In the past several months, it is obvious from construction taking place in Linton that new business ventures have begun to come to Linton. As your Mayor, I am proud to say that these are the first, but they certainly are not the last new businesses you will be seeing. The Mayor’s office, along with Linton’s Economic Development Committee, the Greene County Economic Development Corporation, and others, continue to build partnerships that will bring new investments to the community.
Linton is fast becoming a sought-after location for new businesses because we are educating ourselves in economic development and seeking out opportunities to bring good jobs to the citizens, while working to sustain and support existing businesses in our partnership with the Linton-Stockton Chamber of Commerce.
Much of the work that is being done cannot be done by one person. Shortly after taking office, in assessing the strengths, weaknesses, and areas of potential development, it became clear that very little economic development had been done in Linton, or Greene County, in the past. In order to assess what needed to be done, we began working with Southern Indiana Development (SIDC) to have a Housing Needs Assessment completed. That process defined our housing inventory and our need for revitalization of older homes. Next, we were trying to develop a sewer expansion plan, and to seek federal and state funding, but in order to apply for those funds, a Comprehensive Plan needed to be completed.
That is why I invited a group of pro-Linton citizens to take part in the first-ever Linton Economic Development Committee. In the past year, this Committee, along with all of the citizens who provided valuable input in both the Community Survey, and by attending Open Houses and the Public Hearing, we have all worked together to develop a plan to set a course for positive change for this community. Economic development is about more than just bringing jobs to Linton. It is about educating people, housing, and employment, and creating wealth by fostering entrepreneurship and relationships. Also important to note is that education and cooperation with local schools prepares students as potential employees for businesses that wish to relocate here.
As many of you know, I have announced that I will seek a second term as your Mayor. I have filed the appropriate paperwork to formalize that process. During my first term as Mayor, many projects have been completed. Projects in the park, including new restrooms, upgraded tennis courts, and the addition of the Linton Music Festival, have allowed citizens to take better advantage of the parks with their families. Major renovations to the Phil Harris Golf Course Club House, grounds improvements, and acquiring new amenities allows the City to utilize the facility for professional and economic development promotion.
During the 2003 campaign, the citizens told me that we need to address personnel issues by implementing a stringent drug testing policy. When we began looking into what it would take to put that process in place, we discovered that there had never been an employee handbook, or manual of rules for Linton employees. In order to begin drug testing, that project had to be completed. In the fall of 2005, after nearly a year of development, the City instituted the first-ever employee policy manual, complete with the drug testing policy that has been implemented.
In addition to the employee policies, the City had never been compliant with the HIPAA (Health Information Portability and Accountability Act) laws with regard to record keeping. Realizing this was a serious issue to the privacy rights of employees, I hired Valeri Houchin as our Human Resource Manager to handle proper, confidential organization of employee files, maintenance of the policies and procedures, and to administrate the drug testing policy so that drug screening information remained strictly confidential. Now, the City has implemented the correct procedures for assuring the privacy for every City employee.
One of the most challenging projects at the beginning of this administration was identifying and inventorying the City’s capital. As Mayor, it is my job to make sure that the City is spending its dollars wisely, and that we are getting value for the things we are paying for. When I began to review costs for things like employee health insurance, insurance on equipment, and how to reduce costs while making certain the quality of the service remained the same, it became clear very quickly that the City had been paying insurance on vehicles it no longer owned, vehicles that had been taken out of service, and there were newer vehicles that were never added to the policy coverage. Immediately I moved forward to rectify this situation, to have proper inventory of equipment, and to make certain that everything the City owns was covered.
One of the most visible and obvious accomplishments of this administration is the Linton Fire Station and the Linton Police Department. The Police Department building is completely paid for and is debt-free. In addition to new buildings, with the help of a dear friend to the City of Linton, then Township Trustee, Tom Wall, who we will always remember fondly for his support of this City, the City was able to purchase a new Brush Truck for the Fire Department.
