The race to fill Porter County Board of Commissioners Vice President Barb Regnitz’s District 2 seat pits political newcomer Kyle Nelson, a Democrat, against Republican Porter County Councilman Mike Brickner, currently serving his sixth year in an at-large seat.
Regnitz isn’t seeking reelection as she instead looks to unseat First District U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Highland.
Brickner said transparency, leadership, community engagement and experience will be necessary to navigate the new municipal funding landscape of Senate Bill 1. “We have a lot of issues that we’re going to be looking at,” he said.
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He retired from Lake County Community Corrections in January of last year after five years on the job, but spent 31 years with the Valparaiso Police Department, the last 13 as chief. He also served as director of Porter County Public Safety for three years. If elected, he plans to focus on road and bridge maintenance.
Brickner contends there will be many unknowns to SB 1 but says good relationships will go a long way in response. “I would like to say we’re in better shape than some other counties,” he said of the challenges brought on by the property tax reform. He said the county’s low LIT rate, currently the lowest in the state at 0.5%, is the result of a lot of teamwork.
He would like to extend that teamwork to collaboration between the county and municipalities in order to help them, particularly the smaller towns such as Ogden Dunes, Beverly Shores, Hebron, and Kouts. “Our success is going to be measured by their success as well,” he said.
While he doesn’t have a particular rate in mind, he said the county needs to explore all options that allow it to keep the roads in good repair and offer competitive employee pay, which is a new focus for the councilman who in the past has been a proponent of helping employees build job satisfaction through avenues beyond compensation.
Brickner hesitates to tap further into Porter County Foundation principal, as was done in the fall of last year with a plan to take $14 million over two years to fund roads and the county’s ambulance contract. “The decisions we make now are generational,” he said.
Brickner, who once oversaw E911, believes the consolidation with Chesterton and Porter’s dispatch was inevitable. “I think it was the right thing for Porter County,” he said. He thinks the effort can go further than having everyone under one roof and said staffing levels and the possibility of adding a fourth communication channel need to be considered.
Nelson, a bar manager and bartender, has not been pleased with how the E911 consolidation was handled on the county’s part. He said it’s “just another sign that they’re not doing a good job communicating with the public, as well as their local officials.”
He said those mistakes could be avoided as the county tries to develop its response to SB1. “I think a presentation would be a good option to have,” he said of the county and municipalities working together. “It does feel like a lot of these folks are going to be forced to do a lot of these things, as opposed to willfully,” he said.
Nelson believes that will likely involve raising the LIT in Porter County. He’s not opposed to a slight increase, though he doesn’t think a wheel tax will do much to solve the county’s problems, and would “love to see the legislators go back and fix all the errors of SEA 1. I don’t think that’s going to happen, but we can all be hopeful.”
His biggest concern is educating the public on why the LIT debate is happening and what’s at stake. “Letting people know, ‘Hey, this is why this is happening. If you want our services to remain the same, this is our options that we have.’”
He’d also like to use the Aug. 11 derecho as a cautionary opportunity to ensure the county is prepared for another such event.
Regarding the use of Foundation principal, Nelson maintains, “I am still opposed to us using the Foundation money for anything other than what it was laid out for.” Nelson clarified the principal shouldn’t be used for critical services and said other revenue streams need to be found for those.
Nelson believes he’s the candidate who will allow working-class voters to see themselves in local government. “Most people are still really concerned with rising fees on their electric bills” and other such expenses, he said.
Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.