Letters to the editor for week of Jan. 19

Good luck, thanks to retired town police chief

To the editor:

I am writing after I read in the Democrat that our new town president — for any reason — removed the resolution from the agenda to honor our retiring town police chief. I hope this is not a sign of things to come.

After serving on Nashville Town Council for 12 years, I was very involved in the appointment of Mr. Seastrom. If there is anyone in our community that deserves a resolution and keys to our town it is Ben. For 18 years, he has served our community in many outstanding ways, in a job that is impossible to keep all of us satisfied. Thank you, Ben, for “Shop with a Cop” and many other community services you were involved in. Good luck to your future.

I would also like to thank Jane Gore for her outstanding leadership as president of town council and her many years on council. I know from experience that being president of council requires a lot of extra time and effort. Hopefully, in the future Jane will also receive a key to our Village.

And good luck to our new Nashville Town Council President Nancy Crocker and council. We all live in a great community and let’s keep it that way.

Bob Kirlin, Brown County

Cut losses with current government leadership

To the editor:

I am in an information request war with the Republican monopoly in this county.

I have requested all accounting transactions regarding the $3 million loan these Republicans perpetually borrow every two to three years. I also asked for accounting transactions on the $1.4 million dollar ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds. Now, why is the county not wanting the public to see this information in an election year? Could it harm their chances to win?

We already know they passed out nearly $1 million in bonuses, salary increases and employee buyouts in a year that they had to cut $1.5 million from our budget in taxpayer services. This Republican monopoly doesn’t want you to see how recklessly they waste your money. They don’t want you to see the special interest groups that get your hard earned wages while your roads continue to crumble. They don’t want you to see how they ignore you.

As a five year veteran of following this Republican monopoly in government meetings, here is my advice: stop electing these same Republican people. They are not good for you or this county. Unless you like being treated like a second-class citizen to tourism, cut your losses.

Sherrie Mitchell, Brown County

Community invited to virtual legislator update

To the editor:

Join us in a virtual legislative update Saturday, Jan. 22, 9:30 to 11 a.m. Register at https://lwv-bmc.org/legis-update.

The update is sponsored by the League of Women Voters Brown County, the Brown County Chamber of Commerce, the League of Women Voters Bloomington-Monroe County and the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce.

State Sens. Erich Koch, District 44, and Shelli Yoder, District 40, along with state District 62 Rep. Jeff Ellington, District 46 Rep. Bob Heaton, District 55 Rep. Chris May, District 60 Rep. Peggy Mayfield and District 61 Rep. Matt Pierce — representing Brown and Monroe counties — have been invited to report on their work and priorities for the current session of the Indiana General Assembly and to take questions from attendees.

To register for the Zoom meeting, go to www.lwv-bmc.org/legis-update. All legislative updates are free and open to the public. Questions should be framed to elicit general information and to enable any of the legislators to weigh in.

This is the first of three planned legislative updates sponsored by the leagues and the chambers on Zoom. Subsequent updates are scheduled for Feb. 12 and March 26, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. All sessions will be recorded by Community Access Television Services through the Monroe County Public Library, with the video available on the CATS website and at www.lwv-bmc.org/legis-update shortly after each session.

The work of the Indiana General Assembly can be followed on its website, www.iga.in.gov, which provides a wealth of information and offers the possibility to track the progress of individual bills.

Many bills have been proposed that could affect Hoosiers including whether school board candidates should be partisan or non-partisan, whether Indiana should develop a policy on climate change, what kind of support solar energy will have, how K-12 curriculum is selected and much more.

We hope you will join us to hear what legislators have to say and to ask your questions.

Shari Frank, president, LWV Brown County

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