(La Porte County, IN) - The Attorney for La Porte County gave what sounded like a farewell speech during the La Porte County Commissioners meeting last night.
It’s believed Friedman will be replaced as County Attorney at the first of the year due to an apparent change in the balance of power on the Commission following the defeat of incumbent Shelia Matia in the mid-term election.
Friedman, whose appointment as County Attorney was the source of nearly two-years of bitter political fighting, urged the Commissioners to get back to reaching across parties and vowed to be there whenever needed if he’s not reappointed County Attorney.
“Be willing to work across the aisle to get things done and let’s try to get back to the bipartisan cooperation that has existed here for decades. Whether I’m County Attorney or not, I will never stop advocating for our county and I will be available as needed to county officials after January 1st for anyone who needs or desires assistance on any issue facing our county,” he said.
Friedman also advised the Commissioners to look outside county government, if necessary, for guidance.
“You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. There are 91 other counties and someone else is dealing with the same issues or same problems as you are. Learn best practices from other counties, the Indiana Association of Counties, Indiana Municipal Lawyers Association and incorporate them here."
"Every new practice we’ve instituted is because elected officials or department heads came to us requesting assistance and we provided it and that often means being willing to adopt best practices used elsewhere and also to advocate and lobby for this county’s interests in any way possible,” Friedman said.
Friedman highlighted some of his most recent accomplishments as County Attorney including the assitance he provided for the nearly completed construction of an EMS base, a new county highway garage near Rolling Prairie, and financing his firm helped secure for rail connectivity at Kingsbury Industrial Park to further develop the grounds.
He also cited his assistance with forming the Fairgrounds Management and Events Corporation that paved the way for desperately needed improvements to the fairgrounds allowing the fairgrounds to host more events on a more year round basis. Friedman said the County Fair is no longer saddled with red ink as a result of his help related to the Fairgrounds improvements, which came at the request five-years ago by La Porte County Councilman Terry Garner.
“I so appreciate Councilman Garner’s generous comments publicly at a council meeting July 25th where he said he couldn’t have started FMEC without my help and I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished together, an accomplishment he cited as the major accomplishment of his twenty years in county office,” Friedman said.
He also vowed to work toward a smooth transition with his successor if he’s not reappointed as County Attorney.
Friedman has been County Attorney for a vast majority of the time since the 1980’s.
