By Becky Killian, Staff Writer

Salem officials have approved an agreement that would allow the merger of the city’s dispatch department with the county’s 911 center.The unanimous vote was held during the Monday, May 13, meeting of the Salem Common Council. All members were in attendance.

Mayor Justin Green explained that weeks’ worth of talks with county officials led to the drafting of an interlocal agreement that details the merger.

Green said the city’s dispatchers have never directly received 911 calls: all those calls are routed through the county’s dispatchers and are forwarded to city dispatchers.

The change will not result in any loss of jobs, Green said. The city’s current dispatchers will have the option of transferring to the county. Green said both the city and county departments struggle to find adequate staffing: it is hoped the merger will alleviate that problem.

“This proposal makes sense in a lot of ways,” Green said, adding that a combined city-county dispatch is not unique to Salem and Washington County.
The interlocal agreement that details the merger offers both parties the opportunity to opt out with a 90-day notification. The agreement has a term of five years.

Following a motion to approve the interlocal agreement by Council member Dylan Moore, a unanimous vote in favor of the merger was cast.

Green said the Washington County Commissioners have agreed to the draft ordinance and are expected to discuss – and possibly approve it – during the Tuesday, May 21, meeting.

In other business:

*An additional appropriation of $33,000 was approved to pay for overtime for the Salem Police Department. Clerk-Treasurer Sally Hattabaugh said that should cover any overtime that occurs through the end of the year. It was noted that staffing shortages have caused the overtime, and it is hoped the addition of two new officers will help to alleviate scheduling issues.

*Hounds Way was added to the city’s street inventory.

*Salem Police Chief Eric Mills introduced the city’s newest officers, James McAfee and Owen Bowers. The new officers are currently in training and will be doing ride-alongs with more seasoned officers during the next several weeks.

*The Brick Street Festival", which will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, June 8, was approved. A portion of East Market Street – from 301 to 304 – will be closed from 4 to 8 p.m. to allow vendors to set up.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is co-leading a 25-state lawsuit that seeks to overturn an invasive new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule that threatens the reliability of our power grid and will once again jack up utility costs for regular, everyday Hoosiers.

Attorney General Rokita’s latest fight against continued EPA overreach into Hoosiers’ wallets takes aim at the agency’s inefficient new rule that oversteps the federal government’s authority and imposes unrealistic mandates on power plants -- all so the Biden administration can appease the powerful political forces behind the climate agenda.

“Hardworking Hoosiers and businesses depend on reliable energy at affordable prices,” Attorney General Rokita said. “They understand these draconian measures are chasing unrealistic goals and will do nothing to actually improve our already good air quality. They also know the importance of protecting the authority of state and local government against power-hungry unelected federal bureaucrats. This lawsuit is all about standing up for Hoosiers on all these counts.”

The wildly inefficient new rule imposes significant restrictions on coal-fired plants, requiring them to capture 90% of carbon emissions using expensive, unproven technology. The rule exceeds the agency’s statutory authority and gives insufficient consideration to important facts, such as cost and grid reliability. 

In squaring off against the EPA’s newest  confusing and radically inefficient rule, Attorney General Rokita is co-leading this lawsuit with West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. 

After state Rep. Mike Speedy raised the issue, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita this week produced an advisory opinion clarifying that neither state nor federal law requires a coworker to use the preferred pronouns and names of fellow employees. 

An employer therefore is likely not liable in cases where staff members choose not to use new names and pronouns that are gender-nonconforming, the opinion states — provided that a reasonable person would not find the work environment to be objectively hostile. 

“Hoosier businesses should not be burdened with policing employees’ words to make sure their attitudes align with the latest, wokest fads,” Rep. Speedy said. “They face enough needless government regulations without being on the hook for enforcing politically correct views of transgenderism.” 

No federal court, Attorney General Rokita said, has found occasional use of non-preferred pronouns alone, even if intentional, to be actionable discrimination or create a hostile work environment. 

“Most Hoosiers agree that we all should extend love and compassion toward individuals beset with gender dysphoria,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Treating these individuals with respect, however, does not require us to deny basic truths, as we see them.” 

The times call for common sense, Attorney General Rokita added. 

“We must oppose the radical agendas of extremists,” Attorney General Rokita said, “who would force us all to march in lockstep with the transanity that dominates so many facets of society, from Hollywood to corporate boardrooms.” 

The advisory opinion notes that courts have left unsettled the question of how a pattern of pronoun usage in referring to another person might create a hostile working environment that potentially could give rise to an action under Title VII — which is part of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.