Letters to the Editor

TheCometwelcomes letters totheeditor responding toarticlesandeventsinthenews.Theymust includethe author'sname,addressandtelephonenumber.Theletter writer's name and city/town will appear in the paper - no exceptions. Letters must be 400 words or less in length.Please send your letters to:editor@carrollcountycomet. com; Letters to theEditor,Comet,P.O.Box 26, Flora, IN 46929 or P.O. Box 179, Delphi, IN 46923; or fax574-967-3384or765-564-2010.By submittingaletter or opinion article, the author grants the Comet the right topublish,distribute,archiveorusetheworkinprint, electronic, on-line or other format.

Critical of leaders

Being a person who lives in this county, I am aware of all of the politics that go on. Some we cannot avoid, however when we have government agencies that fail to do what they need to do, everyone suffers.

What I am referring to is set forth by the Federal government - four simple letters that we hate to hear, NIMS (National Incident Management System). Most of you have no idea what I am talking about and quite frankly, it does not pertain to you. It will, however, affect us all.

When we have fire departments that are not compliant, no one can receive grant money. When we have elected officials (trustees) that are not compliant, no one can receive grant money. Bottom line, when an organization (fire, police, EMS, EMA, highway department, public works, on and on), applies for a grant, we will not get the money.

We all need to pick up the pace if we want better things for our county. Complacency is why we are in the RED. Cutting budgets is not always the answer... prepare for the future, plan for the future, not the moment!

We all have a duty to our communities and to ourselves. If we feel thatwe are the leaders of this county, it is time thatwe start acting like it.

Rob Gaylor

Burlington

The other story

I presentlywork for theCarroll County Historical Museum in Delphi - that is - until Jan. 1 when my job ends. The county council decided that they will no longer fund the salaries of the two peoplewhowork in themuseum.

I love my job at the museum, helping people look for their family heritage and giving tours. I am busy all day long, I do not take breaks and I don't play games on the computer. Sometimes I am surprised that the day has gone by so quickly. I have met so many people from all over the county, theUnited States, and some countries. Everyday there is something new.

On Sept. 18, three council members came into the museum and told us that therewould be no funding for the coming year and that they had set our budget at $0.

The council stated thatwe did not contribute anything to the county, and they were only supporting things that were a service to the county.Wewere blindsided. Our budget with the county is about $55,000. We did not realize that the funding for the museum was in jeopardy. The council had already made up their minds about the funding, so there was nothing we could do to change their minds and attitudes toward us. If we had known we were going to lose our funding, we could have had a lot more public support ready, but thiswas all a big secret until it was too late. The council did find themoney to give all department heads a $500 increase in salary.

The council is under the impression that the Historical Society has vast amounts ofmoney in our possession and ready funding available. We do NOT. We have people who come in and use our genealogy library or tour themuseum, who leave $1 or $5, which does not constitute being able to run on our own. We have grants that have been earmarked for special projects and are audited for the use that they were intended. We cannot use the money for salaries or day-to-day expenses of running a museum. We have a tremendous amount of artifacts and valuable papers that the people of Carroll County have left in our care, and we have to be cautious aboutwhowe allowtowork in themuseum. Running themuseumby volunteerswould be like running the librarywith only volunteers. To be effective, we cannot be a volunteer based organization. If we run the museum on a volunteer basis (as the council wants us) the museum will not be readily available to schools, genealogists, who are looking up their family roots, or people who want to contribute items or money to the museum.

I left a good job for this position, and Iwas looking forward to being here for several years. I will have to start looking for a new position, taking time off of work for interviews, while trying to work full-time.

If my salary saved the county this year,whose job arewe going to sacrifice for next year's budget?

Joyce Sturdivant

Camden

Thinks justice was not served

Becky Lohmiller is now under house arrest. Shemay not be able to get a job so shemay not be able to pay back the money to the county. And if she doesn't, she goes to jail. Because she was in the witness protection program, the deck was stacked against her.

If the jurors had known she was in the program, they might not have convicted her. Because of that, she did not receive a fair shake.

I think the county is trying to get enough money out of her to try to pull themselves out of the financial mess they are in. This just isn't right.

Linda Vass

Rockfield

40 - Griffey letter to editor

My two new heroes

Attending the meeting of the CarrollCountyCouncil lastTuesday morning, I got two new heroes. The first was sheriff Tony Burns, who told the council that they should consider cutting their own benefits package before cutting more positions.

Actually, Tony was also a hero in my mind because he had agreed to turn over his food money to the county. This was a great sacrifice by Tony.We need more dedicated elected officials like him.

My second new hero is Pete Jackson, who has resided in CarrollCounty for over 80 years, and who has been a very successful businessman. Pete said hewanted to comment, and was told by the council that only department heads could speak, to which he replied, "I ama taxpayer" and that he had the right to speak. Thus he told the council his opinion.

Oh, the beauty of it, a taxpayer who demands he be heard.

Michael G. Griffey

Delphi

Council puts price on life

The Carroll County Council recently approved the 2008 budget and cut the contract of emergency care to Rossville Volunteer Ambulance Service (RVAS). RVAS has served the southwest part of Carroll County for more than 30 years.

In an effort to save a few dollars in the budget, the Carroll County EMS will now be providing emergency care from Delphi or Flora, nearly 10 more miles away than RVAS headquarters. Most of this area is within seven miles and a response time of 10 minutes of RVAS headquarters.

In a life-threatening situation every second counts! The difference in a few minutes can mean the difference between life and death. I would hate to think for $8,700 per year of savings, the life of someone's child, mother, father or loved one could have been saved!

Rod Miller

Rossville