by

Jeff Jellison

Publisher

Hamilton County Reporter

Allegations of misconduct, a criminal investigation and a civil suit have employees in the Hamilton County Treasurer’s office on edge.

The civil suit filed by Susan Byer alleges she was unjustly fired after she made allegations of late property tax penalties not being charged to family members of office employees.

The criminal investigation being conducted by the Indiana State Police – now in its eighth month – was initiated by county commissioners after they learned of Byer’s allegations.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Lee Buckingham is not commenting on the criminal investigation.

Buckingham requested, and was granted, a Special Prosecutor to oversee the State Police investigation.  Hancock County Prosecutor Brent Eaton now heads the investigation.

The commissioners have said they do not believe there is a factual basis behind Byer’s allegations.

Commissioners have described Byer as a disgruntled employee.

A second Treasurer’s Office employee, Julie Ward, was fired following Byer’s termination.

Reports indicate Ward was fired for allegedly posting tax payments to the wrong account multiple times.

Pamela Watson, a current employee of the Treasurer’s Office, has been suspended for violation of office policies, according to county officials.  Watson, represented by local attorney Tim Stoez, has filed a tort claim notice as a result of her suspension.

According to an article published by the Indianapolis Star, two current Treasurer’s Office employees who asked to remain anonymous view Watson’s suspension as the latest example of retaliation within the office.

Earlier this year, Hamilton County Commissioner Steve Dillinger told the Reporter the Treasurer’s Office is in “upheaval.”

“We may need to make some changes, but until the investigation is concluded we can’t,” said Dillinger.

When asked about the timeline of the investigation, Prosecutor Eaton responded, “I’m hoping things wrap up soon, but I want to be fair, complete and accurate: however long that takes.”

Prosecutor Eaton told the Reporter it is his policy not to comment on an ongoing investigation. “I will say the Indiana State Police are very professional and are committed to doing a good job.  They have worked hard on this case.”

Dillinger, along with Commissioners Mark Heirbrandt and Christine Altman, Prosecutor Buckingham, Hamilton County Attorney Mike Howard and Human Resource Director Sheena Randall are on Byer’s list of witnesses that could be called to testify in the Byer suit.

Byer’s lawsuit is scheduled for trial in April of next year.

The King and Queen of England announce they will be visiting Downton Abbey…..what could possibly go wrong?  You find out in the film Downton Abbey….here is my review

For the past two-and-a-half years, the relationship between certain Fishers neighborhoods and the Internet company MetroNet has been a rocky one.  Subcontractors for the firm have been accused of utility strikes while digging fiber optic networks.  There have been stop orders issued on more than one occasion by the City of Fishers.

At a Fishers City Council work session Monday night, city and MetroNet officials talked about how to move forward as MetroNet construction continues in Fishers.  Kris Smith, government affairs manager for Metronet, and Mark Hill, market manager for the MetroNet area including Fishers, met with the council and talked about past errors as well as how to move forward.

Fishers Director of Engineering Jason Taylor briefed council members on what has happened so far with MetroNet and the city.  Taylor described weekly meetings his staff has recently had with MetroNet. and said there are situations when people blame MetroNet when another utility may be at fault.  Regular communications with the technology firm have helped, according to Taylor.

“We have an even stronger commitment to safety and restoration today,” MetroNet’s Smith told Fishers councilors. ” We’ve improved our construction communications program tenfold.  We have an executive vice president who is running our construction team.  We’ve put several layers in place.”

Smith said subcontractor crews will always be clearly marked, outfitted in vests, with identifying signs on trucks, along with arm badges on workers with their names and pictures.  If there are language barriers, there will be an English speaking crew member on site.  If that English-speaking person is away or next door, cards will be provided with a customer service phone number residents can call to get questions answered.

MetroNet expects to be finished with construction within what the company calls the Fishers “city build” areas, by spring of 2020.  “City build” meaning MetroNet will not be installed in all Fishers neighborhoods.

“We made some mistakes, there’s no question of that,” Smith said.  “But it’s how we’re moving forward, we want to improve that.”

MetroNet provides home Internet, television and telephone services.

Eric Moeller says his start in local government engagement began as a student in the Fishers Town Government Academy.  A town employee was running the program, his name was Scott Fadness.  Just a few classes into the academy, Fadness had to step aside as the staff person working with the class when he was promoted to Fishers Town Manager.

Scott Fadness is now mayor of Fishers and Eric Moeller is a member of the Fishers City Council, representing the North Central District.  In this year’s municipal election, Eric will have one opponent and continues his campaign for re-election.

Here is my podcast conversation with Eric Moeller.

The State of Indiana provides financial support for local schools based on the number of students reported in each school district throughout the state.  Indiana has what is called the”Average Daily Membership” (ADM) count which is used by state officials to pass out money to local school corporations.

The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools ADM count for this school year, as recorded by a head count of students conducted last Friday, shows a total of 21,794. Students grades kindergarten through 12th grade are up a total of 273 over the previous school year.

HSE’s Chief Financial Officer Mike Reuter provided board members with the following student population breakdown during a Tuesday morning work session:

–For kindergarten through 4th grade, the student count is up 5.

–In grades 5 & 6, the student count is down by 2

–The number of junior high students increased by 20

–The total number of high school students is up by 245

–The Freshman and Sophomore classes are the largest entering HS this year

–High school seniors outnumber the junior class.

–The count of freshman students is  1,786

–The total number of 1^st graders is  1,550

–In grades 5 & 6, the count was down by 2

Reuter told the board student population is “stabilizing,” The number of kindergarteners entering HSE this school year exceeded 1,500, compared to last year’s kindergarten ADM population of 1,476.

