Novak calls for answers after DNR commission resignations, States Hoosiers deserve a government that still answers to them
Today, State Rep. Randy Novak (D-Michigan City), a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, released the following statement on the recent announcement that two members of the Indiana Natural Resources Commission, including its 20-year chair, resigned, citing the Braun administration's blocking of citizen input and lack of transparency at the Department of Natural Resources:
“For weeks, I have watched this unfold, and I have reached one conclusion. We cannot keep pretending this is normal. When the people who have spent their careers at this agency and know how this system is supposed to work choose to walk away rather than put their name on what it has become, the rest of us have a duty to stop and act.
“In my district, that is home to some of Indiana's most beloved outdoor spaces, folks expect honesty and transparency. They expect the people running our agencies to be honest with them, the rules to be made out in the open, and someone to be looking out for the woods they hunt, the lakes they fish, the ground they farm, and the bills they pay. That basic bargain is what just broke.
“Here is what worries me most. If trusted, longtime public servants no longer believe they can do their jobs honestly, no Hoosier has reason to believe the next decision was made fairly. We do not fix that by hoping it blows over. We fix it with accountability.
“It’s time to restore and rebuild a process that answers to the people of Indiana.”