Ciriello Has Long History Of Public Service
October 18, 2022 at 11:49 p.m.
Ciriello Has Long History Of Public Service
By David [email protected]
If he wins the Nov. 8 general election over Libertarian David Lewis for the Kosciusko County Council District 3 seat, he will continue that streak for at least another four possible years.
In an interview Oct. 12, Ciriello said he started in law enforcement. After retiring from there, he became the county coroner.
Last fall, incumbent District 3 Councilman Ernie Wiggins informed Ciriello that he wasn’t going to seek re-election.
“As the coroner, in case people don’t know, the coroner is a term-limited position because it is created by the Indiana Constitution. So, I will be terming out before long, so the opportunity with this open seat is to run now to continue my service to the citizens of Kosciusko County is something I gave consideration and thought to,” Ciriello said.
He talked to a few people and decided the time was right for him to run for County Council. His term as coroner ends Dec. 31, 2023. If Ciriello is successful on Nov. 8, he will have to resign as coroner and the Republican Party will have to hold a caucus to name a new coroner. By law, Ciriello can’t serve on the County Council and another position within the county of employment or election. Ciriello originally was named coroner by a caucus in September 2015.
One question he’s received a few times is why did he decided to run for Council instead of another office or something else entirely.
“The County Council is the financial component of county government. County Council deals with budgets, tax levies, tax abatements. Anything associated with the finances of the county. It is different than the Commissioners. The Commissioners are the legislative branch of the county, and while it sounds glamorous on either side, the idea of being on the Council, working with the financial ends of it, working with the department heads on budgets, working with the auditor and treasurer on tax collections, where we’re at, it’s intriguing to me,” he said.
Ciriello spent the last seven years doing the coroner’s office budget and presenting it to the County Council for their approval.
“So I became familiar with the budgeting process. I’ve attended most every Council meeting in the last seven years because I feel as an elected official I have an obligation to be there whether I have business or not,” he said.
Ciriello said he’s learned over the last seven years what the Council does, how they operate, the burdens they have on them and he feels it’s the right fit for him.
With the U.S. experiencing an ongoing inflation, and continued talk of an impending recession, Ciriello said the country is in uncertain economic times.
“Inflation has driven prices of everything up. I don’t know if you’ve tried to buy a new car lately, or buy a house, but the housing market has substantially increased in price so people are overpaying for their homes. Hopefully, it doesn’t become a problem later down the road, but if we do go into a recession and people have overpaid, then their houses are going to go into foreclosure and such and the county is going to see a downturn in tax money coming in,” he said. “So given that, just on that subject alone with the housing market, the county is going to have to take a hard look at where do we have fluff, where can we cut without cutting the services that people are accustomed to without raising taxes.”
As a taxpayer himself, Ciriello said he’s not in favor of any tax increases or any new taxes.
“I am in favor of cutting budgets if we need to. Hiring freezes if we need to, to keep from causing those budgets to go up anymore than they already have,” he said.
The county’s budget for 2023 is going to be over $46 million.
“That’s a lot of money. And so you think that’s all funded by the taxpayers, whether it be a homeowner, an employee, a business within the county, that’s where our funds are generated from,” Ciriello said. “If we raise taxes on any of those, it creates an extra hardship on them, which then in turn creates an extra hardship on our collection of taxes and that hurts the bottom line on our budget.”
But, he said, there are “so many other factors” taking place with the inflation.
“The cost of building materials have gone through the roof. The cost of materials to do road repairs have gone through the roof. The cost of replacing county-owned vehicles has gone through the roof. So the tough decisions are made: Can we get another year or two out of a vehicle? Can we put off this infrastructure project for a little bit? If not, where can we find a balance to be able to complete that infrastructure or replace that dump truck at the county highway without causing a hardship on other departments?” he said.
Good employees generally expect to be paid good wages or they will seek employment elsewhere. Ciriello said every county in the state faces that situation.
“Government employees are usually amongst the lower paid of professional jobs. They’re not near the bottom of the line, but they’re nowhere near the top of the line. With the system that has been put into place now by our wage committee, we are reviewing wages all the time to see where we stand, not only within government, within business, to make a fair and liveable income for the county employees,” he said.
With inflation and potential recession forthcoming, Ciriello said the county may not have the money to do that so departments may have to be asked not to fill open positions. It’s not an ideal situation, but it’s a situation the county may have to face.
As to why voters should elect him to the County Council, Ciriello pointed to his track record and public service and said they stand on their own.
“People who know me, know what I’ve done over those last 41 years. Those who don’t know me, I will be glad to provide them a bio, I’ll be glad to provide them with a resume and I’ll be glad to sit down with them one-on-one and give them an opportunity to get to know me,” Ciriello said.
