Halle-damn-lujah (that's an example of an infix, as opposed to a prefix or a suffix, for all you budding grammarians) -- we do have some honest-to-goodness small-government officeholders in Allen County. County Commissioners are hot to enter into joint ownership with the city of the City-County Building and the yet-to-be-purchased and -renovated Renaissance Square. But members of County Council, who have to actually approve spending the money, are balking:
“I don't want to provide any room for the growth of government,” Councilman Paul Moss said . . . “I want to see government shrink, not grow,” agreed Darren Vogt.
[. . .]
. . . Councilwoman Paula Hughes said the loss of city rent and the need to fill space could pose a “lose-lose” proposition for the county even if the city benefits.
Councilman Larry Brown, meanwhile, questioned whether the Kidder Building on Lima Road is really as dilapidated as it has been portrayed, in light of a recent News-Sentinel story about a proposal that it could be renovated for use by the adjacent Byron Health Center. The Sheriff's Department currently occupies the Kidder Building, and its condition has been used to justify the need for a new location.
[. . .]
"You're hearing our frustration because we're hearing from taxpayers, who are frustrated,” Brown said.
I wonder, would it be possible for some County Council members to sit in on City Council meetings for awhile? I don't mean as voting members, but just as mentors, only until city politicians come to understand, as their county counterparts seem to, that it is not their money they are playing with. About a decade should do it.
