Johnson County Council candidates talk quality of life, salary study, communication

Six candidates are vying for three at-large seats on the Johnson County Council this fall.

Republican candidates include incumbent Melinda Griesemer, Ronald (Ron) Bates, who was caucused into the council in September, and current Johnson County Treasurer Michele Ann Graves. Democratic candidates are Blythe Potter, Michael Chiappetta and Saad Tawfeeq.

The Daily Journal reached out to each candidate and asked several questions on current county issues for a candidate Q&A. This is part two of that Q&A; part one was published in Thursday’s paper and can be found online.

The candidates gave their perspectives on quality of life, the salary study, requests to add new employees and keeping the public informed on council decisions. Their thoughts have been edited for length, clarity, grammar and repetition.

Beyond maintaining roads, what role could the council play in improving quality of life?

Bates: Future development, having green space, reserving green space for that matter, sidewalks, pathways, things of that nature. … Other things, I think we’re [currently constructing] a mental health building, and certainly mental health is a big issue nowadays in our society. Obviously, we want to keep criminality down. We want to have a good sheriff’s department. … Those that are making bad decisions with their lives — getting into drugs and things of that nature — we need to try to see what we can do to help those people, No. 1. But No. 2, that does help others who are on the right path having a better quality of life as well. They don’t have to worry so much about burglaries and things of that nature, drive-by shootings and all the things that we can encounter on a daily basis in our county.

Chiappetta: The first priority is to make sure that we do set aside these open spaces and have the ability to get out and enjoy one of the premier reasons that people want to be in Johnson County. A second one is that we should really focus, and just started to focus on, [is] mental health support. So when people face mental health issues, we should prioritize and continue to increase the funding for mental health assistance. I think that that actually will not lead to a net increase in the cost to our county. A number of law enforcement activities are probably directed toward people who really need mental health assistance and would allow them to be able to operate as productive citizens, whereas now they just fall into the law enforcement system, which really doesn’t help the people of Johnson County.

Graves: The council serves as the fiscal body of the county and is responsible for making financial decisions that allocate expenditure of county funds. In my experience, [the] council does not directly address quality of life. What I can offer is my ability to communicate those concerns to those who are better able to address those needs via the many relationships I have developed over the past seven years serving as county treasurer.

Griesemer: I think we’ve been doing that. We have appropriated money in support of the county health department, towards the new county building that was just recently opened near the Johnson Memorial Hospital for the coroner’s office as well. We have appropriated money toward the treasurer’s office to help streamline payments and notifications, and as a result, we have saved money for the treasurer’s office … We have upcoming job classifications that we are going to be appropriating money to get those studies done so that we can get our county employee salaries at set pay raise at set pay rates so that they can then with time earn more money.

Potter: I think accessibility, that right there, is a big improvement in quality of life. I have a four-year-old. I know there’s not a single park that is maintained by Johnson County to my knowledge that people can just hop on a trail or a sidewalk and get to, and most of the parks, once you do get there, you’re pretty much roasting in the sun … I think road maintenance and access in all transportation connectivity — be it on foot or car or anywhere in between — that right there is the easiest way to change and improve quality of life because we all use it unless we are literally staying at home all day every day.

Tawfeeq: I believe that economic growth and quality of life go hand-in-hand and my campaign is focusing on promoting policies that not only drive sustainable economic development. but also enhance the well-being of every resident in our community. First, fostering economic growth. Our county has tremendous potential for growth by supporting local businesses, attracting new industries and investing … We can create job opportunities that provide meaningful employment to residents and I will advocate for smart investments and infrastructure, workforce development and public-private partnership. … I am committed to enhance our community livability by promoting affordable housing options, expanding access to the parks and recreational facilities and ensuring public service meets the needs of all residents. By working together with nonprofits, developers and community organizations, we can create an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and supported.

There’s been a disagreement recently among elected officials about the salary study. Do you think a salary study is needed?

Bates: So first thing there, who’s going to do it? Are they reputable? And what is their fee structure? So in other words, you’re spending money, sometimes unnecessarily, you’re spending the money to see how much employees deserve on a yearly basis. On the other hand, I’ve kind of always operated on the premise that if we have it in our coffers, so to speak, I believe employees, if they’ve been doing a good job — they’re working, they’re showing up every day on time, they of course obviously have their supervisors and department heads and so forth — they deserve a raise on a yearly basis … I’m kind of being open to that idea [of a salary study]. What I don’t like hearing is, ‘Well, so and so, they can move to a different county and different counties paying a higher wage than Johnson County is.’ I don’t like hearing that. Now again, you can go to different organizations … you can see a comparability of different positions and what the wages are for each of those positions.

