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The Hamilton County Reporter

The Hamilton County Council on Wednesday evening approved a Resolution of Censure admonishing Jeff Hern for his involvement in a missing campaign sign case in which councilman Rick McKinney was the victim.

The resolution introduced by McKinney stated:

“Whereas Indiana Code 36-2-3-9 (3) states the fiscal body of a county may adopt its own rules to govern proceedings of expelling a member under this section but a two thirds (2/3) vote is required to expel a member or vacate his seat, this resolution is meant to convey the Hamilton County Council’s displeasure with the recent admission of guilt of Criminal Mischief by Councilor Hern.

While his criminal mischief actions, which were directly related to his candidacy for Hamilton County Councilor, took place prior to his taking office on January 1, 2017, the guilty plea he admitted to the court on May 24, 2017, casts a shadow on the integrity of the entire Hamilton County Council specifically and all political officials in general.

Therefore, let it be known to all, that the Hamilton County Council issues this letter of CENSURE to Jeff Hern and condemns his criminal actions to which he pleaded guilty.”

Councilmen Brad Beaver, Paul Ayers, Fred Glynn and Rick McKinney voted in favor of the resolution.

Councilman Steve Schwartz voted against the action and Amy Massillamany abstained.

Both Schwartz and Massillamany were campaign contributors of Hern.

The iTown Church is one step closer to a new church building after the Fishers Plan Commission unanimously approved a recommendation to the city council for approval of plans for a new facility at 126th Street and Brook School Road.  The Fishers City Council will have the final say on the proposal.

There were 15 speakers at the public hearing, with a nearly even split between those favoring the new church building and those in opposition.  Most of the opponents live in the Gray Eagle subdivision next door to the planned building.  Many in the neighborhood objected to the removal of green space from the area to make way for the church and the adjacent parking lot.  The iTown Church has approximately 4,000 members.

Members of the church packed the council chambers and were in a clear majority, although a number of those opposing the church building were also in attendance.

Church members speaking at the public hearing talked about the good work of the church, including its outreach to young people.  Two WTHR news anchors, Scott Swan and Anne Marie Tiernon, both Fishers residents, are members of iTown church and spoke at the public hearing in favor of the new building.

Fishers City Council member Pete Peterson, also a member of the Plan Commission, repeated what he expressed at a recent city council meeting, that he is concerned about the viability of the Gray Eagle Golf Course if the driving range is demolished.   The owner of the golf course has committed to building a new club house replacing the current one that will be torn down to make way for the church.

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Jeff Jellison

(NOTE:  Jeff Jellison, publisher of the Hamilton County Reporter, posted this commentary on the front page of the newspaper in the June 7th edition.  This commentary is posted here as part of a partnership between LarryInFishers.com and the Reporter.  The views expressed in this commentary are not necessarily of the views of LarryInFishers.com or Larry Lannan.)

Hamilton County Councilman Jeff Hern recently admitted his involvement in a missing campaign sign case investigated by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department. The victim was fellow Republican councilman Rick McKinney.

The investigation, which led to misdemeanor charges filed against Hern, began in October 2016 just prior to the election when McKinney discovered four of his campaign signs missing. McKinney also found a cellphone belonging to Hern at the site of a missing sign. McKinney and Hern were both running for at-large county council seats.

Eventually, during an active criminal investigation, Hamilton County voters elected Hern, along with McKinney and Brad Beaver to fill the three at-large spots.

Some hoped Hern would bring more of a balance between the council and county commissioners, who at that time were in disagreement about a few county projects. Hern appeared to be friendly with commissioners who financially supported his campaign. One commissioner was a major campaign donor for Hern. Hern’s campaign was also funded by a couple of sitting council members.

Following Hern’s admission, McKinney issued a statement calling for Hern’s resignation.

McKinney’s statement was then echoed by Hamilton County Democratic Chairman Joe Weingarten.

Now that the smoke has cleared and Hern has admitted his involvement, avoiding a criminal trial, should Hern resign his seat from the council?

Throughout the investigation Hern denied his involvement. Hern has not spoken publicly about the case.

Have Hern’s actions affected the credibility of the county’s fiscal branch, the county council? Should fellow council members collectively call for Hern’s resignation?

Should the county’s executive branch, the county commissioners, call for Hern’s resignation?

Should Hamilton County residents, who hold their elected officials to a high standard, call for Hern’s resignation?

County leaders, I often hear you speak about how great this county is.

I agree with you. It is great because we have county employees that demonstrate a great deal of professionalism, along with solid elected officials with good judgement and forward thinking.

To those county leaders, I say, “Make a statement that you will not tolerate criminal behavior related to a county election.”

Jeff Hern, you admitted to a crime that was directly related to the election that earned you a council seat. Your inappropriate actions and poor judgement are not the qualities Hamilton County residents expect from an elected official.

Do the right thing.

Resign your council seat.

