By VICKI URBANIK

Imagine no longer voting for three Porter County Commissioners, but a single county executive who would oversee a myriad of government services, including township cemetery maintenance, police protection, tax payments, assessments and coroner calls.

Imagine no longer voting for county sheriff or county auditor, but for an expanded Porter County Council that would be given more legislative duties. And imagine a new county board headed by the new county executive who would oversee all police, fire and other emergency services in the county, even those services now provided by cities and towns.

Those are among the recommendations in the report released Tuesday by the Indiana Commission on Government Reform, which calls for an overhaul in the way that local government is operated. To carry out its recommendations in full would require changes in state law as well as changes to the state’s constitution.

The report is generating mixed reactions among some of the elected officials who might be most affected.

Porter County Auditor Jim Kopp and County Treasurer Jim Murphy are in agreement that it would make for better government if their jobs and other similar administrative positions were appointed, not elected.

Under the recommendations, the new county executive would be elected, but he or she would get to appoint the auditor, treasurer, assessor, coroner, recorder and sheriff and would have partial authority over the county clerk. These positions would report to the new executive.

“I think government needs qualified people running the offices,” which doesn’t always happen with the current elective process, said Kopp.

Although Kopp said he has reservations about some of the items in the report, he backs most of the recommendations and would vote for it if he could. “I think we have to get government functional. It’s not functional now.”

Murphy said currently, it’s perceived that the offices of treasurer, auditor, and the others are kingdoms that other elected officials can’t mess with. That problem would be eradicated if those positions were appointed, he said. If, for example, the new appointed treasurer wasn’t doing his or her job, Murphy said the person could be dismissed immediately instead of waiting to see if the voters replace the incumbent in the next election.

“You’ll get rid of the sovereignty issue,” he said. “Let’s foster accountability.”

Porter County Council President Dan Whitten, D-at large, said he has “real reservations” about the proposal for one executive who would appoint the other positions, as well as oversee the township duties, public safety and more. The number of duties proposed for the new executive are too many, he said.

“On a very fundamental level, I like the idea of people in control directly accountable to the voters,” he said, adding that the election process provides a checks and balance that might be lost by having a single county executive with appointed administrative posts.

“I really like the idea of three county commissioners. They’re easily accessible in theory and accountable,” Whitten said, noting that if people don’t like the commissioners, they can vote them out of office.

On the other hand, Whitten pointed to bloated county governments and said the proposals for consolidating the offices could pare down and eliminate what has become almost like a “family employment service,” where office holders freely hire family members for county jobs.

County Commissioner President Robert Harper agreed that the proposal for a new county executive seems to be a move toward making county government function more like a city. But he said that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

“It’s not really a lot different than what a mayor does,” he said of the proposed county executive post. “I think they’re trying to make (county government) more like a city. To me, city government works better than county government.”

He cited one example: If there is a heavy snowfall, the three county commissioners need either to delegate the responsibility for closing county buildings or they need to hold a formal meeting to make that decision. Having one person clearly in charge “makes more sense than what we do now,” he said.

But Harper questioned the proposal to make the other administrative positions appointed, rather than elected. If the positions are going to be retained, he said they might as well continue to be elected posts.

Porter County Council member Robert Poparad said he hasn’t studied the report yet, so does not have a comment yet. But regardless of the report’s recommendations, he said his opinion is that the state legislators appear ready to do away with township assessors and the rest of township government.

The full report is online at www.indianalocalgovreform.iu.edu

Posted 12/12/2007