BROWN TOWNSHIP — Despite finding itself in the throes of a contentious tax hike proposal, the Brown Township Advisory Board has had a vacant seat for more than two months after it was learned Friday, March 7, that former board member Steven Oschman moved out of the county in early January.
Brown Township’s advisory board consists of three members, all serving alongside township trustee Mark Harris. Oschman had not appeared for any of the public hearings regarding the proposed fire territory, and the reason is now known: He moved to Zionsville at the beginning of January.
Oschman sold his house in Mooresville on Jan. 2, according to the Morgan County records. Five days later, however, he appeared at the advisory board’s Jan. 7 reorganization meeting, wherein he voted for himself to be both the board’s secretary and finance chairman despite having sold his house and planning a move on Jan. 10.
Oschman also acted as a board member at the body’s Jan. 29 meeting, after he had completed his move to Zionsville.
When reached by phone Friday, Oschman told The Correspondent that prior to his departure, he informed Harris of his move but not the party chair or county clerk, which is a customary practice for elected officials who may be stepping down.
Since Oschman is a Republican, it is up to local party chair Carole Snyder to organize a caucus within 30 days to fill his vacant seat. When The Correspondent spoke with Snyder by phone Friday, she learned of Oschman’s departure for the very first time.
“I’m very surprised (Oschman moved),” Snyder said Friday. “I thought he was still in Mooresville. Someone should have told me.”
She ended the phone call by saying she needed to speak with Harris, wondering why he did not notify her of the pending vacancy so she could have moved forward with the process necessary to fill it.
If Harris had told her, Oschman would have been contacted to ensure he took the required steps to formally resign, and a caucus to replace Oschman would have been initiated in January, well before the first public hearing on the proposed fire territory took place on Jan. 30.
That did not happen, however.
Instead, Oschman never provided a resignation letter to Snyder until Tuesday of this week, and therefore, no vacancy technically existed, despite Oschman not being a county resident for two months.
As of today, Snyder now has 28 days to organize a caucus to replace him, which she said she would do as quickly as possible.
The Correspondent reached out to Harris multiple times Friday, hoping to find out why he did not contact Snyder. Calls were made to the township office phone number with a message to return the reporter’s call. Calls were also made to what was later confirmed by two public officials to be Harris’ personal cell phone number. A man answered Harris’ cell phone number a single time.
The reporter introduced himself and asked him if he was, in fact, speaking with Mark Harris.
“You are not,” he said. “And you need to erase this number from your phone.”
He then hung up on the reporter.
Subsequent calls to the number went unanswered Friday.
On Monday morning, Harris called The Correspondent after the story originally broke about the vacancy Friday. He initially asked for a correction, claiming that he got a new phone number “a week ago” and that the person we spoke with on the phone on Friday was not him. Harris also claimed to have only just learned of Oschman’s move on March 4.
The Correspondent attempted to ask for proof that Harris had purchased a new phone, but he hung up the phone. A second call was made, but Harris hung up again after saying he had no further comments to give.
More than a dozen additional attempts to reach Harris were unsuccessful both Monday and Tuesday.
But a representative from AT&T, Harris’ cellular provider for his “old number,” told The Correspondent that it takes 59 days for a phone number to be recycled. This means that if Harris got a new phone number a week ago, his old phone number would not yet have been reassigned to anyone else at the time of the Friday call.
Oschman also spoke with The Correspondent again on Monday, asking for the story to be retracted and denying many of the things he said on the previous Friday. He questioned why it was relevant that the newspaper know when and where he moved, and he denied several times that he moved to Zionsville in January, although he eventually acknowledged the Jan. 10 move date before hanging up.
Oschman also said on Monday that he did not tell Harris he had moved until March 4, a reversal of his statements on Friday when he said he told Harris prior to his move. He repeatedly told The Correspondent that Mark Harris did nothing wrong.
The vacancy on the board — and the confusion surrounding it — comes amidst a pivotal time for Brown Township and Mooresville. An effort to merge the Mooresville and Brown Township fire departments is under active consideration, and many members of the public have come out in opposition due to the 32-percent property tax increase that would come along with the fire territory.
The potential fire territory has now had three public hearings with the Mooresville town council and Brown Township advisory board, and will be up for final approval March 20.
