WARSAW — Former Kosciusko County Commissioner Brad Jackson on Tuesday closed the door to considering a run for elected office.

Jackson, who resigned as commissioner in 2024 after 28 years of service, recently lost in a caucus race and had contemplated a run for the county council District 1 race in the upcoming primary.

[caption id="attachment_126377" align="alignright" width="180"] Brad Jackson[/caption]

In a letter issued Tuesday, Jackson said he and his wife are enjoying retirement and staying active.

“God has blessed us with being able to retire with the health to enjoy a very active retirement, he said in the letter.

“Thank you for allowing me to serve you!” Jackson added.

Earlier, Jackson had contemplated running for the 1st district seat currently held by Kimberly Cates, but then opted to run for the at-large seat in a recent GOP caucus.

Below is the entire letter from Jackson.

“I have enjoyed and been blessed to serve the residents of Kosciusko County as commissioner for 28 years. I had the honor of serving with many great people and, as a team, we accomplished a lot of good for the county.

“I am grateful for all of the support from elected officials and, most importantly, the people of Kosciusko County as a whole.

“Since retiring from TL Jackson Construction and my commissioner role, I have discovered that I am as busy as I want to be, at least for now.

“My wife, Lynnette, and I enjoy spending time with our kids and grandkids and our church. We also love spending time in Florida and boating on the Gulf of America. I play a lot of pickleball, manage our rental properties and do financial counseling.

“God has blessed us with being able to retire with the health to enjoy a very active retirement.

“After a lot of prayer and consideration, I have made the difficult decision not to run for county council at this time. The decision was hard and filled with a lot of emotion.

“The support you have given me over the years means so much. I really love the people who call Kosciusko County home. Thank you for allowing me to serve you.”

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WARSAW — Rarely does Kosciusko County politics provide upsets and surprises, but that was the case Tuesday night when Republicans chose John Barrett over Brad Jackson to fill a vacancy on county council.

Fifty-six precinct committee members cast secret ballots, and a majority chose Barrett, a political newcomer who waited until just a few days before the deadline to seek the seat.

He and Jackson both said they found the outcome a bit surprising, and Barrett said he thinks the county is "ready for a new voice."

In a brief acceptance speech afterward, Barrett thanked everyone for their support.

You know, one of the great things about these caucuses is you get to decide, and tonight a decision was made, and I'm ready to hit the ground running," Barrett said.

He was also quick to recognize Jackson’s 28-year legacy as a former county commissioner.

“We all know Mr. Jackson. He’s a gentleman, plain and simple. He’s done an awful lot of work for this county over the years, and I think we should all give him quite a hand,” Barrett said as the crowd responded with strong applause.

Jackson, who originally planned to run for District One in the upcoming election, changed gears after the unexpected resignation of at-large councilwoman Delynn Geiger and quickly chose to participate in the caucus.

Reporters asked Jackson afterward if he would revert back to his original plan and run for the seat currently held by Kimberly Cates.

“I’m going to think for a little bit,” Jackson said.

Cates has yet to announce whether she will seek re-election.

Election filing begins Wednesday.

Barrett will fill out the remaining three years in Geiger's term.

Council's first meeting of the year is on Thursday night.

[caption id="attachment_125092" align="aligncenter" width="740"] Kosciusko County Republican Chair Mike Ragan, left, addresses GOP precinct committee members Tuesday night before the caucus vote. Further to the right are the two candidates, Brad Jackson and John Barrett. Ragan later announced Barrett was the winner. News Now Warsaw photo by Dan Spalding.[/caption]

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WARSAW — A new block of like-minded Kosciusko County Council candidates emerged at Tuesday’s GOP  Fish Fry, with Tony Ciriello, Brad Jackson, and Joe Irwin all wearing similarly themed purple campaign shirts.

[caption id="attachment_120407" align="alignright" width="440"] Three of the four aligned candidates include (from left) Tony Ciriello, Brad Jackson and Joe Irwin. The fourth, Dave Wokins, was unable to attend Tuesday's fish fry in Warsaw. News Now Warsaw photo by Dan Spalding.[/caption]

The early coordinated move probably says as much about unity as it does to serve as an attempt to fend off competition.

A fourth person in the candidate block, Dave Wolkins, did not attend the fish fry, but all four are expected to be at a campaign kick-off rally on Monday at the Zimmer Biomet Center Lake Pavilion.

“I think we’re a block of candidates who support each other. That’s why we chose to go with the same color,” Ciriello said.

Wolkins and Ciriello have both worn purple shirts during previous campaigns.

