"Accountability - The Ally of Good Government"

Thursday May 13, 2003

The Muncie Times 

Outstanding Citizens Award Program

Trustee Recognized by local newspaper

Shirey Oversees Essential Services for Center Township Residents

by Charles Gulubane

Shirey is a long time resident of Muncie.  He was born in Muncie on Aug. 6, 1947.  He attended Royerton and Claypool Elementary Schools as well as Wilson Middle School.  He graduated from Royerton High School in 1965 and enrolled at Ball State University where he majored in General Business with a minor in Finance.

In 1967, at the height of the draft, he left Ball State University to enlist in the US Army.  He served in the Army Reserve for 22 years before retiring at the rank of Master Sergeant (E-8).

Shirey also worked for 20 years for Westinghouse as an industrial engineer, a production supervisor, a financial planner and a manager of distribution and warehousing.

From about 1980 to 1987 he served as Director of Military Occupation Skills (MOS) at the 5030 Army Reserve School in Indianapolis.  His duties then were to find out what classes were required by the personnel at the base, identify classrooms and secure instructors to teach them.  He also designed the methods for evaluating the students.

Shirey is serving a second four year term as Center Township Trustee of Delaware County.  He was first elected to that office in November 1998.  His main responsibility is to provide essential services to the residents and businesses of the township.  That duty encompasses services as diverse as fire protection, poor relief, burials, assessing, financials, cemetery maintenance, weed control, fence disputes, livestock claims and a myriad others.

What keeps Shirey going is the satisfaction of knowing that he is helping to change people's lives in a positive way.  "The people that we serve in this office are very poor.  Being able to make a positive change in their lives is very rewarding," he said.

Shirey also serves on various boards including Association of Concerned Taxpayers (ACT), Center for Vital Aging, Delaware County Coalition for Human Services, Hillcroft Services, Indiana Township Association, Inc., Institute for Township Government, Life Stream Services and RSVP.  He also recently served as the State Educational Chairman for the Trustees Association.

He and wife Sandy have been married for 33 years.  They have three children and two grandchildren.  They are members of St. Lawrence and the People of Praise.

Nominations for the Outstanding Citizen Awards should be sent to:

Outstanding Citizen

The Muncie Times

1304 N Broadway

Muncie, IN  47303

Trustee wins latest round in fight with commissioners

MUNCIE - Center Township Trustee Richard Shirey has won the latest round in his legal battle with the Delaware County commissioners over poor relief practices.

A special judge on Thursday refused to dismiss Shirey's lawsuit, which alleged the commissioners violated state law and their own guidelines when they held a poor relief hearing without representation from the trustee's office.

Blackford Circuit Court Judge Bruce Bade denied County Attorney Donald Dunnuck's motion for summary judgment and asked both sides to file additional documents within 2 weeks.

Dunnuck said Friday he believed the trustee's office was wasting time and taxpayer money by pursuing the complaint.

"They're making a mountain out of a molehill, as far as I'm concerned," Dunnuck said.

Shirey said the disagreement was important to establish a consistent way of scheduling commissioners' poor relief hearings.

"While I'm being an advocate for my office, I feel I am also being an advocate for the people we serve, who are the disadvantaged," Shirey said. "For the people we serve, you have to be specific in how things are to be done."

Shirey's lawsuit, filed in September in Delaware Circuit Court 3, springs from a case in which Shirey's office approved about $300 in public assistance for a woman to pay her utility bills. Shirey said the assistance was denied when the woman failed to come to the trustee's office to complete paperwork.

She appealed the decision to the county commissioners, who hear poor relief appeals. The commissioners held a poor relief hearing in August - without representation from the trustee's office - and overturned Shirey's decision.

The commissioners argued that they waited for Shirey or a representative, but Shirey said the officials held the hearing earlier than usual and failed to contact his office.

Dunnuck said Friday the trustee's office should attend the appeal hearing without being specifically called by the commissioners.

"Whose responsibility is it for them to be at the meeting?" Dunnuck asked. "Is it our responsibility to baby-sit them?"

At the time of the hearing, all three commissioners were Democrats. Shirey is a Republican who was facing a re-election battle at the time.

In this week's hearing, Bade asked the parties in the dispute to further clarify the notices establishing when the disputed poor relief hearing would be held.

Contact news reporter Keith Roysdon at 213-5828.

Township adopts fees for haz-mat spills, fires

MUNCIE - The Center Township Volunteer Fire Department will soon charge property and vehicle owners to respond to hazardous materials spills and fires.

"It has been a pretty common thing to do," Center Township Fire Chief Jeff Stigall said.

The Center Township Board Tuesday unanimously approved haz-mat fees, to go into effect April 1.

State law allows volunteer fire departments to recover the cost of spills or fires related to hazardous materials. Most area departments already impose the fees.

Board Chairman Robert Thompson said he had no problem with the fees, including a flat $270 charge to clean up anti-freeze or oil from automobile accidents.

"Insurance generally pays the charges," he said.

Stigall said the department had responded to nine hazardous waste spills or fires, along with logging 47 auto accidents with cleanups.

Center Township Trustee Richard Shirey had estimated about $15,000 worth of equipment had been lost to chemical and hazardous waste fires or spills.

The township covers the southside Industria Centre, and responded Jan. 27 to a fire in a garbage truck that involved an industrial insecticide.

Contact news reporter Rick Yencer at 213-5833.