EDITORIAL by John Estridge
The new town hall the citizens of Brookville are going to get come hell or high water, and we have had a bunch of high water lately, and regardless whether anyone, much less a majority of town taxpayers want it, was briefly discussed at the Brookville Town Council July 13 meeting.
I say discussed, but really it has never been discussed and Tuesday night’s meeting was no exception.
As a reporter, I attempted to get a discussion going by sending a question to council members by email. I am at a disadvantage as I have to work for a living, and my job does not allow me to attend a complete town council meeting. If I would come after my work day is over and that is without eating supper, I would miss more than an hour of the meeting, and as a reporter, that would put me at a decided disadvantage. Also, I am not afraid of anyone in government anywhere, but I really do not want to watch other people I know be treated rudely. And I really don’t want to be treated rudely either. And at least two and maybe three council members treat people rudely as often as they breathe air.
Thus, I use the video on the town’s Facebook page to cover the meeting.
That is problematic now since the audio for the meeting has deteriorated to such an extent hardly a word can be heard with the video. BTC President Curtis Ward was really compassionate when he was informed none of the public watching on Facebook could hear the meeting. He noted the many empty seats at the Brookville Public Library meeting room and went on with the meeting seemingly upset with the interruption and not upset with the fact taxpayers could not hear what was going on with their money.
Let’s take a moment here. His action at that point is very ironic. At the meeting, sitting in one of those chairs was Bridget Hayes, who is a reporter for the Observer. When Brookville Town Administrator Tim Ripperger told council members nobody watching the video could hear, Hayes commented.
“No one can hear anything,” Hayes said. “I just stopped complaining. That’s why you guys don’t use the microphones anymore. The microphones were great when they worked. There was just a little feedback problem. I can’t imagine anyone watching on there and hearing anything.”
It was as if Ward also could not hear Hayes. More likely, he treated Hayes the way he treats everyone else: He did not care what she said.
“They’re welcome to attend,” Ward said ignoring Hayes, who was sitting right there in front of him, saying she has trouble hearing. “So if they have trouble hearing, they can attend. We have ample seating. They’re free to join us.”
Hayes is a Brookville resident and a taxpayer.
Also, apparently, Ward does not realize everyone does not have the time or the ability to come to every town council meeting in person. And/or he does not care. With his actions before this meeting and during this meeting, I would believe Ward just does not care about any of his constituents.
As the new town hall project clearly shows, Ward could care less about the Brookville taxpayers he is supposed to represent. And he cares even less about what the taxpayers from the town would like done with their tax money. Ward has shown from the first he knows what is best for the populace, and it is best that we become sheeple and get out of his way. After the fact, when our pockets are emptier, we should grin and thank him for whatever has happened to us because of whatever he had decided to do to us.
To go back to the iconic movie Animal House “Thank you sir. May I have another?”
This was my question: “Forgive me for having you (clerk treasurer Gina Gillman) forward this question to the town council. My work schedule does not allow me to be at the council meetings in person. What is the status of the new town hall?”
Because I cannot hear anything on the Facebook video of the July 13 meeting, I asked to hear the recorded version taken in person at the meeting. It did help, but it is hard to hear each individual word, especially with Ward and council member Brooke Leffingwell as they talk very fast and the audio, even for the tape recorder at the meeting, is poor at times. There is a back static. Gillman and town administrator Tim Ripperger are heard very well. And Brookville Police Chief Terry Mitchum talks slower, and his voice tends to carry. Other than Ward, Leffingwell and the other council members were apparently talking without microphones.
But here goes about our new town hall.
Ward: “Right now we are still in the construction estimation phase. There is nothing else to discuss right now.”
Not mentioned is when, where, why or what. But it apparently is still on a need-to-know basis and we, the taxpayers, have no need to know.
Hayes tried to get clarification from Ward.
Ward, however, did not clarify his earlier remarks or any other remarks that has been made on this subject.
“Construction estimate has been large delay there was a time lapse Greg (?) was getting the architecture done inside and so it was slower … we would hope to have this done sooner. Sooner than later. I would not be comfortable giving a timeline.”