Wolkins is a former state lawmaker who lived for decades in Winona Lake.

Ciriello is a former sheriff's deputy, a town marshal in Syracuse, and a longtime coroner.

Jackson, a former county commissioner, threw his hat into the campaign two weeks ago and is seeking the district seat currently held by Kimberly Cates, also a Republican.

“Joe, Brad, Dave and myself are all very conservative, and if you looked at what we're doing with our budget for the county, there’s been a lot of cuts made," Ciriello said.

He added, “We were still able to give  the employees a two percent raise because of the cuts we made and kept us fiscally responsible without  pushing the max levy.”

Monday's reception is from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., and Ciriello invited everyone with an interest to attend.

The county council contests will be one of many county races in 2026.

Other contests include one for a county commissioner, four superior court judges, as well as ones for the sheriff, prosecutor, assessor, and recorder.

Legislative seats held by State Rep. Craig Snow and David Abbott will also be on the ballot.

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WARSAW — City and county officials are eyeing a tract of property as they consider constructing a city-county parking garage in Warsaw.

Kosciusko County Council approved plans to seek appraisals for property currently used by Ameriprise Financial, which is north of the American Legion on Fort Wayne Street.

The proposal would be partially funded with money set aside by the state for OrthoWorx, with additional funds from the city and county.

County Attorney Ed Ormsby said the county will make an offer based on the average of two appraisals and alluded to a backup plan that councilwoman Kimberly Cates then asked about.

"Do I understand that your proposal is that we make an offer, and if they don't approve it, we take it by eminent domain? Is that what your intentions are?" Cates asked.

"That's likely, but the commissioners haven't decided to institute an eminent domain. We go down this procedure first," Ormsby said.

No other elected officials provided any other insights on the plan on Thursday night.

The land is east of a county-owned parking lot, which sits at the corner of Lake and Fort Wayne streets and would likely be part of the overall parking garage design.

Council President Tony Ciriello pointed out that Thursday night's move does not mean the county is committed to constructing a parking garage.

[caption id="attachment_113106" align="aligncenter" width="750"] Here is a view of the county-owned parking lot to the west of the property the county is trying to acquire for a city-county parking lot. News Now Warsaw photo by Dan Spalding.[/caption]

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WARSAW — Kosciusko County Council on Thursday held off — for now — on the idea of eliminating property taxes on most mobile homes.

The debate came down to an issue of fairness versus an issue of simple math.

[caption id="attachment_95588" align="alignright" width="300"] From left Kosciusko County Assessor Gail Chapman and County Treasurer Michelle Puckett address county council on Thursday night. News Now Warsaw photo by Dan Spalding.[/caption]

The ordinance would exempt mobile home personal property assessments. The change would not affect mobile homes assessed as real estate.

Unlike most property tax collections, the county is regularly unable to collect about 35 percent of the mobile home taxes, in part because the homes are often sold and relocated. On top of that, some mobile homeowners just ignore the bills.

Even if collection efforts are made, most of those efforts on delinquent taxes lapse after ten years.

At the same time, the county spends a large amount of money and time trying to collect those taxes.

The proposal to eliminate the tax was supported by county treasurer Michelle Puckett and county Assessor Gail Chapman.

"The revenue loss is .002 — again, these revenues are just bonus dollars that you can't really anticipate collecting ... It's really if we do, we do, if we don't, we don't," Puckett said.

Chapman said they employ four people who spend four or five months per year working to collect mobile home taxes.

On the other hand, taxing units, such as schools and libraries would lose out on those tax revenues if no money is collected.

County Council President Mike Long had previously urged the pubic and taxing units to voice their opinions on the issue, but that did not materialize at Thursday’s meeting. Only two people stepped forward to speak. One was Rachael Rhoades, a Republican candidate for county council who opposed the idea, as well as one member of the public.

Long was a bit miffed at the apparent lack of interest from the public on the matter.

Councilman Dave Wolkins said he thinks the public still might have an interest if the county reconsiders.

Chapman warned that if they don't end the policy, she'll have to hire another person at the cost of some $44,000 to continue assessment work on personal property mobile homes.

The total cost between the assessor's office and the treasurer's office needed in regard to mobile home tax collections — everything from supplies to wages to postal expenses — is more than $134,000.

If the county collected all property taxes from mobile homes, the total would be around $700,000, but only about $454,000 was collected in 2023.

Of that money, the county received $69,880. Other big recipients in 2023 were Warsaw Community Schools ($130,166), Wawasee Schools ($62,883), and Warsaw Community Public Library ($7,336).

