Fishers Chief of Police Ed Gebhart talks about his first year running the department, the state of the body cam installations and a number of other subjects in this podcast conversation

August 7th marks the first day of school throughout the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School District.  Superintendent Allen Bourff took a few minutes from a very busy day to talk with me about the first day of classes, the unexpected surge this school year in the student population and a number of other subjects.

by

Jeff Jellison

Hamilton County Reporter

The Hamilton County Council concluded day one of its 2020 budget hearing on Tuesday.

The 2020 county budget, expected to be just under $100 million, includes a 3 percent pay raise for county employees.

Beaver

Council President Brad Beaver in a statement published last week said, “It’s a big budget. It is a big operation. Our biggest expenses are salaries and benefits for the 800 county employees as well as highway projects.”

During the hearing, council members did not have a majority vote to approve funding for three full-time employees, but did approve funding for one part-time employee for the Hamilton County Youth Assistance Program (YAP). The council deadlocked on the vote for the three full-time employees with a 3-3 vote. Council members Amy Massillamany, Steve Schwartz and Ken Alexander voted in favor. Council members Fred Glenn, Brad Beaver and Rick McKinney voted not to approve. Councilman Jeff Hern was not in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting.

YAP Program Director Trisha Akers was asking the council to fund one youth advocate for each of the cities of Westfield, Carmel and Fishers. Those communities currently have only one advocate handling a large case load.

YAP serves as an early intervention advocate for youth ages 3 to 17 who are facing challenging life circumstances.

McKinney

County Councilman Rick McKinney stated, “All in all, the Hamilton County Council’s first day of budget deliberations went extremely well.”

McKinney told the Reporter, “Based on our financial consultant’s estimates, the county tax rate will decrease 1.4 percent with assessed valuation increasing 6.33 percent.”

“Hamilton County government is in a solidly strong financial position today, which will continue through the end of 2020, with a projected combined Rainy Day and General Fund cash balance of nearly $46 million.”

“We have approved the addition of six new full-time and two part-time positions for county government in 2020,” said McKinney.

McKinney did point out two highlights from Tuesday’s meeting:

1. The approval of $835,000 for new and additional voting machines to improve and lessen the time to vote.
2. The County Recorder providing $574,606 from the office’s dedicated document fee fund to pay for her office’s salaries. This was made possible by a state law that includes an annual allowance from this fund, which may be done on a year by year basis. The fund’s current balance is $3.9 million and can only be used for the office’s operations.

The budget hearing resumes at 8:30 a.m. today at the Hamilton County Judicial Center. Council members are expected to discuss the County Highway and Communication Center budgets, along with possible funding of nonprofits.

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

A celebrity starts school today at Fishers. Ana Gaston begins her senior year as president of Girls Nation, the American Legion Auxiliary annual program for high school students. Gaston was elected last month by delegates from throughout the nation.

Gaston is believed to be the first girl from Hamilton County to be elected president in the 73 year history of Girls Nation. She and delegates from all 50 states enjoyed a week in Washington, D.C., visiting government and historic sites and campaigning for president and vice president in a mock election.

The process, designed to acquaint young Americans with their government, begins with Hoosier Girls State where Gaston was chosen to be one of two representing Indiana at the national conclave.

There is also a Boys State and Boys Nation sponsored by the American Legion. In the mock election in Washington, Gaston (president) and Caroline Couch of Tennessee (vice president) ran successfully on the Federalist Party ticket. The entire delegation was welcomed by Vice President Mike Pence.

Hamilton County also did well at the Girls State gathering earlier when Carolyn Ramsay of Carmel was elected governor.

The National Night Out is a day in August each year when local police departments throughout America meet with the local community.  In Fishers, the celebration was held Tuesday evening at Billericay Park.

The splash park was a big hit with the youngsters, but free food and lots of police officers were also available.

Here are a few photos I snapped at this year’s Fishers National Night Out.

Continue reading National Night Out in Fishers →

As construction on The Yard development near IKEA continues, the Fishers Arts Council has announced a new “call for artists” for the Hyatt Hotel planned for this development.

The Council is in the market for Metal Artist for this project.

The turnaround time is quick with a deadline of 3:00pm, August 23rd.

Here are the details of how to apply:

Continue reading Fishers Arts Council “Call for Artists” →

As teachers and other staff member from the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School System gathered at the Fishers High School Gymnasium to kickoff the new school year, Superintendent Allen Bourff said the the school corporation may top 22,000 students this year, the highest count yet.

The new Southeastern Elementary was projected to be 80% occupied, now it is at capacity with a larger than expected kindergarten class.

