Clark County approves nepotism legislation

Discussion

June 10, 2012

Clark County approves nepotism legislation

Tornado expenses becoming clearer

By BRADEN LAMMERS braden.lammers@newsandtribune.com The News and Tribune Sun Jun 10, 2012, 08:46 AM EDT

JEFFERSONVILLE — The Clark County Commissioners adopted two ordinances at Thursday’s meeting to fall in line with state legislation.

Both ordinances establish policies preventing nepotism in county government.

The first ordinance passed requires a disclosure of the contracts that the county may enter into with a relative. However, the scope of who the ordinance pertains to — which follows the state law — is fairly narrow.

The ordinance 24-2012 limits elected officials, which are defined as the Clark County Commissioners and Clark County Council, in dealing with relatives. Relative are defined as direct relations, spouses and in-laws. The ordinance limits the county from entering into a contract with a relative unless a disclosure form is filed.

“If later on you decide you want it to be more stringent, you can do that, but this would be a policy that would bring you in compliance with the state law,” said Commissioners Attorney Greg Fifer.

The second ordinance directly related to nepotism within county government.

“You as commissioners and council members can’t supervise, in a direct line of supervision, a relative,” Fifer said.

Again, the law follows along with the state requirements and there are no currently no conflicts in existence that would affect employees or an elected official, Fifer said.

Both ordinances go into effect July 1.

Tornado expenses

Invoices for the Natural Resource Conservation Service Grant for stream cleanup in the areas affected by the March 2 tornadoes were unanimously approved by the commissioners. The grant helped pay for the cleanup of debris out of streams clogged as a result of the March tornadoes.

“This is, essentially, to collect our money from NRCS and get our contractor paid,” said Commissioner Les Young.

Jill Oca, a certified public accountant and consultant for the county, said the county has received the final invoices for cleanup. She estimated the cost for the cleanup for the streams totaled $825,000. In addition, cleanup costs submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency totaled more than $1.5 million.

Young said some of the cleanup costs have already been paid, as the county is responsible for coming up with a 25 percent match in funding. Oca said there is an estimated $300,000 worth of work yet to be completed for more permanent repairs, including road fixes. That work will take place within the next 18 months, she said. Including the anticipated costs for permanent work, the county’s total is expected to be nearly $675,000.