One item normally considered early in the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board is the consent agenda.  In my more than 10 years of covering this board, this has nearly always been a routine item on the board agenda.  Only in recent months have there been long discussions about items on the consent agenda.

At Wednesday’s regular session, Board Member Brad Boyer apparently objected to an item, part of the Consent Agenda, on the Accounts Payable Voucher Register, a line item for a $152,825 payment to Panorama Education, funding the Panorama Survey.

That sparked a debate among the board members, with Boyer and Suzanne Thomas objecting to the Panorama Survey and other board members voicing their support.

The next controversy was also with the consent agenda, this time Thomas raised concerns about one personnel action that was listed on that agenda item.  “There is a situation that I don’t support and this is why I am not in support of the consent agenda,” Thomas said.

Personnel actions are normally discussed in executive sessions held privately by the board, as provided in the Indiana Open Meetings Law.

Although no specific mention was made about which personnel item was being questioned, Boyer provided a hint of his concern.

“Can we talk a little bit about, from a philosophical point of view…how we approach folks who take on extra responsibilities and paying extra, paying for those, and doing that work, maybe not paying people when they aren’t doing the job…how do we approach that?” asked Boyer.

“I think I would ask you to consider what statements you want to make and how that may effect morale for our employees,” Board President Julie Chambers responded.  “I think you should consider that we have (executive) sessions at times where we assess personnel and compensation.”

After an extended discussion on the Panorama Survey and the one unnamed personnel action item, the Consent Agenda was approved on a 5-2 vote, with Boyer and Thomas voting no.

When Thomas asked if the Consent agenda could be broken-up into separate votes, Board President Chambers responded that advance notice is needed to separate parts of the consent agenda into separate votes.  That is why the entire consent agenda was up for a vote Wednesday night.

Nataki Pettigrew began her job as Chief Equity & Inclusion Officer at Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools in January of 2021.  I spoke with Ms. Pettigrew in this podcast about Black History Month, her work at HSE Schools, Critical Race Theory and much more.

It was nearly one year ago when the Fishers City Council, on a 5-4 vote, approved a rezone for the Cumberland Cottages housing project.  With HAND, the Noblesville-based nonprofit group building the homes, facing higher costs than projected, it is now expected that 5 of the 11 cottage-style units will be market-rate rather than affordable housing based on income guidelines.

HAND executive Director Andrea Davis points to the high cost of land, the addition of garages and the continuing rise in construction costs as reasons for the change.

Per Ms. Davis, of the 11 planned cottages, 5 must be market rate “because we have to show that revenue from the development will be sufficient to pay its expenses during the full 20-year affordability period.”

Cumberland Cottages is to be located on a currently vacant plot of land just south of 141st Street near Cumberland Road.

Sometimes being 70 years of age has its advantages….not often, but sometimes.  I have witnessed many public fights during my lifetime over what books should and should not be in a public library.

Public libraries are supported by tax dollars.  The tradition of book lending libraries goes back to the days of Benjamin Franklin.  It is an American tradition.

However, public libraries can create controversy when certain books become controversial and certain members of the community argue one or more book should be removed or moved from a teen to an adult section of the book collection.

I was aware that a special meeting of the Hamilton East Library Board was happening last Friday afternoon but was unable to attend personally.  Fortunately, Indianapolis Star reporter M.J. Slaby was able to report on that meeting.

You can access that story using this link.    (NOTE:  You must must be an IndyStar subscriber to access this story.  Online subscriptions are not at all expensive.  Once again, another example of why you should subscribe to your local media sources!)

The Hamilton East Library system has branches in Noblesville and Fishers.

Based on M.J. Slaby’s reporting, the library board heard plenty of public comment, then directed the library staff to look at moving one particular book on sexuality from the teen section to another part of the library, and possibly split the teen section of the library.

The board will be receiving a staff report at its next meeting February 24.

As a volunteer news blogger, I try to attend as many meetings as possible, but cannot get to them all.  Thanks to the Star and M.J. Slaby for giving our local community a rundown on that library board meeting.

Many people have struggled to made sense of the Bill Cosby that had a certain public image and the Cosby accused of drugging and taking advantage of women (Cosby denies all the allegations).  W. Kamau Bell tried his best to make sense of it all in a Showtime documentary series – We Need To Talk About Cosby.  Here is my review.

The Fishers Police Department is in the market for new uniformed officers.

The department is seeking certified/lateral candidates to be part of a competitive hiring process. Candidates must be certified by the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy or a police academy recognized by ILEA.

Applications are being accepted through March 1, 2021. Candidates are encouraged to visit https://www.fishers.in.us/253/Recruitment and complete an on-line application.

The Fishers Police Department is Internationally Accredited by the Commission for the Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). The city police force “offers outstanding career opportunities that include growth, opportunity, advancement, diversification, benefits, and competitive salaries,” according to a news release from Fishers Police.

Testing is expected to begin in April. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply. If candidates have additional questions, they can contact Officer Edgar Holmes at holmese@fishers.in.us or 317-588-1430

I have said for many years that it is so, so important to subscribe to your  local media.  I was reminded of that when reading two important stories in the February 4th edition of the Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ). Two front-page stories have a lot to say about the economic future of our Hoosier state.

