Will township trustees be eliminated?

ELKHART COUNTY — Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and other state lawmakers are pushing to streamline local government. One thing they want to do could impact township trustee offices, and Elkhart County leaders may not wait on the state to make their own changes. Gordy Nusbaum is aware that a move is afoot to eliminate trustee offices around Indiana. The Middlebury trustee says trustees have a better feel for those they are dealing with, rather than passing on those duties to one county-wide body. "The people that come in here, most of them we know or are aware of their situation,” said Nusbaum. Trustees oversee township fire departments, poor relief efforts and township cemetery upkeep. Some county leaders would like to implement changes now, rather than waiting for the state to make the call. Questions remain about who take over those duties. Consolidation of some county trustee services is one idea. "Just trying to figure out some way that we can, you know, make it a little more efficient, before we are forced to make it efficient,” said Frank Lucchese, Elkhart County commissioner. The fire department in Middlebury is funded and overseen by the trustee office. The question arises what would become of it if the state goes ahead to close that office. "There are several departments in Elkhart County like ours that are overseen by a trustee,” said Chief Jeff Wogoman of the Middlebury Township Fire Department, “and if the state of Indiana does away with trustees, we're not sure who is actually going to be responsible for the departments and where we will get our funds." A suggested change would create a county-wide tax for poor relief efforts in Elkhart County.