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Another example of County Council fiscal stewardship, which I have long championed. I agree wholeheartedly with Fred's position.
readthereporter.com/fred-glynn-fiscal-responsibility-requires-discipline-oversight/
Fred Glynn: Fiscal responsibility requires discipline, oversight – Hamilton County Reporter
readthereporter.com
Fred Glynn: Fiscal responsibility requires discipline, oversight Posted By: The Reporter Council President speaks on solar panel project . . . As you likely know, the Hamilton County Council is the fiscal body of our county government. As such, the Council is wholly and exclusively responsible to en...
I'm grateful for the court's ruling in this case. I have not yet received Hern's apology or his financial restitution. I continue to believe he is unfit to serve on the Hamilton County Council and should resign immediately.
www.indystar.com/story/news/local/hamilton-county/2017/05/24/hamilton-county-councilman-admits-st...
Hamilton County councilman admits stealing rival's campaign signs, must send letter of apology
indystar.com
Hamilton County Councilman Jeff Hern accepted a plea agreement for stealing a rival's campaign signs before the 2016 primary election.
Transparent government is vital to the healthy functioning of our democracy. You can watch our County Council meetings live via HamiltonCountyTV at www.hamiltoncountytelevision.com/info.php?pnum=11. Scheduled meetings are 7pm the first Wednesday of each month, which means our next meeting is Wednesday, June 7.
As always, if you have a question, concern or comment -- please don't hesitate to contact me.
Here’s a recent letter to the editor I submitted to the Hamilton County Reporter. This letter appeared in their December 7, 2016, edition:
As a 20 year incumbent County Council member who was re-elected to another 4 year term, it appears to me there is a distinct bias against the County Council’s perspective in the repeated columns authored by Fred Swift.
Today’s version started off by stating “.. assuming County Commissioners and the County Council can reach agreement, no small task for our local government.”
This is absolutely slanted against the County Council in that he insinuates that it is the unreasonable obstacle to the plans of the County Commissioners; when instead we are asking basic questions and performing our fiduciary role involving taxpayers’ monies.
The County Council has only voted down ONE major project in 20 years. That should be viewed as a fantastic success rate and one which should be celebrated, rather than criticized. In fact, Hamilton County government, as a whole, not solely the Commissioners, have received repeated accolades and awards from outside groups for cooperative efforts.
In addition, Mr. Swift is astute in his observation that construction and engineering firms are eager for these projects to be approved: they have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to the County Commissioners who will make the decisions as to whom receives the County’s contracts.
But he is rather presumptuous with his outlook on tax rates and whether or not projects will be funded with bonds, cash reserves or a mixture of the two. Those decisions belong to the County Council and I am doubtful he has spoken with a majority to determine their point of view.
Finally, it is a fact that, without the cooperation of the County Council in granting the appropriations requested, the Commissioners could not award one single contract… not one.
Rick McKinney
Hamilton County Council, At-Large member
files.constantcontact.com/57b55f5d301/9d0f6f5e-ecba-41c3-99c2-b7115d0e0c46.pdf#page=4
I am once again grateful the voters of Hamilton County have chosen me to represent them on the Hamilton County Council for the next four years; I will maintain my focus on being the taxpayer's advocate and prioritizing spending on supporting and improving our County government's great parks, public safety resources and transportation infrastructure.
The silence from other officials, who would be screaming from the rooftops if the same crime had been perpetrated against them, has been amazingly deafening and inexplicable.
I look forward to the Special Prosecutor and Special Court assigned to handle the criminal charge against Jeff Hern delivering justice. There should be no reward of receiving a political office by participating in criminal mischief. Again, I call on other officials to demonstrate their respect for both fair play and adherence to legal activity in political campaigns by condemning the actions of Jeff Hern and asking him to resign as trustee and the County Council today.
