KLA Cadets Get Overview Of Local, State Government
KLA Cadets Get Overview Of Local, State Government
Posted
Staff Report-
KLA Cadets Get Overview Of Local, State GovernmentThrough presentations from Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer, Kosciusko County Council Member Joni Truex and Indiana State Rep. David Wolkins, KLA cadets received an overview of government in the Warsaw Police Department station conference room.
Presenting on Warsaw, Thallemer explained the goals he has for the city are through improving three areas: livability, opportunity and growth. These, he said, are accomplished through economic development, talent retention, talent attraction, placemaking and improving quality of life for residents. In Warsaw, this has meant a focus on creating community-oriented places, using and protecting natural assets (lakes), supporting multi-modal transportation (biking), and improving housing, the downtown area and parks.
Thallemer said, "Creating a community you want to raise your family in is the most important thing I do."
Some recent successes for development have been the first phase of the Market Street development and "The Alley" crowd-funded project, according to a news release from KLA. The biggest current project the city is tackling is the Buffalo Street project to create urban housing and a redeveloped lakefront area. Thallemer also said the three biggest challenges the city is currently facing are the workforce (low unemployment, housing and affordable childcare), traffic, and water infrastructure, the latter of which will soon be improved with the water treatment plant expanding by 50 percent.
Truex cited 1,171 miles of roadways (with the goal of touching 10 percent of them every year), a jail that is over capacity, new programs that promote active shooter safety in schools and help those with substance abuse addictions, and the Tippecanoe and Chapman Lake sewer district as the most pressing county issues. A new court was also added to Kosciusko County to help with the case load of judges. Truex also explained how the county council is composed, and how decisions are made at the county level.
Talking about issues the government is looking at on a state level, Wolkins first talked about education, which receives approximately half of the $32 billion available to the state. Pressing topics in education include how much teachers are paid and how they are evaluated, more potential opportunities for kindergarten and pre-k education, and making sure education funding gets to the classroom. Wolkins said that currently only 57 percent of funds reach the classroom, which is down from 65 percent five years ago.
Wolkins, who represents 65,000 people, said other statewide issues are overpopulated jails and 27,000 children who are wards of the state, three to four times more than other nearby states, according to the release. Wolkins said over 1,400 new laws are proposed each year, and anticipates more discussion in the future on other statewide issues including hate crime punishment (Indiana is one of only five states who does not have hate crime law with penalties), medical marijuana use, abortion, and the Indiana toll road lease recently changed by the Governor Eric Holcomb.
For more information about KLA, visit kosciuskoleadership.org.
