By KEN ALEXANDER
Council Minutes
Okay. Maybe I lied. Last month, I said spring was here and it has snowed twice since. I also thought Purdue would make a run in the NCAAs and they fell flat again (but I still love my alma mater unconditionally). For those new to the area, that is life in central Indiana.
Before I get into my article, I wanted to give a quick update on my son who joined the Marines, as I get asked about him often. He got hurt during boot camp and had to heal and wait for Charlie Company to come through to rejoin. He is healthy and back with the other recruits and stated in his last letter that the most fun he has had was jousting with the pugil sticks. At 6-foot-2, I’m sure he has a reach advantage. It was nice to hear from him. To all families with loved ones in the military, I salute your sacrifice.
April’s Hamilton County Council meeting was not unlike others. The inefficiencies of government were on full display. Money budgeted for use by departments and even grant awards received by the county must be appropriated for spending, no matter the amount. This takes up the lion’s share of every meeting, so if you tune in and are wondering why we seem to fly through “spending” hundreds of thousands of dollars, understand that it is most likely money that is already budgeted. This is not unlike requiring an executive to sign off on a business expense before a check is cut. My favorite this month was the $0.50 additional appropriation for professional services for court drug screening.
Claire Lane, an Urban Conservationist with the Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), shared some work they were collaborating with our geographic information system (GIS) team to help monitor invasive species in our communities and an upcoming initiative occurring during the county’s second annual Invasive Species Awareness Week.
County residents are invited to “fill up to fight invasives” by participating in the #InvasivesBucketChallenge. Five-gallon buckets are available from the SWCD and other partners for residents to use in their invasive species control efforts. After filling your bucket with invasives, snap a photo and post it on social media using the hashtag #InvasivesBucketChallenge and tag @hcinvasives for a chance to win prizes. Tag your friends and neighbors to challenge them to participate as well. You can learn more at hcinvasives.org.
One topic you have heard me discuss before in these articles is the need for more interest in serving our community. During our March meeting, the Council asked that I build an appointee application to help with providing a fair platform for reviewing applicants for the Hamilton East Public Library board position. With help from our Information System Services (ISS) team, we created a fillable form to go along with a packet of information about the board position. This was extremely successful in capturing results and the Council has asked me to collaborate with the Auditor’s office and the ISS team to create these packets for each position and make them reachable on the County Council webpage. This has been a long time coming and will create efficiencies for not only the Council but also to members of our community who want to serve. I hope to have this rolled out this summer.
Lastly, I was interviewed this last month by Bloomberg, as were many leaders in the county. Across the country, people are apparently wondering how we can continue to be successful even through the mini recessions. Most everyone stated that the collaborative and forward-thinking leadership in our community has led us down a good path. You can call it Republican leadership, or you can say community-focused.
I tend to believe that local control and problem-solving is a core principle of good government and it is not partisan. Hamilton County has had a string of leaders who have held true to that message, and it is why our business communities are thriving. Strong fiscal management and investment in our communities has made us the envy of the country, but we do have problems we need to address, such as cost of living and a corollary being the workforce shortage that has been exasperated by an inefficient immigration system and by the departure of Baby Boomers from the workforce post-COVID. We are trying to combat this in part with automation and the creation of a Hamilton County career center, but look for this to be an ongoing conversation.
If items mentioned above are of interest, please reach out to me or any member of the County Council. As always, I am thankful that the Hamilton County Reporter for publishing my Council updates, and a special thanks to you, the readers, and residents of Hamilton County, for reading it and being engaged in the discussion. Our county is better because of you all. I welcome your questions at ken.alexander@hamiltoncounty.in.gov.
Ken Alexander is serving in his first term on the Hamilton County Council, representing District 4, which includes Adams and Washington townships, and part of Clay Township. He currently serves as the Vice President of the County Council.