ELKHART COUNTY — Elkhart County firefighters are fighting consolidation, and township trustees are coming together in an effort to keep their jobs. It all stems from the Commission on Local Government Reform.

Former South Bend Mayor Joe Kernan co-chaired that committee. The Kernan-Shepard report, issued last December, recommended wiping out township government. It also suggested state-wide consolidation of schools and police and fire departments.

That report is part of an attempt to streamline government and cut costs.
Some local governments don't think it's fair. That's why several Elkhart County trustees and firefighters met Tuesday night.

They're trying to pull together a grass roots effort to fight the Kernan-Shepard Commission.

When Elkhart County firefighters get a call, they respond to 16 designated areas as 16 separate townships.

"What the townships don't want to do is lose the autonomy they have, the responsibility and the ability to control our resources," said Cleveland Township Fire Board of Directors President Cliff Daly.

But one recommendation from the Kernan-Shepard report calls to merge fire departments and emergency services county-wide.

"It's not publicized," said Concord Township Fire Deputy Chief Scott Maurer. "No one really knows what's going on."

Many local fire departments are already in the red.

Cleveland Township's Cliff Daly said the state is denying departments funds to run them the way they need to be run.

"To try and combine, I don't see the cost savings," said Scott Maurer.

In Elkhart County, talk of merging brings uncertainty.

"No one's guaranteed their job," Maurer told WSBT. "And I guess that kind of scares a lot of people, myself included."

As fire departments fight consolidation, township trustees are actually joining together in an effort to try and keep their jobs.

Under the Kernan-Shepard Commission, County Commissioners and township government would be replaced by one elected county executive.

"I think that gives too much power to one person," said Cleveland Township Trustee Kathy Gordon.

That one person would appoint all other county offices except the Prosecutor.

"Our goals are to educate the public about what repercussions there will be in eliminating township government," Gordon explained.

Those efforts might be too little, too late. Fifteen township assessor positions were eliminated July 1. Since Concord Township has more than 15,000 parcels of land, those voters will chose to keep or get rid of theirs on November 4.

In St. Joseph County, Penn and Portage Township voters will also decide whether to keep their assessors.

Right now, Elkhart County trustees and firefighters are trying to get the word out and raise money to lobby state legislators before they meet in January.

Elkhart County trustees and firefighters are holding a public meeting next Tuesday, October 21 at 6:30 p.m. It's at Concord Fire Station 1 on County Road 18.

The goal is to educate taxpayers on how the Kernan-Shepard Commission affects them.