Chiappetta: Absolutely it’s needed. What I read in the recent article is that there are a number of opinions that individuals are expressing over what is a reasonable salary for a given position. It probably plays into the need to have a well-funded human resources department within the county and this study so that we can determine objectively what are the types of salary and compensation that these different positions command, or what salaries they receive in the state and the nation so that we can compensate our employees fairly. Without that, it’s all a matter of opinion.

Graves: Utilizing an independent consulting company could provide clarity to the many difficult decisions presented to the county council. That would be my position … I think it could provide clarity.

Griesemer: I do. I understand why some are concerned about spending money toward obtaining the results of the study, but we need to form a baseline. We have different job classifications that are getting paid different rates, and we want to form a baseline so that we can move forward with decisions taking that information into account.

Potter: Possibly, I guess it depends on how much the salary study costs. Clearly, I need to look into this. But I also think it could be something as simple to start with a survey, whether it be community or employees, and see what your people who you’ve already hired, see what they think: What is their satisfaction? What do they believe their needs are? What would they like to see happen? Sometimes it’s just a conversation with your team, which takes a little bit of thought to send out a survey, but it’s free.

Tawfeeq: I’m not disagreeing with this. If this is helping the community, yeah, 100% … I want to see it so I can manage it. So after I manage it and engage in it for the people, let’s make it more affordable.

As Johnson County grows, so does its government. How would you evaluate requests to add new employees?

Bates: There needs to be an advocate for that, and say, ‘Well, we need this position.’ Of course, you need to always add a job description to it, but ‘We need this position for these reasons,’ and I don’t think anyone that would be on counsel past or present would not look at that in a positive way and study it and say, ‘Yes, I think you’re right. I think we do.’ … We would go, ‘Well, okay, here’s the need, where do you see that in the budget and do we have that, can we afford it?’ And that’s the bottom line, of course, just as we start a conversation about living within your budget, living within your means, and not above your means, and we don’t want to get into deficit spending.

Chiappetta: We first need to understand what the needs are for service to the citizens of Johnson County, and so that when the request for increased funding —- the one that I’m citing is for parks and open spaces and trails and all that sort of stuff — that we need to understand the bang for the buck but as a service that will be filled. And do we as Johnson County believe that that service needs to be filled? And then with that understanding would be the submission of do we need new employees? Do we need additional funding for facilities? So instead of forwarding, ‘I need to have a new employee because we’re understaffed,’ the first part of the statement should say, ‘This is a service that we know we want Johnson County to supply, and this is the shortfall in our personnel. Therefore, these are the hires that we need to be able to adequately meet that service.’

Graves: Again, I think the independent consulting company could provide clarity for that decision.

Griesemer: That is a case-by-case basis. Every situation is different. The various departments do need additional help, and they may need another person. We are a growing county, and that may be a possibility to address in the future … (I would consider) how much that department is paying in overtime.

Potter: Well, I guess what the workload is, And that’s kind of an employee satisfaction thing too. It could be anonymous. Ask your employees, do they need support? Do they need assistance? Do they feel like their workload is too much for one person? I think oftentimes we like to, ‘Oh, well, we’ll see what the data says.’ Okay, yeah, that’s worth it. You can talk to the people too because your employees often happen to be your constituents who are voting for you or not. So I think definitely have a conversation with them. But if the county is growing at a rate that there’s a load being put on anyone in government that is unable to be handled, then perhaps, yes, but I know HR was something that they’ve been talking about, I would think that would be the first thing they would need to look at before hiring assistance and things.

Tawfeeq: I am gonna work with the council members and engage with the department heads and with the council members. I would engage with council members to see how to resolve this issue.

If you’re elected, would you make an effort to keep the public updated on council decisions? If so, how?

Bates: You have to be careful too because this is a part-time employment, so you have to be careful trying to make something that’s part-time, full-time. Obviously, I want to devote all the time that I can … being open to the public, being open. Our council meetings … they’re on the internet. We’re aware of the open-door laws, and the media is certainly welcome and I assume covers, obviously, county meetings. And probably, if I was going to do anything like that, I would probably say it publicly as part of the dialog for a council meeting, but I don’t know other than a website. … I could post something like that on the website.

Chiappetta: I would make a concerted effort to do so. I believe that there would be a way with the electronic media that we have now that we could more openly disseminate the results of the county council meetings, the county council budget. I went and asked for the county council budget, and found that it was right on a website, and they pulled it right off for me, but publicizing that to people and having them understand, ‘Here are the services that the county supply. This is what the county council is responsible for in terms of budgeting for those services and then disseminating that information so that the general population understands exactly what was the process the county went through to determine what services they would supply and how they would fund them. There are a number of ways I believe that could be disseminated. A possibility would be as a column by the county council, a periodic column by the county council members in the Daily Journal, so that people would see, ‘Oh, this is what we’re up to and this is what our position is. This is how we’re spending our efforts to have the county remain and become even more the type of place you want to live.’

