Summary of my positions – include:
- Indian Hill—Re-Opening. Road and Railroad Crossing, Access to Tecumseh Trail. Submit a plan, reopen, and find the money to make the required changes.
- Music Center – Support Public Forums – Sell, Keep, Determine how excess revenue will be distributed.
- Expansion of Sewers – Bean Blossom. Validate the justification of the need to provide citizens with assurance that the scope and extent of the projects are warranted.
- County Comprehensive Planning. Support a grass-roots approach where citizens determine what they want and do not want in terms of development and quality of life in their areas/neighborhoods and in the county. The Helmsburg community is a good example
- School Referendum Regardless of whether or not the School referendum is passed in the May primary, I would support public forums in 2024-25 that will address the concerns and questions that the public has raised on the issues.
- Endorsement. Commissioner Ron Sanders has endorsed my candidacy, and I supported his. We both believe in researching the issues before a vote and doing what’s best for all citizens, not just special interests. Neither of us has the support of the local GOP, which believes they (and not state law) should have the power to determine who can be a candidate in county elections. The Rest of the Story – Local Republican in Good Standing
Quality of Life and Cost of Living
Why serve? In short, I want to contribute to improving the quality of county government services that improve our overall quality of life and support an affordable cost of living. An effective and responsive government provides the needed foundation to support a sustainable, healthy, and prosperous community.
I believe in a fact-based decision-making process involving all the stakeholders that will be affected by a decision. I also believe in developing and maintaining the documentation that supports the decision. This can then be used to help determine if the change resulted in improvement.
I am opposed to decision-making through improvisation – where a few keywords are used to fabricate a story justifying a decision that is not supported by the evidence.
Three Focus Areas: Transparency, Accountability, and Improvement
My intent in serving as Commissioner is to focus on three priorities and provide frequent updates: Transparency, Accountability, and Improvement.
- Transparency: What is happening? Who is doing what, when, and why?
- Accountability: What is being accomplished? Are we on plan or off plan?
- Improvement: Are changes resulting in improvement?
Challenges
- Brown County has a one-party monopoly on political power that can contribute to fear, moral compromise, corruption, inefficiencies, waste, and mismanagement. The May Primary election typically determines the candidates who will also be elected in November.
- Issues and Challenges at the “County” level or not Red or Blue. In other words, individuals can and do have polar opposite views on political, social, cultural, and spiritual issues but can and do find common ground on “county” issues. These issues include the safety and condition of roads and bridges, cost of living, voting systems, and overall quality of life within the community.
- Years of overspending, financial mismanagement, and lack of due diligence. It will take several years to recover.
- Cost of Poor Quality (CoPQ). Generally, CoPQ (inefficiency, waste, bad decisions) can range from 20% to 40% of the budget.
- Example: Closing Indian Hill Road and railroad crossing. It took less than an hour for the commissioners to vote to close. It has taken about three years and counting to correct the mistake. Additional costs may include several hundred thousand dollars that may be needed to upgrade the road and crossing. Costs also include the thousands of hours (literally) spent by stakeholders whose actions led to the county’s petition to reopen which was approved by INDOT. Costs also include the risk and inconvenience to residents who were directly affected and could not easily access a state highway (45). More info: Part 5 Indian Hill – The Final Season – maybe
The case for change
My case for how a few small changes will lead to better results include the following:
- Part 1: Brown County – A Beautiful Place to Live.
- Part 2: Problems, Challenges, and Capabilities.
- Part 3: Solutions: Transparency, Accountability, Improvement.
- Part 4: Background, Qualifications, Experience.
Supporting Context: Citizenship, Quality Management, Christianity
On the Web – Other Sites I Support
- Independent Voters of Brown County IN
- Facebook: Brown County Matters
- Brown County Leader Network
- Success Through Quality
Military Service: National Defense Service Medal – Family Tradition
Enlisted Service – 1972-1974
Commissioned Service: 1982-2012 – Colonel, USAR, Retired
In the military – unlike the private sector with a focus on profit and loss, decisions can have life and death consequences. If you are lax in training and developing leaders, then soldiers are not adequately prepared for combat.
As an all-source intelligence analyst, if I missed something, then there was more risk to Soldiers in planning for their missions. On the civilian-civil service side, money wasted in one area meant that it was not used to meet a more critical need in another area. On fighting waste, I lost more battles than I won, but I did not stop fighting. This mindset did not change when I retired and started getting involved in county government.