Pendleton residents push back on BMV branch closure

Sep. 25—PENDLETON — Following a temporary closure earlier this month due to staffing challenges, the residents of Pendleton are bracing for a fight to prevent the permanent closure of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles branch.

Town Manager Scott E. Reske was among the residents who challenged BMV Commissioner Peter Lacy Thursday on a proposal to permanently shutter the branch at 129 S. Pendleton Ave. as a cost-cutting measure.

The BMV is considering closing five of its 129 branches statewide.

Lacy told the group of four residents the number of person-to-person transactions has declined as customers turn to online and kiosk options. In addition, he said, about 70% of transactions involving Pendleton residents actually take place at branches in other nearby communities, such as Anderson, McCordsville and Noblesville.

"We have not raised the fees of the BMV in years, but our rent goes up, the cost of utilities goes up," he told the five people in attendance. The BMV has received more than 40 additional communications on the closure from other residents, he added.

The consolidation would save the BMV $300,000, Lacy said.

No employees would lose their jobs in the consolidation, he said. Pendleton employees would be permanently assigned to the newly renovated Anderson branch.

BMV customers complete about 13 millions transactions across the state annually, Lacy said. However, the Pendleton branch has experienced a decrease of 13% in transactions between 2010 and 2019, the largest decrease among the branches in the area, he said.

But Pendleton residents fought back against the statistics, saying BMV officials had not considered future growth and the effect on voters. They also demanded more line-item information about the alleged cost savings.

Reske said in the year-and-a-half he has been town manager, he has fielded many complaints about various proposals affecting residents, but he has never been approached on any single subject as much as the potential closure of the Pendleton BMV branch.

He asked Lacy whether he realized and had taken into consideration that Pendleton's population is poised to grow by 30% in the next 18 months as pressure from Indianapolis pushes people northward and that the town's eventual population is expected to grow tenfold to about 40,000. Lacy said he was unaware of that.

Reske asked whether the BMV had done computer-based modeling of the effects of consolidating the branches. Lacy admitted it had not.

Reske said he also was concerned about the effect of closing the branch on voter registration. Lacy said the BMV's core job was to provide high-level service for those seeking driver's licenses, license plates and titles and that voter registration wasn't really a priority.

But Reske pushed back, saying the Indiana General Assembly had made voter identification a priority to prevent fraud and that the responsibility for providing that identification lay squarely with the BMV.

"Your mission has expanded whether you realize it or not," he said.

Reske said the law clearly was intended to disenfranchise voters of color and no attempt was made to be subtle as BMV branches were closed in neighborhoods that serve them. Though Pendleton does not have a large minority population, he said, branch closures have the same effect on senior citizens who may have no way to get to another town to renew their IDs.

"I morally have a problem with what you are doing because I think you are discriminating against people who want to vote, and you are making it harder for them to vote," he said. "Now when you do it, you are being prejudiced against the elderly. If you're poor and you're old, you're going to stop voting."

Reske said he had some BMV business earlier in the week and purposely went to the McCordsville branch to see how well it operated. He said he was disappointed at the long lines and lack of parking.

"My experience at McCordsville the other day was worse than it ever was at Pendleton," he said.

Reske and Alexander Lalov questioned the alleged $300,000 in savings since the employees would be transferred to another branch. He scoffed at the notion that rent and utilities would be that high.

"I don't think one computer is a big expense," Lalov said.

Mike Romack asked whether the population considered by the BMV was only the town proper or also the 1,500 households outside the town limits. Lacy said it was the town proper.

"The Pendleton community is just bigger than that," Romack said. "I feel like we're a major location, and you don't see us as a major location."

Follow Rebecca R. Bibbs on Twitter at @RebeccaB_THB, or call 765-640-4883.