As many of you are aware, some outdated equipment was retired, and after the tragic fire that destroyed the Petro Tire Company, Linton was in desperate need of an Aerial Ladder Truck that could extend the reach of fire hoses to three stories. While attending an IACT meeting in Fort Wayne, I mentioned that Linton would be applying for a FEMA grant to get a new ladder truck. In discussions with Doug Hedrick, the Mayor of the City of Greendale, he mentioned that he was going to send their ladder truck to Louisiana because they had just received money to buy a new ladder truck. During our conversation, I asked the Mayor if he would, instead, donate it to Linton. That donation saved the City $750,000.
In 2005, for the first time, the City of Linton recognized both the Police and the Fireman’s Unions. Recognizing the Unions gives those hard working men and women the dignity, honor, and respect they deserve for doing a very difficult job each and every day to protect the lives and well-being of citizens.
In addition to recognizing those individuals and departments, together we purchased a new community siren system for the alert and protection of our citizens during times of disaster and inclement weather. The system was deployed in early 2007, and the training will continue with residents in the coming year. In addition, we started the first-ever D.A.R.E. Program in the Linton-Stockton Elementary School, teaching fifth graders to make good choices in life so they can grow up productively. This administration will continue to upgrade public safety in the years to come.
In a cooperative effort between the City of Linton and Four Rivers Resources, for the first time in 30 years, a new residential community may be built in the City. On the south side of town, Independent Place Apartments will be constructed and will be an independent living community for Four Rivers’ consumers. This exciting investment in Linton will provide opportunities for housing for the Linton area.
When I took office, I soon realized that some of the City departments were in financial difficulty. Some were operating with limited funds or in the red. I realized that serious budgeting needed to be done to keep them from failing financially as well. The first financial order of business was to meet with the Linton City Treasurer, Jack Shelton, and Utility Supervisor, Brent Slover, to determine how we could leverage money to make more money and how to get those departments back into proper financial shape.
After reviewing all departments in the city, a ten-year capital plan was developed for all utilities. While not an easy decision, I was forced to raise the rates on Water consumption. In 2004, the Water department was financially strapped, and because rates had not been raised to meet with inflation, it was only going to be more in debt if the rates were not raised to meet the costs. I made the difficult decision to raise those rates, and now the Water department is able to meet its costs and has a positive balance.
In fact, every department is now operating efficiently, and that is with the purchase of new equipment, upgrading facilities, upgrading training, and skill levels, and the added benefit of the City-owned Miner Broadband service. The City is beginning to realize profits from that service and is attracting new potential investment because of it.
Other equipment the City has purchased includes a bucket truck for the electric department, sewage camera truck, service vehicles for the gas and water departments, five pickup trucks, back hoes, a skid steer, a pole-setter digger truck, a new trash truck, and a dump truck, Dura-patcher to patch city streets, along with some minor maintenance equipment. The City Barn got a new roof and workers have been making great efforts to clean up around the City Barn. This summer, we need to continue the cleanup process and give the building a good coat of paint to really make the property respectable.
One of the best additions to the events in Humphrey’s Park is the Music Festival and Chili and Coney Cookoff. In each of the last two years since this festival began, it has grown and drawn more people into Linton to enjoy the Labor Day Weekend. Professional music was offered on 4 stages last year and lasted the entire day. There was a giant inflatable play land for children, concessions, prizes, and excellent entertainment that was completely paid for with generous donations from corporations and local businesses.
The entire festival is free and open to the public and this past year, the park was packed. Because the aging and those with physical challenges want to participate but find it difficult to walk from the parking lot to the different stages, golf cart shuttle service to and from their cars was provided by Fred Markle and the Linton Park Board. This allows everyone in the community to enjoy these events, and we will continue to offer these kinds of age-friendly services for events in the future. And it is nearly impossible to name all of the people who have donated their time and efforts to decorating the park during the holidays and festivals. To everyone who has taken their time to make a difference for us all, I thank you.
When it comes to improving transportation and roads in Linton, we have moved forward. The 4th Street project was underfunded by 1.1 million dollars. I worked with INDOT to make certain the project would be funded and completed and that there was enough funding to complete the project without a work stoppage. Our next major road project will be the 5th Street project, which will be similar to the 4th Street project.