State lawmakers passed legislation recently that allows counties to opt out of mobile home tax collections as personal property (rather than real estate).

Puckett said the biggest counties are sticking with collections while many smaller counties are opting to cease efforts.

Kosciusko County is believed to have a large number of mobile homes compared to other counties.

Puckett pointed out that if they eliminated the tax, it would be hard to go back and begin collecting again because records would no longer be updated.

Cirilieo proposed the council hold off on the vote until they learn more and hear from other taxing units.

The vote on Ciriello's motion was 4-2. Those supporting the motion included Long, Wolkins, Kathy Groninger and Ciriello. Those opposed were Truex and Kimberly Cates.

The county auditor's office will send out a notice to taxing units asking for input, but the council declined to set a date for when it would reconsider.

Truex reacted to the move.

"I think you're delaying it for no reason because the information is not going to change," she said.

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WARSAW — A Marshall County judge has been assigned the drunk driving case involving Kosciusko County Council member Kimberly Cates.

Court paperwork shows the case was assigned to Marshall County Superior Court Judge Dean Colvin.

Colvin filed his acceptance of the appointment Wednesday, paperwork shows.

Cates faces two charges related to a traffic stop that happened March 9 but did not come to light for several weeks.

The two charges are operating a vehicle while intoxicated — endangering a person, and operating a vehicle with an ACE of 0.15 or greater.

Both charges are misdemeanors.

She has a pretrial hearing scheduled for Thursday before Colvin in Marshall County.

Whitley County Prosecutor Daniel Sigler was assigned the case because of a conflict of interest Cates has with the Kosciusko County court system.

According to police, Cates’ vehicle crossed the fog line several times during a five-mile stretch while she was driving on SR 13 south of Syracuse on March 9.

Court paperwork said she failed three sobriety tests and was unable to perform a breathalyzer test at the traffic stop. She was then taken to a hospital for a blood draw.

Her blood alcohol level was 0.20 — 2.5 times the legal limit in Indiana.

She was not taken to the jail or booked afterward. Instead, a Kosciusko County officer drove her home.

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WARSAW — Two class A misdemeanor charges were filed today against Kosciusko County Councilwoman Kimberly Cates.

Special Prosecutor Daniel J. Sigler filed a charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated/endangerment and operating a vehicle while per se intoxicated against Cates, 57, of Syracuse.

According to a report filed with the charges, on March 9, 2024, Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office deputy Todd Eby was on duty in a fully-marked patrol car. He was northbound on Ind. 13, just north of North Webster.

At approximately 11 p.m., he saw a white Sedan, also northbound, in front of his squad car. He saw the Sedan weaving within its lane and frequently crossing the fog line with both passenger side tires going completely over the fog line. Eby turned on his car camera and continued to follow the Sedan for approximately 5 miles. During that time, he saw the Sedan weaving and crossing the fog line multiple times.Eby activated his emergency lights and made a traffic stop at the intersection of Ind. 13 and North Grandview Drive. After advising dispatch of his traffic stop, he approached the vehicle. He introduced himself to the driver — later determined to be Cates — and explained the reason for the stop.

He asked her for her driver’s license. He noticed Cates had slurred speech and appeared to him to be somewhat confused. He asked her if she had been drinking. She told Eby that she had a couple drinks. She then stated she had been at an event in North Webster and had two beers.
Eby returned to his vehicle and contacted dispatch with the driver’s license information.

Dispatch advised Eby that Cates’ license had a suspended infraction.

Eby returned to the Sedan and, while doing so, realized his body cam had not activated and he turned it on.

Eby asked Cates if she was aware that her license had been suspended. Cates told Eby that it was not suspended. While explaining to Eby what had happened, KCSO Cpl. Kyle Denton arrived on scene.

Denton began talking with Cates and took over the investigation. Eby completed a warning citation for Cates for unsafe lane movement.

In a second report, filed by Denton, he said after Eby stepped back to his patrol vehicle, Denton continued speaking with Cates about her driver’s license status.

He observed her having bloodshot/watery eyes, slurred speech and he detected the odor associated with an alcoholic beverage coming from the vehicle. He asked Cates if she had consumed any alcoholic beverage, in which she stated yes, she consumed two beers.

Denton asked Cates if she would perform standardized field sobriety testing and she consented.

The first test administered was horizontal gaze nystagmus. Cates had equal pupil size and tracking and did not have resting nystagmus. She said she does wear contacts but did not have them in. She displayed lack of smooth pursuit in her left and right, distinct and sustained nystagmus maximum deviation and onset of nystagmus prior to 45 degrees, the report states.

