Sunday, October 20, 2024
TRUNK OR TREAT FUN
Yesterday’s outstanding weather helped facilitate a well-attended Trunk-or-Treat event, which took place throughout Public Square. | photo by KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS
BIG GREEN EGG SUCCESS
Many people were on hand yesterday to raise funds for Shelbyville Central Schools’ service therapy dog program at the First Annual EGGfest with the Big Green Egg at Builders Lumber & Hardware, including (L to R) Kenton Delllinger, Roger Spence, Brian Morton, Garry Keppel, Brent Parsley, Shelly Benefiel, Terry Alford, Kent Marsh, Ben Wessic, Kenny Leffler, Dave Giles, Ben Compton, Brian Baker, Ken Ausenbaugh, Ken Ausenbaugh, Jay Ausenbaugh, Greg Martin and Linda Morton. | photo by JACK BOYCE
County Candidates Answer Questions at Community Forum
Editor’s note: The following series will include transcripts from the recent Northwest Shelby County Concerned Citizens Coalition’s Question and Answer Forum. The following candidates are for three open County Council At-Large seats. Responses are lightly edited for clarity.
What are your thoughts on budgeting for law enforcement?
Chase Yanzer, Democrat: I appreciate those who serve in law enforcement. I believe it's important to work to ensure that they have what they need to do their job safely and effectively. We know that our county continues to face a drug and mental health crisis, and we also know that many of the calls our law enforcement officers respond to are really not the types of things they were trained for. I would like to see the county consider funding for professionals who could work alongside law enforcement who are specifically trained to handle these types of drug and mental health related calls. I do think it would result in better outcomes, and I think it would allow our law enforcement officials to focus on what they want to do, which is to protect and serve.
Jeremy Ruble, Republican: Just like with all other emergency services, I’d love to have a bottomless budget for this. We all know that the needs of our Sheriff’s Department is very high. One of the biggest issues that they struggle with is the number of people they have on each shift throughout the night. When you look at the training that goes on day after day, any potential injuries that may be ongoing, or vacations, there's not a shift that goes by where we’re not short-staffed. Another issue is the competitive wages that they face. It’s constantly going up, and they have to compete with other cities and counties.
Charity Mohr, Republican: As the wife of a first responder, I’ve been with my husband almost 25 years, so I do take it very seriously, and I understand the importance of it. Alluding to what he was talking about with trying to get there with other counties, but we are not there. What happens is we spend our county tax dollars training these guys, and they go somewhere else, and we start all over. So as much as you may not want to pay these guys, we need to, because we’re wasting our money training them to give them to another department. My husband is 52, and we could be the parents of almost everyone on his shift right now. It's a priority.
Troy Merrick, Republican: I feel like funding for law enforcement is crucial. There's a pressing need for more deputies. The last time I heard, there would be two or three deputies working Shelby County. I think it's 500 square miles, and we have two or three deputies covering all that area. I think we have six to eight officers on every shift (in Shelbyville). I think it's ridiculous that at this time, right now, that the county has not caught up. I understand the money situation, but we need to get more officers, more deputies on the road, plus we need to get some more jailers. I know the jail is always looking for more jailers, because they're always losing them, again, because of the money situation, so we need to take necessary action to increase our deputies that are on duty.
What are your thoughts on funding resources to pursue other than taxes?
Charity Mohr, Republican: I think this is something, if given the opportunity, I'd like to learn more about. But I think grants, if we can look into things that we can get grants for. I'm not saying I want to raise taxes, but we have very low taxes compared to other counties. So again, I'm not saying that's the answer, but we have to look at every option. There are other options that we can look at.
Troy Merrick, Republican: Charity is correct. I think we have one of the lowest tax rates in the region, which is awesome. And then, of course, grant opportunities from the federal level, from the state level.
Chase Yanzer, Democrat: We should work hard to make sure we receive all of the state and federal dollars we are eligible for. Drawing these funds down to our county is critical, and we have to make sure we aren't missing out on any opportunities. We should also work to ensure we are receiving any and all grant money that we are eligible for as a county. I'd also like us to look at how we can best utilize county-owned resources to benefit everyone. I believe the county may already be renting farm ground it owns to farmers, but what about land and property the county owns that can’t be farmed and isn't being utilized to produce income? For example, building rooftops, parking areas or unproductive ground could present opportunities for solar panels that can collect power that we sell to the power grid. Income from the electricity generated would go directly to the county government, which would benefit all citizens through additional dollars going to the local government for local benefit.
