City council starts redistricting
Also, leaf pick up begins Nov. 7; Berry IT building on Ivy Tech foundation
Today’s article is brought to you by Michelle Martin for County Council Dist. 2.
Working with you, for a change. Vote Democrat.
Common Council hires consultant to redistrict
Every 10 years, the Kokomo Common Council must redistrict its political boundaries, and time is running out for that task to be accomplished. The council passed a resolution at its Oct. 24 meeting to start the process, and the public can take part if it desires.
The council hired a consultant to assist in the process this time. Doug Wallsmith, representing Indianapolis law firm Korger Gradis & Regas, was on hand at the council meeting to explain the process and why it has to happen.
“The reason we do this is to make sure votes are equal across the districts,” said Wallsmith. “If there is a smaller number of voters in one district electing a councilor, their votes count more than a district that has many more people. The statute doesn’t require exactly equal populations, but they have to be as equal as possible.”
The current council districts are out of balance, particularly between the 4th and 5th districts, Wallsmith explained. Thanks to annexation, which was finalized after the last redistricting process, the 5th District holds roughly 1,000 more voters than the ideal, while the 4th district is about 1,400 voters short.
This disparity places the city at a 26 percent total population deviation. State statute only allows for 10 percent variance. Wallsmith said the goal of this year’s redistricting is to lower that deviation to just five percent.
While the council will receive a redistricting plan from the consultant, the public also may submit redistricting plans. Packets with all the necessary information are available in the Kokomo City Clerk’s office on the first floor of City Hall starting on Oct. 28. These packets include the necessary guidelines, related state statutes, and a current district map.
The redistricting process must be completed by the end of the year. As such, comments from the public must be submitted by Nov. 7, and redistricting plans must be submitted by Nov. 10. The council will convene on Nov. 14 to consider the plans.
Leaf pick-up starts Nov. 7
City crews will begin collecting leaves on Mon., Nov. 7. Leaf collection will begin in the south side of town and continue north until all leaves are picked up or until weather no longer permits leaf pick up. Crews should be able to make collections from each residence approximately four times during the leaf pick up season.
Please help make leaf collection more efficient:
Rake loose leaves to the curb but not into the street. Leaves placed in the street may clog drains and cause street flooding.
Do not mix limbs, landscaping materials, or garden waste with leaves. The leaf vacuum cannot pick up these heavy items.
Bagged leaves under 50 lbs. can be set out with trash for collection.
The Kokomo Greencycle yard waste center at 1130 S. Dixon Rd. will accept bagged leaves at a cost of $10 per vehicle load. The yard waste center will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.- 5 p.m. until Friday, Dec. 16. The center will be closed from Dec. 19 through Jan. 2, 2023.
Limb collection will be paused until leaf collection ends. City residents may take tree limbs to the Greencycle yard waste center.
If you have any questions contact the Department of Public Maintenance and Refuse at 453-4030.
James Berry’s IT businesses build on Ivy Tech foundation
Sometimes life takes a lot of turns before you finally get to that long, straight road to success. That was the case for Ivy Tech alumnus James Berry.
Berry is the president of Berry It and owner of BerryComm, both Kokomo-based businesses. Combined, their offices have 150 employees and a subcontractor base of another 250 or so. But it wasn’t always that way.
After graduating from Logansport High School in 1995, Berry took off for a year and worked different jobs. Then came a couple of years working with his dad at Jim’s Auto Sales, where his love for sales was brought to light. In time, he found himself back at square one in the game of life.
A former co-worker told James about good jobs in the “drop bury” business, burying cables and fiber optic connections underground between houses and the street. Berry bounced around, working for several different companies as a subcontractor. In the meantime, he and his wife, Jamie, had decided to go back to Ivy Tech Kokomo – James in Industrial Technology and Jamie in the Licensed Practical Nursing program. Both graduated in 2002.
For him, Berry said, the return to school came after the realization that he really needed to do something with his life.
“I’ve always used my hands a lot so the Ivy Tech tool-and-die program was fun for me,” he said. “I was very proud of my degree. I got straight As; I was in Phi Theta Kappa (the national academic honor society for community colleges).”
Berry decided he wanted to take his skilled trade degree to Caterpillar in Lafayette. He got hired but the week he was to start began with a big layoff and the job disappeared.
“That ended up being a good thing. I started buckling down,” he said.
“I thought – I can go out and make my own pay with what I was doing as a subcontractor. I’m a ditchdigger and what’s wrong with that? There is really good money in dirt,” he added with a laugh. “I was groomed to go to college, but I believe you need to understand there are other opportunities out there to make your own future.”
And make his own future he has. In 2004, he incorporated Berry It, a play on his last name and one that aptly describes the company’s main business. With his last name, he joked, “It was either that or make jelly,” Little by little the company grew, weathering economic slowdowns and employment decisions by big companies they worked for, and expanded into waterline installation, aerial construction, fiber splicing, engineering design, vacuum excavation, and geothermal loops. Today, there are Berry It offices in Kokomo, Lafayette, and Indianapolis and a fourth is opening soon in Fort Wayne.
At various times, his four brothers have worked with the company. Wife Jamie left nursing to raise their four children and then joined the company as well, credited with putting together the policy structure and running the Human Resources side of the business. Berry said the Berry It team, which now includes the executive directors, is the secret to success, “by finding the right people and putting them in the right seats and allowing them to do their jobs.” He added, “Great employees are the heartbeat of the company.”
Since 2015, sister company BerryComm has been in the business of providing internet services along with the fiber optic networks constructed by Berry It. BerryComm now provides fiber optic internet services to the communities of Walton, Royal Center, Lincoln and Galveston, as well as Lewis Cass Schools, and has expanded into Cicero and Howard County. The company was recently awarded a contract to build a 55-mile fiber ring around Howard County that will provide fiber optic internet to residential and business customers as well as Howard County schools.
“Rural internet service was my heart’s passion before it became the big issue it is now,” Berry said. “We are transforming lives one community at a time.” And that includes getting involved in local charities that have the same goal.
If it sounds like a mission, that’s because it is. “I had been trying to find that kingdom-minded purpose,” he said, describing putting his faith into action. “I have been blessed in life and I want to support anything that is good in helping people.”
Berry says that even though he didn’t pursue the career path promised by his Ivy Tech degree, he has continued to use the knowledge gained at the community college, whether it’s creating an Excel spreadsheet or outlining a business plan.
“My accomplishments at Ivy Tech were more a question of self-worth,” he said. “It boosted my confidence. It wasn’t the industry I ended up working in life, but it helped me learn it’s important to like what you do, and I love what I do.” And today his businesses employ a number of fellow Ivy Tech graduates.
James and Jamie’s family has grown to include Adrean, husband Cash and their 2-year-old son and new baby; 20-year-old Kyen, a student at Indiana University Kokomo; 17-year-old Koen, a senior at Northwestern High School where he plays basketball and baseball; and 15-year-old Kolten, a sophomore at Northwestern High School where he plays baseball. In his spare time, Berry says, he’s always ready for a round of golf.