As many of you also know, the INDOT has plans to widen Highway 54. Their original plan did not include addressing, fixing, or paying for drainage issues and infrastructure improvements all along the highway. When I received the plans for that project, I realized that they had not planned to pay for those drainage ditches to be properly covered while still allowing proper drainage. I went to Vincennes and met with INDOT representatives and now a hydrology study is being done to make certain properties along the highway are protected from storm water drainage issues.
And have you noticed that Humphrey’s Park has not flooded during the last few storms. That’s because we have worked on the problem from Park Road, where we lowered the levels of the lakes in the Conservation Club to attempt to collect storm water runoff. Now, the storm water capacity at the park is not maxed out and the water can be collected in another location, saving the park and park facilities from further damage. Although the park is no longer flooding during minor rain events, it is still located in the 100-year flood plain, so we are hopeful that we have limited potential flooding.
Many people are not aware of the professional obligations of the Office of Mayor. In a very short time after the election, I was appointed to numerous Boards of Directors, to serve as liaison to various State government agencies, and was asked to sit on Lt. Governor Becky Skillman’s Rural Affairs Telecommunications Task Force.
An important aspect of being the Mayor is creating relationships in Indianapolis that will further the needs of the community. Currently I serve as the Chairman of Utilities and Telecommunications Committee for Indiana Association of Cities and Towns (IACT); I am on the Executive Board of Directors and serve as a member of the Legislative Committee for IACT; on the Boards of Directors of Southern Indiana Rural Development (SIDC); Greene County Economic Development Corporation (GCEDC); the Solid Waste Management Board; and, the Community Corrections Board. Each of these organizations requires attendance at meetings several days each month, and has afforded me the opportunity to network with the decision makers at the local, state, and federal levels so that I can be better prepared to deal with pending legislation that affects cities and towns, and financial issues that affect how we manage our services.
In 2004, I appointed Linton Utility Supervisor, Brent Slover, to serve as Commissioner of the Board of Directors for Indiana Municipal Power Agency (IMPA). His high level involvement with IMPA has provided many opportunities for Linton that would not have been possible without his dedication and participation in that organization.
As far as Linton’s laws are concerned, the ordinances had not been organized or codified since the early 1983. This presented a major problem with court enforcement of our ordinances because, although our Police and Fire Departments could site people for violations, and fine them, or carry out whatever the punishment was for wrongdoing, without having the laws codified, the Greene County Superior Court could not effectively administer those punishments or deal with appeals until we updated the laws and invested in a legal publishing company to create the Linton City Code. That process has been underway for eight months and will be completed before summer.
In addition to codifying our laws, we have created forward-thinking ordinances to deal with issues that citizens addressed in the Community Survey that was completed as part of the Comprehensive Plan process. Blighted properties was a hot button topic and in response to that, I asked the City Council to adopt a Blighted Property Ordinance, and they did. Once the codification process is complete, that law will begin to be enforced and our laws will finally have the teeth they need to be effective. In addition to the blighted property ordinance, we also created a Weed and Rank Vegetation Ordinance to address concerns of property owners who were causing health hazards to themselves, their neighbors, children, and animals by not keeping their yards mowed once each month from April through October.
Because so many citizens asked the City to do something about the appalling condition of so many mobile homes that appeared not to be safe, healthy, or fit for human habitation, we created the mobile home ordinance, requiring mobile home owners to have proper underpinning, proper utility hookups, safe staircases with railings, and a host of other requirements to keep adults, children, and animals out of harm’s way. The new permit process has been working very well, and has allowed the City to do its best to make sure that only safe, newer mobile homes are brought into the City, and that once they are in place, all of the safety requirement are met to keep children from the harms of getting underneath exposed mobile homes. There’s more work to be done on this issue.
