Democrats question makeup of merger committee in Fishers  By Carrie Ritchie June 3, 2010   The makeup of a committee appointed last week by Fishers and Fall Creek Township to study a merger might violate state law.   The head of the local Democratic Party has raised concerns that Fall Creek Township's three appointees could all be considered Republicans, which would violate requirements for political balance.   By law, no more than two of each entity's three appointees can belong to the same political party.   It's uncertain how this could affect the committee, which is scheduled to have its first meeting Saturday.   The township and town each named three appointees to the committee last week.   The Town Council appointed two Republicans and one independent, and the township appointed one Republican and two independents.   The appointments spurred Keith Clock, chairman of the Hamilton County Democratic Party, to look into the voting records of all three independents. Clock found that the two independents appointed by Fall Creek Township had voted in the recent Republican primary, which, under state law, could make them Republicans for the purposes of the appointment process.   That means all three Fall Creek Township appointees could be considered Republicans, which exceeds the limit of two appointees from one party. Leslie Barnes, co-general counsel for the Indiana Election Division, said she thinks anyone who challenges the appointments in court "would have good grounds to do so," but cautioned that it isn't her office's responsibility to rule on that issue.   Steve Buschmann, an attorney working with Fall Creek Township, said Wednesday that he hasn't looked into the issue but will if told to do so.   Township Board members thought they were following the law when they made their appointments, but board member Dan Rieke said Wednesday that "if we are not following the law, we will make it right."   Jim Carlino and Matt Troyer, the two independents appointed by Fall Creek Township, confirmed they had voted in the Republican primary but said they did so because they wanted to vote in the primary and had to pick a side.   They said they both consider themselves to be independents and weren't aware that their voting in the Republican primary could be a factor in their appointment.   Some local Democrats were upset that the council and board, both composed entirely of Republicans, didn't appoint a Democrat to the committee.   Clock, who said he doesn't want to waste taxpayer money defending against a legal challenge, plans to urge the Town Council and Township Board to reconsider their appointments.   Leaders in other Hamilton County communities have approached Clock for advice on appointments, but he said no one from Fishers or Fall Creek Township had contacted him about potential appointees.   Town Council President Scott Faultless said he doesn't know Clock and didn't ask him for advice. He dismissed Democrats' complaints as "political grandstanding." Democrats applied to be on the committee, Faultless said, but he added that the Town Council selected those they felt were most qualified.   "They (the Democrats) didn't have the skills and the expertise in municipal law and municipal finance that we were looking for," Faultless said.   The reorganization committee will develop a merger plan for Fall Creek Township and Fishers; then voters will decide whether to combine the two governments.   Faultless thinks the plan could go to voters in a referendum as early as November.   It's uncertain if the appointment issue will affect the group's schedule. Rieke didn't know if the township would reconsider its appointments, or whether the group's first meeting would be postponed.   That meeting is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. Saturday in the administrative conference room at Fishers Town Hall, 1 Municipal Drive.