By Bill Dolan, Times of Northwest Indiana
bill.dolan@nwi.com
CROWN POINT | The Lake County Council voted Tuesday night to eliminate more than 34 jobs from the sheriff's and Lake Superior Court civil division's payrolls to put the final touch on spending reductions for next year.
Sheriff Rogelio "Roy" Dominguez and Dante Rondelli, the council's finance director, will huddle today to identify the final 10 to 15 sheriff's employees who will receive pink slips.
State-mandated property tax cuts and government revenue loss driven by the poor economy are forcing the council to cut $11.8 million from this year's spending levels. The council ordered an across-the-board 15 percent rollback of all county and township government agencies.
All but the sheriff and the civil courts had submitted revised budgets in the past month.
Council President Larry Blanchard, R-Crown Point, said Tuesday's meeting was needed to formalize how the sheriff and courts "bring the bottom line into balance" in case state budget officials challenge the council to detail how many job cuts were required.
The council voted Tuesday to eliminate two court secretarial positions. They accepted a last-minute offer from Dominguez to eliminate jobs -- many of them vacant -- for six corrections officers from the Lake County Jail, three police officers, two police sergeants and one police captain. He also is moving eight jobs now being funded by local property tax to a state grant.
After all that, Rondelli said the sheriff still remained $750,000 short of the council's final goal.
Dominguez said he will ensure the job cuts made today won't compromise public safety. He said he won't reduce patrol officers, but may it may affect employees who guard courthouse entries and deliver court papers.
The special meeting also triggered political theater between the sheriff and Sgt. Dan Murchek, president of Lake County Police Association Local 72. The two are backing different sheriff candidates for next year's election.
The sheriff renewed his call to renegotiate labor agreements the council has with county police and corrections officers to freeze their future salary increases and reduce overtime pay by $1.1 million rather than eliminate more jobs.
Murchek called upon the council, the U.S. attorney's office, the Indiana attorney general and Indiana State Board of Accounts to investigate why the sheriff allowed two of his top management aides, Michael Reilly, commander of staff services, and Assistant Chief Joseph Kumstar, to file for more than 900 hours of overtime this year alone.
Murchek, a longtime opponent of Dominguez, supports former Sheriff John Buncich for a new run to become sheriff while Dominguez, who is barred by term limits from running for sheriff himself, supports Police Chief Marco Kuyachich.