Donate to Campaign to Elect Nancy Merbitz

I was born and raised in Indiana, and returned from the Cleveland VA hospital after many years as a psychologist serving our Veterans and their families. I’ve been asked to run for county office.

The Bartholomew County Council is shedding several incumbents this election cycle, giving new candidates like me the opportunity to make changes.

The County Council manages the budget, which currently has a healthy, if not bloated, “rainy day” reserve of $12.25 million. I’ve chosen a platform focused on the fair use of available funds for public and environmental safety.

1.)   We must USE OUR BUDGET FOR

UNBIASED and SENSIBLE

ENFORCEMENT OF ORDINANCES

· Our code enforcement and animal control departments are woefully understaffed, while the County officials brag about their unused “rainy day fund.”

· Some people get dictated to, for example if they want to contract their own farmland for profitable solar panels.

· Other people, like animal abusers, or landlords of blighted properties, get no consequences at all.

2.)    We have SHOCKING CASES of ANIMAL CRUELTY

· Other rural counties around us have very specific ordinances for humane treatment of companion animals.

· Control officers in these counties have the authority and resources to enforce their ordinances, in cases of “dumping”, starvation, and abuse.

· In Bartholomew County, even the absolutely worst cases go without investigation or consequences. Residents report they've called about aggressive dogs on the loose, or starving dogs on chains, and gotten no help. Sometimes they were told to just shoot it themselves.

3.)   We’re under CONTINUED THREAT of POLLUTION AND LOWERED PROPERTY

VALUES from CAFOs and BIOLSOLIDS

· In spite of the huge public outcry, the Indiana Dept of Environmental Management recently ruled that farmland owned by Biocycle company can collect and spread “BIOSOLIDS” on Bartholomew County land. Will county government continue and expand their efforts to submit biolsolids to increased regulation and restrictions? I hope so. This and future companies will be on the "honor system" to monitor for toxins and bacteria before spreading the "solids" on our fields. Do we trust our current county government to keep up with this oversight?

Our county government changes meeting dates and times at the last minute, to decrease opportunity for public input. Maybe they hope we will forget and leave it all to them?

· In the meantime, regulations were LOOSENED on CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations). Since 2016 Bartholomew County has become the destination for these humongous pig poop factories, next door to homes and farms. CAFOs are factories, not farms, with industrial-strength pollution of our air and water.

I ask for your help to bring accountability to county governance. If elected, I will work for our county workers and family farmers, companion animals, and our environment. I’m a retired VA psychologist, and I will also look out for the health and mental health needs of county residents including our Veterans.

With one-party rule for decades, neither our Commission nor our Council has been truly accountable for how they run things. With better balance across parties, this WILL CHANGE.   

Nancy Merbitz, Ph.D.

Democratic Candidate for Bartholomew County Council At Large