The first story, written by reporter Mickey Shuey, has the headline “Trying to land the big ones,” all about what Indiana will need to do in order to entice a big project.  The second story, from reporter Emily Ketterer, takes a look at proposed “innovation districts” proposed for our state.

Fishers knows a lot about economic development projects.  Mayor Scott Fadness is a young, aggressive mayor always on the lookout for big developments.  When Fishers announced Ikea and Top Golf were coming here, lots of heads were turned.  That led to the Fishers District (initially called The Yard) development of restaurants and some other shops.

I hear rumors all the time that Mayor Fadness is pursuing one development project or another.  I would be shocked if the first half of 2022 comes and goes without another big announcement of a new development for Fishers.

Reporter Shuey’s story takes a deep dive into what Indiana needs to do in order to be competitive for big developments.  Shuey highlights the Intel Corporation  $20 billion investment in the Columbus, Ohio area.  Kentucky is getting a $5.88 billion project from Ford Motor Company about 50 miles south of Louisville.  Ford is spending $5.6 billiion in a community 50 miles northeast of Memphis, Tennessee.

Those and other projects cited in the IBJ story, will have a major impact on those states and communities for the next 20-30 years.  Where does that leave Indiana?

Indiana lawmakers are looking into raising some of the incentive caps in current law.  Ketterer goes into some detail about plans for “innovation districts.”  As the reporter describes the proposal, these districts would be setup much like the current Tax Increment Financing (TIF) system.  The biggest difference is that Innovation Districts would be under state control, where TIF’s generally are local projects.

Economic incentives are certainly required to compete in today’s economy, but Ball State Economist Michael Hicks throws a wet blanket on an ingredient of economic development that incentives cannot address.  Out state’s workforce is not as well educated as the residents of surrounding states.  Hicks tells IBJ only about 27% of those residing in the Hoosier state have at least a bachelor’s degree.

That also applies to certifications gained outside college to qualify residents in Indiana for specific jobs requiring specific skills.   According to Hicks, those graduating from higher education in Indiana tend to go outside our state for employment.

Fixing our education system in Indiana, encouraging college graduates to stay here and enhancing the certification programs cannot be done quickly, based on Hicks’ analysis.  In other words, Indiana is paying a price for falling behind in our education system.

Some parts of Indiana, such as Fishers, Carmel and other localities, have a higher number of college graduates and those with certifications.  Those local areas will be more competitive.

Bottom line, Indiana needs to start dealing with the issue of education, before our state begins falling further behind economically.

Read Mickey Shuey’s story at this link.

For Emily Ketterer’s piece, use this link.

(NOTE: If you are not an IBJ subscriber, you may be limited on accessing these stories.  Again, please, SUBSCRIBE TO YOUR LOCAL MEDIA!)

Last Friday I spent some time in the first floor lobby of Fishers City Hall waiting on an appointment.  While passing some time, I walked around and marveled at the artwork celebrating Black History Month.  Could not resist taking out my cell phone and taking some photos, which I am sharing here.

Also, an Embracing Black Culture event is set for Friday, February 11, at City Hall featuring artwork & expressions by Fall Creek Junior High students.  The event is set for 6-8pm, with a special presentation scheduled for 7pm.

After viewing the video updated Tuesday, posted by Fishers Health Department Epidemiologist Josh Robinson, I had to do a double-take in order to ensure the numbers were correct.

Over the most recent 2-week period, Fishers has seen a 62% decrease in the number of COVID cases reported among the city’s population.  That includes  a 51% decrease over the most recent week measured by the Health Department.

I thought about how proud Mayor Scott Fadness was about the vaccination rates in the city and wondered if that had any impact on those eye-popping decreases in Fishers COVID cases?  After all, among adults over 18 in Fishers, the vaccination rate is somewhere around 80% at last report.

So, when I asked Mayor Fadness how the vaccination program impacts the reduction in cases, he gave me an answer of “yes and no.”

“In full honesty, I think it had a lot do with the Omicron variant and how quickly it moves in and moves out,” Fadness said.  “What I would really attribute, or credit, our vaccination program for is the death rate, the hospitalization rate in our community, (which) has been very low.”

Most of those testing positive for COVID lately had the Omicron variant and were unvaccinated, and those vaccinated and boosted that tested positive had mild symptoms, according to the mayor.

COVID positive tests are trending downward in the area, with Hamilton County seeing a 29% decrease over the most recent week measured, and the entire state of Indiana saw its first decrease during the same time period of 28%

As of late Friday morning, Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness says his snow plow crews “did okay” but not every neighborhood and street had been plowed at that point.

“We’ve got a long ways to go,” said the mayor.  “I would ask everyone to be patient as we get into cul-de-sacs, they take a while.”

The city is already hearing from residents Friday morning asking when their cul-de-sac will be plowed, but the mayor emphasized “there is a lot of snow in the neighborhoods.”

The city continued with a full slate of snow trucks on the streets Friday and expects the crews will be out most of Friday night into Saturday before clearing most of the snow & ice.

With air temperatures forecast to plunge near zero tonight, the mayor says his crews will clear-off as much as possible during the daylight hours Friday before some of the slush on the streets begins to freeze where salt and chemicals are less effective.

Most cities in the area have had trouble recruiting snow plow drivers and Fishers is no exception.  Fadness says the city can use 10-12 additional drivers.  “We’re better than we were last year, but we still have vehicles that are not operating due to a lack of staff,” the mayor said.