Portage, county officials at odds?
NWI Times
May 22, 2016
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/portage-county-officials-at-odds/article_40053fc8-9c84-564b-8315-6cc475141046.html
PORTAGE — Porter County officials say they are just as committed to helping Portage residents as any other in the county despite a recent rift with Mayor James Snyder.
However, they added, they may sidestep directly communicating with Snyder, at least for a while, and work with his staff and the City Council instead.
For his part, Snyder, a Republican, admits he needs to do better when communicating with county officials and said he wants to improve dialogue between the two governmental agencies, but feels it needs to go both ways.
"My entire goal has been to have an open dialogue with the county," he said, adding he believes Portage has not been consulted in instances of major decisions, such as the location of the new county animal shelter. "I'm trying to learn how to talk to the county and not be treated like a red-headed stepchild."
The latest friction began at the Portage City Council's April meeting when Snyder made comments regarding the county and why the city was considering a wheel tax.
Those comments prompted all 10 members of the Porter County Council and commissioners, Democrats and Republicans alike, to sign a letter rebuking Snyder's comments and giving their side of the spending issue.
The letter prompted Snyder to hire a Chicago-based law firm, at a cost of nearly $1,600, to research the role of county government and to make a formal request for county records regarding the generation of the letter. Snyder said he hired the outside firm because they are experts in open door laws.
"The mayor made comments that are blatantly incorrect," said Porter County Council President Dan Whitten, a Democrat, adding he brought up the comments at a meeting and wrote a letter to set the record straight. He said he doesn't believe there has been a rift between the two entities nor has there been a problem with communication.
"Newsflash. There has been dialogue between the city and county for years. The mayor made blatantly inaccurate comments," Whitten said.
Snyder said he believes county officials took the comments out of context and he didn't intend to blame the county for the city's adoption of the wheel tax. He said he was surprised to hear about the letter. He said county officials should have contacted him directly if they had an issue or question about what he said at that April meeting.
"I think the mayor is making it worse. He was attacking us on the wheel tax," said Councilman Jeremy Rivas, a Democrat representing Portage. "He just needs to tone it down. We need to focus on the projects we can work on together."
"I've got a relationship with the people in Portage," said Rivas, adding he has met with Director of Administration Joe Calhoun on issues and he and Whitten recently met with City Councilmen Mark Oprisko and Pat Clem and Clerk-Treasurer Chris Stidham on the possibility of locating a county building in the city's downtown.
As for the possibility of the county constructing a downtown building, Snyder said this week he believes a deal can be reached by the end of the year.
County officials said that is just an example of Snyder's sometimes over aggressive manner of doing business.
Republican Commissioner Jeff Good said Snyder "needs to change his tenor, needs to change his tone" when he discusses such issues.
Whitten, Rivas and Good all said they have not made any decision on a downtown county building. All three said they are awaiting a study to be completed on all county facilities, which will determine if the North County Government Complex can be repaired or renovated or should be replaced.
"I've told the mayor 100 times I can't tell you what we are going to do until the feasibility study is done," Whitten said.
"Nothing he is doing is going to have any impact on what I do for the city," said Whitten, a Portage native whose law office is in the city. "Portage is the biggest city. I told the mayor a million times I want to see good things for Portage."
"I'm committed to working with Portage just as I am working with Valparaiso and Kouts," said Good, adding the county approved a stormwater fee and is looking at correcting issues on County Road 700 North and Willowcreek Road, which has been a problem for Portage.
"As far as I'm concerned, it is business as usual. There are no hard feelings," Good said.
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