UPDATED: "St. Joseph County Faces Prius Puzzle"

The South Bend Tribune reports.  Excerpt:

For his part, council member Mark Root, R-District I, said he plans to approve the purchase of the hybrids.

"Certainly that is the best deal the county can get on the vehicles," said Root, who is also a MACOG board member.

As for the proposed ordinance, Root said he is still undecided.

"I have to feel confident that if we do support the ordinance as written, that it doesn't tie our hands in terms of good economic stewardship of the county," he said.

UPDATE: On July 13 the council voted to approve the purchase of the two Prius vehicles.  Dan Herbster made a statement before voting for the ordinance to the effect that his job was not to look out for any particular industry but to make sure taxpayer dollars are used wisely.  Excerpt from the Tribune article:

The St. Joseph County Council voted Tuesday to approve an ordinance requiring the county to purchase American-made vehicles, but not before first voting to approve the purchase of two Japanese-made Toyota Priuses.