“We opened Southeastern (Elementary) and I know it feels like we just grew and grew, and we did grow out there, more than we’d hoped to,” Reuter told board members.  “But it’s because of their kindergarten class. It’s just completely off the charts compared to (Southeastern Elementary’s) other grade levels.”

HSE administrators have shared the ADM figures with the district’s demographer Jerry McKibben and expects fresh future enrollment projections by November.

Reuter also provided board members with an early overview of the 2020 school district budget.  No overall budget number was available because Reuter is still processing the numerous sources of revenue and the wide range of expected costs for calendar year 2020.

The public hearing on the 2020 school corporation proposed budget will be held October 9th, with final budget approval by the board expected at the October 23rd board meeting.

When the Indiana Department of Education released ILEARN testing results for school districts around the state earlier this month, it was emphasized that this test was much different than the previous ISTEP tests.  Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board members received a look at just how different the testing regime was at a Tuesday morning work session.

The board viewed a video of an elementary student being shown an Interstate highway sign with one exit 1 1/4 (one and one quarter) miles away and the next exit 1 1/2 (one and one half) miles away.  The student was asked to determine the difference in mileage between the two exits.

The elementary student appeared stumped, not sure how to solve the problem.  After a minute or two, the student is then asked to solve the problem of 1 1/2 minus 1 1/4.  The student had no problem working the answer to that problem.

HSE Assistant Schools Superintendent Jan Combs used this example, illustrating  how ISTEP and ILEARN were different.  ISTEP was geared more to having students answer the question of 1 1/2 minus 1 1/4, where ILEARN would present the student with the “real world” example of a sign in an Interstate Highway.

Combs told the board this will help teachers and administrators better prepare students for the ILEARN test in future years.

There were other big differences between ILEARN and ISTEP, according to Dr. Combs.

ISTEP was a timed test, where ILEARN had no time limits for students to complete the test.

Also, ILEARN had a different testing path.  For example, if a student had answered the Interstate highway question correctly, the next question would be a more difficult question.  If the student answered that question incorrectly, a less challenging question would be presented to that student next.

In the 2019 ILEARN testing, 56.1% of HSE students taking the English Language Arts (ELA) and the Math test passed them both.  That compares with 73.5% passing both exams last year.  Last year’s test was the old ISTEP, with 2019 being the first year the state utilized ILEARN.

As far as how HSE students did on the individual Math and ELA tests – 64.3% passed the ELA ILEARN test this year, while 69.2% passed this year’s Math test.

Statewide, 37.1% of the students taking both the ELA & Math ILEARN exams passed both, compared to last year’s pass rate of 50.7% on ISTEP.  The statewide pass rate for just the ELA test was 47.9% and 47.8% for Math.

Administrators are now looking into ways to help students apply the skills learned in class with practice in applying those skills.

There are plenty of lists found in various media sources these days comparing and contrasting the quality of life within various communities in America, but the one that brings the most attention is Money Magazine’s annual “Best Places To Live In America.”  Fishers was rated Number 3 in the nation on this year’s list.

Fishers was the only place in Indiana to crack the Top 10 list.

Here’s how Money Magazine explained their methodology in compiling this year’s listing.

“…the list was compiled using data points such as economic health, cost of living, ethnic and economic diversity, public education, income, health and safety, ease of living and amenities. The greatest weight was given to economic factors, housing, health and safety, diversity, and cost of living. Other critical components included quality of life, education, and local amenities. Residents in the top-ranking locations were also interviewed.”

You can view the entire listing at this link.

“I’m incredibly proud that our city has once again been recognized as one of the best places to live in the nation,” said Mayor Scott Fadness in a city news release. “This honor is truly a reflection of the residents, businesses, schools, and organizations that make Fishers the smart, vibrant, and entrepreneurial city that it is. I’m so privileged to serve this community.

Other Indiana communities in the Top 10 list include Eagle Creek and Fort Wayne.

Fishers firefighters say a “possible medical event” caused a vehicle to crash into a home on Lynn Avenue late Monday morning.  The home, located near 146th Street and Allisonville Road, was badly damaged when the vehicle hit the front of the building and came to rest inside.

Fire Department first responders quickly found the driver of the vehicle and one person inside the house and brought them out safely.  Two people were in the home when this happened, with one quickly escaping the structure and notifying authorities immediately.

Firefighters found smoke upon arrival, but found it was due to spinning tires on the vehicle.

The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department is conducting an investigation into the crash.

The Fishers City Council has put its stamp of approval on the proposal to increase the Hamilton County Local Income Tax by .1% (one-tenth of one-percent), funding 911 emergency services.  The state law governing these decisions requires elected municipalities representing more than 50% of the county’s population to approve the proposal for it to become law in all of Hamilton County.

Under that state provision, if only Fishers and Carmel councils approve the 911 tax, it becomes effective in all of Hamilton County.  So far, the Arcadia Town Council is the only other municipality to approve this tax.

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness argued in favor of enacting this tax increase.  The City of Fishers share of funding county-wide 911 service is $1.3 million in 2019, and would grow to $1.7 million in 2020.  The mayor said he fashioned his 2020 city budget proposal assuming this tax would be enacted.  If not, Fadness told the Council cuts would need to be made in next year’s spending plan.

The vote was 8-0, with council member David George unable to attend the Monday meeting.

During the public hearing, former Fishers Town Councilor Mike Colby and unsuccessful mayor candidate in this year’s GOP primary Logan Day, each argued against enacting the .1% income tax increase.

The American Association of Retired Persons…better known as AARP…..has been active in local issues throughout the state, but particularly in areas impacting residents in and around Fishers.  I spoke with two representatives of the local AARP organization – Tish Biggs and Mandla Moyo in this podcast.