Essay # 4

A Plan for Improving Local Government

I’m not a lifelong politician or elected official, but over the past 15 years I’ve spent considerable time in the trenches of State & local government to know how things work in theory and in practice.

My proposal is a draft of ideas offered to initiate critical discussion.  Ultimately, input will be required from every vested interest to have any chance of successfully rebuilding local government in Indiana.   Admittedly, some folks are going to be upset or concerned with my proposal, but we must start somewhere.  Skeptics and critics can take comfort in the fact that if we start today, it will no doubt take a decade before any plan is fully implemented.

Cities and Towns

I propose that governance in our cities & towns remain unaltered.

Judicial System

I propose that the offices of our elected Judges and Prosecutor remain unaltered.

County Government

I propose we replace our 3 County Commissioners with an elected County Executive Officer (CEO) who assumes all the responsibilities of the present County Commissioners excluding legislative authority which would be transferred to our County Council.  Our CEO would also be responsible for preparing an annual budget which our County Council would be responsible for approving by majority vote.  Replace our County Auditor, Treasurer and Assessor with an elected County Financial Officer (CFO).  Combine the Offices of our County Clerk and County Recorder into a single appointed office. Our elected Judges would vote on the Clerk-Recorder appointment, our CFO breaks any tie and the appointment must be ratified by our County Council by majority vote.  The offices of our Sheriff, Surveyor, and Coroner would be transformed from elected positions to positions appointed by our CEO but the appointments must be ratified by majority vote of our County Council.  (This plan assures that our County administration is transformed into an actual administration; not a forced assembly of elected officials with defined, but potentially conflicting objectives and authority.)  Our County Council would be expanded to a maximum even number of 12 elected councilpersons and their authority would be both fiscal and legislative (i.e. the “power of the purse” and the power to create enforceable laws/ordinances).  Our CEO would break tie votes in our County Council.  The term of all elected offices would be 4 years, but any existing term limits are eliminated.   (I once favored term limits until I studied contemporary examples and discovered surprisingly that in practice term limits don’t render the intended result.)  I would consider a process for recall of a local elected official between scheduled elections, but I offer no specific proposal.

Boards and Districts

I propose that the budgets and levies of any Board or District with taxing authority created under the authority of our County or Circuit Court be approved by majority vote of our County Council.

Township Government

I propose that our Township Assessors be appointed by our CFO and their appointments ratified by a majority vote of our County Council.   Township Assessor’s responsibilities would be confined to assessing residential property.  Commercial and Industrial property assessment becomes the responsibility of our CFO.

Our Township Executives (Trustees) would be elected and their annual budget included in our county budget submitted by our CEO.  Township Boards would be unnecessary.  Trustee responsibilities would be expanded to include all forms of public assistance administered and/or funded by the State or local government.  (Social services would be provided on a “single stop” basis closest to the point of need and where accountability is the greatest.  Response would be increased while reducing potential for service overlap, gap, mistake or abuse.)  Trustees would retain all other present responsibilities, but may choose to pass any of those responsibilities to our CEO through written agreement ratified by a majority vote of our County Council.

School Corporations

Until the complex relationship between the State and local school corporations is reconciled, it is impossible to offer specific proposals for reorganization.  Federal mandates further complicate this issue.  Better than 50% of an average Hoosier’s tax bill reflects the cost of public education, therefore the present system should be evaluated.  Teachers & taxpayers, not bureaucrats and legislators should drive change.

Let the discussion and the debate begin!