Bricklayer Jeremy Rivas is making his first foray into Porter County politics in next year's election. Rivas, of Portage, will challenge two-term council member Rita Stevenson for the 2nd District seat. It is curious that a union bricklayer finds Ms Stevenson's votes on the RDA and other potential job creation opportunities frustrating enough to announce a run against her in the primary. This may not bode well for Democrats attempting to hold their fragile coalition against growth in Porter County.
The City of Gary received a negative report from the State Board of Accounts, questioning some spending. Remember that Gary petitioned the State of Indiana to allow additional time to get under the tax caps, due to the need to cut substantial amounts from the budgets. They have been ordered by the State to hire a financial monitor to produce a plan to cut the budget and reorganize the cities finances.
The Porter County RDA mess continues, with County Auditor and County Treasurers now pulling back from an agreement struck last week to send the payments to an escrow account for future disbursement or refund. Kudos to County attorney Rinkenberger for the attempt to build some agreement, but frankly a court will need to rule quickly so we can move forward.
