Portage officials glad Snyder retrial over
Leaders express hope for city’s recovery
Portage and Porter County officials said they are hopeful the city can move forward now that former Mayor James Snyder has been convicted, for the second time, on a federal bribery charge involving a garbage truck contract while acknowledging the conviction Friday was a sad day for the city and Snyder’s family.
“First and foremost, I am happy to have this issue finally coming to an end, not just for our city but for the many lives that have been affected. It is sad to see Portage will forever have the stigma of having two of our elected officials convicted of corruption charges,” Portage Mayor Sue Lynch said, referring to former Clerk-Treasurer Christopher Stidham, a Democrat who is awaiting sentencing next month after pleading guilty to a felony charge of conflict of interest.
Lynch, a Democrat, served as council president under Snyder and was an at-large representative on the council at the time. She was first elected to the council in 2008 and served as acting mayor for two weeks in February 2019, when Snyder was first convicted.
“Portage needs to move forward and put this behind us. We have been in the headlines with negative press far too long. Our city and our residents deserve better,” she said.
Snyder, a Republican, was first elected mayor in 2011 and was reelected in 2015.
The last year of his second term was cut short in February 2019 when a federal jury convicted him of taking a $13,000 bribe in exchange for contracts to sell five garbage trucks to the city and using a shell company to hide income from the IRS when he owed personal and business taxes.
A jury acquitted Snyder on a third count, alleging he took a $12,000 bribe to get a company on the city’s tow list. He was initially indicted in November 2016.
His conviction Friday came after a retrial on the bribery charge for the garbage trucks. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 1 in U.S. District Court in Hammond on that count and the one involving the IRS.
“I am happy this case is finally coming to an end after four and a half years. As a city, we need to move on from the actions of a former mayor and look forward,” said City Council President Collin Czilli, D-5th, who served on the council when Snyder was mayor. “Obviously, I am disappointed in the actions of the former mayor. However, I believe all of us in city government have shown that we can govern with honesty and integrity, despite the actions of one or two corrupt individuals.”
Stidham, 38, of the 3900 block of Wingstem Drive, Portage, was charged in February 2020 with official misconduct, a felony, for allegedly hiring his then-girlfriend, whom he later married, as a contractor for bookkeeping and other services for the city that were never provided.
Under a plea agreement that Stidham agreed to in November, he will pay almost $57,000 in restitution, with much of that going back to the city of Portage. He is scheduled to be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. April 12 before Porter Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Clymer.
For now, officials are focused on getting past Snyder’s conviction.
“Mother was right. Crime doesn’t pay,” said Dan Whitten, Portage’s city attorney. “When people choose for whatever reason to act outside the law, they need to be brought to answer for their crimes. It’s a sad day for his family. The city can now move past this unfortunate bit of history and look forward.”
Porter County Republican Party Chairman Michael Simpson agreed about Friday’s somber tone for Snyder, his family and those close to him.
“For the citizens former Mayor James Snyder served in office, and for those of us who consider him a friend, this news is heartbreaking,” Simpson said. “We most especially feel horrible for his wife and children as they will bear the brunt of this verdict.”
John Cannon, a Republican who was selected by caucus to finish the last year of Snyder’s term in office, was elected to represent District 4 on the City Council in 2012. He lost in to Lynch in a bid for mayor.
Though he did not return a request for comment about Snyder’s conviction, Cannon blamed the federal government in November for delays in the case and noted Snyder’s achievements during his time in office.
“Even if he’s guilty, and I’m praying that’s not the case, the powers that be dragged this thing out,” he said then. “If you look back nine years ago, the transformation that the city went through, it’s all positive.”
Those accomplishments include the development of Founders Square, including a splash pad and amphitheater; roadwork throughout the city, done in part through the passage of a controversial wheel tax; new police and fire stations; automation of the city’s garbage trucks, which brought down the city’s worker compensation costs; and an open-air pavilion at the lakefront, among other projects.
“All these things are the impact of James Snyder and me finishing his term,” Cannon has said.
Snyder often had a rocky relationship with Porter County officials, tangling over the placement of a new animal shelter and about whether the county should build a new annex in the city’s downtown.
Porter County Council President Jeremy Rivas, D -2nd, whose district includes Portage, called for Snyder to resign in the days after his indictment.
Rivas said he was relieved about the verdict, especially since if Snyder had been found not guilty, he would have had the ability to go after the city for reimbursement of his legal fees, something the city couldn’t afford.
Still, Rivas recognized the gravity of the verdict.
“It’s sad,” said Rivas, whose wife, Nina, serves as Portage’s clerk-treasurer. “He created a culture there and invited other people into it. He tore the city apart for eight years.”