A “joke” made by 4th District Porter County Council representative Jim
Polarek during Tuesday night’s council meeting has incited a member of the
public to formally ask the council to pass a resolution to publicly admonish
him.
Curt Ellis, who is also the consultant hired by the county commissioners to
operate the animal shelter Facebook page and regularly attends county
meetings, wrote a letter Wednesday addressed to Council President Dan
Whitten, D-at large, citing his offense taken to a comment Polarek made
during a brief discussion regarding the overcrowding at the Porter County
Jail.
The letter draws attention to County Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper’s quote
“There may be some low-hanging fruit we can get out of there,” where she
referred to inmates who could participate in programs alternative to being
housed at PCJ.
Immediately afterward, Polarek jokingly said to Harper, “Are you telling me
there are fruits in the Porter County Jail?”
In his letter, Ellis said Harper’s statement “was was a very common analogy
to which no reasonable person would find fault” but called Polarek’s remark
“one of the most insulting and bigoted attempts at humor that I have ever
heard at a meeting of our County government,” saying he believes the joke to
be a slur against the gay and lesbian community.
What upset Ellis more was the fact the remark went unchallenged by Polarek’s
peers, except for Karen Conover, R-3rd, who after the meeting said she found
the nature of the remark to be “inappropriate.”
Ellis said he confronted Polarek once the meeting ended telling him he was
offended. According to the letter, Polarek responded he was just joking,
“chuckle(d) and walk(ed) away.”
“It is totally beyond my comprehension that a member of the Porter County
Council can find humor in such tasteless ridicule, and do so with impunity,”
said Ellis. “(It was) a slap in the face to the entire LGBT community in
Porter County who have contributed so much to make our county the success
that it is.”
Ellis concludes his letter by saying the council “should not leave such
bigoted behavior unanswered” and that “to do anything less would tacitly
imply that the Council, as a whole, does not value and respect the
contributions of ALL of our citizens in making Porter County such a great
place to live, work and raise a family.”
Polarek, who recently made an unsuccessful run for South County Commissioner
in the Republican primary, told the Chesterton Tribune on Wednesday
his comment was not against the gay community and contended that Ellis
“completely took the words out of context.”
“Where I come from, a fruit or fruitcake means a wacko or nut job. I did not
mean it in any way to be anti-gay or anti-lesbian,” Polarek said.
Polarek said he would send an e-mail to county officials clarifying his
comments but did not say whether or not he would address the matter
publically.
Whitten, who was the only council member absent from Tuesday’s meeting, said
Wednesday he is not quick to admonish his fellow council members publically
because he believes it is up to the public to decide for themselves at
election time.
“I leave that to the voters,” Whitten said. “If someone doesn’t like the
decorum of an elected official then they can vote them out.”
Whitten said if he was at the council meeting and believed Polarek’s
comments to be reprehensible, he would have likely admonish him on a
personal level. He said if Polarek wishes to make a public apology, it is at
his discretion.
Ellis said an apology would be “meaningless” and instead wished for the
council to declare they will not condone this type of behavior.
“A few on the council should stop trying to be comedians and start
addressing the important business of government,” he said.
Whitten said he would not go out his way to scold fellow council members who
make joking remarks but Polarek should explain his comment.
County Commissioner President John Evans, R-North, who also received the
letter said Ellis was right in bringing the issue forward and added that
public meetings are “truly not the place for jokes.”
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