Knox City Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston approached the Starke County Council members last week concerning a bill for $8,700 for the Primary Election.
Continue readingKnox Clerk-Treasurer Questions Election Bill
Starke County Election Board Hears Appeals Concerning Late Candidate Financial Reports
The Starke County Election Board members opened a public hearing Wednesday morning to hear testimony from candidates who filed Primary Election financial reports later than the deadline date of April 20, 2018. Of the eight candidates who were late with their reports, only three appealed their fines. The remaining candidates paid their non-compliant $50 daily fine in the clerk’s office without further objection.
Starke County Polling Site to be Upgraded
The Starke County Election Board Monday morning discussed improvements planned at the North Bend Township polling site at Bass Lake. A $24,000 grant was obtained last year to upgrade the facility to standards outlined in the Help America Vote Act.
The grant will improve the voting center on Prairie Avenue to make it more handicapped accessible. According to Starke County Election Board President Dan Bridegroom, one door will be replaced, and one installed to make two exits in the building. Those with walkers or another type of mobility assistance will be able to have a smoother walkway with improvements planned for the site. Parking will be expanded and improved so voters of all abilities can better access the site to vote.
Starke County Election Board Discusses Political Signs, Travel Board Votes
The Starke County Election Board discussed political sign disclaimers during their meeting Thursday afternoon.
A written complaint was filed by Tammie Taulbee, a Knox School Board candidate, that four candidates did not have disclaimers on their signs placed in public areas promoting their candidacy for the General Election.
It is law that a disclaimer be included on all political material stating who paid for the material and whether any candidate approves of the material if the material is paid for by someone other than the candidate.
Starke County Election Board Accepts Resignation, Discusses Issues at the Polls
The Starke County Election Board met Tuesday morning to discuss some issues that arose during the Primary Election.
Pat Mitchell, who has been a member of the Starke County Election Board for many years, tendered his resignation. He cited declining health as his reason for resigning, but noted that he’s enjoyed serving the county in this capacity for many years.
May Primary Ends In The Election Of Several New Faces
The polls are closed and the votes have been totaled. The May Primary Election didn’t have the voter turnout that some may have desired, but the voters made their decisions and their ballots have been cast.
In Starke County, Daniel Bridegroom will have the Democratic nomination for Starke County Commissioner in District Three, having received 801 votes over Joseph Woods’ 787. For Starke County Treasurer, Linda L. Belork fell just short of Kasey “Bula” Clark, who earned 842 votes to Belork’s 760. Interestingly enough, the candidate to receive the most votes out of any Starke County race was Kathy Norem, who raked in 1508 votes– regardless of the fact that she was unopposed.
Kent Danford Files for Starke County Commissioner Seat
Kent Danford is seeking another term as a Starke County Commissioner. Danford, a Republican, is a former commissioner, who lost in a race to Dan Bridegroom in 2008.
Danford was asked why he decided to run for another term.
“There were several things. The main thing was I felt like I still had more things that I had to give back to the people. I’m a taxpayer and I felt like there were some things that could be done yet,” said Danford.
Starke County Commissioners Decide Against Polling Location Consolidation
The Starke County Commissioners decided this week to not allow the number of polling places to be reduced from 17 to 10 in this year’s May Primary election. The Election Board members were told that the reduction would be too much of a change, and that the Commissioners would rather have it phased in during another election year. Commissioner Dan Bridegroom said they asked the Board to sit down with Democrat Chairman Ken Wallace and Republican Chairman Brenda Stanojevich and they opposed the proposal.
Linda Belork Files for Starke County Treasurer
A race has developed in the Democrat Primary in Starke County. Current Treasurer, Linda Belork, and Interim Treasurer Kasey Clark have both filed for the May 8th election.
Judy Benninghoff filed this week for a Democrat Council at Large seat and Dan Bridegroom filed for District 3 Commissioner on the Democrat ticket. Continue reading
Starke County Commissioners Approve Drainage Board Accounts Schedule
The Starke County Commissioners signed documents that showed the schedule for the Starke County Drainage Board accounts to be collected in 2012.
In explaining the documents, Commissioner Dan Bridegroom pointed out that Starke County has more drainage boards than any county in the state.
Starke County Commissioners Reorganize
In the first meeting of the new year, the Starke County Commissioners reorganized and made appointments to several boards. Kathy Norem was elected as the President of the Board of Commissioners with Dan Bridegroom as Vice President and Jennifer Davis as Secretary. The vote for commissioner Norem was unanimous, and she thanked her predecessor, Dan Bridegroom, for his three years of service as Board President. Martin Lucas was retained as the county attorney.
Starke County Commissioners Approve Purchase of Ambulance
Councilman David Pearman commented on the issue that when county begins making ALS runs, that is going to open up a new revenue source, but at the same time there will be more activity for the rigs. Pearman also noted that there are many municipalities that are privatizing their ambulance service, so there as some quality used rigs available if they can just be found.
