Party tensions mount

Paul Purdom, an IU professor and Democratic volunteer, returned home a few weeks ago to find the light on his answering machine blinking. He pressed the button and listened to what he called "a disturbing message."\nThe message didn't contain a threatening voice -- in fact no one speaks on the recording. The only audible sound is nearly a minute of successive gunfire.\n"If I wanted to think why anyone would want to frighten me, it would be because of my political activities," Purdom said. "I've never had any students do anything to try and frighten me. They're the only other people I could think of, but they're usually much more vocal when they're unhappy."\nThe Bloomington area has become a hotbed of political tension between Democrats and Republicans, according to local activists and politicians. \nJust prior to the Nov. 4 election, Purdom said he was putting up signs in support of Democratic candidates on the corner of 11th and Walnut Streets. A car he described as "a dark SUV" swerved, nearly striking him.\nTensions have been mounting between active Republicans and Democrats since the more environmental Democratic party has been in power. The party has placed more emphasis on protecting the environment than Republican-favored financial growth.\nBud Bernitt, a Republican realtor, has been active in his party but said he wouldn't run for political office on the request of his wife. Bernitt was involved in the arrest and trial of Monroe County Councilman Scott Wells. Bernitt and his wife Amy called an off-duty state trooper to report a staggering Wells getting into his car. Wells was later picked up by state troopers and has since been convicted of operating while intoxicated and disorderly conduct. Wells, a Democrat, and his party supporters have insisted the arrest was politically motivated and just another example of strong arm politics. \nWells, a self-proclaimed environmentalist, and former County Commissioner Brian O'Neill cast votes in favor of stonewalling a Bernitt Reality-sponsored project to bring a Menards to a specific part of Bloomington. When the Menards didn't get built where Bernitt had planned, the Republican activist lost money from the project.\nBernitt has had his share of harassment at the hands of what he called "political motivation." In what was the prime of the anthrax scare, Bernitt received multiple envelopes, each of them empty.\n"It's hard to say who, but it's clear we aren't dealing with a bunch of boy scouts here with these environmentalists," Bernitt said. "I think things are getting out of hand and all of this has to stop."\nBernitt has also received threatening messages on his business and home answering machine.\n"Are you off chasing drunken Democrats right now?" an unknown voice asks on the recording. "Is that why you're not answering the phone? See ya; wouldn't want to be ya."\nBernitt's concern for drunken driving goes beyond the Wells case. Last year, then-County Commissioner O'Neill returned to his car on the Courthouse Square where he noticed Bernitt sitting and eating a sandwich. O'Neill said as he drove home, a sheriff's deputy began following him based off a Bernitt tip claiming the commissioner was impaired.\nThe Democratic O'Neill said he has also been targeted for purely political reasons, calling the behavior "dangerous to the democratic process."\nHe described instances where he was followed by a large SUV so closely he couldn't see the vehicle's headlights in his rear view mirror. O'Neill said he has also found live snakes under his car after council meetings.\n"I thought it was a fake snake, but then when it lunged at me it was definitely real," O'Neill said.\nO'Neill said after his council meetings he has returned to discover his vehicle altered in dangerous ways. On one occasion, the tire pressure on two of his Ford Explorer's tires was drained to below 12.5 psi, O'Neill said. The other two tires were at their normal pressure, causing him to fear the SUV would roll over while he drove home.\n"I'm not entirely sure of the reasons, but it got vicious," O'Neill said. "There's no place for this in civil society and the Republicans who I respect need to come out and condemn this stuff, and they haven't."\nCurrent County Commissioner Herb Kilmer, a republican, was unavailable for comment, but has expressed concern about his own personal harassment in the past.\n"I've heard plenty of private expressions of concern about this," O'Neill said. "But I have not heard anyone come out and say this is reprehensible stuff, and it's got to stop."\nSergeant David Drake is a detective with the Bloomington Police Department and said harassment complaints are one of the most common reported to his department.\n"There's a fine line between free speech and harassment," Drake said. "Something has to be done, with no intent of legitimate communication in order for it to be considered harassment. There would need to be some connection to make sure these aren't random events."\n-- Contact senior writer Mitch Blacher at mblacher@indiana.edu.