If he wins the Nov. 8 general election over Libertarian David Lewis for the Kosciusko County Council District 3 seat, he will continue that streak for at least another four possible years.
In an interview Oct. 12, Ciriello said he started in law enforcement. After retiring from there, he became the county coroner.
Last fall, incumbent District 3 Councilman Ernie Wiggins informed Ciriello that he wasn’t going to seek re-election.
“As the coroner, in case people don’t know, the coroner is a term-limited position because it is created by the Indiana Constitution. So, I will be terming out before long, so the opportunity with this open seat is to run now to continue my service to the citizens of Kosciusko County is something I gave consideration and thought to,” Ciriello said.
He talked to a few people and decided the time was right for him to run for County Council. His term as coroner ends Dec. 31, 2023. If Ciriello is successful on Nov. 8, he will have to resign as coroner and the Republican Party will have to hold a caucus to name a new coroner. By law, Ciriello can’t serve on the County Council and another position within the county of employment or election. Ciriello originally was named coroner by a caucus in September 2015.
One question he’s received a few times is why did he decided to run for Council instead of another office or something else entirely.
“The County Council is the financial component of county government. County Council deals with budgets, tax levies, tax abatements. Anything associated with the finances of the county. It is different than the Commissioners. The Commissioners are the legislative branch of the county, and while it sounds glamorous on either side, the idea of being on the Council, working with the financial ends of it, working with the department heads on budgets, working with the auditor and treasurer on tax collections, where we’re at, it’s intriguing to me,” he said.
Ciriello spent the last seven years doing the coroner’s office budget and presenting it to the County Council for their approval.
“So I became familiar with the budgeting process. I’ve attended most every Council meeting in the last seven years because I feel as an elected official I have an obligation to be there whether I have business or not,” he said.
Ciriello said he’s learned over the last seven years what the Council does, how they operate, the burdens they have on them and he feels it’s the right fit for him.
With the U.S. experiencing an ongoing inflation, and continued talk of an impending recession, Ciriello said the country is in uncertain economic times.
“Inflation has driven prices of everything up. I don’t know if you’ve tried to buy a new car lately, or buy a house, but the housing market has substantially increased in price so people are overpaying for their homes. Hopefully, it doesn’t become a problem later down the road, but if we do go into a recession and people have overpaid, then their houses are going to go into foreclosure and such and the county is going to see a downturn in tax money coming in,” he said. “So given that, just on that subject alone with the housing market, the county is going to have to take a hard look at where do we have fluff, where can we cut without cutting the services that people are accustomed to without raising taxes.”
As a taxpayer himself, Ciriello said he’s not in favor of any tax increases or any new taxes.
“I am in favor of cutting budgets if we need to. Hiring freezes if we need to, to keep from causing those budgets to go up anymore than they already have,” he said.
The county’s budget for 2023 is going to be over $46 million.
“That’s a lot of money. And so you think that’s all funded by the taxpayers, whether it be a homeowner, an employee, a business within the county, that’s where our funds are generated from,” Ciriello said. “If we raise taxes on any of those, it creates an extra hardship on them, which then in turn creates an extra hardship on our collection of taxes and that hurts the bottom line on our budget.”
But, he said, there are “so many other factors” taking place with the inflation.
“The cost of building materials have gone through the roof. The cost of materials to do road repairs have gone through the roof. The cost of replacing county-owned vehicles has gone through the roof. So the tough decisions are made: Can we get another year or two out of a vehicle? Can we put off this infrastructure project for a little bit? If not, where can we find a balance to be able to complete that infrastructure or replace that dump truck at the county highway without causing a hardship on other departments?” he said.
Good employees generally expect to be paid good wages or they will seek employment elsewhere. Ciriello said every county in the state faces that situation.
“Government employees are usually amongst the lower paid of professional jobs. They’re not near the bottom of the line, but they’re nowhere near the top of the line. With the system that has been put into place now by our wage committee, we are reviewing wages all the time to see where we stand, not only within government, within business, to make a fair and liveable income for the county employees,” he said.
With inflation and potential recession forthcoming, Ciriello said the county may not have the money to do that so departments may have to be asked not to fill open positions. It’s not an ideal situation, but it’s a situation the county may have to face.
As to why voters should elect him to the County Council, Ciriello pointed to his track record and public service and said they stand on their own.
“People who know me, know what I’ve done over those last 41 years. Those who don’t know me, I will be glad to provide them a bio, I’ll be glad to provide them with a resume and I’ll be glad to sit down with them one-on-one and give them an opportunity to get to know me,” Ciriello said.
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092