Chesterton Tribune

 

 

Good and Graham vie for County Commissioner Center District seat

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By JEFF SCHULTZ

Porter County Voters will elect a new Center District County Commissioner on Tuesday, Nov. 4.

In the race are Democrat Sylvia Graham and Republican Jeff Good. The successful candidate will take the seat currently held by Commissioner Nancy Adams, who lost to Good in the Republican primary election.

Graham is a retired family nurse practitioner and is in her sixth year as an at-large member on the County Council. She said the reason she is running is to give back to the community by being a part of decisions that will shape the future.

Good is founder and president of Good Hospitality Services, which manages 25 hotels in five states. He said the experience he’s gained from running a business overseeing 450 employees has instilled in him “the skill sets” needed for the Commissioner position.

Both Graham and Good are former members of the Porter County Convention Recreation and Visitors Commissioner, commonly known as the tourism board.

Good is currently Porter County’s representative on the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority Board of Directors and heads its economic development group, which he said puts him in the discussions of bringing business to Porter County.

Graham said she is in favor of attracting sustainable jobs to the county and is glad to see new manufacturers moving into Portage and Valparaiso. She said she is cautious on creating tax increment financing districts because it could take money away from schools and fire districts.

Graham said keeping taxes low and supporting good schools are the best ways to grow the local economy. She points to the newly proposed County Foundation as a solution to holding taxes down, by investing a portion of the sale proceeds from the former Porter Memorial county hospital.

“That’s Porter County’s future,” she said, adding she wishes that the County Council would have started the Foundation years ago.

Good said he is not in favor of the Foundation as it is proposed because plans are to have appointed board members who are not elected. He said there should be an advisory committee made up of finance professionals to guide County officials on investing the money.

He does agree with Graham that the County should have the ability to make small interest loans to municipalities with the hospital interest money so that infrastructure can be expanded and the County’s nest egg protected.

Both candidates wish to see changes made to the County’s health care plan to bring costs down far enough to fit in the General Fund budget without causing a deficit.

They also mirror each other in that they wish to see the County establish a human resources department for County employees. Graham said she would only support it if the County Council can find sufficient funds to support it.

On a related note, Graham said she would like to see a few policies in the employee manual revamped and reduce the number of paid holidays workers receive.

Good said he can’t imagine an employer as big as the county operating without a human resources department. He said an HR department can protect both the employees and the County in general.

Good said he would like to learn more about what an HR department for the County would entail, but the current Board of Commissioners have not released an audit report.

In regards to a new fee structure for the Stormwater Management board, to be charged to property owners in the unincorporated areas of the county, Graham said drainage is a concern for her but she does not agree with a $10 per month fee for each equivalent residential unit. She thinks a more fair approach would be to take into consideration the size of the property’s roof and square-footage of the driveway and formulate that into a fee.

Good said he would like to get input from conservancy districts before the fee structure is established. There should be more open discussion on major topics like fees and health insurance which Good thinks would soothe the tensions between the Commissioners and the County Council.

“Let’s start having these holistic discussions, get all the issues on the table and not be critical of each other,” Good said. “We can do things more efficiently, more service-oriented and less politics.”

Graham said she has good working relationships with her peers on the Council and can have open communication with other County Commissioners.

She also stated that, if elected, she will be a full-time commissioner and will return phone calls to constituents. Other projects she hopes to get accomplished during her time in office are to plan for a new county Animal Shelter, and the Raise the Barn center at Sunset Hill Farm.

Good said public service is something he enjoys. One of his ambitions is to see the County create a three-year plan, forecasting what revenues will be coming in, so officials can make better decisions on spending and investing public money.

Members of the Porter County Board of Commissioners earn a salary of $35,411 per year and are eligible to take part in the County’s health insurance.

 

Posted 10/31/2014

 
 

 

 

 

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