By Mike Smith
Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS -- Gov. Mitch Daniels managed the unthinkable this year when he won passage of statewide daylight-saving time, an issue that had deadlocked lawmakers for nearly 30 years.

But the state is ticking toward a new round of contention as counties determine whether to seek a change in time-zone boundaries or stay put.

Some don't know what they want -- or are wary of taking on a new time confrontation so soon after Indiana settled one that made it the butt of national jokes.

Others fear Indiana time will become more confusing than before.

"It's a big mess that could have and should have been avoided," said William Haskins, 82, of Daviess County, one of several counties where the new debate is brewing.

Daniels followed a provision in the new daylight-time law and asked the U.S. Department of Transportation, which regulates time zones, to determine whether time-zone boundaries should be changed. Five counties in northwest Indiana and five in the southwest are in the Central zone. The other 82 are in the Eastern zone.

Daniels didn't state a time-zone preference but recommended that eight to 10 hearings be held in larger cities.

The federal government said it was unprecedented for any jurisdiction to request a change without stating a preference. It put the onus on Indiana counties to make pitches based on such factors as convenience of commerce, transportation and where radio and TV signals originate.

The transportation department has the final say on time-zone changes.

Some say the process allows Daniels, who suggested during the campaign that most of Indiana belonged in the Central time zone, to saddle local officials with the political heat.

"He didn't want this decision in his lap," said state Rep. Dave Crooks, D-Washington, who opposed the daylight-saving time law.

The time-change law has not been a big issue in Clark, Floyd and Harrison counties, which observe daylight time to stay in step with Louisville.

Daniels has argued that the move to daylight-saving time next spring will boost commerce by having Indiana join the 47 other states that change their clocks twice a year. He also predicts that several counties, primarily those in western Indiana, will seek a move to the Central time zone.

"I think it will be fairly widespread," he said.

Others aren't so sure.

Bill Haan, executive director of the Indiana Association of County Commissioners, said many local officials have received no guidance from Daniels' office or the Transportation Department. Citizens are weighing in, he said, but "they are all over the map."

Kevin Brinegar, president of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, predicts most counties in central and eastern Indiana will stay in the Eastern zone. He said many companies prefer that because Indiana does more business with the Eastern time zone than any other. Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson has supported keeping Marion County in the Eastern time zone.

State Rep. Jeff Espich, R-Uniondale, believes northeastern counties will stick with Eastern time because of their proximity to Ohio. State Sen. Allen Paul, R-Richmond, said most of his eastern Indiana constituents feel the same.

But several counties near the Central time-zone line along the Illinois border, and the Central time-zone pockets of northwest and southwest Indiana, are pondering a change.

Commissioners in four Northern Indiana counties -- Elkhart, Kosciusko, Marshall and St. Joseph -- want to stick together regardless of which time zone they choose. They are close to the Central time-zone counties in northwest Indiana.

"We have transportation situations with the South Bend airport, the rails that operate out of the Elkhart area," said Marshall County Commissioner John Zentz. "Our media is out of that area, our commerce and labor force is so tied together."

Public sentiment at hearings in Marshall, Kosciusko and St. Joseph counties leaned toward the Central zone, Zentz said, but he said opinions were more mixed in Elkhart County.

Counties in the Eastern time zone in southwestern Indiana are reluctant to take a stand until they know what their neighbors might do.

"Some of the folks, they don't want to jump right out there," Pike County Commissioner Mark Flint said.

Louis "Jody" Fortwendel, a Perry County commissioner who runs a barbershop in Tell City, said most of his customers want to switch to Central time because the county borders the Central time-zone area around Evansville. He said Daniels, and not county officials, should be taking the lead on the issue.

"He's the one who got it started," Fortwendel said. "I think he dropped the ball."

Brinegar predicts politics will prevent most counties from seeking a change. Even with the passage of daylight-saving time, the issue that kept the debate alive for nearly 30 years remains: Few elected officials want to risk the wrath of voters who can chase them out of office.

"In a number of cases, doing nothing is safer politically than stepping forward and doing something," Brinegar said.