(La Porte County, IN) - La Porte County Commissioner Sheila Matias, a former school teacher, practically dusted off her paddle and used it on Commissioner Joe Haney last night. She also swatted La Porte County Auditor Tim Stabosz.

 

After another meeting dominated by hostile verbal sparring sessions, Matias said she was not going to stand back while Haney and Stabosz "try to bully people who have served this county long before you slipped in the back door."

 

She especially pointed her finger at Haney and demanded a public apology from him "shamefully" insulting Commission President Rich Mrozinski at a commissioner meeting two weeks ago.

 

Haney has frequently characterized Mrozinski and Matias as rubber stamps for La Porte County Attorney Shaw Friedman and has repeatedly alleged Friedman runs county government. Haney at the meeting also referred to Mrozinski as "a joke" and said Mrozinski doesn't know what he's doing.

 

Friedman is suing Stabosz for alleging Friedman runs county government. 

 

Matias said Mrozinski deserves respect not just for his service in the Vietnam War but for advocating for veterans in the nation's capital. She also spoke highly of his years in public service following a long career at NIPSCO. Matias said the picture Haney painted of Mrozinski was far from the truth.

 

“I’m sorry to tell you, Joe, you are totally misguided or worse,” Matias said. "You and your buddy, [Tim] Stabosz, are hell-bent on shaming, attacking, deriding and disrupting. Disruptor in Chief is a role you have created for yourself. Is that all you’ve got to do with the honor the voters have given you?”

Matias, a former two-term mayor in Michigan City, concluded her remarks by further painting a sour picture of Haney and Stabosz, accusing them of governing by gaslighting. 

 

“Gaslighting describes the practice used by bullies, narcissists, and generally mean-spirited people who think that if they speak a lie often enough, people will eventually grow to think it’s true. But, let me tell you, just because you continue to call me names like an accomplice, a henchman, a puppet and whatever other disrespectful things keep coming out of your mouths does not make it true,” she said. "The citizens of La Porte County know better and deserve better. Look at our records and see the truth,”