Letter: The issues are not resolved

It’s all over but for the shouting and celebrating. Some of us won, and some lost. But the fight is not over.

The issues have not been resolved. The Mid-States Corridor is not a settled issue, far from it. Those of us opposed to the Corridor project have been in this very same place before. It didn’t stop us then, and the losses at the ballot box only energized our efforts.

We have made tremendous progress in our opposition, and we will continue down the path to stop the Mid-States Corridor. The project is still too expensive, still too intrusive, and still not needed. Will it be harder to stop now? I don’t think so.

What we need to do now is regroup and focus our attention and efforts on stopping the project. We do this the old-fashioned way. We keep our opposition in front of the people. We keep debunking the talking points. We keep showing our neighbors the facts. We keep up the rallies. We continue to demand accountability from our elected officials. And, yes, we keep wearing our hats and shirts to every public event. We must not cry in our drinks. We must stand strong and proud.

The Mid-States Corridor didn’t win the war; it won a political skirmish. Now is the time to start planning how to convince our city and county elected officials to continue being fiscally responsible. INDOT did not receive a sudden infusion of money. Nor has INDOT restored the more than 300 canceled road projects. Nothing has really changed, other than the resolve of the people who remain determined to end the Corridor project.

As we move forward, we must recognize that we cannot dilute our efforts and resources. Yes, data centers, BESS projects, solar farms, and wind farms are legitimate issues deserving attention. But the Mid-States Corridor must remain our primary focus. It is the one project with the potential to exercise eminent domain on such a massive scale. This is why we must concentrate our efforts on convincing our local politicians to do the right thing.

Yes, the losses sting, and they will for a few more days. But elections come and go. The issues remain. We have more work to do, and we intend to do it.

Jim Arvin
Rutherford Township
Martin County

Editor’s note: Not Jim Arvin, the former president of Jasper Desk.