An important part of being Mayor is being able to delegate and accept help. I am good at delegating, but I am not so good at asking for help or accepting it. This job has humbled me and has been a great teacher in when to say I cannot do it all myself. The thing I am most proud of is that so many people, when I asked and even when I have not asked or before I could ask, have volunteered their time on behalf of making Linton a better place to live and work. This incredible civic pride and volunteerism are inspiring and I cannot think of anything that I am prouder of than that the citizens of Linton, and those who care about Linton, have given so much of themselves, their time, their resources, and their dedication to the vision of a brighter future for our children. I am proud of the people here and I am proud of Linton Stockton students who have stepped up and gotten involved in numerous activities. People all over the City are taking pride in their properties, cleaning up debris, keeping their yards cared for and taking time to stop and enjoy all of the new park facilities and festivals. Everyone is looking to a bright future for Linton.
In the coming months, I will be detailing what my goals are for this administration should I be reelected. It would be an honor to serve again as your Mayor and I promise to move forward with economic development and support for our existing businesses with the incredible help and cooperation of the Linton Stockton Chamber of Commerce, whose dedication and hard work for its members and our continued cooperative efforts to improve the opportunities for local businesses in Linton will continue to grow. With supporting local businesses in mind, I want to facilitate local businesses doing more with Crane Naval Base.
There has been much talk about brain drain and youth retention. Those two terms simply mean, we in Indiana need to stop the process of our educated kids leaving the state after college for good career opportunities. We need to be better at giving them good jobs to stay for and a reason to move home to work and raise a family. This administration will continue to work with and through others on a regional basis to attract business and industry to the area to provide employment opportunities to everyone.
One of the goals for the coming year and beyond include: working with Mayors, IACT, and the Indiana Legislature to correct the unfair property taxation structure that has caused property tax rates to increase because the legislature did not consider the ramifications of repealing the inventory tax for Indiana property owners. It has to be corrected and I will continue to lobby for sensible change in the tax laws that will lower your property taxes. The other thing we are doing to lower your taxes is to bring new businesses to Linton. Each time a new business comes, your assessed valuation goes up, however, your taxes will go down over time with each new business that comes. This is vital to lowering your property taxes because the legislature really caused a major spike in those assessments.
Other goals: We have entered into a process called “engAGE." With the help of Generations, we are completing plans that will help the City support the needs of the aging. These plans will also help us attract and retain those who would like to retire productively in our community. Those four key elements are transportation, living independently, parks and recreation, and other services that provide support to an aging population, including enhanced facilities and services.
We will continue to upgrade services to improve the City’s ISO (insurance) rating so that your homeowner’s insurance rates go down; adding fiber optic service in Linton; supporting and sustaining local businesses by facilitating opportunities to supply goods and services to Crane; encourage, lift up, and foster new opportunities for entrepreneurship; address the sewer and storm water drainage issues and complete those projects; work with INDOT to complete the Highway 54 widening project and the 5th Street Project; create a meaningful website for Linton; develop a plan to attract tourism dollars to the downtown business district; be proactive in the planning for the impact of I-69 on Linton; work to strictly enforce the Linton City Code; address matters that have not been able to be addressed, like severely blighted properties because the codification was not complete; actively pursue opportunities for wealth creation for citizens; seek out those who wish to voluntarily be annexed and complete that process; develop adequate subdivision regulations so that new housing developments will be properly developed, the streets will be laid with good foundation, good drainage plans, and utility lines will be installed safely so that City financial resources will not be expended to constantly have to deal with developments that were poorly planned; encourage additional housing development as the Housing Needs Assessment mandated; and continue to listen and address the concerns of the citizens of Linton so that our City can continue to grow and prosper.
I would like to thank you for supporting us in our continued endeavors to make Linton a better place to live, work, and raise a family, supporting us through the good times and the difficult times. I would also like to ask you for your continued support in the upcoming elections. I appreciate all of you who have stepped forward to help in our progress. I encourage those of you who would like to be involved in our endeavors to move Linton forward to contact me at either at home or at work. Thank you for caring about Linton and working each day to make the Linton motto, “You’ll Like Linton” a reality, as I believed four years ago. I continue to believe today, together we can achieve our goals.
----Mayor Tom Jones
Paid for by the committee to elect Tom Jones Mayor