Local war hero may get a bridge
Also, Ivy Tech features nursing program, and a Lantern Commentary: This is not transparency
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Bridge could bear name of Kokomo war hero
The Indiana House of Representatives on Monday, Jan. 23, unanimously supported efforts to memorialize Chief Warrant Officer Donald L. Mills for his military service by naming a bridge on State Road 29 after the local war hero.
State Rep. Heath VanNatter (R-Kokomo), author of House Concurrent Resolution 4, said his measure urges the Indiana Department of Transportation to name the bridge over Wildcat Creek in Burlington after Mills, a Kokomo native who served in the Vietnam War as a helicopter pilot. According to VanNatter, Mills disobeyed direct orders by flying behind enemy lines to help evacuate wounded Vietnamese soldiers. While waiting for the troops to load into the helicopter, Mills sat directly in the line of enemy fire while saving countless lives.
"Mills dedicated his life to his country, state, and community," VanNatter said. "This bridge renaming would be a great way to honor him and remind Hoosiers of the sacrifices made by those who served."
According to State Rep. Mike Karickhoff (R-Kokomo), who co-authored the resolution, Mills graduated from Kokomo High School before enlisting in the United States Army. Karickhoff said the bridge is visible from Mills' boyhood home, making it the perfect location to honor a true hero.
"Unfortunately, many of the troops who returned from the Vietnam War did not receive the recognition and welcoming reception that they deserved," Karickhoff said. "Mills left a positive mark on our Kokomo community, and his dedication to serving our state and country will never be forgotten."
For his actions, Mills received the Air Medal, which is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. After returning from the war, Mills served on the Kokomo Police Department for 24 years and as a court security officer for Howard County Superior Court 1 for 13 years.
House Concurrent Resolution 4 now moves to the Indiana Senate for further consideration. For more information, visit iga.in.gov.
‘Tuesday@TheTech’ to focus on Nursing program Jan. 31
For those cut out for it and willing to work hard, the field of nursing is wide open across Indiana and across the country and the highly selective Nursing program at Ivy Tech Community College is a great place to begin. Anyone interested in the expanding Nursing programs within Ivy Tech’s Kokomo Service Area is invited to learn more at the next “Tuesday@TheTech” open house for prospective students.
This is one of a series of monthly events aimed at sharing Ivy Tech’s high-tech facilities and broad range of programming in the Kokomo Service Area with prospective students of all ages. This event is set for 6 to 8 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 31, in the Health Professions Center at the campus at 1815 E. Morgan St.
“There is an urgent need for nurses across Indiana and across the nation,” said Kelly Williams, dean of the School of Nursing for Ivy Tech’s Kokomo Service Area, which includes Cass, Fulton, Howard, Miami, Pulaski and Tipton counties. “Ivy Tech is expanding Nursing programs around the state and this open house offers a great opportunity to learn what’s available in Kokomo, Logansport and Peru.”
Ivy Tech enrollment specialists will be on hand to offer one-on-one support so you can get ready to begin your college education.
For more information about how to register for this Tuesday@TheTech, go to ivytech.edu/tuesdays or email Kokomo-enrollment@ivytech.edu. Walk-ins are welcome.
This is not transparency
(Editor’s note: The Kokomo Lantern generally shies away from taking an editorial position as we believe the community is best served by the unbiased delivery of news without the inclusion of an author’s opinion. However, there are occasions that call for commentary, especially when local public officials choose to act against the good of the community. This, we believe, is one of those occasions.)
On Dec. 12, the Kokomo Common Council met to conduct the city’s business. At that meeting, they annexed property into the city to accommodate the development of an industrial park on the city’s northeast side, declared the area an Economic Revitalization Area, and paved the way for the implementation of a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district for this area.
We know this happened because we attended the council meeting. For those who didn’t attend, learning about the actions of the council that evening would be difficult, if not impossible, without reporting from local media. Minutes of the meeting haven’t been made available.
Perhaps that doesn’t seem like such a big deal. After all, the council meets twice a month. Citizens can catch up with the activities of city government at the next meeting, right?
Apparently not.
The council chose not to meet again in December, presumably for lack of an agenda. But who knew the council would decide to take the month of January off as well? That’s right. The council hasn’t met this month to conduct business other than to select their leadership for 2023. A reorganizational meeting was held on Jan. 9. However, the council chose to meet earlier than normal and did not notify the community. As a result, citizens were waiting outside of a darkened council chambers for a regular council session that never took place.
Two weeks later, it happened again. The council chose to cancel its Jan. 23 meeting, telling no one. There was no posting on the door of the council chambers; no notice disseminated to the public. And citizens stood outside of the empty council chambers, waiting for a meeting that wouldn’t take place. Even the city’s videographer who records the council meetings was not informed of the cancellation.
Some might suggest that the community is better off because the council did not meet. No news is good news. But a failure to meet and to notify the community of a cancellation is not good news. It is a dereliction of duty.
The council fails to recognize that its purpose is to serve the citizens of Kokomo. The meetings take place because it is incumbent upon government to conduct business in view of the public eye. A lack of an agenda for a given meeting is acceptable, but the public must be notified. People have busy lives. Very few of them take the time to attend public meetings in person. Simply not meeting without informing the public only encourages a greater lack of public involvement.
And public involvement is entirely what the council meeting is designed to encourage. People have a right to know what its government is doing. They also have a right to express themselves to their government. How does the community make itself heard if the opportunity to speak to their representatives is denied to them? This council has shown little interest in hearing from the public. It has abandoned them through indifference and a failure to meet the barest legal requirements to notify.
So much for transparency. So much for responsibility. So much for simple service to the community. Any words from the council members touting these virtues must be considered insincere and unreliable. Their actions have proven otherwise.
In a similar vein, the city’s website cannot be trusted to deliver accurate information to the people. In the Common Council section of the site, the following text appears under the heading, “How We Serve You:”
The Common Council agendas, minutes and other documents are now listed as part of the "Citizen's Packet" section. The Citizen’s Packet is designed to give the citizens of Kokomo the most comprehensive information available about the meetings of the Kokomo Common Council. In these packets you will find the agenda, meeting minutes, ordinances to be voted on, and supporting documents given to the Council Members prior to each meeting.
Don’t bother looking for a Citizen’s Packet on the site. It doesn’t exist. The last meeting minutes are from Nov. 28. The last agenda is from Dec. 12. Neither are included in a “Citizen’s Packet.” They are under the “Agendas and Minutes” section. Perhaps that is intuitive to the site visitor. Perhaps it is not.
The Kokomo Common Council should meet again on Feb. 13. We don’t know this for certain as a list of meeting dates for 2023 isn’t in evidence. We only know that the council traditionally meets on the second and fourth Mondays of the month. Tradition isn’t enough. Kokomo deserves better than what this council has delivered.