Charlie Goodman
(Charles H Goodman)

“He’s the textbook example of how one person can make a whole lot of difference.”
- Julia Vaughn Common Cause Indiana

None of the common notions of what a lobbyist is would lead you to Charlie Goodman, but watching him walk the aisles of the Statehouse tells you he is at home there. His eighteen years of experience there as a volunteer citizen lobbyist, and the successes he has had promoting legislation in the past, has gained him the respect and access necessary to bring this issue to state-level attention. Without that, our cause would still be mired down at the neighborhood level, without much hope for real improvement. 

Nor has any of the massive amount of money paid to lobbyists, a great deal by the electric utilities themselves, reached him. He works on his own time and his own "dime".

Charlie retired in 2004, at age 64, leaving a career of retail sales and real estate for the comfort of his Social Security income, and with full time now available for his passion--lobbying at the Statehouse for his chosen causes. 

 

Charlie Goodman's War

They made the wrong guy mad this time!

In 2005, his local utility (IPL) sent crews to trim in his neighborhood. He was told by the crew that his tree would not need trimming, but when he returned home later that day, found more than half of the large tree in his front yard on the ground. Extensive negotiation with IPL for satisfactory compensation left him frustrated, insulted and angry.

Recognizing that his income, like that of most people, made it impossible to consider legal action, he resorted to the tools he already had: time, patience and his reputation at the Statehouse. He has found that in that environment of highly educated (he would check "some college" on a survey), influential people, someone who just "tells the truth", as he puts it, can be heard and can make a difference.

Since that time, he has worked toward legislation creating uniform vegetation management standards--UVM-- and correcting abuses of property rights law. In October of 2009, he got the issue a hearing before the Senate Utility Flexibility Committee, and that has led to the current statewide IURC investigation.

It is not an easy battle. He reports that last year alone, Indiana utilities spent approximately 2.1 million dollars to influence votes of the State Legislature, and donated over 220 thousand dollars to various Senators, Representatives and both parties Caucuses. But, as he has proven in the past, one voice can be heard and can make a difference.

He asks that all of you who share his interest in correcting the kinds of abuses that have, and are now being done to property and property owners statewide, join him and make your voice heard.

Past Legislative Efforts
Safe water for people with contaminated wells
A merit system for all public employees
A Baby--Aids bill
Child molestation laws
Now protecting property rights for all homeowners