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Heigh Ho, it's off to the Public Access Counselor and State Board of Accounts we go ...

Once Upon a Time

Once Upon a Time On May 24, 2012, the Jefferson County Commissioners were presented with a $20,557.81 voucher that was already paid to Ralph Armand, former Health Dept. Administrator.This request was approved by the Commissioners and acknowledged, without reviewing the the hand written scribbles and calculations comprising the request that was also unsigned by its creator and lacked support documentation or certification by the county attorney, as required by State Board of Accounts. Kudos to Commissioner Tom Pietrykowski for truthfully admitting that he was informed that this appropriation was for "unemployment" and not for compensatory and vacation time.http://www.youtube.com/embed/PI7e_pO8BS4The Health Dept. Administrator is an exempt position and is ineligible for overtime or compensatory time. However, Auditor, Celeste Reed confirms that it was her writing that validated the request that paid Ralph Armand for 236.25 alleged comp hours earned entirely during two declared emergencies; flooding in 2011 and the Mar. 2, 2012 tornado. These hours cannot be verified in public records, but this is a fairy tale, so lets assume our Auditor can provide proof of prior authorization for the alleged hours worked in addition to the weekly salary base of 35 hours. Mr. Armand is paid now for 33.7 days of compensatory time for these two events. And the cover up continues by denying the public access to the Employee Service Record in violation of the Access to Public Records Act (APRA). Heigh Ho, it's off to the Public Access Counselor and State Board of Accounts we go ...7/25/2012 Update: Surprise, the State Board of Accounts identified several accounting anomalies resulting in this exact type of misappropriation. A slap on a wrist. Council person Laura Cash-Boldery never returned my calls or followed up on this issue as promised. Fast forward to 2016 ... the county is still unable to balance certain accounts and an investigation is ongoing with council president Cash-Boldery in the lead.Admin's Note: These concerns were presented to the Commissioners in a public meeting on Thursday, May 24, 2012. Our local paper has again shown their own media bias by failing to report on all agenda items, including this telling public discussion. 

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Public Records

In response the the Chapo’s request for production of documents, the County attempted to extort several hundred dollars in unwarranted copying fees. As a result, the Chapo’s filed a complaint with the Indiana Public Access Counselor on 12-10-2007 In an informal ruling 1-24-2008, the Counselor determined that the Plan Commission violated the Access to Public Records Act (APRA) by charging an excessive fee for copies of zoning ordinances. But that's ok, if the County uses these "unreasonable copying fees" to help settle thier long past due Court ordered settlement to the Chapo family already. [ssg-superb-slideshow=records=250=400=4000=600=0=YES]

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Log Cabin Rule

Here, we visit the elusive “Log Cabin Rule” which applies without limitation to all private homes – not just log cabins, and how it relates to local building/zoning ordinances. In 2003 our family legally built our personal home with our own hands without ever obtaining the alleged prerequisite building permit. Although our home site conformed to all septic system standards, zoning use, and minimum setback requirements at the time, our local health dept., building enforcement, and plan commission begged to differ. So in 2004, we shared our newly acquired knowledge by serving a timely Cease & Desist Notice, which fluently describes the “Log Cabin Rule to our well meaning but misinformed County officials. Dissemination of this particular Indiana Code to our Amish friends and other county citizens upset our questionable County Health Administrator, Mr. Ralph Armand so greatly that he pressured the county into filing a frivolous and unwarranted civil lawsuit against our family. This case was subsequently dismissed with prejudice and ruled frivolous by the Indiana Court of Appeals. Indiana Code Chapter 8, referred to as, IC 36-7-8 Titled “County Building Department and Building Standards” states in IC 36-7-8-1 “This chapter applies to all counties.” Indiana Code IC 36-7-8-3(d) states “An ordinance adopted under this section does not apply to private homes that are built by individuals and used for their own occupancy” (emphasis added.) The Indiana Court of Appeals addressed this issue twice, once in Robinson v. Monroe County, 658 N.E.2d 647, 652 (Ind. Ct. App. 1995) and again in Robinson v. Monroe, 60A04-9506-CV-225 (Ind. Ct. App. 1996). The Indiana Appeals Court (Majority Opinion) denied both, Monroe County and Indiana Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission (Amicus Curiae)... “... In its early stages, this country’s frontier was moved westward by pioneers who moved onto land and built houses made from the materials at hand. Since then, home owning has become an essential facet of the “American dream”. It may be argued that ordinances such as those contemplated by Indiana Code IC 36-7-8-3, which establishes construction specifications and require permits and inspections for residential construction projects, interfere with the ability of some individuals to build their own home and thus to pursue the American dream. Building codes and ordinances may conceivably discourage or impede such individuals from building their own houses. A private individual building his own house may not possess the skills necessary to construct a building which complies with the technical specifications set out in the ordinances. In addition, an individual may not be able to afford to hire professionals or others to build a house. Therefore, exempting a person who wishes to build his own house from the requirements imposed pursuant to IC 36-7-8-3 of complying with construction specifications and obtaining permits allows that person to build a house even though he may not possess the skills or equipment to comply with technical specifications, and allows him to do so even if he…

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