CROWN POINT | One Lake County official says he is trying to make a major recommendation of the Good Government Initiative a reality but accuses others of stonewalling.
Lake County Surveyor George Van Til said he has to overcome resistance from entrenched interests to his proposal to take over the Department of Public Works.
The department, created two decades ago to do small drainage control projects in rural residential areas, has grown to a staff of eight and a budget of more than $300,000.
Van Til said his office could perform the same work with half the employees and half the cost -- as recommended in the 1,059-page Good Government study financed by BP, Mittal Steel, NiSource, U.S. Steel and Whiteco to make local government more efficient and less costly.
County Councilman Tom O'Donnell, who supports the initiative, said he asked his fellow council members earlier this week to adopt the surveyor/public works merger in its 2008 budget.
But O'Donnell admits, "I had to drop it. There weren't enough votes for it."
Van Til said he hopes to revive the plan in a speech as early as next week before the County Council.
"I don't think its dead, but it may be on life support," Van Til said.
County Commissioner Gerry Scheub, D-Schererville, said he would like to pull the plug on Van Til's proposed consolidation. Scheub and the other two commissioners would lose control over eight jobs under Van Til's plan as well as the ability to respond to constituents served by the department.
"I told the County Council that I'm not willing to let that go," Scheub said. "When people call my office, they expect us to be there immediately. ... If it went to the surveyor's office, its work would be of secondary importance."
Van Til said he doesn't understand Scheub's objection.
The Maximus study concluded the public works department's responsibilities overlap those of the surveyor, which regulates rural drainage ditches and other large flood-control systems. Van Til said that overlap confuses the public about where to call for help.
