Pulaski County Council Debates Pay Changes, As Budget Discussions Continue

Pulaski County Council: back row: Mike Tiede, Kathi Thompson, Brian Young; front row: Scott Hinkle, Rudy DeSabatine, Jay Sullivan (not pictured: Ken Boswell)

The Pulaski County Council continues working on the 2020 budget, but more cuts still need to be made. The goal is to try to bring the county’s spending back to 2016 levels, since that was the last time the county brought in more than it spent.

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Pulaski County’s IT Services Continue to Draw Questions from County Council Members

Pulaski County officials continue to voice concerns with the county’s IT arrangements, but organizing a discussion is proving to be a challenge. Some county council members had wanted to discuss IT plans with the county commissioners and had apparently asked to have it included on Monday’s joint session agenda. But when it was sent out, the only item listed was the approval of the prior joint session minutes.

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Pulaski County Council Approves Tax Abatement Renewals, Despite Compliance Concerns

The Pulaski County Council narrowly approved a list of tax abatement renewals Monday, despite concerns about one business’s compliance. FRATCO’s paperwork drew the attention of Council Member Kathi Thompson. She pointed out that while the business was meeting its requirement for the number of employees, the total salaries that were listed fell short of projections.

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Pulaski County Government Offices to Be Responsible for IT Costs, County Council Raises Questions

Pulaski County government offices with technology needs will now have to find money to pay for them out of their own budgets. For the past few years, those expenses had come under the IT Department’s budget, but it was recently disbanded, after it apparently used up all its money for the year. Last week, the commissioners officially voted to have individual departments cover their own IT costs, until they can reach a long-term solution.

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Pulaski County Council Makes Another Round of Appointments

Pulaski County Council: back row: Mike Tiede, Kathi Thompson, Brian Young; front row: Scott Hinkle, Rudy DeSabatine, Jay Sullivan (not pictured: Ken Boswell)

The Pulaski County Council continues filling some remaining vacancies on boards and committees. County officials have had trouble finding a current list of members, so council members recently took an older version and went down the list, to check where updates were needed.

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Pulaski County Council Suggests Ways to Streamline Building Department Operations

Pulaski County Council: back row: Mike Tiede, Kathi Thompson, Brian Young; front row: Scott Hinkle, Rudy DeSabatine, Jay Sullivan (not pictured: Ken Boswell)

As the Pulaski County building inspector continues asking for a full-time deputy, some county council members are wondering if there are ways the building department could streamline its operations. The topic came up when Building Inspector Doug Hoover asked to have part-time assistant Karla Kreamer moved to full-time status earlier this month. “If you look at it, man, we have increased a lot, and we’re really working hard,” Hoover said. “And we could do a lot more. I don’t know what to tell you guys.”

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Pulaski County Council Member Expresses Concern over Availability of Meeting Minutes, Notices

Pulaski County Council: back row: Mike Tiede, Kathi Thompson, Brian Young; front row: Scott Hinkle, Rudy DeSabatine, Jay Sullivan (not pictured: Ken Boswell)

Pulaski County can do a better job of sharing its government records with the public. That’s according to County Council Member Brian Young. During a recent meeting, Young noted that while there’s an online archive of meeting minutes on the county’s website, it hasn’t been updated since October, at least for the council and commissioners meetings.

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Pulaski County Officials Make Appointments, Call for Updated List of Board, Commission Members

The Pulaski County Council and Commissioners made appointments to some boards and commissions last week, but no one seemed to be entirely sure who’s currently on many of them. During last Monday’s joint session, the commissioners appointed Ray Franko to the advisory plan commission. He replaces Doug McKinley as one of the board’s Republican members. The commissioners had already appointed Democrat Bob Keller to replace Jim Thompson back in December.

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Vote to Add New Secretary for Pulaski County Prosecutor’s Office Ends in Tie

Pulaski County Council: back row: Mike Tiede, Kathi Thompson, Brian Young; front row: Scott Hinkle, Rudy DeSabatine, Jay Sullivan (not pictured: Ken Boswell)

The addition of a new secretary for the Pulaski County Prosecutor’s Office appears to depend on a recommendation from the county commissioners, after the county council was once again unable to reach a clear consensus Monday.

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Pulaski County Council Debates Funding Arrangements for Recent Facilities Proposal

Funding arrangements for the recent facilities plan that called for the demolition of the Pulaski County Courthouse were approved by the county council Monday, but not without some debate. Newly-elected council member Kathi Thompson was concerned that the county commissioners didn’t ask for council members’ opinions before hiring an architectural firm.

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Pulaski County Council, Winamac Town Council Members Unseated in General Election

Pulaski County’s General Election ended with some incumbents unseated in tight races. Democrat Linda Powers lost her District 3 County Council seat to Republican Brian Young by a margin of 56-to-44 percent. Winamac Town Council Member Dan Vanaman lost his at-large seat by just five votes, coming behind fellow Republican Alvin Parish and Democratic challenger Dave Schambers.

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Pulaski County Voters Narrow Sheriff’s Field, Nominate GOP Prosecuting Attorney

 Pulaski County voters overwhelmingly supported a first-time candidate and two people who have previously held the offices they are seeking. Former state conservation officer Jeff Richwine was the runaway winner in the Republican sheriff’s primary. He got 1,064 votes to Brian Gaillard’s 444. Jeff Heims finished third with 323. Richwine will face former two-term sheriff Paul Grandstaff in the Nov. 4 General Election. He got 446 votes, and his challenger Jeff Jenkins pulled in 126. Grandstaff also served four years as a county commissioner after his term as sheriff ended. Continue reading