By KEN ALEXANDER
Council Minutes
I want to thank the Hamilton County Reporter again for providing me the opportunity to share monthly columns with you about what is happening in county government, particularly focused on recapping the Hamilton County Council meetings from which I participate as the District 4 representative.
While our June meeting was brief this week, it was packed full of productive business and conversation and included four agenda items that consumed most of the meeting.
The first topic was a follow up regarding “real property” and “personal property improvements” abatements. When the Council provides these abatements, it is generally done to support economic development and investment in our county.
Mike Scholer of Beck’s Hybrids in northern Hamilton County shared that Beck’s recent expansion and hiring was in compliance with the terms of the abatement. Their recent expansion is important as it keeps good paying agro-tech jobs in Hamilton County. They are a tremendous employer, and we are always pleased to see our local companies succeeding.
The second conversation was about the nonprofit grant program that is part of the Council’s budget process. When I started on the Council, we did not have a formal process and I began asking questions, like: Why are we supporting this charity versus another, what is the money being used to support, and how do we know if they are using the money to support the initiatives that the grant was to support?
Previously there were no controls and all we did was fund pet projects and the nonprofits that people were affiliated with. There are multiple examples, and clearly – that is not a healthy strategy. There are so many nonprofits in Hamilton County doing tremendous work. My goal would be to create a structure to help understand the impact of nonprofits and then focus spending on nonprofits that either provide functions the county would have to provide or minimize the financial impact that we would have to spend money on.
I worked for several months behind the scenes to develop a formal application that would help us understand the return on this investment. My fellow councilor Sue Maki took that application and completed it. We made some minor tweaks but, in the end, the new process will not expand the funds or the process but we will now collect information that supports these investments with periodic updates from the nonprofits. I was pleased to be involved in this effort for the last 18 months. Our previous process was truly unwieldly and lent itself to councilors awarding pet projects, and I hope this moves us in a stronger direction with this program.
The next topic was a project that I identified last month, the Hamilton County Career Center. As stated last month, this program is a collaboration between all the Hamilton County schools, all the county Chambers of Commerce and Ivy Tech. This initiative will be a transformational project for the county as we fight the demands of workforce development. While this did not get a unanimous vote, it did receive a positive 6-1 approval.
Some detractors will say that the county should not be in the business of education, which I believe misses the point. This was a vote similar to the abatement incentives the Council supported for Beck’s and others; it was a vote to help support economic development that will keep a trained and accessible workforce here that can support the ever-growing demands of Indiana’s and Hamilton County’s economic development. This vote was a vote for business. Many of the people I talk with are constantly looking for collaborative government. This project is the very definition of that. For the businesses that wish to take part, I plan on doing a roadshow to get businesses engaged in supporting this effort.
The last topic of consequence was the presentation of the Hamilton County Women’s Shelter. This project has been a need in the county for decades. Prevail has done its best to support women for years, but without a family shelter, it cannot be complete. Councilor Fred Glynn has been a proponent of this project for some time, and with the additional money from the county, Prevail and their professional design partner RQAW can do a proper building needs and program assessment to determine the size and budget for an investment in the shelter.
This is an exciting time to be on Council, and if you are interested in learning more about any of the programs mentioned above or getting involved in Hamilton County council committees, please do not hesitate to reach out 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.