Board and Commission Vacancies
Agenda Commissioner Meeting Jan 3 2023
The highlight:
Total Solar Eclipse. 10:50 mark – Excellent briefing by the EMA Director – Chad Jenkins, on the planning for the Total Eclipse on April 8, 2023. Guidance from the state on estimates of additional visitors is to plan for 4-5 times the peak volume of visitors that we get in the county. County offices and the Schools will be closed.
Commentary – 2024 Primaries – 2 commissioner vacancies – Pittman (District 3) and Wolpert (District 1). Sanders was elected in 2022 and started serving his 4-year term this January.
2024 Primary – Commissioner Term Limits. County voters have voluntarily embraced term limits for commissioners consisting of two 4 year terms. Jerry Pitmman is finishing his second term. Wolpert has previously served one term and was not re-elected and was not a successful candidate for commissioner in 2020. He was elected by 7 of 11 Republican precinct chairs to complete the term of office of Chuck Braden who resigned the position due to work conflicts. Wolpert was also elected previously by precinct chairs to fill a commissioner vacancy.
Commissioner Sanders defeated an incumbent attempting to be elected to a third term. He has made positive and significant impacts, researches the issues before blindly casting a vote, and represents the interests of all citizens and not just the special interests. He is too often the only “No” vote on unnecessary spending and ill-conceived changes.
Other
o. Election of Officers. Jerry Pittman and Blake Wolpert nominated and voted for each other as President (Pittman) and Vice President (Wolpert) respectively. Ron Sanders voted No to each.
o. Jerry Pittman and Blake Wolpert nominated and voted for each other as President (Pittman) and Vice President (Wolpert) respectively. The same thing happened last year. Both of their terms of office end this year. Ron Sanders voted No to each.
o. 2024 Primaries. In addition to the two commissioners, there will be three council seats and 11 Republican precinct chairs on the May ballot.
o. Prosecutors Office – Land Acquisition. As covered previously on Matters, the decision by Pittman and Wolpert to pay $300K for a 1/2 acre is void. The property has been pulled from the market by the seller. Sanders identified an additional option which would be the space adjacent to the north side of the courthouse. He will be discussing this option with the Judge, Prosecutor, and Sheriff. Building at the current location is another option.
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- I am not aware of any documentation that supports the need to demolish the existing building and replace it with a new structure.
o. Capital Improvement Plan. For the first time in county history, new commissioner Ron Sanders took the initiative to coordinate the development of a plan that is expected to be nearly completed by the end of January. The lack of a plan has been a repeat finding by the state board of accounts.
o. Board and Commission Vacancies. I “assume” these will be advertised in the Brown County Democrat which I did not see in this week’s paper. Notification on the Democrat has been the past practice. Commissioners Pittman and Wolpert stated they wanted to start making selections at their next meeting.
o. Gnaw Bone RSD. No change from last meeting. They need three new board members and need to contract for maintenance. The expectation for the previous board members was to also perform maintenance. They need an estimated 500K for repairs and a new plan to support the possible need for expansion. The big question is whether the RSD will be absorbed by the Brown County RSD or remain an independent RSD that would likely be more receptive to the interests of the area. The Brown Country RSD has never had any paying customers or experience in managing a functional RSD. They have been “silent” on the Gnaw Bone RSD issues and challenges.
Independent Voters of Brown County IN 