Lake County Sheriff fires back

The Lake County Finance Committee is taking the Lake County Surveyor and the Lake County Sheriff to the woodshed regarding out of control spending.

One thing that the Sheriff does is let his people take their cars home at night. This leads to increased wear and tear on the vehicles, as well as increased costs for gasoline.

Sheriff Dominguez still defends the practice.

I think the era of take home cars is going to end very soon. With gas prices the way that they are, people are very jealous of this perk. It enrages the general public in ways that larger, more important issues don't.

As the Lake County Government Center turns...

Sorry for the lack of blogging lately. I've been out of town, busy with the family, etc.

I've been remiss in not blogging about the soap opera known as Lake County government. The Lake County Council has been trying to figure out what to cut to get ready for the tax caps, and Surveyor Van Til and Sheriff Dominguez are throwing hissy fits about the cuts aimed at their deparments.

Van Til had the stupidtude to actually post for 5 new positions in that office. The council shot that down with a temporary hiring freeze.

Fun Stuff!!!

NWI Blogger "Cocktail Hour"

From Commenter Steve Dalton:

Buzz, for some reason I don't have your email and therefore didn't get this announcement to you last week:

6 pm tomorrow at On Site Computers, first ever NW Indiana Blogger cocktail hour.

Agenda:

Meet
Brainstorm
Listen to proposal by 219.com
More brainstorm

Is that free enough for bloggers?

Time for all of us to meet.

And, of course, I'll be out on business tomorrow. Visiting the beautiful city of Tulsa, which as everyone knows, is the heat exchanger capital of the world (which is why I'm going).

Why does the Lake County Sheriff have a marine unit?

One of the perks of being a Lake County Sheriff is boating on Lake Michigan in the summer.

Not for long!

This cut is almost a no-brainer. When the Coast Guard says that your "service" is redundant, it's a damn good chance that your service is redundant!

The Evil Empire strikes back

You didn't think that Dominguez and Van Til were going to sit back and let their fiefdoms be cut back did you?

Well, they're not:

The Lake County Council's Finance Committee is recommending job reductions and targeted layoffs in the sheriff's office, the courts and other agencies to cut public spending by $15 million because of state-mandated property tax reductions.

Sheriff Rogelio "Roy" Dominguez said Wednesday he doesn't know how the six committee members arrived at recommendations that, if implemented, would cut $3.5 million from his budget by cutting 45 positions, eliminating the sheriff's Lake Michigan marine patrol, reducing county police patrols and eliminating take-home cars for uniformed officers.

"The committee recommendations were made in secret meetings to which we the Sheriff's Department was not invited," he said. "We were never asked for our advice despites years of cutting and saving money. It is extremely important that public safety isn't jeopardized by political agendas."

County Surveyor George Van Til said some of the more sweeping recommendations are a serious effort that deserve careful study.

However, he said some recommendations that target one office but not another "are the political pages in the report." He said some members of the finance committee who authored the recommendations are protecting their own turfs at the expense of others.

He lays his complaint at the feet of three committee members: County Auditor Peggy Holinga Katona, County Treasurer John Petalas and Christine Cid, Lake County Council president and a chief deputy in the county clerk's office.

Are you surprised? I'm not. I would think that a comittee to study cuts would include all Councilmen, the treasurer, auditor, sheriff, clerk, surveyor, and any other elected official who heads a department that spends money!

This is why across the board cuts are so popular. Everybody takes a 10% haircut, and there's less politics that way.

HB 1001 comes to Crown Point...

Good news. Lake County is investigating laying off hundreds of useless public employees to get in compliance with the new tax cap law.

It couldn't happen to a nicer workforce.

The only downside is that the welfare rolls are going to swell. None of these people are qualified for honest work.

Gary teachers are the highest paid in Lake County...

...and Gary students are the lowest performing.

During the 2007-08 school year, the highest average teacher salary anywhere in Lake or Porter counties was Gary, at $56,100. Indiana's average teacher salary was $48,484.

For the same school year, the average age of a Gary teacher was 53, the oldest average age for a teacher in Lake and Porter counties.

A Times computer-assisted analysis of three years of salary data showed Gary increased its teacher salaries by 7.06 percent -- the highest jump in the region from the 2005-06 school year to the 2007-08 school year.