Jeremy Ruble, Republican: Three items that come to mind, two of which are fairly minimal impacts. The first is to review the cost of existing services, such as permits, and compare those surrounding counties. Where do we sit? If there's any increase available to try to match what other counties are charging for those same permits, I think that's one place to start. However, that's very minimal. Second one is something that Troy mentioned a while back, with county code enforcement. Again, not something that I can see a large income from, however, it could benefit us in many ways, and it could potentially bring additional business. The biggest one, like everyone says, grant writing. Grants are often funded through taxes, however, I think a position of grant writer is something that the county could potentially investigate.
If elected, what three steps would you take to put our county in a more advantageous financial footing?
Troy Merrick, Republican: Our goal as a whole would be to achieve a balanced budget while implementing a long-term financial plan. That financial plan should be reviewed annually to make sure to accommodate necessary updates and changes, plus it would be essential for everybody on the board to be transparent, to let the public know what's going on, as far as the budget goes, which I think, I’m not on county council yet, but I think you can come in to those meetings, or you can find some of that online.
Charity Mohr, Republican: I have on this one, responsible growth and development. The tax revenue from those things would help our financial footing. Housing, again, the tax revenue from that, we can attract businesses that want to put jobs into our community, then we can have people live here and give back to our community. Those are all ways of generating revenue in a responsible way for our community. And the last one is just kind of a balance of our rural heritage and preservation of farmland.
Jeremy Ruble, Republican: Like I mentioned before, I think our county lacks a lot of standard operating procedures coming from industry. It’s something I think we can focus on within the county government. For example, setting procedures in place of how to evaluate different projects that may come before us, such as ERAs, tax abatements, some of the tools that are given to us to utilize. Some of those can be done and used for the good and a lot of times they get used. Encouraging responsible housing growth; additional people brings in additional revenue. Beautification projects around our community is a good thing to help draw in potential businesses.
Chase Yanzer, Democrat: As I discussed in the previous question, I would like to research and discuss opportunities to develop county sources of funding. We know that creating income streams for the county outside of traditional taxing arrangements could go a long way in ensuring financial security in the future. Additionally, I would like to investigate local road funding sources and determine why other counties generate so much in local road funding dollars compared to ours. For instance, why did Johnson County receive over $60 million in local road funding dollars in 2023 compared to Shelbyville County’s $900,000? It could be that we are missing an opportunity to help fund our local roads, and I would like to investigate and correct this, if we are. And then lastly, I would like to research and discuss potential cost savings by identifying opportunities to bring work in-house that is currently being subcontracted. This could be a way to provide high quality, good, paying county jobs to our community, while also saving our county money.
Thoughts on TIF districts and tax abatements.
Chase Yanzer, Democrat: I believe that each of these tools has the potential to be useful and helpful if properly utilized. I know that tax payments can be unpopular, but the truth is, unless Indiana adopts a statewide ban on tax abatements, we may have to utilize them occasionally in order to entice employers who are determining what county to locate in, and whether to stay. But I do believe we should use tax abatements as leverage where possible, to ensure that the county and its citizens benefit from them as well. For example, I would like to discuss adding requirements to tax abatement requests so that employers seeking them would have to provide income data for their employees. This would provide an opportunity to discuss with employers the county’s desire for living wages for its citizens, and would also provide a chance to thank and congratulate those that are already doing so. Asking for this data from employers seeking a tax abatement seems like an easy way to encourage businesses to help Shelby County if we are going to help them.
Jeremy Ruble, Republican: To me, the use of TIF districts are a great way to encourage growth in areas that are planned for that growth. Not only that, but it helps us to plan long-term, because it's typically something that is looked at over 20 to 30 years. When it comes to abatements, I have been vocal on a few recently that I think were passed that were not beneficial to the community. I do think, like Chase was saying, if used properly for business maybe looking at this area, we want to draw in and use it for a tool. But I think for the most part, I think tax payments are very heavily overused.