The second test administered was the nine-step walk and turn. Before Denton gave Cates instructions on how the test was to be completed, Denton instructed her to stand with her right foot in front of her left, touching heal to toe and keep her hands down to her side, and to stay in that position until he instructed her to do otherwise. Cates was unable to stay in the position. Denton demonstrated the test, and Cates said she had no questions. Cates did not touch heal to toe on steps 4-9 and stepped off line multiple times. She used arms to balance on the way down to the turnaround spot and took 10 steps. Cates did not turn in the manor instructed. She did not touch heal to toe on steps 2, 6, 7-9 on the way back, used arms to balance and took 10 steps before completing the test.

The third test administered was the one-leg stand. Cates advised she has problems with her left knee, in which Denton asked if she would be able to stand on her right leg during the test. Cates said yes, but she was unable to complete the entirety of the test.

Denton attempted to offer Cates a portable breath test in which she was unable to provide a sample, the report states. He read Cates the Indiana Implied Consent in which she consented to a certified chemical test. Due to Cate’s inability to complete the portable breath test, he offered her a legal blood draw. Sgt. Justin Smith and Eby moves Cates’ vehicle to a nearby business and secured it.

Denton took Cates to Lutheran Kosciusko Hospital to complete the legal blood draw. After the draw, Denton took Cates back to her residence pending the results of the legal blood draw.

Her blood alcohol content came back at 0.20, which is 2.5 times the legal limit in Indiana.

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WARSAW — Kosciusko County Council reversed course on its earlier funding decision Thursday night for the use of $100,000 in ARPA money for the future downtown Warsaw YMCA.

On Oct. 12 , council was deadlocked in a 3-3 vote on a proposal to provide the YMCA with the request.

But confusion arose since then over how council member Kimberly Cates had cast her vote. Video shows she appeared to raised her hand in both support and opposition of the spending plan.

Cates said she was informed that the positioning of her hand might have opened the door for confusion.

As a result, Council President Mike Long on Thursday asked for a revote, but did not directly mention Cates as the source of confusion.

Shortly before the second vote, Long invited YMCA CEO Jim Swanson to address council and Swanson took the opportunity to reiterate a suggestion that county employees would receivwe a discount for use at the nearby YMCA regardless of how council voted.

Council then voted again and Long switched to support the plan, altering the final tally to 4-2.

Cates pointed out she had originally voted against and remained opposed Thursday night.

"I was told that it appeared I may have voted for or against, but it was recognized at the meeting that I voted against," she said. 

Long said afterward he changed his vote based on Swanson’s comments.

"We can actually use it as a actual benefit package now. You come to work for the county, we have a discount available at the Y," he said.

No public discussion by council was offered immediately after the vote.

Long said he's more confident that such confusion on specific votes won't happen again.

Thursday's vote was Dave Wolkins, Tony Ciriello, Sue Ann Mitchell and Long in support with opposition from Cates and Joni Truex. Kathy Groninger abstained because of a conflict of interest connected to her family's direct involvement in the YMCA project.

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WARSAW -- Apparently, some people are not keen on spending $2.4 to replace carpet, wallpaper and paint in the Kosciusko County Justice Building in Warsaw.

The county commissioners have planned for months to use $2.4 million in American Rescue funds to cover the cost of interior upgrades on the 43-year-old building.

Some county council members on Thursday seemed startled by the price tag and the fact that the county has never had a phased-in approach to such maintenance matters.

On Thursday, the commissioners were seeking approval to use the ARPA money, but the council slowed down the process.

“I’ll be honest with you,” said Council member Joni Truex. “I’ve already gotten pushback from the public. $2.4 million is just ridiculous, it really is.”

Council member Kimberly Cates followed up on comments by Truex.

"The reason we’re in this situation is because we didn’t stagger maintenance five years and 10 years and do a little bit at a time. It seems like, we do this all at once and we’re going to have the same problem in 10 years,” Cates said.

Commissioner Cary Groninger, who presented the request said phased-in maintenance can have complications, and pointed to the chance to save money.

“The other thing that I would say with that is if you’re looking from a cost perspective, you’re always going to get your best price when you’re buying in value and you’re doing a larger project,” he said.

Sue Ann Mitchell, a county council member who sits on the ARPA committee, approved the recommendation at the ARPA meeting but was also critical and urged the county to embrace a maintenance plan.

The $2.4 million figure is an estimate from a consultant who was hired to help coordinate the entire project.

The county has not yet sought bids for the work.

The County council voted Thursday to table the issue until they can see bids on the project.

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