Tribune enterprise editor
Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight voiced disappointment with comments made by Howard County officials last week concerning a lack of communication.
Goodnight appeared at Monday’s meeting of the Howard County Commissioners to dispute claims by Commissioners Dave Trine and Brad Bagwell that city officials were not returning messages.
County officials last week said no discussions have taken place regarding combining MS4 (municipal separate storm sewer systems) operations and to resolve an ongoing sanitary sewer problem in Darrough Chapel.
Goodnight said he meet three times with Trine and the issue of scheduling an MS4 meeting was not raised and that he played telephone tag with Bagwell.
“My best guess is I met 14 times with eight different county officials and had an additional 12 telephone conversations,” Goodnight said.
Bagwell said Goodnight’s meetings and conversations with other county officials were irrelevant because each county official deals with separate concerns.
“My job is to run the city,” Goodnight said. “I want to work with you when there is a communication problem.”
Goodnight asked the commissioners to designate one person to be in contact with city officials and said he was not elected to manage county issues.
“You’re not hired to manage the county,” Bagwell said.
Trine said starting in 2009 the county would designate one contact person after Democrat Bill Thompson and Republican Tyler Moore replace Bagwell and Paul Raver as commissioners.
“This relationship needs to be fixed and healed for the people who elected us,” Trine said of cooperation between the city and county.
Goodnight tied several issues with county officials, including the use of a sewer camera and sharing of salt supplies, with the failure to reach an agreement on the joint operation of the Plan Commission. The current agreement ends Dec. 31.
“Absolutely,” he responded when asked if the Plan Commission agreement impacted other dealings with the county. “The Plan Commission should take precedent. There have not been formal discussions when the agreement ends.”
Bagwell said the letter county officials received concerning the joint operation of the Plan Commission didn’t ask for the agreement to be terminated.
A problem is that instead of city and county department heads from working together, the city officials are being directed to work through the mayor’s office, according to Bagwell.
Dealing with elected officials is part of your job, Bagwell said. He said in the past county department heads would deal directly with city leaders to resolve problems.
“A good leader allows people to do their jobs,” he said.
Goodnight said he was disappointed that county officials lashed out at the city administration during a public meeting.
Goodnight said one or two meetings could cover a wide range of topics.
“It’s frustrating dealing with eight difference officials,” he said.
Goodnight said he was looking for a better way to communicate between the city and county.
“Would it be more productive to bring everyone into a room and resolve some of these issues,” asked Goodnight?
Bagwell said because the commissioners are part-time positions there is a division of responsibilities.
“One of us can’t do it all,” he said. “You’re asking us to change our way of doing things to accommodate you.”
Thompson said he wants to work together with the city and to develop better lines of communication.
“There are strong individuals that want to benefit the community,” he said of city and county officials.
Ken de la Bastide can be reached at (765) 454 -8580 or via e-mail at ken.delabastide@kokomotribune.com
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