Charity Mohr, Republican: I agree with everything that they just said. I think that on a case-by-case basis, that each of them can be very beneficial. I do think that tax abatements are used often when there isn't a benefit to the county. I'm not sure there’s a politically correct way to say this, but I don't think that anyone should get one just because of their name.
Troy Merrick, Republican: Touching on what everybody has said, I agree with Chase. I know that a lot of people have heard of big reservations about the TIF districts and tax abatements. I look at it, though, if we do give a tax abatement to the company, that means we'll probably lose a tax revenue for the duration of the agreement, but then after that, then the county will start making money, which will help out as far as the tax revenue.
NOTEBOOK:
Shelbyville High School’s Cross Country team had a strong Sectional showing yesterday, with five Golden Bears qualifying for Regional action, which will also be hosted at the local Blue River Cross Country Course. Those qualifying for Regionals are Shia Veach, Logan Reinhart, Macey Robbins, Aerin Garcia-Santiago and Paige O’Connor. Several other Bears set new Personal Records: Christian Powell, Ethan Coffey, Kale (Ryan) Chaney, Cora Flynn and Haylee Barnes.
A news bit for those looking past Halloween: Occasions Premium Christmas Trees on E. Hendricks St. will open the Sunday before Thanksgiving this year, co-owner Martin Zinser told The Addison Times yesterday.
NATIONAL NEWS: Taylor Swift kicked off the second leg of her record-breaking Eras Tour Friday in Miami, but her announcement earlier this week has the potential to rock another multibillion-dollar industry. The megastar announced on Good Morning America that before the tour wraps up on December 8, she’ll release a commemorative book about the experience on Black Friday. And she’s doing it all without the help of a traditional publisher. Swift will become the highest-profile self-published author in the world. The book, like many of her vinyl releases, will be sold exclusively at Target. The part-memoir, part-coffee table book will cost $39.99 and include over 500 photos and the superstar’s personal reflections from the tour. T.Swift’s venturing into the publishing realm alone exemplifies her business strategy of keeping creative control and maximizing her cut. She bypassed traditional film distribution channels by self-producing the Eras Tour concert movie, making a deal directly with AMC. While that meant her team had to cover the upfront costs, she got to keep a much bigger chunk of the $260 million the film grossed worldwide. (Morning Brew)
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SHS Courier Archive Highlights:
Dec. 17, 1976
The Cheerblock had been forbidden from sitting on the front row and not allowed to wear hats at basketball games. This followed complaints from the previous year in which Cheerblock was accused of swearing at officials and the opposing team. The Courier noted the Cheerblock had come a long way from its inaugural days, in which the boys “clapped in unison with the cheerleaders and set up straight in fear of being snagged for not acting like true gentlemen.”
A convocation featuring New Life Action singers apparently did not go well, with hecklers loudly interrupting the Christian group. “Lions 1. Christians 0.” one Courier editorial said. Other letters expressed dismay at some students’ behavior. “I am very upset with this student body also, and I would like to congratulate the teacher that kicked that little - - - - in the head,” an anonymous student wrote. The Courier staff added, “How many times have complaints been heard which compare SHS to the state pen?”
Jr. High Student Council officers were elected: Drew Soshnick, president; DeeDee Inlow, vice president; and Sue Craft, secretary-treasurer.
For the first time, a girls team was playing intramural basketball at SHS. Coaches Nancy Cole and Cheri Coryea were in charge of the team. The players were Melissa Eads, Marlene Everhart, Kathy Linne, Shelley Murnan, Sharon Marshall, Debbie Johnson, Belinda Wildmone, Becky Bruce and Jane Ross.
Dr. W. Andre’s column covered RAR (Riding-A-Round), a hobby of many students and “ex-students,” the article said. “In order to better understand the RAR’ers and why they possess that uncontrollable urge to spend approximately two to three hours in an automobile doing absolutely nothing, I along with my team of experts have observed and studied the RAR’ers in Shelbyville for the past three months. My colleagues and I have published the results in a new book, ‘Cruising Creeps’ or ‘Desire Under the Arches,’ that should be in print by early 1977.” Top locations cited were the circle, A & W, McDonald’s, Bonded Gas and the K-Mart parking lot. The cruisers more mostly men and “on rare occasion a female.” Tip: “to spot the female, look either on top of the driver’s right leg or directly under the right arm of the driver.”
