Councilman Still Learning in Month 4

Welcome to the Timesheet. This column is a report of work done on behalf of the people of Hamilton County. It’s to be informative too, a place to learn about projects and how our county government works.

As your employee, it’s important to me that you know what is being worked on as transparently as possible in government. You hired me as your County Councilman, and my hope is that you’ll choose to be informed by regularly reading this column, getting involved and by asking questions. Council meetings are at 7 p.m. the first Wednesday of every month at the judicial center in downtown Noblesville. They are also available to watch online for those unable to attend in person. Here is where my time this past month has been spent.

Month four is complete. The learning continues, as does relationship building with department heads and leaders throughout county government. I made my first procedural mistake too. I continue to ask questions about how we operate and why we do things the way we do them. When we spend taxpayer dollars, how can we spend them in the best way? Month four included more “doughnut diplomacy” with community corrections and the sheriff staffs. Sweet treats are a collective thank you from us all, and a special thank you for getting me up to speed.

This month the in-person personnel committee meeting was canceled, and the work was completed by email. It consisted of new position approvals in the Pre-Trial Services department. This department is required by the state court and is designed to divert offenders from being incarcerated while awaiting trial if they meet certain criteria.

The Highway Committee meeting included detailed reviews of pending projects including the Pleasant Street expansion project, where the county is responsible for the bridges, Olio Road, Bell Ford Bridge, 146th resurfacing, Dunbar Road and the State Road 37 at 141st street project among several others.

The full council votes May 3rd on recommendations from the committees. Public meetings are a product of hours of work behind the scenes. To serve well, one must be informed well. Keeping up with the meetings, reading, email, addressing taxpayer questions, meeting with department heads, committee meetings and conversations with other council members all require an investment of time.

In addition to the County Council public and committee meetings, I attended Cicero and Noblesville town council public meetings. This month also included working a shift, listening in at the 911 Operations center, listening to county employee questions regarding benefits and pay policy, meetings with the county attorney, discussions with voters regarding Council library board appointments, attending working sessions with fellow council members and policy meetings with the Human Resources department.

Of note this month was a planning meeting with the leaders at the Hamilton County Senior Center. The senior center facility is dated, expensive to maintain and potentially in the path of future county growth. The leaders at the center believe that they need to be in a new facility over the next few years and described their vision for a future facility along with their present challenges. Some investigation with the Hamilton County grants experts in the Auditors office revealed that grant funds are available for a senior center project. That led to scheduling an initial meeting to understand the scope and availability of grant dollars to put into a project. If the project is feasible, I’ll present the findings to the Commissioners for their evaluation.

I spent time this month working on affordable housing solutions from two perspectives. One, the most obvious, working with a low-cost home builder to frame how a potential project in Hamilton County could look, and second, less obvious, proposing a program that uses affordable housing dollars to assist county employees who don’t live in the county to consider doing so.

I must confess that council meetings often move very fast and this past month I made a mistake on a procedural vote, thinking that it was an expense vote that I am not a fan of. It’s my personal practice to review the agenda packet ahead of time and make note of questions, make comments and notations for likely council votes. I got caught looking at the prior agenda item. Fortunately, the procedural vote passed and my no vote on the spending item was recorded.

This month’s work also included representing the County Council at the Rise Up for Kids breakfast, an area not-for-profit that offers programs to reduce suicide and child sexual abuse, attending the Arcadia Wastewater Treatment Groundbreaking and meeting with county Human Resource leaders to discuss handbook changes.

This is my time sheet. This is where my time went during month four. There are quite a few projects in the queue for 2023 and while my job is primarily the financial oversight of the county budget it is important to understand the Board of Commissioners priorities and balance them with the stewardship of taxpayer dollars. That is the job, and I am excited to do the people’s business.

As a taxpayer myself, and listening to so many of you, our employers, it’s important for the taxpayers to have access to all the information you want. I work for you and although you may not choose to do a deep dive into what your County Council does, it’s important that you always can do so. Feel free to contact me at (317) 832-1104 or mark.hall@hamiltoncounty.in.gov with questions, feedback or if you would like to talk about county business.

– Mark Hall is a successful businessman, husband, father and grandfather. He is serving his first term on the Hamilton County Council.