EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) -
The merger question will remain on the ballot in Vanderburgh County at least for now. The decision came on Tuesday after a meeting of the election board.
CORE's co-chairman Bruce Ungethiem on Tuesday would not say whether or not the group plans to file a lawsuit, but he does say they haven't given up yet.
"This is not over," said Ungethiem.
That is how Ungethiem ended his interview with 14 News Tuesday morning.
Ungethiem is the co-chairman of the group Citizens Opposed to Reorganization in Evansville or CORE.
"The people of the City of Evansville and the people of Vanderburgh County deserve better than what we've got here," said Ungethiem.
During his allotted 20 minutes of time, Ungethiem told the board why CORE believes the reorganization issue should be removed from the November 6th ballot.
The group says the petition to start the whole reorganization process violated state statutes.
"And we brought that before the election board because if the beginning of the process is not valid then the rest of the process is also not valid," Ungethiem said.
When it came time to vote, the board followed the recommendation of its counsel, Doug Briody.
He says once the county recorder told the election board the question of reorganization was eligible to go on the ballot, the board must do so.
"When it ultimately comes down to it, the board's hands are essentially tied by the law. The law's clear, it says, 'We're obligated to administer those election laws for the county and to enforce them as they are written,'" Briody said.
"The election board indicated where the next step is and that is to take it to a judge and that's what we plan to do," Ungethiem said.
Click here for the plan of reorganization between the city and county.
Click here for more details of CORE's complaint.
We'll continue to follow this story and bring you any updates as we get closer to the election.
Copyright 2012 WFIE. All rights reserved.
