06072016 - News Article - Lawsuit claims Portage union members attacked workers - Veach: Portage Parks Board

Lawsuit claims Portage union members attacked workers
Post Tribune
June 07, 2016
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-portage-union-members-sued-st-0607-20160607-story.html

A lawsuit claiming a group of Northwest Indiana union members attacked workers at a Dyer construction site will continue after it was moved to the U.S. District Court in Hammond.

The lawsuit, filed by Illinois-based D5 Ironworks and five of its employees, was transferred last week after originally being filed in Illinois.

According to the lawsuit, employees for D5 were working at the site of Plumb Creek Christian Academy, at U.S. 231 and Calumet Avenue, on Jan. 6, when Thomas Williamson Sr., a member of Local 395 Ironworkers, based in Portage, arrived.

Williamson spoke with Richard Lindner about D5 coming to a labor agreement with the union but was refused, according to the lawsuit. He then went to Dyer Baptist Church, owner of the school, and told officials there that not using union workers was unethical.

Williamson returned the next day and got into an argument with Lindner, who told him to leave, the lawsuit said. The lawsuit claims Williamson then shoved Lindner and said, "I'm taking this back to old school."

The lawsuit says that on the same day at about 3 p.m. Williamson, his son Thomas Williamson Jr. and 10 other men arrived in two cars and proceeded to attack Lindner, Scott Kudingo, Bill Tonnesen, Joe Weil and Harry Harper, punching, hitting them with scrap wood from the construction site and kicking them with steel-toe boots.

As they beat the D5 workers, the lawsuit says, the attackers yelled out that it was union work and this was their territory.

According to the lawsuit, D5 stopped working at the school site after the attack.

The lawsuit names the union and both Williamsons as defendants, as well as the other unidentified attackers.

Kudingo suffered a broken jaw and had to be taken to a hospital, according to the lawsuit.

Harold Abrahamson, an attorney for both Williamsons, declined to comment on the case. An attorney for Local 395 could not be reached for comment.

Lake County court records do not show that either of the Williamsons have been charged in the incident.

D5 is asking for an injunction against the union, including barring the union from trying to stop anyone from doing business with D5 and staying away from any D5 employee. The plaintiffs are also asking for at least $3 million in actual damages as well as unspecified punitive damages.

06022016 - News Article - Mayor Snyder: Shelter location not good for Portage

Mayor: Shelter location not good for Portage 

Post-Tribune

June 02, 2016 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-shelter-letter-st-0603-20160602-story.html

Portage Mayor James Snyder questions the location of the new Porter County animal shelter among other concerns in a letter to members of the Porter County Council and Board of Commissioners.

In the letter, dated Wednesday, Snyder said the most important reason for Portage's dissatisfaction with the location on Indiana 49 near the Porter County Expo Center and Porter County Jail is that it will hinder adoptions.

"Adoption of these animals should be priority number one, and there are few who believe that the location near the county jail and the county fairgrounds is paramount in promoting good and frequent adoption options to families and these poor animals who need a home," Snyder wrote.

Portage is the only municipality in the county that does not use the county shelter. Portage has its own animal control officers and now takes its strays to the Humane Society in Hobart, a kill shelter.

Commissioner Laura Blaney, D-South, disagreed with Snyder about the Ind. 49 location.

"There's a lot of factors that go into picking the perfect spot and this is it, including saving taxpayer dollars," said Blaney, who also said she doesn't think the shelter's location will hinder adoptions.

"I can guarantee better adoption rates for all the animals in Porter County," she said.

County officials have already addressed many of Snyder's concerns, said Council President Dan Whitten, D-at large. He is meeting next week with Portage City Council President Mark Oprisko, D-at large, and County Councilman Jeremy Rivas, D-2nd, whose district includes Portage, to discuss finances, the number of animals Portage would bring to the new shelter, and other matters.

"The mayor's letter is of no consequence to me," he said.

Snyder also said it would take an hour round-trip for his city's animal control officers to drop animals off at the shelter, incurring greater time and transportation costs.

The County Council discussed the new location with commissioners at their May 24 meeting. Portage City Councilwoman Sue Lynch, D-at large, who was at the meeting and served on a committees for the new shelter, said then that the location would not preclude the city from using the shelter.

County officials considered a number of different locations for a new shelter before deciding on the site on Ind. 49, which commissioners announced about a year and a half ago. Land at Sunset Hill Farm County Park, at Meridian Road and U.S. 6, was dropped as a potential location because the land was owned by the parks foundation and several people opposed using it for a shelter.

Councilman Jim Biggs, R-1st, said at the meeting that much of the county's growth is south of U.S. 30, a point he reiterated Wednesday and one that Snyder disputed in his letter.

"There is no perfect location because the demographics in Porter County change about every five years," Biggs said. "You look at a location that in most people's opinion is centrally located."

The land on Ind. 49 is owned by the county, which was one of the factors in deciding to put the shelter there, but Snyder said in his letter that county officials seemed focused on saving tax dollars rather than purchasing a more prominent property that could foster a higher rate of adoptions. He also mentioned the almost $160 million the county received from the sale of the county hospital, and a $1 million private donation toward the new shelter.

"The focus seems to rest on frugality as opposed to (the) reality of a good location and its users," Snyder wrote. "In this instance, the county's focus will potentially cost the taxpayers millions."

County government has to be frugal because it operates on a larger scale than its municipalities, Biggs said.

"I think our frugal approach is why we have dollars in the bank and I think taxpayers have backed our approach," Blaney said.

Portage officials have not yet signed a contract to join in on the new shelter, which is expected to open early next year. Construction should begin in the coming weeks.

County officials want to work with the city of Portage, Biggs said, and he thinks everyone would be better off concentrating on more important things.

"I respect what they're saying. I understand it but we made a decision we felt was in the best interest of all of Porter County."