Desperate Times call for … well, in this case, outright lies about Commissioner Art Noffsinger!

The Democrats are on the run this year and I see desperation in their eyes and in their advertisements. Most recently, I am greatly troubled by a full-page attack ad aimed at Commissioner Art Noffisinger that I read in today’s Newburgh-Chandler Register. As a regular listener of NPR, I have rather enjoyed listening to their application of the TRUTH-O-METER to political campaign ads this fall. For those of you that are not regular NPR listeners, the TRUTH-O-METER ranks ads and statements made therein as either: (1) True; (2) Half True; (3) Barely True; (4) False; and (5) Pants on Fire. I have taken the liberty to apply the TRUTH-O-METER to the attack ad in today’s paper and overall rate the ad as FALSE with at least one statement therein registering PANTS ON FIRE. But don’t take my word for it, any person with just a basic understanding of the internet can check the facts from this ad and decide for himself or herself.

The bottom section of the ad lists a number of “claims” made by Noffsinger and then purports to rely on the statement “Verified by Commissioner Minutes” to refute those claims. The minutes of the Warrick County Commissioners are available online at http://www.warrickcounty.gov:82/Warrick%20County%20Documents%20Downloads/Agendas_and_Minutes/MINUTES/Commissioners%20Minutes. For your convenience, I have referenced the particular portions of those meetings that are supposedly relevant to the allegations in the ad.

Here’s my rating for each allegation:

1. Commissioner Noffsinger “missed Dec. 14, 2009 meeting due to photo op with Lt. Governor.”
TRUTH-O-METER: BARELY TRUE.
FACTS: Commissioner Noffsinger attended the meeting, but was late. Commissioner Meeting Minutes of Dec. 14, 2009, page 1. Commissoner Noffsinger arrived at the meeting during the discussion on the emergency communication system issue and participated in the discussions. Commissioner Meeting Minutes of Dec. 14, 2009, beginning at page 14. Commissioner Noffsinger was late for the meeting because he was at the Indiana State House for a ceremony for grants and Warrick County received their grant certification for the Stonehaven Project by the Lieutenant Governor. Commissioner Meeting Minutes of Dec. 14, 2009, page 21.

2. “On May 10, 2010 he (Commissioner Noffsinger ) was removed due to ineffectiveness as commissioner representative Motorola upgrader point man and was replaced by Commissioner Williams.”
TRUTH-O-METER: PANTS ON FIRE
FACTS: On page 27 of the Commissioner Meeting Minutes for May 10, 2010, Commissioner Williams suggests that since he is “here every day but Tuesdays … [he] would like to be the contact on that.” Commissioner Noffsinger agrees and actually makes the motion “that Commissioner Williams will take the lead on the Communications Project.”

3. November 23, 2009 [Commissioner Noffsinger] voted against a proposed health savings insurance plan for Warrick County; a proposed savings of $1.66 million.”
TRUTH-O-METER: BARELY TRUE.
FACTS: At the November 23, 2009 meeting, Commissioner Noffsinger made a motion to approve plan #5 that would have provided for an option to county employees to choose an HSA or a PPO with a higher deductible. That motion died for lack of a second. Commissioner Meeting Minutes of November 23, 2009, page 5. Commissoner Noffsinger was the Board of Commissioners’ representative on the committee that investigated potential savings to the County by switching health insurance plans. It was discussed and agreed that the vast majority of savings to the County by switching plans would result from employees switching to a HSA from the current PPO plan. Meeting Minutes of 11/23/09 page 6. Commissioner Noffsinger voted against the plan offered by Commissoner Williams because he believed that the savings would be less due to the disincentive to switch to from the PPO to HSA. Meeting Minutes of 11/23/09 page 6. In voting against option 3 offered by Commissioner Williams, Commissioner Noffsinger voted NO, stating that “I think we just made a half million dollars mistake to the taxpayers.” Commissioner Williams responded stating that he thought that “we just saved the taxpayers $1.66 million dollars,” to which Commissioner Noffsinger responded “We could have saved them $2.1 [million].” Meeting Minutes of 11/23/09 page 8.

4. Commissioner Noffsinger “ claims responsibility for new Chandler EMS Station”, but “missed 3 Commissioner meetings concerning EMS Station July 20th/August 30th/August 31st.”
TRUTH-O-METER: FALSE
FACTS: According to www.warrickcounty.gov, the Commissioners meet on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month at 4:00pm. There is no record of a July 20th Commissioners Meeting since Commissioner Noffsinger took office in January 2009. Minutes of an August 30, 2010 meeting, if one did in fact take place since that date would have been the 5th Monday of the month, are not yet available online for verification. According to the Meeting Minutes, Commissioner Noffsinger did attend the regularly scheduled meeting on August 31, 2009.

5. Commissioner Noffsinger “claims … if elected will clean up sinking home in Quail Crossing”, but stated on “June 22, 2009 quote “I don’t see where the county at this time or in the future wants to get into the home demolition business.” “I really believe this is a private matter.” “I’m not willing to invest county funds into the removal of that building.”
TRUTH-O-METER: HALF TRUE
FACTS: There is no evidence that Commissioner Noffsinger ever promised to clean up the sinking home in Quail Crossing. The quotes attributed to Commissioner Noffsigner at the June 22, 2009 meeting are accurate. In addition, Commissioner Tim Mosby, agreeing with Commissioner Noffsinger, stated “I definitely agree this is not a County issue.” “I can’t see using tax dollars to handle a private matter. It’s not fair. Those are my tax dollars.”

6. Commissioner Noffsinger, on “May 11, 2009 signed a “Unified Conflict of Interest Statement: after using his position as a county commissioner to put county $$$ in his own pocket.”
TRUTH-O-METER: BARELY TRUE
FACTS: At the May 11, 2009 Commissioners Meeting, Commissioner Noffsinger disclosed that he had filed his “Unified Conflict of Interest Exposure Statement with this Clerk’s office this year and we will be passing it onto the State Board of Accounts.” Commissioner Meeting Minutes of May 11, 2009, page 17. No further discussion was had on the record and no mention or evidence of Commissioner Noffsinger using his position to put county $$$ in his own pocket was discussed at that meeting. To date, no action has been taken by the State Board of Accounts as a result of this Statement.

Voters of Warrick County, I urge you not to be fooled by the desperate 11th hour attempts of Democrats to take control of the Warrick County Board of Commissioners. Art Noffsinger is an honest man, a family man, and a man of integrity. Will we really be better off if we elect another Democrat to the Warrick County Board of Commissioners, giving them a majority and control over redistricting? Would we really be better off with the old party boss system of government that we have worked so hard to get away from over the last 10 years? I urge you to vote for Art on November 2nd!