This Day in Shelby County History
News around Shelbyville and the surrounding area as reported on or about this date in history. Selections are curated from the Shelby County Public Library Genealogy Department.
2014: Editor’s note: Due to a microfilm processing error, the 2014 section for the next couple of weeks will serve to memorialize a local individual who passed away that year.) Arthur “Earl” LeClerc, 90, passed away. He had graduated from Waldron High School in 1942 and married Maxine (Patterson) in 1946. She preceded him in death in 1988. He then married Jeane (Cockerham). LeClerc was a World War II veteran, serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was a union electrician for 30 years. He had also worked at Chambers. He had played fast-pitch softball at Kennedy Park for many years.
2004: A panel led by State Sen. Bob Jackman (R-Milroy) backed a plan for video gambling machines at horse tracks. “We need all the money for the state of Indiana we can get,” Jackman said. Indiana Downs, in Shelbyville, would get 1,000 pull-tab machines but would give up some off-track betting permits in the deal.
1994: Shelbyville High School Coach John Heaton dispelled rumors in the region that his basketball team was stacking his team with a foreign player. Marcus Arnold, the German exchange student trying out, was not 6-foot-10, as rumored, but actually 6-foot-4. And while he had played basketball, it was not at the level of competition played in the U.S. Returners from the previous year’s squad were Chad Adkins, Collin Hassebroek, Rusty Cox, Brad Fischer, Kyle Hobbs, Cameron Poe and Patrick McNeely. They had lost stand-out player Danny Moore to graduation.
1984: Railroad workers dismantled tracks on N. Pike St. as reconstruction of Conrail road crossings began.
Editor’s note: Thanks to eagle-eyed readers, we’re going to clarify yesterday’s history note regarding the Golden Bears’ “first” SCC football championship. We should have said “first outright SCC championship.” The 1975 team also won the SCC championship, in a tie. As noted in The Addison Times, both the 1975 and 1984 SHS teams were recently recognized for accomplishments.
1974: A Kentucky woman was arrested as a co-defendant with a Shelbyville woman in a child-stealing case involving the alleged taking of a child from a local kindergarten class and removing her to Kentucky. (The case was determined to be a custody dispute.) The five-year-old girl had been picked up from Major school by the woman, who claimed the girl’s grandmother had been in an auto accident and she was dispatched to pick up the girl. The girl was then taken to Kentucky, but Kentucky courts ordered the child to be returned to Shelbyville.
1964: Local Democrats filed affidavits challenging the registration status of 264 Shelby County voters, alleging those individuals were not “bona fide residents” of their precincts. The election board mailed letters to each one, requiring a response with proof. If none was received, their names would be removed from the rolls. Democrats said some of those challenged had businesses in the county but lived elsewhere.
1954: The Elks Club hosted a “teenage record hop” for seventh and eighth grade students in the club’s basement. Those in charge were Mesdames Earl Mings, William Spiegel, Lawrence Reece and William O. Scott.
1944: Fourteen men sowed Mrs. Andrews’ 36-acre Moral Township wheat field for her, in light of her husband, Frank, recently passing away. Those helping were Basil Miller, Rolla Means, Ralph House, Harley Zink, Norman Crum, Rolla Carter, L.A. Basey, Carey Conger, Alex Murnan, George Adams, Huber Alexander, Ed Andrews, Roy Pfendler and J. Neumann. Women who prepared a noon meal were Mrs. House, Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Means and Mrs. Basey.
1934: A Morristown woman died of self-strangulation. It was her sixth suicide attempt. Her husband of 42 years had died by suicide a year before and their son had died after leaping from a beam in a barn loft two years’ prior.
1924: Former Shelbyville Mayor Henry Schoelch announced he was retiring and closing his shoe store on S. Harrison St. Schoelch said he would start spending his time at his filling station on N. Broadway.
1914: The clerk mailed out absentee ballots to all 31 voters who had applied.
OBITUARIES
None today.