Message received.
That’s the response from county and court officials after voters denied a $9.95 million courthouse renovation last month.
The proposals called for building a second courtroom, more secure and handicapped-accessible entrances, new office space and other improvements. Voters rejected the bond proposal by a 76-24% margin.
“We need to regroup. We’re listening to the message we received and we’ll come back with a new plan,” Chief Judge Daniel Creitz said. “The security concerns do not go away. The need is still there, it’s just the reality of the situation and we’ll do the best we can with what we have.”
Creitz, along with Sheriff Bryan Murphy and Allen County Commission Chairman David Lee, agreed any future action needs support from the community at large.
“We’ll move forward on a different path,” Murphy said. “We have to figure out what that is, and it has to include the public. If we can’t get the public engaged with this, it’s never going to happen.”
Lee said the vote’s outcome came as no surprise. Before the election, he spoke with more than 50 voters who were opposed.
“I had people reach out and say, ‘I don’t see the need,’” Lee said. “I think we need a different process. We may come out with the same result, but you have to have buy-in from the community and we definitely did not have that on this go-round.”
Murphy reported similar conversations with voters.
Some criticized the process and called it a “short turnaround.”
“I heard someone say, ‘It feels like we’re being ambushed.’ It wasn’t intended that way, but perception is everything,” Murphy said.
Whatever plan comes next, Murphy said it should respect the will of the voters.
“People need to have their say. You can’t try to backdoor it and go against those decisions,” he said. “I don’t believe in unfunded mandates. I fight that a lot as sheriff and it puts a bad taste in my mouth. I can only imagine how a voting citizen would feel.”
Lee noted the courthouse proposal would have raised the tax rate by about 3 mills.
“It’s our desire to lower the mill levy and if we do raise it, we want to do it with the consent of those who live here and who are paying those taxes.”
