It's time to step up

It is past time for the Carroll County Commissioners to accept and act on all of their duties as county leaders.

According to "Here is Your Indiana Government" published by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, the first responsibility listed for commissioners is: "controlling, maintaining and supervising county property; including the courthouse, the county home, hospitals, library, jail and the equipment and facilities thereto."

Carroll County owns buildings such as the courthouse, the EMS garages in Delphi and Flora, Carroll Manor, a highway garage and the JAIL.

The Carroll County Courthouse is a thing of beauty. It is adorned with a several thousand dollar flagpole provided for out of economic development income tax money. The money in that fund is controlled by the commissioners.

Carroll Manor is soon to undergo a renovation project that includes bricking that cost the commissioners an extra $52,000 from their EDIT budget. The money was available at the end of the year from an expense planned for but was never fully appropriated. The decision to use that money for that purpose was noble.

County highway recently purchased/financed new trucks with money appropriated, in part, from the commissioners' budget.

The courthouse and Carroll Manor have custodians to keep them looking spiffy and be showcase buildings of which to be proud.

The commissioners have been generous to a fault with their unfailing demonstration to help this county support a look of respectability in many instances.

But then there is the JAIL. It has no custodians. It has no maintenance person.

Even when commissioners heard about the need for new furnaces or an electrical upgrade, no definite action was taken to address the issues. Or when they heard about computer servers operating in a space that does not allow for air to circulate, resulting in machines that overheat and wear out sooner than normal, no action was taken.

Overall, very little (certainly not enough) money has been spent on that facility.

There is mold on the ceiling tile in the sheriff's office. There is a vent in the deputies' office, which is one very small room for 12 of them, laden with a stalactite of accumulated dirt and grease that waves in the breeze when the fan is running.

Can the commissioners expect the deputies to perform as professionals when their environment is that which most county residents would be aghast?

It is time for the commissioners to remember they are in charge of more than just one or two buildings in the county and act appropriately. They need to offer unwavering support, especially financial, to the new sheriff who is working diligently to correct issues as presented to him, but are not of his doing.

The commissioners should visit the JAIL and talk with the sheriff to get a sense of what a drastic, and sometimes preventable, situation exists in that building for which they are responsible.

It is not good enough to say they expect others to provide recommendations to them so decisions can be made about what to do. Their duties are clear and very well-defined. There is no need to hire a firm to provide a study about this level of need at the jail. All they have to do is go, look (both up and down) and act.

Here's a question for them to answer when they make that visit...would any of them want their son or daughter or wife or mother or father to work in that facility in any capacity? If the answer is no, it is time for action.