Of the 23 school districts in Lake and Porter counties, four showed a decline in the average teacher salary -- Portage, Valparaiso, Lake Central and Hobart. Nine of the school districts paid teachers above the state average during that time.

While Gary paid the highest average salary in the region, the ISTEP-Plus scores have been among the lowest in the region and state. In the 2007-08 school year, 46.6 percent of all students passed the English portion of the test compared with the state average of 72 percent. Forty-seven percent of all Gary students passed the math portion of ISTEP compared with the state average of 74.6 percent.

The is abslutely no relationship between student performance and teacher pay. Raising salaries does not increase student performance, as the teacher unions would lead you to believe. Gary is the test case.

Where do the Van Tils live?

3020 Lakeside Drive in Highland.

They're at parcel number 16-27-0377-0004, which the Lake County Assessor has at $265,900. The treasurer has them at $4400 a year in taxes, which does not reflect the 2% tax cap. I guess Highland is under the cap. Don't quite understand how that is so.

Zillow priced their house at $300,000. It looks like they bought it in 2005.

In light of all the trouble that neighbor Vern Seib is giving them, I wonder if they're happy with the move!

You know, Highland is a Republican town. Why don't Democrats like Van Til live in the communities that elect them, like Gary?

The Van Til's are at it again!

Damn, these people are STUPID!

Before we begin, let's remember the other scandals that Democrat Lake County Surveyor George Van Til and his wife Patti have been involved in:

1) George let his son drive his county truck to high school.
2) George got caught filling up his personal vehicle with county gas.
3) Patty, an employee of the Sheriff's Office, got caught taking home a county car when she shouldn't have.

These people obviously have a mental problem regarding the use of county property for their own use. But the latest scandal goes to new heights of silliness.

What did happen on June 3 is that two Army sergeants and a Highland police officer arrived at her sister's house, looking for [Patti]'s 17-year-old nephew, who allegedly was wanted by the Army.

The sister called PVT, who told the officer that she was "police commissioner Van Til" and that she was on her way over. Once there, she questioned the authenticity of the warrant and the presence of the town police officer at the house.

She also told the MPs she "ran (her nephew) in the system at the county today and he is not wanted."

But was anything wrong done?

"She'd be authorized to look to see if someone has a warrant," said Lake County Sheriff Rogelio "Roy" Dominguez. "She is deputized by me."

He said more than a month later, the Army has not contacted him about the situation.

The officers were allowed to search the house and did not find the youth, and the report said the nephew turned himself in a couple of hours later.

I've got no doubt that she was treated more politely than if she had been you or me, but she did not interfere with the search nor does the sheriff find anything amiss with her use of the warrant system.

Still, there is enough smoke here to warrant an investigation by a body independent of the police commission.

Arrogance. That is the definition of a Van Til.

First caualty of HB 1001?

The Hammond Transit System is the first casualty of the new property tax caps.

I say good riddance. They're essentially busses to nowhere. They only go on routes within Hammond. Gary and East Chicago have their own transit systems that don't connect.

I know that the high gas prices have everyone interested in mass transit, but the way it's done in Lake County is nothing more than makework for public employees. Just like every other government service in this county.

Perhaps one day the Regional Transportation Authority will be a real mass transit agency that runs actual busses from and to places that people actually want to go.

Democrat Attorney General Candidate is knee deep in East Chicago scandal

Guess who represented the company most profited from the East Chicago sidewalks for votes scandal?

When Democrat Linda Pence announced her candidacy for state attorney general last week, she said she would need to undertake an extensive review before committing to continuing the civil racketeering case against former East Chicago Mayor Robert Pastrick.

Pence, an Indianapolis attorney, didn't mention that she already is familiar with the other side of the corruption case. Federal court records show Pence represented Rieth-Riley, a paving company that paid $625,000 to settle claims it helped city officials conspire to divert more than $24 million in public money to a 1999 sidewalks-for-votes scheme.

The civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act lawsuit Republican Attorney General Steve Carter filed four years ago labels the city of East Chicago a corrupt enterprise and seeks to recoup the millions spent on the pre-election paving scheme.

"Frankly, that case is one of the highest priorities in the entire office," Greg Zoeller, the GOP candidate for attorney general, said Thursday.