Graves: All county council meetings are held in a public setting. Per Indiana statute, the county has made an effort to post all the agendas, and the meeting schedules, those are advertised. You can attend these public meetings in person. You can view them online during a Zoom meeting and you can also view them after the fact on the county’s website. So I think we are making that information transparent and available to the public at this time. … I would say the effort is already there. It’s just up to the public to access it.

Griesemer: I do, I try to do that currently. I have my Facebook page, which is Melinda Griesemer for Indiana, and I try to communicate with the public that way. The public is free to also email me and I feel I’m very good at returning their emails and phone calls back to them.

Potter: Anytime a meeting is canceled or changed, it needs to be posted on social media. All meetings need to be live streamed. Documents need to be uploaded in a sufficient amount of time for meetings that are in person. … So really giving people as much opportunity as possible to engage or be involved or to hear what’s being said, even if they can’t go physically in person. … [Also,] making the county website more intuitive and user-friendly, not just with council stuff, any information that needs to be had within the county.

Tawfeeq: By engaging with them, with the residents. Going to the residents when they check in and I will tell them, face-to-face. I’m not gonna hide anything from the community … because the community needs to know, because I am a part of the voice of the community.

ABOUT THE JOB

Johnson County Council At-Large

Represents: Johnson County as a whole

Duties: Approving the county budget, including how many sheriff’s deputies will patrol the roads and how much should be spent on road projects. Approves any new or increased taxes.

Term: Four years

Pay: $11,978 per year (2024)

The Bates File

Name: Ronald “Ron” Bates

Age: 76

Residence: Greenwood

Family: Wife, Donna; four children

Occupation: Educator at Suburban Christian School

Education: Charles G. Ross High School, Missouri; Tennessee Temple University bachelor’s; Tri-City Bible College master’s; Maranatha Baptist University, history graduate certificate

Military service: None

Political Experience: Served two terms on city council in Illinois city; Greenwood City Council member from 2004-2023; current Johnson County Council member from caucus vote until end of year

Memberships: Johnson County Republican Women’s Club, Suburban Baptist Church

The Chiappetta File

Name: Michael F. Chiappetta

Age: 70

Residence: Bargersville

Family: Wife, Michele; one adult child

Occupation: Self-employed consultant; Retired from Eli Lilly

Education: Indiana University Bloomington bachelor’s; UC San Diego master’s and PhD

Military service: None

Political Experience: Ran unsuccessfully for Clark Township Board in 2022

Memberships: Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Johnson County Democratic Party, Purdue Extension Master Gardener

The Graves File

Name: Michele Ann Graves

Age: 61

Residence: Trafalgar

Family: Husband, Mark; two children

Occupation: Johnson County Treasurer

Education: Indian Creek High School, 1981; IUPUI

Military service: None

Political Experience: Johnson County Treasurer since 2016

Memberships: Johnson County Republican Women’s Club, Johnson County Republican Central Committee, Johnson County Board of Finance

The Griesemer File

Name: Melinda Griesemer

Age: 53

Residence: Greenwood

Family: One adult daughter

Occupation: Owner/director of Indianapolis Medical Consulting

Education: Two degrees, Purdue University

Military service: None

Political Experience: Johnson County Council member since 2020; unsuccessfully ran in 2019 caucus for Indiana House District 93; unsuccessfully ran for Indiana House District 57 in 2022

Memberships: National Rifle Asssociation, Mary Bryan Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution

The Potter File

Name: Blythe Potter

Age: 42

Residence: Bargersville

Family: Husband Michael; three children

Occupation: Co-owner of Bargersville Wellness; massage therapist, esthetician, yoga teacher

Education: Franklin Central High School; Siena Heights University, BAS in massage therapy and MBA

Military service: U.S. Army Reserves Military Police Corps 2002-2012, Personal Security Detail/bodyguard deployed to Iraq 2005-2006

Political Experience: Ran unsuccessfully for Bargersville Town Council 2023, elected as DNC delegate 2024

Memberships: Leadership Johnson County graduate; member of various professional organizations, Center Grove Ambassadors and Emerging Leaders Project and DEI Task Force, Aspire Johnson County and Greater Franklin Chamber of Commerce, Veterans for Indiana PAC

The Tawfeeq File

Name: Saad Tawfeeq

Age: 36

Residence: Greenwood

Family: Unmarried; no children

Occupation: Formerly employed in software industry

Education: GED

Military service: None

Political Experience: First-time candidate

Memberships: None provided