THE PAPER May 8th
Proudly Serving Wabash County Since 1977
May 2, 2012
Meet your candidates for Wabash County Council by Danielle Swan DSmith@thepaperofwabash.com Primary Election Day is May 8. Seven candidates are vying for the three available at-large seats on Wabash County Council. Before you cast your vote, take a moment to review their responses to the questions below. How would you define a successful term as a member of Wabash County Council? Ridenour: Finding a way to continue and improve services to our residents while looking for ways to cut costs; making decisions of spending county monies directly reflective of the county economy that funds it; continuing to have Wabash County as one of the overall lowest in per capita taxes in the state. Roser: A successful term for a Wabash County Council member is one in which the member has actively helped the entire Wabash County Council committee make sound financial decisions for the betterment of Wabash County and its’ citizens. Evans: The county council serves as the fiscal body of county government. A successful term would be four years of balancing the county budget with no reductions to departmental services. All the while affording our hard working county employees with minimally cost of living wage increases. Curless: One in which I felt I understood the problems and needs of our county, and was able to contribute to the solutions of those needs.
Ruppel: A successful term would be that over the next four years the council will keep a balance budget that keeps the county services where the residents expect them to be. Also, that we keep the tax rate as low as possible creating a good business climate to attract new businesses and residents. Gerding: If you came away and everybody was pleased, there is no such thing. You cannot please everybody all the time. You have to just study the whole thing, realize that people come in with preconceived ideas of what they want and then you have to sit down and figure it out from there and do what you think is best. That’s why they elected you. What would you identify as the biggest problem in Wabash that should be addressed by Wabash County Council? Ridenour: For me, without a question, would be to find out unanswered questions about our LOIT (Local Option Income Tax) income taxes. The state has given us misinformation from the start, and continues to do so to the point where our county has a reserve of around $3.5 million and we add to that yearly. That was not the way the legislators meant for the law to work, but the Department of Revenue and Department of Local Government Finance have completely screwed it up. I believe, with the recent problems at the state in finding over a half billion dollars and almost half of that being revenue shorted to county gov-
Daryl Evans ernment, that it is imperative we have a more clear understanding as well as they show some accountability to Wabash. Roser: The county roads are going to be a big challenge down the road if we don’t take care of them. The county used to chip and seal approximately 120 miles of county roads every year; now we are lucky if they have enough money to get 60 miles done per year. This means that the roads used to get chip and sealed every four or five years, now with the money that is available, it is going to be more like every 10 years. The money to do this comes from the gas tax collected by the state. It is my understanding that not enough money has been coming back to the county to cover the needed costs to maintain the current roads. No property tax or local option income tax is used for this. I think this is an issue, among many others that needs to be worked on. Evans: The biggest issues that the next council will have to deal with will be the overpopulation of our county jail and the ability to maintain county highways with state reduced funding. Curless: The two
Roxy Roser
Mike Ridenour
Bill Gerding
Bill Ruppel
Valerie Wilcox biggest problems facing the council would be roads and jail. The road issue is one I am very concerned with. For the past several years, the Highway Department has had to let miles of sealing go for lack of funds. After so long, this is going to cause a need for major road repairs. New funding sources are going to have to be found or expenses cut back. The council has asked the commissioners if allowing some roads go back
Index Classifieds ......................32-35
Weekly Reports................12-15
D&E ................................20-21
Community News..24-25, 28-29
Randy Curless to gravel is an option. Wheel tax is an option, but the option that I and other council members are hoping for is that Indy lawmakers hear the problems of the counties on road and street repair, and they make changes at the state level to bring more money back to the counties. Ruppel: The duty of the council is to 1. Adopt a budget, 2. Set the tax rate, and 3.
Wabash receives $1.8 million economic development grant U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson recently announced a $1.8 million Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant to the city of Wabash to make critical infrastructure improvements needed to support the development of a new business park. The new business park is expected to generate approximately 540 new jobs and leverage $60 million in private investment, according to the grantee estimates. “This $1.8 million EDA investment in Wabash is an example of the Obama Administration’s commitment to supporting a 21st century infrastructure,” Bryson said. “The grant announced today will provide resources to Indiana that will help attract new businesses to Wabash and the surrounding region, thereby creating hundreds of jobs and modernizing a critical foundation of an economy built to last.” Economic Development Group of Wabash County, Inc., on behalf of the City of Wabash, began the application process for this grant nearly two years ago. The first submission was made in June 2010. “It is a very competitive and difficult process,” said Bill Konyha, president and CEO of EDG. “One step was to have the project identified as the number one priority on the regional Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) plan. This process includes economic development organizations and local elected officials from 10 counties.” The EDA investment funds the construction of roadway improvements and sewer, water, and drainage facilities to serve a city-owned 155-acre business park. The new business park will strengthen the region’s competitiveness by diversifying its economic base. Businesses locating in the park will be encouraged to implement green technology and energy-efficient systems. Konyha says that at this time EDG is working with a number of businesses that are considering expansion into the Wabash Business Complex.
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In Memoriam William McKenzie Paul Shrider, 70 Marietta Sell, 88
Darlene Harper, 53 Geda Garling, 71 Ruben Coss, 42
Vol. 35, No. 7
David Baker, 57 Merle Alderfer, 84
PO Box 603, Wabash, IN 46992 (260) 563-8326