hanna, Executive Director of the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority, spoke in favor of the RTA:

“There are clearly negatives in the legislation, but we feel we need to start somewhere,” Hanna told a crowd of concerned voters gathered inside the Student Activities Center at Indiana University South Bend, adding, “we should never let great be the enemy of good.”

Hanna stressed the importance of public transportation infrastructure in providing access to jobs and economies and in spurring economic development in the region.

Others are not so sure:

As a former transportation planner and one-time regular commuter on the South Shore railroad, Larry Koepfle said he agrees with regional planning and the need to look at the big picture.

The South Bend resident, however, said he planned to vote against the proposed four-county Regional Transportation District in the referendum under way today in St. Joseph and Porter counties.

Koepfle believes the proposal is inadequate, failing to define the need and then lay out a clear-cut response.

The Times editorial staff declined to urge Northwest Indiana residents to go to the polls today, calling today’s vote ”useless.” That may, perhaps, be going too far, as it does serve to highlight the absurdity of Indiana’s antique liquor laws, which today are prohibiting alcohol sales not just in Porter and St. Joseph counties, but Lake and La Porte as well, even though no elections are being held there.