Dear Editor,

On Tuesday, May 3, I ask the citizens of Kosciusko County to consider voting for Donald Wiesehan for county commissioner.

I am a lifelong resident of Kosciusko County. I served in the U.S Army Reserve from 1987 to 1992. I allowed my contract with the Reserve to expire and received an honorable discharge before taking a position as a police officer for the Winona Lake Police Department.

In 1995, I joined the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office. While with the sheriff’s office, I served as the jail commander from 2012 to 2017 and then served as lieutenant in the patrol division before retiring in 2019, after 25 years of service.

Being a former county employee, I was able to see firsthand the interworking of our county government. During my tenure at the sheriff’s office, I had many different roles and responsibilities within the department.

Some of those roles were writing policies, working within the department’s operating budget and providing reports for the county council, county commissioners and judges. These are just some of the roles that have prepared me for holding the office of county commissioner.

While at the sheriff’s office, I was able to develop a working relationship with several divisions of the county government such as the county highway, prosecutor’s office, probation department, clerk’s office, community corrections, human resources, jail division and the patrol division. To continue these working relationships, I plan on doing routine walk-throughs of county departments after our bi-weekly commissioners’ meetings to help be more visible and able to speak with employees directly.

I believe this is needed and will help with transparency between county employees and the commissioners. Continuing these relationships with each division will keep our county moving forward in a positive direction. It will also help to produce a better knowledge, transparency and understanding of their needs and goals to complete all of our responsibilities to the best of our abilities.

County commissioners need to be fiscally responsible in the oversight of approved budgetary items. I will work diligently to ensure that I work within the limits of the budget because spending over and outside of approved budgets will only cost our community. Maintaining a strong infrastructure is another key part of our county’s economic development and growth. I will work on expanding greenways and parks throughout our community and seek out the possibilities of funding through grants from the federal and state levels.

I strongly support term limits. Having term limits creates a better government by allowing new ideas and perspectives to be brought to the table.

I will serve no more than two consecutive terms as commissioner. This will help me keep a fresh insight and perspective while preventing me from becoming regressive in the routine of my responsibilities as we sometimes see today.

I will work tirelessly together with the county council and other commissioners for the common good and betterment of our community. Thank you for your continued support!

“Right Time, Right Choice.”

Donald Wiesehan Jr.
Mentone