County 35: Shelby

The Indiana Main Street program has been helping communities revitalize their downtowns for nearly 30 years. This program has brought billions of dollars of investment, thousands of new jobs and countless rehabilitation, construction and housing projects to communities across the state.

Shelbyville has one of our strongest Main Street programs, and I saw their success firsthand when I visited the Sugar Coated Cakery last week. Shelbyville has received the National Main Street Center’s National Accreditation, the highest designation a Main Street organization can receive. Motivated local leaders have pursued every opportunity to make the greatest, positive impact on Shelbyville. Their work has won competitive grants to fund critical downtown revitalization, including façade improvements and marketing promotions.

Last year, their work to renovate and rebuild their downtown area brought 9 new businesses and 61 new jobs. Other businesses have relocated and expanded downtown; reinvigorating the area to be the hub for business and community it was meant to be. They are benefiting from the wide variety of events Main Street Shelbyville helps put on every year, including an outstanding farmer’s market.

Shelbyville is leading by example, and I hope we will see many more communities follow in their footsteps. Whether that means reinvigorating a stagnant Main Street program or organizing to qualify for the program for the first time, communities have nothing to loose and a vibrant downtown to gain.

County 34: Boone

The Hoosier Crossroads Tour came to Boone County last week, after nearly eight months of traveling the state, but I have been talking about the good things happening there since the very beginning of my Tour.

A month ago, I released my preliminary findings from the meetings I’ve had with local elected officials. Those meetings always include a frank discussion of how we can move forward on local government efficienies, and it’s impossible to have that conversation without turning to Boone County and specifically to Zionsville.

The Town of Zionsville and two townships were the state’s first local government consolidation, and it was completely voluntary. Local leaders succeeded in consolidating services, eliminating a layer of government and preserving the best possible services for urban and rural areas alike. Although some issues remain, Zionsville’s action is proof that any Hoosier community can take action to make government more efficient and effective. It makes sense that local elected officials statewide are always eager to hear more about Zionsville’s leadership.

I enjoyed witnessing the proactive movement of officials from Advance, Jamestown, Whitestown, Lebanon, Zionsville, and Boone County government.

County 33: Hendricks

Visiting the elected officials in Hendricks County reminded me of the importance of a seemingly simple, yet often overlooked aspect of governing: long-term planning.

Each time I’ve met with local officials in their counties, I close our meetings by asking about best practices that they use that could be replicated across the state. The Hendricks County folks insisted that their focus on long-term project planning and fiscal planning have set them on a course of success not just now, but for years to come.
 

This type of forward thinking is something that I’ve supported for years. It was one of the driving forces behind the Stellar Communities program I launched last year. Stellar Communities is a collaboration between several state agencies to fund a comprehensive plan for a given city or town. Two communities – North Vernon and Greencastle – won the funding last year and we have a list of applicants for this year’s round as well.
 

What Stellar has done is force interested communities to think big and make a plan for long-term needs in roads, housing, and quality of life. Even those communities that applied but missed out on the funding in 2011 told us the exercise of planning ahead has been a positive experience for them.
 

It appears as though the towns in Hendricks County agree. And as the county continues to grow in population, I hope their vision serves them well.

County 32: Bartholomew

I have visited Columbus many times as Lt. Governor, and every trip proves the progress they are making.　 I see new businesses growing, new buildings going up, and new life in the downtown area.　 Bartholomew County is second in the state for job growth, and it shows.　 As Lt. Governor I have made jobs announcements with companies like Cummins and so many others bringing high-paying jobs and much-needed investments.

Lt. Gov. Skillman presents the 2010
Hoosier Rising Star to Elizabeth Price.

But something I haven’t talked about much on this blog also makes Bartholomew County stand out: its people. I have had the pleasure of recognizing Bartholomew County residents for nearly every award and recognition I offer in my office.　 I selected Columbus natives Katie Logan (2008) and Elizabeth Price (2010) with the Rising Star Award, recognizing young people for their outstanding efforts to make a difference in their community.　

 

Another Bartholomew County native, Barb Garton, was honored with a Golden Hoosier Award.　 Barb was an easy choice for the Golden Hoosier.　 Her example of volunteerism and leadership is one I hope we can all follow.

In 2007, I proudly displayed the artwork of Christine Newland in my office.　 Her painting was a winner in my annual Celebration of Hoosier Women Artists competition.　 The 2012 competition is going on now, and　 I’m looking forward to selecting this year’s winners. (link to application)

I was also proud to recognize Shorty Whittington, a giant in the energy and agriculture industries, with one of the first AgriVision Awards.　 He was selected for his leadership in Indiana agriculture, helping make our industry one of the best in the world.　　

