Redevelopment panel payments spawn dispute
Times, The (Munster, IN)
December 1, 2011
http://infoweb.newsbank.com
PORTAGE -- What is normally a quiet meeting turned contentious Wednesday as a Portage Redevelopment Commission member balked at funding the Portage Economic Development Corp. and paying for a marketing flier.
Member Susan Kelly-Johnson, former president of the PEDCO board who resigned from the organization about a year ago, criticized PEDCO's operations and proposed budget for 2012.
The Redevelopment Commission annually supports the economic development group. This year, PEDCO requested a $73,975 contribution, the same level as in two previous years.
Kelly-Johnson said she would only support providing funding for the first quarter of the year because executive director Bert Cook is leaving the post after serving less than a year.
Kelly-Johnson said PEDCO should come back in January after the new city administration is in place and request additional funding. Kelly-Johnson is also a member of Mayor-elect James Snyder's transition team.
"I have a lot of concerns," Kelly-Johnson said about the group's proposed budget and operations.
PEDCO President Diane Thalmann said it was important to have full funding in place to attract a new director. Thalmann said an interim director will be chosen quickly and a search for a new director will begin soon.
Cook said he is leaving PEDCO to return to his old job as director of the Greater LaPorte Economic Development Corp.
The full budget request was approved 3-1 with Mayor Olga Velazquez and members Allen Ekdahl and Ed Gottschling voting in favor.
Kelly-Johnson also objected to spending $2,505 of commission money on a marketing piece involving the University Center. The piece was mailed shortly before the mayoral election in November and became an issue in the election.
Kelly-Johnson said the commission never saw or approved the document before it was sent and that the document was not an advertising piece for the higher education facility.
Velazquez said the marketing piece was requested by the universities who will offer classes in the center next year in an effort to attract students.
The claim eventually was approved by the same 3-1 vote.
No comments:
Post a Comment