Zoeller, Carter's chief deputy, has vowed to continue the fight against Lake County corruption. Zoeller won the GOP nomination over Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas, whose law firm, Burke Costanza & Cuppy, represented a pair of East Chicago officials who recently settled in the state RICO case.

"When I'm attorney general, I would review that file extensively," Pence said last week. "I am against public corruption. I would not focus on one county, which I think I've seen in the past."

Pence said she would be willing to entrust the East Chicago case to subordinates or outside counsel if her review identified a potential conflict of interest.

Although Rieth-Riley admitted no wrongdoing in its 2006 settlement, the state had accused the company of playing a central role in a scheme to help East Chicago officials legitimize the paving bonanza that preceded Pastrick's 1999 re-election. The original civil lawsuit said the company signed off on a phony contract after other contractors already had helped pour free driveways, patios and sidewalks for city voters.

In 2005, Pence filed a countersuit in the case, contending that Rieth-Riley's contract with the city contained a clause protecting the company from liability if any part of the pact was deemed "contrary to the law." A year later the company forged a settlement that included a pledge to cooperate with investigators.

"Of the $1.3 million recovered in the RICO case, Rieth-Riley paid a significant settlement of $625,000, which is the largest to date and represents twice the amount paid to outside counsel," Carter spokeswoman Staci Schneider said Thursday.

More than a dozen of the 27 former city officials and contractors originally named as defendants in civil suit have reached similar settlements.

I need to repeat one little quote:

Pence said last week. "I am against public corruption. I would not focus on one county, which I think I've seen in the past."

Can I repeat it again?

Pence said last week. "I am against public corruption. I would not focus on one county, which I think I've seen in the past."

What does that mean to you?

Goofiest Lake County Democrat Scandal yet...

The Times Editorial Board calls on Hammond's Democrat Mayor Tom McDermott to stop censoring its message boards, here.

Like I said before, this is the goofiest scandal ever.

Downtown Gary funny business

This is an interesting story that highlights a lot of Democrat insider politics in Gary.

1) Downtown Gary buildings are owned by a "non-profit organization". The organization has nothing to do with redevelopment, and is not a competant owner. The buildings are in severe disrepair, and the organization doesn't even have the money to pay the back taxes.

2) The president of that organization is none other than Democrat State Rep. Vernon Smith.

3) The buildings go up for tax sale, and are purchased by an East Chicago Democrat political operative with ties to Gary Mayor Rudy Clay. Clay claims that the City actually gave this guy the money to buy the properties at tax sale.

Like I said, this is an interesting story. The connections between the various Democrat factions in the County, as well as the petty rivalries, it amusing.

Political correctness out of control at Purdue

As told by the Wall Street Journal.

Keep in mind that this witch hunt was being waged by an "affirmative action officer" at the University.

Guess what Michelle Obama used to do before she started running for First Lady?

Sox on a roll

Is there any better feeling than sweeping a rival? Whether it be the detested Cubs, or the even more detestable Indians, this has been a great week for Sox fans.

Now if we can beat the everliving snot out of the A's (the only team with a better pitching staff than ours, and a team that has historically given us a hard time), this will be the best non-World Series week that I've ever experienced in my 9 years of being a die-hard Sox fan.

Is there anything better than an AJ Pierzynski walk off home run? If only the Indian's catcher punched him in the head as he crossed home. That would have been perfect.

Still an idiot.

I cross posted AGAIN!

I have a serious problem.

Mayor McCheeze of Hammond no longer supports a County Income Tax?

Yeah right.

I'll believe it when I see it.

Look, Democrats get most of their support from public employees. It is not in their interest to lay off their supporters.

Taxpayers? Who the hell are they to Tom McDermott? Screw 'em.

Went to a Gary Railcats game last night...

...with work.

Downtown Gary is like Sarajevo. Abandoned buildings all over the place. Not much in the way of commerce.

Other than the Railcats stadium, of course, which is beautiful.

Of course, there weren't many people there. If it can hold 5000 people, I bet there weren't more than 500 there.

So a downtown South Store Station, if it can get done, is welcome news. There has to be a reason for people to be down there for people to be down there. Transportation centered development is a trendy way to go.

Of course, downtown Gary would be more of an attraction if it wasn't separated from the Lake by the toll road, railroad, and US Steel.

I'm an idiot.

Posted something at my other blog meant for here.

Sorry!