The Hamilton County Council’s next meeting is this evening, June 7 at 7 p.m

Fishers has landed another high-tech company headquarters to the city, with the Tuesday afternoon announcement that Knowledge Services plans to construct a $17 million, 80,000 square foot headquarters building between Avient and Interstate 69, along USA Parkway. The firm plans to add 400 jobs by 2021.  1,200 Hoosiers already work for Knowledge Services and nationwide the company has over 1,500 employees.

Julie Bielawski is the company CEO and her husband,Joe, serves as president.

“As a woman myself, I always enjoy celebrating women-owned businesses,” said Indiana Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch.  Looking over at Joe, she added,  “Behind every great woman, there stands a man.”

“We are also extremely fortunate to live and work in a growing and vibrant Central Indiana, and particularly the City of Fishers'” Joe Bielawski said. ” With Mayor Fadness’ proven leadership and vision, including Launch Fishers, the Internet of Things Lab, Eleven-Fifty (a school teaching computer code) and on and on.  Knowledge Services and that staff is happy to be a part of this wonderful community.”

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness said he found kindred spirits in the wife-husband team at Knowledge Services.  “Julie and Joe are humble individuals,” Fadness said.  “They are excited about change, innovation, entrepreneurship.”

Knowledge Services describes itself as a cloud software provider, offering services to complex organizations.   The corporation says it is hiring experienced web and mobile developers, program and compliance specialists, business development and marketing professionals, as well as client service workers. Interested applicants may apply online through the company web site at this link.

The new headquarters building is expected to be ready for occupancy in 2019.

Saturday was a big day for seniors at HSE and Fishers High Schools….it was graduation day.  Roughly 1,400 received their diplomas during two separate ceremonies held at Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis.

For Fishers High School, the Valedictorian was Ashton Murray, Salutatorian Phoebus Yang and Senior Speaker Zane Judd.

At the HSE commencement, student speakers included Valedictorian Tyler Zhang, Salutatorian Elijah Kipp and Senior Speaker Stephen McLeish.

The pictures below are provided courtesy of Hamilton Southeastern Schools.

Tony Elliot talks about a busy summer for his Fishers department

A story posted on the New York Times Web site June 3rd caught my attention, because it deals with infrastructure and White House plans to deal with that issue.  The story basically says the president will unveil a plan this week shifting infrastructure funding away from the federal government.

My first thought was, could this impact Fishers?  Why would that come to my mind? Because many of the infrastructure projects in Fishers are funded by the federal government, sometimes by as much as 90%.

Would the Trump plan to shift funding away from Washington toward local governments reduce the number of infrastructure programs Fishers can fund?  There are a couple of things to keep in mind as this moves forward.

The Times story emphasizes that details are not yet developed.  Anyone familiar with issues such as infrastructure will tell you the devil is always in the details.

What concerns me is the fact that Indiana has a provision in the state constitution providing property tax caps.  Even if a place like Fishers lost federal funding and wanted to raise the money to do so from local taxpayers, the state constitution would not allow a property tax increase of any size (there are a few exceptions).

I’m making no judgment as to whether property tax caps are a good or bad idea, but it is a fact that could hamstring local governments if federal funding ends. The only remaining source of funding in that case is the Indiana General Assembly.

State lawmakers did pass a provision allowing local governments to enact a wheel tax to fund local road and street projects.  The Fishers City Council enacted the $25 annual levy on each vehicle, which goes into effect in 2018.

It is way too early for fretting over a tax change that has no details and is a long way from being enacted (if it ever is passed).  But be aware that if federal funding ends and there is no replacement money available, growing cities like Fishers could be throttled in funding needed infrastructure projects.

You may have noticed artwork looking like human brains lately around Fishers City Hall and the downtown municipal complex.  You may have asked yourself why.

This is part of the second phase of the city’s Stigma Free Mental Health Initiative.  This artwork was commissioned by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor and created by artists from Bloomington, Indiana.  Each anatomically correct brain features a different function or area of the brain to promote brain health.

“Changing the stigma around mental health in Fishers continues to be a top priority for our team,” said Mayor Scott Fadness in a city news release. “This exhibit will help our community better understand how the brain functions while simultaneously helping to create an open, honest dialogue about mental health in Fishers.”

These artistic brains will be moved around the downtown Nickel Plate District throughout the summer, then will be placed around Hamilton Southeastern School buildings once school starts again in August.

You can learn more about the city’s Mental Health Initiative at this link.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill argued vehemently not to conduct the Normandy invasion of 1944…that’s what this film “Churchill” is all about….here is my review…

Fishers Police wasted no time in making an arrest following a reported Thursday morning theft from an ATM machine located at the Circle K Convenience Store, 9611 Allisonville Road.   James Sloat, 28, of Fishers, is facing felony theft charges in connection with the case.

According to police, the store clerk told officers a masked man entered the store and walked directly to the store office. The suspect retrieved the key to the ATM which he then used to open the machine and gain access to the cash drawer. The suspect allegedly removed an undetermined amount of cash and exited the store. During the entire incident the suspect did not speak to or approach the clerk. No one was injured.

Police found Sloat in Indianapolis, where he was placed under arrest without incident.

Hamilton County prosecutors are reviewing the facts of this case.