County Council Discusses Publishing of Potentially Sensitive Information
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Jordan Fouts-
A request that council information packets be sent digitally turned into a word of caution for one Kosciusko County Council member Thursday. Councilman Jon Fussle requested at the end of the meeting that council packets be sent via online dropbox, saying that postal delivery sometimes results in getting his packets only a day or two before the meeting. This month, as a result, he said he wasn’t aware council was going to make committee appointments and wasn’t able to review the appointees. But council President Bob Sanders expressed concern that digital distribution might make it more likely that potentially sensitive information such as employee issues be shared with others. What followed was a few minutes of back-and-forth discussion mainly between the two councilmen, during which it emerged that Fussle had scanned the latest council packet and uploaded it as a 19-page document on his personal site, www.jonfussle.com He told council he was seeking public input on the issues to be discussed at the meeting. Though the packet consisted largely of fund transfer requests and committee appointments, Fussle said he didn’t realize some of the information might be confidential. He also asked if potentially sensitive information should be labeled as such, prompting Sanders to respond, “Does it have to be labeled, Jon?” Sanders added that, while he didn’t want to give the impression council was trying to hide anything, certain documents are meant for council eyes only. In fact, Councilman Larry Teghtmeyer observed, confidential council documents may be illegal to publish. “When you start throwing things out on the Internet, information people don’t understand, they get riled up about what they’re reading,” Sanders told Fussle. “It gives the perception that we as a council don’t know what we’re doing or that our department heads don’t know what they’re doing.” Sanders also noted that if the public has any questions, council agendas and minutes are posted online. They are available at www.kcgov.com/council Sanders later remarked that he has seen Fussle’s website and characterized many of the public comments on council matters as “unkind” and “uninformed.” Nor does Fussle “straighten them out,” which he told the councilman he has a responsibility to do. In the end Sanders suggested the deadline for department heads to submit information be moved up a day in order to mail council packets out earlier, rather than sending them digitally. Also during the meeting, council approved the transfer of a total of $11,610.84 to pay for repairs to Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department cruisers. The repairs were needed due to two deer strikes in the summer, a cruiser struck by a tree during November’s strong storms and one vehicle that had been backed into by an officer’s wife in their garage. Sheriff Rocky Goshert also requested permission to fill a deputy’s position that has left the department shorthanded for about two years. He said he has conducted a few interviews in preparation and that the first-year position with a salary of about $36,000 is already covered in their budget. Council also approved the transfer of $1,201.60 in the Cumulative Reassessment fund from part-time to the Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals, due to the budget having been cut a little too much; and 2013 budget reductions of $40,462.64 and $7,487 from two positions currently vacant in the Motor Vehicle Highway fund and $1,751 from sand and gravel in Local Roads and Streets. The reductions were directed by the state Department of Local Government Finance due to expected shortfalls, according to County Highway Superintendent Scott Tilden. And council approved a year-end transfer resolution, which allows the auditor’s office to make transfers in order to end the year in the black, as well as the 2014 interlocal agreements with the Kosciusko County Solid Waste District and with the Kosciusko County Convention, Recreation and Visitors Commission. Appointments approved for 2014 were Kenneth Johnson, Alcohol Board; Linda Zimmerman and Jo Paczkowski, KCCRVC; Sanders, Economic Development; Roger Moriarty, Bell Memorial Library; Paul Reith and Brock Ostrom, PTABOA; Teghtmeyer and Bill Warren, Redevelopment Commission; Jon Garber, Solid Waste; and Brad Tandy and Teghtmeyer, Wage Committee.
