Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight issued a call for a city-county joint commission on consolidation during a Monday State of the City speech which sought to reach far beyond Kokomo’s current city limits.
Blunt remarks aimed at annexation opponents and the lack of city-county cooperation marked the 30-minute address, the third of Goodnight’s term, which comes after a year of 15 percent unemployment in the City of Firsts.
But the centerpiece of the address was a call to establish a formal city-county commission to examine duplication of government services.
A provision of the Kernan-Shepard report on local government efficiency — whose recommendations Goodnight regularly advocates in a leadership role with the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns — the idea of the citizen-led, non-binding efficiency commission has received little traction in Indiana since the Indiana General Assembly agreed to the idea in 2006.
Monday, Goodnight listed seven specific areas, from township government and school consolidation to the fact the city and county have separate SWAT teams, where he suggested a commission might find efficiencies.
Hearkening back to the township school consolidations of 1948-1950, Goodnight said “we must question why a county our size maintains five separate school systems, with five separate maintenance garages and five separate custodial staffs.”
“High school basketball sectionals just ended, and if it were up to some in our community, the New London Quakers would have faced the Clay Township Brickies in the first game of this year’s first round,” Goodnight quipped.
His most pointed comments were more notable for what Goodnight left out than what he said.
Speaking close to the 25th anniversary of the city’s last involuntary annexation, Goodnight said “I have said this for two years, and I’ll say it again: Annexation is vital to the future of our community.”
Reminding the audience of the often-contentious annexations of the Country Club Hills, Vinton Woods and Maple Crest subdivisions, Goodnight said Kokomo would be “insignificant on a statewide level” without those past decisions.
He thanked several former local elected officials who voted for past annexations, including former mayors Steve Daily and Jim Trobaugh, as well as his 2007 election opponent, Rick Hamilton.
He also proceeded to thank the six current Kokomo Common Council members who have consistently supported the East Side and West Side annexations, excluding Council members Cindy Sanders, R-5th, Kevin Summers, R-At Large, and Bob Cameron, D-2nd.
“Every single city councilperson, in 1976, 1978 and 1985 — every Democrat and every Republican — stood up for the citizens of Kokomo and supported annexation,” Goodnight said. “These former councils showed leadership. They did not make the issue controversial, political or personal.”
Goodnight also issued a call for local elected leaders to wait until 2011 — a city election year — to make political points.
After the speech, Cameron said Goodnight’s exclusion of three council members instantly made his speech political.
“If he’s talking about not entering politics into it, then what’s he doing right there?” Cameron said, adding he thought Goodnight’s remarks a “low, cheap, blow.”
Beyond the call for a joint commission, Goodnight’s speech contained other surprises, including an announcement that the Kokomo firefighters union has agreed to a two-year contract extension with no pay raises for members.
He also announced the city’s first employee health clinic, to be run by Novia Care Clinics, will open next week in the former Kokomo Early Learning Center building.
Goodnight partially described the clinic as a way to help offset pay freezes, and he asked the audience to applaud city employees for their work during a two-year span when the city cut more than 12 percent of its work force.
Of the future, Goodnight said, “History has called on us to make the tough choices.”
“I know ‘change’ is an overused word these days. And I know it’s a word that many people fear. Some of us would be perfectly happy doing nothing,” Goodnight said.
“Those folks assume that if we do nothing, nothing will change ... I can give you this guarantee: The way things are, and the way they were are no longer options.”
• Scott Smith is a Kokomo Tribune staff writer. He may be reached at 765-454-8569 or via e-mail at scott.smith@kokomotribune.com
Local News
Mayor: There must be change
Goodnight issues call for local consolidation.
- Local News
-
-
Students kick off Black History Month at IU Kokomo
“Hey, black child, be what you can be. Learn what you can learn. Do what you can do. And tomorrow, your nation will be what you want it to be.”
-
Council taking heat for proposal
The Miami County Council on Thursday got to hear from county employees who are disgruntled about proposed budget cuts that would reduce the county general fund by nearly $900,000.
-
County looks at health care options
With the city of Kokomo ending its relationship with Novia Health Care, Howard County officials are now discussing what move they will make.
-
KHS to implement new technology program
Starting next school year, the more than 500 freshmen enrolled at Kokomo High School will receive either a laptop computer or tablet device as part of a new technology program that school officials say will improve learning in the classroom.
-
Measles patient was at NFL event
East Coast fans who left the Super Bowl host city feeling good about Hoosier hospitality may have been exposed to something less welcome: The measles.
-
Outreach provides housing to the down-and-out
Dale Bliss tells the story of a man with no money, no job and two kids.
Without any way to pay for a hotel or rent an apartment, the man was living in a tent with his children at a reservoir near Kokomo. He told them it was a family camping trip.
-
Green tech lab opens in Kokomo
A California green technology company has opened a research and development lab in Kokomo and plans to hire as many as 35 people over the next few years, the business announced this week.
-
Main Street conference coming to Kokomo
Following up on its Indiana Chamber of Commerce’s 2011 Community of the Year award, Kokomo received another accolade this week.
-
Howard Co. jail reconfiguration a ‘short-term solution’
With the ever-increasing number of female prisoners at the Howard County jail, local officials are looking to implement a short-term solution instead of expanding the existing facility.
-
Delphi retirees continue fight for pensions
A group of then-Delphi Corp. retirees saw a long road ahead of them when they banded in 2009 to keep hold of their full pensions and benefits.
- More Local News Headlines
-








