Porter County Council prepares for first meeting
The new and new-ish members of the Porter County Council are looking forward to settling into their roles as the council prepares for its first meeting of the year on Jan. 15.
Democrat Greg Simms is representing District 3, a spot formerly held by Republican Karen Conover, who decided not to seek another term. Simms, of Valparaiso, won in the November election against Republican Mark Hoffman.
Democrat Bob Poparad takes the District 1 seat, after having previously served on the council for two terms as the District 1 representative and one term in an at-large seat. Poparad, of Burns Harbor, won the spot with a 15-vote margin over incumbent Andy Bozak, a Republican.
“The biggest thing that I see is, more communication needs to take place between commissioners and the council, and the council and the various entities they control,” Simms said.
Simms said that includes necessary information at budget time, “so everybody has a good understanding of what’s going on.”
Noting he’s “following a person (in the seat) who did a good job,” Simms said he would particularly like to improve communication with commissioners.
“Hopefully it can be a situation where through, ‘Hi, how’s it going?’ it’s going to open a dialogue,” he said.
Simms teaches government, economics and U.S. history at Washington Township High School and served two years as state representative for District 10.
During his campaign, Simms said the biggest thing he had to offer the council was his ability and willingness to listen to all of the perspectives on an issue.
Poparad said his priorities going back on the council include finding funding for 911 Central Communications and helping the county move forward with how to handle elections after a wide swath of problems during November’s general election.
“I have no agenda other that the fact that I bring more experience to the table than anyone but (Councilman Dan) Whitten,” Poparad said.
Poparad said if his time on the Burns Harbor Town Council is included in the tally, he has more experi- ence than Whitten.
Poparad is a small business owner who has served on the county’s board of zoning appeals and its plan commission. He said during the campaign that his goal is to maintain county services while keeping the tax rate low to encourage economic development.
If he wants to communicate with commissioners, Poparad said, he will call them or go see them.
Rounding out the district seats on the council are Democrat Jeremy Rivas, who was unopposed in his bid for a third term representing District 2, and Republican Mike Jessen, who won over Democrat Susie Talevski to represent District 4 for a second term.