I love offering a Christmas dinner to anyone who finds themselves alone on Christmas Day. I love coordinating repair and replace efforts for low income homeowners. I love speaking to groups about services available. I love preserving history markers within our abandoned cemeteries. I love seeing neighbors cooperate in settled fence disputes. I love beautifying our neighborhoods by mowing unwanted weeds. I love enabling work responsibility for assistance. I love providing food supplements for the disadvantaged. I love procuring job opportunities for those willing and able to work. I love providing a meeting place for all kinds of groups. I love helping support our parks. I love funding fire protection. I love being coordinator for transient placement. I love providing transportation to and from the Wayne County Health Clinic, Welfare Office, Doctors Offices, grocery stores, etc., I love referring special needs to local churches and agencies for assistance. I love telling you this is not an exhaustive list. I love being a Township Trustee. I LOVE MY JOB!!

This article is not meant to brag but to bring light to what we do. While many people have offered their plan to reduce the size of government we have been quietly at work providing services most take for granted.

The press, Indiana Board of Realtors, Indiana Chamber of Commerce and others would have you believe our services are no longer needed. It is difficult to sit idly by without response.

While others brag of a surplus in budgets, it would be unusual to not find a Trustee in Wayne County without surplus. And this is nothing new – we have always managed your money as it were ours. While others talk about escalating the size of government, we have remained constant. Fifteen townships – fifteen trustees – no bureaucrats. Nothing like the 110,000 people who work for the state of Indiana you can’t touch with your vote. The proposal to elect one county official and appoint the rest adds to the bureaucratic dilemma. The good old folks will only appoint one of their own and we will see a major blow to a representative type government of the people, for the people, and by the people.

A lot of money will be spent to convince you to vote for the elimination of local representation. We will spend a little amount of money to spread the aforementioned services throughout Wayne County. Ultimately (at least for now), you will decide. If you decide to eliminate our services – so be it. But I encourage you to reject this proposal and call for the elimination of bureaucratic offices not local services.