Two students were recognized at the staff gathering.  Ana Gaston of Fishers High School was named American Legion Auxiliary Girls President, a national honor.  HSE High School student Salma Mohammad gained national recognition, winning the National Poet Award, Student Ambassador.

Here are more photos from the Tuesday morning event:

Continue reading HSE Schools student count may top 22,000 this school year →

During the summer months, drivers tend to forget the school bus rules of the road once  buses begin to fill our local streets and roads.  Well, Wednesday marks the start of school for the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Corporation.  That means there will be buses filled with youngsters all around our roads every school day.

New laws enacted in the last Indiana legislative session toughen penalties for motorists violating laws related to school buses.  You can review the new law provisions from a WISH-TV story available at this link.

The Fishers Police Department is providing some tips for local motorists as school is set to start once again:

• Be prepared for a longer commute. School buses and teenage drivers will add to the traffic congestion in the mornings and afternoons.

• Expect the unexpected. Watch for slowing or stopped traffic and the possibility of children darting out into the street.

• Be patient and observe the law when approaching or following a school bus.

• Be very aware of intersections where children are waiting for the bus.

• Be mindful of reduced speed limits in designated school zones.

• Police officers will provide increased patrols in neighborhoods and school zones. Officers in marked and unmarked police cars will be enforcing school bus stop arm violations and speeding in school zones.

• Residents should report suspicious activity and dangerous drivers by calling the Hamilton County Dispatch Center at 911 or 317-773-1282.

When the Fishers Town Council had the first iteration of the Amphitheater under construction, I recall a lengthy discussion among the council members.  The town planned to create a part-time position within the Parks and Recreation Department to handle booking the acts appearing on the new stage.

I wondered how Fishers would be able to land a person with the contacts and background to book the acts for that new facility on a part-time basis.  Previously, the town had provided Tuesday night concerts at the entrance to Town Hall (now City Hall).  The crowds had grown so much, Fishers had to make a decision – either stop the concerts or construct a facility to handle the increased crowds.

The Town Council decided to build an amphitheater.  The stage and overall facility would only be able to handle musical groups of a certain size with the limited amount of stage space available.

Fishers hired Bob McCutcheon for that part-time job.  Bob told me many times how hard it was in the early years to sell acts on performing at a facility no one knew at the time.  But over a period of years, Bob started getting return phone calls from booking agents and the Fishers Nickel Plate Amphitheater gained a reputation as a place that would draw a decent crowd.

When those crowds began to grow, the City of Fishers had another decision to make – should the Amphitheater and surrounding facility be upgraded?  The mayor and city council said yes, and the Amphitheater was dramatically upgraded, with the renovated facility opening about a year ago.

Bob McCutcheon should be proud of his success in growing the size of the crowds and the quality of the entertainment at the Fishers Nickel Plate Amphitheater.

However, something happened just a few days ago.  Bob McCutcheon resigned his position.  Bob did not want to talk about the details when I spoke with him recently.  I can surmise something went sour in his relationship with the city, because someone in Bob’s position, in the middle of a summer music series he largely arranged, normally does not resign at this point in the season.

Bob is landing on his feet.  He and local building contractor Dennis Collins are teaming up and creating Encore Promotions.  Bob says he plans to promote concerts throughout the state of Indiana in indoor and outdoor venues through the Encore venture.

The circumstances under which Bob parted company with the Fishers Parks & Recreation Department may be unclear, but one thing is clear – Bob contributed greatly to the City of Fishers and helped build a culture of music lovers with his live summer concerts.  I would hope someone, or some local organization, will honor Bob for the work he did for the city over a number of years.

It will be a challenge for the city to find a replacement for Bob.  In the meantime, let’s give Bob the credit he is due.

When Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ) reporter Samm Quinn contacted me about being interviewed for a Q&A session, I had to read the message twice to ensure I had it right.  I knew IBJ featured an interview with a person in the Indy area in each week’s print edition but never imagined I would be asked for an interview.

So, Samm and I got together and talked for quite a while.  Then, photographer Eric Learned came to City Hall to take some pictures.  It was only then that I understood this was really happening.

I was a bit puzzled as to why IBJ would want to feature a man, writing a little news blog and producing podcasts aimed at Fishers, would want to write about me.  Puzzled, yes, but also humbled and honored to be asked.

I suppose the backdrop to all this is the lack of local news throughout America.  It says something about the state of journalism that the only avenue to get almost-daily local news about Fishers is from a former journalist, retired from his government job, writing as a volunteer.

My thanks to Samm Quinn and the editors at IBJ for choosing me as a subject for their Q&A section on Page 2 of the August 2nd IBJ edition.

You can read the entire interview at this link.