A Valparaiso City Council member wants to follow Porter County's lead and establish committees to allocate the city's COVID-19 money. Robert Cotton told the rest of the city council Monday that leaving Mayor Matt Murphy in charge of dividing up the American Rescue Plan funds seemed like a "narrow funnel."
Cotton again urged the city to follow the recommendations set out by the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. "That doesn't have anything to do with spending the money quickly. It has everything to do with being conscientious stewards about these most adversely impacted residents, lest we appear to have some level of contempt for who actually is entitled to receive our consideration in this matter," Cotton said.
He also questioned whether City Administrator Mike Jessen's role as a Porter County Council member posed a conflict of interest.
Mayor Murphy disagreed. "We are not Porter county. We don't need OCRA telling our city council how to invest $7.6 million. I know you disagree, but we're not going to belabor this point again and again," Murphy told Cotton.
Residents have a few more days to submit input on the city's website.
