Kokomo — Reducing the cost of government services and accomplishing some form of service consolidation were listed as goals by members of the Citizens Committee for Consolidation.
The committee, consisting of 12 members appointed by the Howard County Commissioners, Kokomo, Greentown and Russiaville, conducted its second meeting on Tuesday.
President Isabella Chism, representing Howard County, asked the 11 members in attendance to talk about what they hope the group will accomplish.
Yvonne Edington, representing Kokomo, said she hopes the group can move forward without bickering and work together.
John Newlin, representing Russiaville, wanted the committee to find the best way to save taxpayer dollars.
Vice President Dick Davis, representing Howard County, said there are two choices, raising taxes or reducing services and he favored reducing costs.
Improving services to help make the community more attractive to economic development and improving the qualify of life were the goals of Rick Homkes, representing Russiaville.
Kokomo appointment Pat Crittendon said the first meeting was upsetting because of the bickering of elected officials.
“If this is not an active committee and we’re just putting on a show,” she said, “I will be the first to depart.”
Robin Hainlen, representing Greentown, said her objective is to save tax dollars and consolidate services all county residents share.
“Working together,” she said, “I didn’t see that last week. I felt like I walked into a hornet’s nest. I want to help the future of all communities.”
Don Wilson, another Kokomo appointment, said the committee’s goal is to build a better, more economical government.
“We have been given a blank sheet of paper,” he said.
Wilson said the committee has to set off to the side all the years of bickering between city and county officials.
Chism said the committee’s purpose is to do the right thing for all communities.
“We will evaluate information and come up with the best recommendation,” she said.
Chism thanked Mayor Greg Goodnight and the commissioners for being courageous enough to establish the committee.
The committee received the first letter from a county resident recommending an area to be evaluated.
The citizen asked for an objective study and evaluation of a uni-government system for Howard County, which would be similar to the system implemented for Indianapolis and Marion County in the 1970s.
Dick Miller, president of the Howard County Council, said he hopes the committee gets 85,000 ideas — one for each resident of the county — on how to make government more efficient.