Did you mean to elect parents?

“I don’t know if I should do what the people who voted for me want, or what’s best for the community.”

Someone I trust and respect said that to me recently. Other than a reactionary “Pardon me?” I was speechless.

The problems with that kind of thinking are legion.

Why are those two things mutually exclusive?

How do you know better than the clear majority of people who elected you what is best for their community?

What is this mythic difference between people and the community?

Does “community” even exist in concrete reality in the same way people do, or is it just a useful abstraction you can lean on to justify acting against the interests of real people?

Also, what about doing what all your constituents want, not just the ones who voted for you?

“I don’t know if I should do what the people who voted for me want, or what’s best for the community.”

Some of the logical errors in that thought go to the heart of why voters, even in this most influential county in the state, feel ignored, used, and distrustful of anyone in office.

I spend what I think is too much time reminding people that feelings are not facts, but this is a case where feelings reflect facts. Voters are ignored. Voters often get used. People in office frequently break the trust we gave them when we voted for them.

Property Taxes

At the state level, Indiana elected a governor whose platform was largely based on resetting property tax rates to pre-COVID levels. The majority of Hoosiers who went to the polls in November 2024 voted for Mike Braun and his platform.

On Dec. 4, 2024, then-Governor-elect Braun released his “Freedom and Opportunity Agenda.” The Reporter published it on Dec. 5, 2024. Click here to read it.

The very first point was “Providing tax relief to address inflation and reduce the burden for everyday Hoosiers.” Under the heading “Historic tax relief for Hoosier families,” that agenda read in part “Cut property taxes by resetting homeowner bills to their pre-COVID levels.”

In his 2026 State of the State address, Braun said, “I led the way to historic, meaningful property tax reform.” Here’s a link to that video.

Look at your 2019 property tax bill. As they arrive, look at your 2026, 2027, and 2028 property tax bills. Let me know if yours drops to pre-COVID levels.

Ignored. Used. Distrustful.

Let’s look closer to home.

Rails to Trails

In 2017 the debate about removing most of the rails for the old state fair train and turning them into trails was a hot topic.

The majority of people appearing at public meetings held by Hamilton County, Fishers, and Noblesville spoke against turning the rails into trails. At one meeting, 416 people were present to voice their concerns.

There were angry voices.

There were protests.

There were letters written.

There were even shenanigans.

You can go to ReadTheReporter.com/Archive and look up 2017 editions from March 1, 22, 24, 27, and July 27 for details.

In the end, Hamilton County, Fishers, and Noblesville did what they thought was best for the community, rather than what their constituents wanted.

Ignored. Used. Distrustful.

The Hamilton County Reporter supports the Nickel Plate Heritage Railroad as it exists today. In 2022, the owners of this newspaper purchased naming rights for one of the passenger cars, and, in my admittedly biased opinion, The Reporter Lounge Car has the best seats on the Nickel Plate Express.

Morse Village

At issue was the plan to change zoning from single-family residential areas to a mix of single-family residential, multi-family residential, and planned business zoning for the 173 acres of the Morse Village project near Hague Road and 206^th Street.

The people who wanted to be heard about that proposal were so numerous that, to its great credit, Noblesville Common Council allowed public comments at the Dec. 3, 2024 meeting in order to give those who did not get the chance to speak at and earlier Noblesville Plan Commission meeting to go on the record about Morse Village.

That Dec. 3 meeting was quite civil. People speaking against the proposal – and there were many – did so without anger, threats, or loud voices.

That civility did not last. After threats to city officials, six Noblesville Police officers were present at the final meeting about Morse Village on Dec. 17, 2024.

The council approved that project by a 6-3 margin.

Ignored. Used. Distrustful.

You can read all about it in our Dec. 5, 18, and 19 editions from 2024.

I could go on for literal days citing examples from Washington, D.C. all the way down to the most local level possible, but let’s end on a high note.

Overdorf Road Batteries

On July 23, 2025, the Hamilton County Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) denied an application for Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) located at 21598 Overdorf Road.

That BZA meeting lasted more than two hours and was attended in person by over 100 members of the community. Thirty people spoke against the facility. Three spoke in favor of it. The BZA unanimously voted against allowing the BESS to be built.

In this case, constituents were heard, their views appreciated, and they may be willing to trust again.

Reflections

Voters elect representatives. Voters do not elect parents.

The goal is to have someone in office to represent the public interest. Voters entrust representatives to speak for them – to amplify their voices, not to replace their voices with different ideas about “what is best.”

Voters deserve advocates, not caretakers.

This is not an issue of morality. It is, however, an issue of ethics.

Morality is about an individual’s beliefs about right and wrong. Ethics are standards for conduct, usually from external sources, that have been codified into sets of rules.

“I don’t know if I should do what the people who voted for me want, or what’s best for the community.”

In two out of three local examples above, governing bodies chose the latter. Let’s see what the Cicero Town Council chooses next month when it votes on a proposed battery storage facility.

That proposal came out of the Cicero/Jackson Township Plan Commission with an 6-3 unfavorable recommendation. At a public hearing, well over 100 people spoke against it, while only a few spoke in favor.

I do not believe history repeats itself. It does, however, go round and round.

If history is a song, there are some common refrains.

Stu Clampitt loves both wisdom and efficiency. After over 30 years of chasing wisdom, he has not caught much, which means he is neither wise nor efficient. You can reach him by email at News@ReadTheReporter.com.