Starke County Commissioner Kathy Norem has stayed busy during her three terms as commissioner. She had a few comments to share during her last meeting as a commissioner Monday night.
She thanked her fellow Starke County Commissioners, Charlie Chesak and Bryan Cavender, for their willingness to work together for the betterment of Starke County and its residents. She also commended efforts of former commissioners with their cooperation and leadership.
She noted that there were several issues when she first took office.
“When I first took office in 2009, the county was broke, our LRS budget for the highway was zeroed out, there was sewage dripping in the basement of the jail, potholes everywhere, half of the bridges in the county were down, infrastructure was crumbling, it was in terrible shape,” stated Norem. “I never had any idea that so much would transpire over the course of 12 years.”
Under the direction of Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler, she noted that the roads and bridges have improved along with funding at the department. With hard work and dedication, the county built a new jail with services for inmates to lower recidivism, and renovated the old facility to expand offices for the Health Department and Court Services. Special focus on repairs lifted the Starke County Courthouse to the shape it is in today.
During Norem’s term, the county ambulance service was upgraded from basic lift support to Advanced Life Support in a paramedic service.
Norem is also proud of all of the effort put into the Starke County Veterans War Memorial on the Courthouse square.
She said there were some things she was not able to accomplish. She expressed disappointment in the fact that the county could not come to an arrangement with the hospital company. She hopes that the Save the Hospital funds will be put into permanently endowed fund with the Starke County Community Foundation that will address healthcare needs of the people of the county.
“Sometimes when I think about what we could have done in this community to address those needs whether it be mental health, physical health, immunizations, COVID, or whatever, if we’d had that money invested and retained the original amount and only spent the earnings on needed things for this community we would be so much further ahead.”
She said she plans to gain a seat on the Starke County Park Board to further efforts with plans with recreation and improving what the county has to offer in terms of the county parks.
Norem’s term expires December 31. Mark Gourley will take her seat on the commissioners January 1. The first meeting of the new year will be Monday, January 4.