To me, he seemed uncomfortable just saying that and was not ready to answer Bridget’s or my questions. We really should not have been so bold as to ask him anything tax-related.
But let’s get into conjecture here because Ward refuses to give any facts.
Franklin County Commissioners, who Ward really talked bad about in a different part of the meeting, are in negotiations with the Indiana Department of Transportation concerning taking over INDOT’s property near the intersection of Ninth and Mill streets in Brookville. INDOT has a new facility on Indiana 101 north of Brookville.
Franklin County apparently does not want the entire property located at Ninth and Mill. That property would make sense for the town because a town hall there would be at the epicenter of town activity. The pool is across an alley directly east of the property in question. The Schilling Center and the Brookville Town Park are north across Ninth Street from the property in question.
But there is another property that could apparently work for the town and remains a hot rumor in the void of facts and that is the former Zimmer Tractor property. Now it is not close to anything, probably harder for the public to reach, and I would not think it would be so hot on the market that the town would have to enter secret negotiations with the present owner or risk losing access to it.
That was the original reason the town had to move at the speed of light on the project because the present owner was going to give the town the first chance or that owner was going to put it on the market for everyone, and Ward publically estimated when the property went on the market for everyone, it would be gobbled up.
Real estate has never been my forte, and Ward owns a real estate agency, but I cannot imagine those extensive buildings and large property would be swooped up overnight as there are many empty buildings and vacant properties in town.
But that is just me, and I am just a taxpayer in the town I have lived in for more than 30 years. For Ward, people like me and you are insignificant.
And for you folks living on Snob Hill and those who want to live on the future Snob Hill’s Snob Hill, Million Dollar Hill, once the forced – I mean voluntary — annexation occurs, you too can be treated as indentured servants as we huddled masses here in the present town are treated now.
Also, you can look forward to as many code blitzes as our police chief wants to unleash upon you and your private, because there is nothing you can do about it. Enjoy your freedom while you have it.
This is not the first town board that likes to operate in secret. Unfortunately, it will not likely be the last. Gone are the days when a member floated an idea, gained a consensus from the board and then built support from the public for the proposal. If the public is disinterested, that is unfortunate. If the public is uninformed, that is sinister. If all these ideas of Ward’s are so great, it should be an easy sell. If they are so poor they must be kept secret, suspicion is inevitable.
https://www.remax.com/real-estate-agents/dennis-kolb-brookville-in/100081480
This is totally ridiculous and unprofessional! Now more than ever before people need to stand up for what is right. Nothing is accomplished unless you step outside your comfort zone. I grew up in Franklin County and for as long as I can remember, there are a few that ran the entire town. And they still do today. Now it appears Ward intends to settle himself in with the big boys. People whisper about it behind the backs of these community ‘pillars’ and won’t stand up to them. Why not? Because they’re afraid- afraid their kids will be sitting the bench in sports, afraid their businesses will be black balled, afraid they will lose their jobs because these people think they have to have the control. Yes folks – these are the underhanded things these self important people pull to try to shut you up. Now with Ward at the helm of BTC, his air of self importance knows no boundaries. He surrounds himself with “yes” people and to heck with the rest. And to heck with the taxpayers as well. More people than ever before are stepping up snd saying ENOUGH! And it’s about time. John, once again you are spot on! Yes, interestingly enough, the BTC continues to hide things from the public. Did you know that they haven’t received one single invoice from the attorneys or engineers working on the annexation for over a year now? Did you know the feasibility study has been ordered, is probably complete and has just been forgotten? (Or maybe Curtis Ward’s memory is failing when he says no update, no update, no update). But hide and watch – one day soon, it will come out all at one time. This will prove once again what you are saying in your article: they are sneaking around behind the backs of the taxpayers. If you have that much to hide, well you know…
I could not find information to confirm this…but aren’t all the members of the Brookiville Town Council Republicans?? What they are doing, regardless of political affiliation, is pretty much what Republicans in the Trump era are doing, its also pretty much what goes on in big city government all over the country. The good people of Brookville will have to kick them all to the curve when they come up for re-election and vote in council members who remember who they work for.