If Brandon Sakbun wins the upcoming mayoral election, can he resist the “good ol’ boy” system that is alive and well in Vigo County? Terre Haute’s corruption has been a hot topic lately, so in this article we’re going to break down Brandon’s last campaign finance report, examine some red flags, and review some commitments he’s made to establish anti-corruption policies.

There were no surprises in incumbent mayor Duke Bennett’s latest campaign finance reports, several large donations from Indianapolis based lawyers, engineers, and consultants. You can access those through the county’s website and read a full breakdown in our reporting of his campaign in 2019.

Brandon’s largest individual donors were $5,000 from Gregory Hahn of the Bose, McKinney, and Evans law firm, $4,000 from Alan Hogan of the Hogan Group (an Indianapolis based real estate development corporation), and $3,000 from Carl Drummer and Lucy John of the Taft, Stettinius, and Hollister law firm.  

While these types of contributions are fairly par for the course there were definitely some concerns in his reports. First and foremost was an item which did not appear. When I met Brandon at his campaign headquarters a few weeks ago, I asked if there would be any surprises in his October CFA (Campaign Finance Activity).

At that time he mentioned accepting a large donation from local businessman Joe Selliken, an individual who was directly involved in a scheme to impersonate Sheriff John Plasse and interfere in the Democratic mayoral primary. 

When asked why that contribution did not appear on his report, Brandon responded that he had filed a separate CFA-11 form, a form specifically designed for large contributions.  But that document does not appear on Vigo County’s website, and it is unclear at this time why it has not been posted.

Why Brandon filed an amended report days after filing his initial report, why he listed nearly $60,000 dollars worth of expenses to the Indiana State Democratic Central Committee, and why SDMC LLC chose to give him $20,000 are unknown at this time, but also do raise some concerns. 

While these are definitely concerns that need to be addressed, Sakbun has committed to several anti-corruption policies which would represent a significant departure from the way local government is currently operating. The most significant change being his embrace of the blind application process for local department heads. 

This process involves removing the name and other identifying characteristics from an individual’s application. This process would drastically reduce the level of nepotism and cronyism which has plagued Vigo County for centuries.

Sakbun has also committed to a self imposed two term limit and is considering the formation of an ethics committee similar to that of Muncie in Delaware County. All three of these initiatives indicate a desire to more than just a surface level “hand waving” form of anti-corruption but a genuine attempt to root out the deep seated causes of local government misconduct.