Bartholomew County Hoosiers are born leaders.　 I’m proud of the work they are doing to improve their cities and towns, whether that means bringing in new business opportunities or reaching out and being a good neighbor in their communities.　

County 31: Morgan

I brought my Hoosier Crossroads Tour to Morgan County this week. Waverly welcomed me with typical Hoosier hospitality, and after sitting down and hearing from local officials, I was able to get out and see the work they’re doing to rebuild their community.

Only a handful of counties were not named federal disaster areas after the June 2008 floods. It was a difficult time for Hoosiers, but thanks to a special Community Development Block Grant designated for disaster recovery, many communities have been able to regain lost ground. Waverly is one of those communities.

Lt. Gov. Skillman tours area of Waverly damaged in 2008 floods.

Waverly has taken great strides, buying properties damaged by flooding, and moving toward the ultimate goal of creating a living history park, complete with a picture-perfect turn-of-the-century church and an old blacksmith shop. But local leaders are doing far more than rebuilding and restoring. They are leveraging grant dollars, administered through our Office of Community and Rural Development, to train fire fighters and members of Marion and Morgan County SWAT teams.

With so many structures slated for demolition, Waverly has become the perfect training ground for the National Fire Fighters Association. For the past two years, fire fighters from Indiana and across the country have been coming to Morgan County for critical training they can use to instruct colleagues back home. More than 800 fire fighters have been trained each year at the NFFA annual conference, and in 2012, they will add to that number. The county’s use of in-house labor for demolition and training purposes is now being called a best practice by FEMA.

Waverly has a vision for the future. I was impressed with the outstanding way this small community has taken a disaster and used it to their advantage, even spurring the local economy. I hope their example will inspire others to think strategically about what they can achieve and how they can get the most out of the resources available to them.

County 30: Johnson

Some of my lowest days as lieutenant governor were in the summer of 2008, when much of Indiana was rocked by severe flooding. I spent days traveling the state to view the damage and thank volunteers who came out to help their neighbors. That year, disasters were declared in 82 of our 92 counties.

Hoosier in the town of Princes Lakes greet the
Lt. Governor as she tours the new dam project.

But as is typical with this administration, we sprung into action, securing millions in disaster relief funding that our state agencies have distributed to help with recovery.

I visited one such project on my stop in Johnson County on January 6. There, in the town of Princes Lakes, I viewed progress on the East Lake Dam. The East Lake Dam is a $1.75 million project that was part of our state’s $25 million investment to for dams and levees that failed during the 2008 storms.

Dams and levees aren’t projects we have to think a lot about in many parts of Indiana, but the importance cannot be overlooked. Complete failure of the East Lake Dam could have caused any number of problems, from bridges being wiped out leaving homeowners stranded, to flooded lift stations releasing sewage into receiving streams. The compromised dam at East Lake had also contributed to a 30% drop in home values in the area.

By steering federal disaster relief funds toward this and other similar projects, we are creating economic activity, and preserving parts of Indiana for decades to come.

Lt. Governor Becky Skillman’s Report on the State of Local Government

Letter from the Lt. Governor to Indiana legislators. 

Dear colleagues:

In July, I announced that I was embarking on a 92-county tour of Indiana that we called the Hoosier Crossroads Tour. As part of this tour, I decided to do something that – as best we could tell – had never been done by a state executive.   I planned to sit down with local elected leaders in as many counties as possible for a frank discussion about the state of local government in Indiana.

During the late summer and fall of 2011, I held these meetings in 27 counties.  In each county, I took the opportunity to meet with local elected officials in a roundtable brainstorming session to discuss running the business of the city, town, or county.  The meetings have been open, honest, and a frank assessment of local governments’ successes and challenges.  The following pages contain the results of these discussions and my recommendations, but first a few things to note.

This report is not intended to replace any work done before, including the Kernan-Shepard Report.  My work was different due to the face-to-face discussions with local officials.  However, the Kernan-Shepard Report recommendations were discussed during the meetings.  We also talked about other topics, such as ways state government can eliminate red tape and the locals’ best practices that can be replicated throughout the state.

This document is not intended as an endorsement of everything mentioned by local officials.   As a former county official, (decades ago) I agreed with some of the responses reported here and also disagreed with some, and some are not feasible.  My recommendations appear on the next page.

Finally, I’d like to thank those who participated in the discussion. With rare exception, Hoosiers are electing thoughtful and caring men and women to local office. 

I enjoyed facilitating a conversation about providing services to our mutual constituents.  In 2012, I will visit the remaining 65 counties. I hope this type of communication between state and local government continues well into the future.

Read the entire report.