One man uses the power of the Internet to make changes in
LaPorte
By Jack Pyott, THG
Features
The northwestern Indiana city of LaPorte is a town like many in the Hoosier
State: rundown and with an inefficient, corrupt government that can’t look past
partisan politics long enough to get anything done worthwhile that would benefit
its citizens. Roads are in poor shape, and there are more city ordinances that
take police manpower away from real crimes than one can shake a stick at.
One man is on a mission to change LaPorte into a city that all its citizens can
be proud of: Keith W. Kimmel.
Kimmel is the Webmaster and creator of the website
www.laportesucks.com. This
site is dedicated to pointing out the ills that plague LaPorte so it opens
citizens’ eyes to the problems their city faces. Subheadings on the page include
“Roads Suck”, “Utilities Suck”, “Government Sucks”, and “Parking Tickets”.
The focus of the main page right now is one of the most important and
controversial issues in Indiana—the mandatory seatbelt statute. Kimmel uses his
web page as a venue to show LaPorte how worthless it is for police to be waging
war on seatbelt law violators while more important things, like investigating
who slashed the tires on his car, can be done by the police.
Kimmel’s grassroots effort to create change in LaPorte has made him one of the
most politically powerful citizens in this town of just over 21,000. “I know of
three city officials who dropped out of the last election over fear of being a
target of LaPorteSucks.com” said one local leader who wished to remain
anonymous. “If you mess with Keith, your ass is grass and his website is the
lawnmower.”
Now that Kimmel has brought government conspiracies to light like the closing of
a street permanently to provide the local hospital with parking and the utility
company charging him for a full unit of water use despite his only using about
half a unit, what will be his next target? Only time will tell. Check out
www.laportesucks.com for updates.