Commissioner Dan Bridegroom said that the ambulances the county currently owns need to be thoroughly checked for issues, but it’s hard to take them out of service to do so. Another issue is that with the older rigs, parts are not always available.
A motion was made to seek the transfer of the money for the purchase of the new rig or two used ones by Commissioner Jennifer Davis. The motion was approved unanimously.
Starke County Treasurer’s Books almost Balanced
The discrepancies in the Treasurer’s office have almost been solved. It was reported at this week’s Starke County Commissioners meeting that the Treasurer’s balance, and bank balance were in sync within pennies. The figures came from the monthly 47TR report given to the commissioners.
“The 47TR form is basically the form that compares our Treasurer’s balance to the bank balance to the Auditor’s balance,” explained Commission President, Dan Bridegroom. “The Auditor’s balance will be somewhat different than the Treasurer’s because of how the funds are received. In the bottom line, that form out of the Treasurer’s Office should balance with our bank. That is where we had the huge discrepancy of almost $900,000 and that’s what led us to where we are today. As of Tuesday of last week, the Auditor, Kay Chaffins, and Casey in the Treasurer’s Office have got that down to somewhere around $.33 and they will find that portion of that also.”
IU Health Starke Hospital Board Members Named to Committee
Starke County officials are discussing selling IU Health Starke Hospital to IU Health LaPorte Hospital. A committee made up of county officials has been named and now members from the IU Health Starke Hospital Board have been named to be on the committee that will bring a sale recommendation to the county.
IU Health Starke Hospital Requests Permission to Buy Hospital from County
Officials from IU Health Starke Hospital appeared before the Starke County Board of Commissioners and County Council last night to request permission for IU Health LaPorte Hospital to purchase the facility, equipment and property here in Knox.
Starke County Planning Commission Puts Final Touches on Proposed Dog Kennel Ordinance
The Starke County Planning Commission discussed the proposed dog kennel ordinance at their meeting last week.
Dan Bridegroom suggested that a commercial kennel definition in the form of an I.C. code be added to the ordinance. Bruce Williams, Administrator/Building Commissioner, suggested adding the phrase “more than four and less than 20 unaltered female dogs that are at least twelve months of age” to the ordinance under commercial kennel definition. Commission Counsel, Steve Dodge, added that if more than four male or female dogs are at one residence, the homeowner will need a kennel license. The changes were approved by a vote of 5-3 and now the revised ordinance will be sent back to the Commissioners for their approval.
Starke County Commissioners Terminate Treasurer Employees
The Starke County Commissioners Thursday removed county treasurer Linda Belork from office. The action was taken after the commissioners received a state audit of the office in which there were a considerable number of irregularities found. The commissioners have filed a complaint for default on the surety bond and damages. The surety bond company, Ohio Casualty Insurance, and Treasurer Linda Belork are named as defendants in the suit. Commissioner Kathy Norem asked for the removal, seconded by Jennifer Davis.
Starke County Sheriff’s Department Receives Transfer for Pension Fund
The pension fund for the Starke County Sheriff’s Department has received its necessary fund transfer, thanks to Sheriff Oscar Cowen and the County Council. At their joint meeting with the Commissioners, Cowen asked for $108,514.32 to be transferred to the Sheriff’s Pension Fund. This transfer has been requested annually for several years.
“We call it the riverboat money. It comes in, it goes into an account. The only way it can come out of that account is the sheriff has to ask for it. And if the sheriff doesn’t ask for it, it can’t be taken out,” said Commissioner Dan Bridegroom.
Starke County Commissioners Reorganize
On a 2-1 vote, President Dan Bridegroom, Vice President Kathy Norem and Secretary Jennifer Davis were reappointed to their positions on the Starke County Board of Commissioners. Jennifer Davis and Dan Bridegroom voted for the slate and Kathy Norem voted against. Bridegroom and Davis are both Democrats and Norem is a Republican.
Starke County Commissioners Discuss Burn Ordinance at Recent Meeting
When is a burn ban, not a burn ban? According to the Starke County Commissioners, it’s when a local ordinance is updated that would spell out the penalties for violations. Commission President, Dan Bridegroom, said this week that when the burn ordinance was discussed it came out as meaning a “burn-ban” and that is not what the commission wanted to convey to the public.
“I think the biggest misconception right away was the word ‘ban’ was in everything they read,” said Commission President, Dan Bridegroom. “As soon as I would explain to the people that called me and talked to me and stopped me, it’s not a ban, then they were ok. They were ok almost immediately to know that they can still burn their leaves and burn their brush. I guess that part of the blame should fall back on us in that we didn’t get it out, specifically, what we were looking at.”
