The state of Indiana makes understanding conflict of interest fairly easy.

"A public servant who knowingly or intentionally has a pecuniary interest in or derives a profit from a contract or purchase connected with an action by the governmental entity served by the public servant commits conflict of interest, a Class D Felony. A public servant has a pecuniary interest in a contract or purchase if the contract or purchase will result or is intended to result in an ascertainable increase in the income or net worth of the public servant…." per Indiana Code 35-44-1-3.

IC 35-41-1-24 states a public servant is a person who: 1) is authorized to perform an official function on behalf of, and is paid by, a governmental entity; 2) is elected or appointed to office to discharge a public duty for a governmental entity; or 3) with or without compensation, is appointed in writing by a public official to act in an advisory capacity to a governmental entity concerning a contract or purchase to be made by the entity.

In short - whoever benefits from a contract or potential industry establishing in the county should not in any way be influencing public money (i.e. taxpayer funds). It is against the law.

Anyone associated with a group which receives public money must not then benefit financially from the use of those public funds. An engineering firm who is hired by a governmental entity must not benefit financially from any contracts associated with the job they are paid to do for that governmental entity.

How does the public know when there could be a conflict of interest with a governmental entity representative?

All with potential issues are required to file a form with the county clerk's office declaring their conflict of interest. Records available in that office reflect forms dating back to January 1993. Seventeen elected and appointed individuals submitted forms in 2008, all associated with township government positions.

Could those be the only ones with potential conflicts of interest in this county? The public is becoming very aware of those entrusted with taxpayer money and the need for transparency as they perform their duties. Those who handle that money must be transparent in their actions and behaviors.

Money colors decisions. We have all seen the result of making poor decisions based on greed.

The feds did not discuss the failure of the banking and lending institutions until the crisis was upon us.

County leaders did not discuss openly in public meetings what we now know to be years of dwindling financial county resources until those resources were simply gone.

In the name of "economic development," deals for land purchases using public funds are sometimes made by those who stand to profit from them.

Full disclosure is a must for all handlers of public funds. The Indiana Code provides the guidelines.

We urge all who handle public funds and who might in some way gain financially from any transactions while representing the governmental entity they transact business for to report that information for all to see. It's the only way to achieve true transparency.