I simply do not believe Lancaster County voters oppose controls on taxes, spending and debt.

I simply do not believe they think it's a bad idea to expose county government to greater public scrutiny.

I simply do not believe they aren't in favor of checks and balances, term limits or a county Conduct and Ethics Code.

And yet the voters emphatically said "no" to those reforms Tuesday.

Why would they do that? What in the world were they thinking when they rejected the home rule charter?

Leaving a polling place in Strasburg, a 78-year-old man answered by pointing at a sign planted in the grass. The sign read: "Bigger government = HIGHER TAXES. Vote No!"

Laurie Fulmer, 49, also quoted the sign. "Bigger government, higher taxes," she said.

"We need less government, not more," said Charles Myers, 69. Home rule would be "more money out of my wallet," said Richard Clarke, 58. Said 84-year-old Lester Rhoads, "Taxes are my big concern."

Voters fooled

Little wonder voters went to the polls harboring resentment over taxes. County tax hikes have averaged 7.7 percent a year since 2003.

Yet voters turned down a charter that would have put controls on tax increases. They voted against their own self-interest.

Under home rule, any tax increase of 4 percent or more would have required a "yes" vote by four of the five county commissioners — a supermajority. Further, the charter would have given voters the opportunity to initiate a ballot question on any tax increase of 7 percent or more, a power they do not now have.

So why did home rule go down to defeat? Chalk it up to a failure to communicate.

My conversations with more than 50 voters leaving the polls convinced me few had any idea what the 29-page charter — posted online for months — actually says.

Those working for adoption of home rule, particularly the leaders of the Chamber of Commerce & Industry, knew they had to inform the public, and they blew it. They did not do enough to promote the charter. They did not do enough to expose the opposition's distortions. They let misinformation carry the day.

You have to feel for the eight volunteer members of the Government Study Commission who supported home rule. They devoted two years to learning about county government and crafting a document to make the government more accountable and effective.

Their efforts went for naught.

Chicanery triumphed

They sought to bring fiscal control to county government. But the leadership of the Republican Party, fearful of a loss of influence under home rule, smeared the charter as the enemy of the taxpayer and led the voters astray.

That the GOP leaders got away with hardball tactics rankles the eight.

"I'm really upset with my party," said Mary Clinton of Leola, a Republican. "They do anything to win, and that includes lying."

"I think the eight of us tried to be fair and aboveboard and professional," said Joyce Moyer of Akron, also a Republican, "and I didn't see that from the other side."

"I remain disappointed in my party, that they're not leading us into the 21st century, and the ends justify the means," said Jim Miller, a Manor Township Republican. "Anything they could say to sink this charter, they did. That is not OK by me. It matters how we do this."

Yes, it should matter, but from Tuesday's vote, we can now quantify the impact of good intentions poorly executed: a mere 37 percent of the vote.

The eight who wrote the charter should be proud of their finished product.

But they miscalculated in seeing their job as primarily an exercise in political science. What they ended up getting was a lesson in political reality.

E-mail: jhawkes@lnpnews.com