Dear Editor,

The following is an open letter to the Kosciusko County Council (The honorable Ernie Wiggins, council president, Sue Ann Mitchell, council vice-rresident and council members Jon Garber, Kathy Groninger, Mike Long, Joni Truex and Kimberly Cates):

Dear Council Members,

I read with great interest the article describing the discussion at your August 26 meeting about the County Attorney’s legal services. I am pleased that the County Council deferred approval of increased legal fees. I urge you to reject the proposed increase in the budget for legal services.

I encourage you to take a more active role in reviewing and approving the “special projects” used as justification for increased attorney fees. Recent “special projects” have been a waste of county funds and have made our county less attractive to business. Declaring Kosciusko County a “Constitutional Sanctuary County” and a “Second Amendment Sanctuary County” make no sense because the Board of Commissioners has no authority or jurisdiction to act outside of its prescribed powers. It has no power in preventing the implementation of state or federal rules, laws, or regulations and could open the county up to liability if it failed to follow constitutionally approved laws, regulations or order.

The Board also passed Resolution 21-05-25-001 which discourages people from using masks and getting themselves vaccinated and discourages employers from requiring their employees to have COVID-19 vaccinations. Such a position is ill-advised when the surge in cases of the COVID-19 Delta Variant makes masking and vaccination more important than ever.

I would like the county to publish an itemized accounting of the expenditure of public funds for each of these “special projects.” I encourage the County Council to require that the Commissioners reimburse the county for any funds spent on “special projects” that are clearly politically motivated and serve no purpose under their statutory authority. The County Council should require that the Board obtain their approval before the expenditure of county funds on legal fees for future “special projects.”

Respectfully,

Vicki Morton
Chair, Kosciusko County Democrats
Syracuse