Despite insistence by county officials that there has been no movement on a proposed ordinance regarding the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, five speakers brought the issue back to the Indiana Board of County Commissioners meeting Wednesday.
“My research describes a Second Amendment sanctuary as a city, town or county that has passed a resolution or ordinance rejecting state or federal gun laws that are perceived as violating the Second Amendment,” said Ginny M. Brosky of Indiana, who expanded on the points, made in her letter published on August 15 in the Indiana Gazette.
Brosky questioned the veracity of this assertion, saying in that letter, “I am told by a reliable source that executive sessions of the Indiana County Commissioners have been held regarding the local ordinance or the Second Amendment Conservation Act, with the participation (either at these meetings or through other communication) from persons who strongly advocated such a decree.”
Members of the Indiana County League of Women Voters also wondered when information about the proposed ordinance might be released.
“I respectfully request that the League of Women Voters and other community organizations be included in any discussion of public safety issues in Indiana County,” said LWVIC President Anne Simmons.
The league’s website has details of a recent discussion on “Current Gun Laws in Pennsylvania” featuring Trooper Cliff Greenfield, spokesman for the Pennsylvania State Police in Troop A, Indiana.
“Susan Welsh (Chair of the LWVIC Children’s Rights Committee on Education), Kay Smith (Chair of the Constituent Services Committee) and Susan Bosser (LWVIC Representative at [League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania’s] State Policy Committee) worked together to provide sources of information on firearms laws, firearm deaths, and firearms safety and control,” the league said in a statement on its website. “We are not opposed to responsible firearms ownership, but we advocate a reassessment of public safety and public health in the face of an unacceptable escalation in gun deaths, suicides and mass shootings.”
Welsh and Smith were among the speakers at Wednesday’s council meeting, and Dr. Boeser, a sociology professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a former congressional candidate, spoke at an earlier council meeting.
Speakers also wondered how such an ordinance could affect economic development in the county, and whether the county was prepared to defend such an ordinance in court.
Brosky also cited comments from Deborah Schreckengost of Blairsville and Second Amendment Indiana County, who said the commissioners “gave me a draft of the proposed ordinance to review with the membership.”
For his part, Schreckengost recently told the Gazette that “more than 20,000 citizens” are in favor of the ordinance.
However, no speakers in favor of the decree appeared at any recent council meeting.
“You do realize that 90 percent of the people who support this have jobs,” Schreckengost said in an Aug. 12 Facebook post. “We can’t just fly out in the middle of the week to take part in a meeting.”
To all of this, board chairman R. Michael Keith said, “I stand by what I’ve been quoted to date.” At the Aug. 10 meeting, Keith said the language for such an ordinance is still under review and “no progress has been made to date” on the issue.
Other questions arose on Wednesday, including the approval of:
• Regional plan of social services for 2022-2023. for Armstrong and Indiana Counties.
“Every year, the (Pennsylvania) Department of Human Services requires us to implement a grant plan for social services,” said Tammy Calderone, Indiana Behavioral Health Program Administrator at Armstrong.
The plan was first developed for the 2018-19 fiscal year for the two counties and is a joint effort between her agency, the Indiana County Department of Human Services, the Armstrong-Indiana Drug and Alcohol Commission and the Armstrong County Alcohol Authority. program.
Accompanied by AICDAC Executive Director Cami Anderson during an online appearance at the Indiana County Commissioners meeting, Calderone said the block grant covers mental health, intellectual disability and other funding. It was transferred to the state Department of Health Aug. 19 after hearings in both counties.
“The total for Armstrong-Indiana Mental Health is just over $4.8 million,” Calderone said. “The intellectual disability portion is $1.6 million. For Indiana County, the state aid program is $239,000, the substance abuse portion is $381,000, and the Human Services Development Fund is $71,000.”
Indiana County has a mental health program matching obligation of $165,499.
• A cooperative agreement between the county Department of Human Services and the Indiana County Community Action Program, which grew out of a joint food drive last year.
DHS County Director Lisa Spencer said it worked so well that her agency will provide another $3,000 from the Social Services Development Fund for ICCAP Executive Director Michelle Fought to expand the campaign.
• Cooperative Agreement between County DHS and Indiana County Head Start. Spencer said HSDF money was also used last year with Life Skills, which created “some really great programs” for Early Head Start. HSDF will provide $8,557 for various home safety programs.
• A renewed Child Welfare Information System data sharing agreement with Indiana County Child and Youth Services and agencies in five other counties.
• Agreement between CYS and attorney Thomas Rivasecchi, who provides the services of an attorney and reviewer of its reports.
• CYS Private Provider Agreements for FY 2022-2023 with George Junior of the Republic of Pennsylvania, Taylor Diversion Programs Inc. and The Children’s Home of Pittsburgh.
https://www.indianagazette.com/news/local/second-amendment-sanctuary-talk-resurfaces-at-indiana-county-meeting/article_8bc5a44a-8531-52cd-bd14-7262ca37f604.html
