by Mike Sever
Record-Courier Reporter
A few weeks ago, DuWayne Porter, the health commissioner for the Portage County Combined Health District, told township officials the fate of the county health department is in their hands.
Porter said the district, with 22 employees, is the smallest for its service area in the state and has cut its services to the bone. Any more cuts and the state may step in on some inspections, he said.
The health department is operating on inspection fees and a 53-year-old levy.
Porter is asking the Portage County Budget Commission to cover the health department's 2008 and 2009 budget by charging the townships a share based on population.
He's also asking township officials for real support this fall when the department tries again for a levy.
In other counties, Porter said, the township trustees buy levy signs for the health department and actively support levy passage.
In Portage, for more than half a century, the health department has been unable to get an additional levy passed. A majority of voters can't bring themselves to pay a couple of bucks toward their own health.
Porter concedes getting support for an agency that often is seen as causing people to spend money -- to replace a failing septic system, for example -- can be tough.
"It's like the IRS asking for money to hire more auditors," he said.
But think about this if the chargebacks fail, and if the levy fails in November:
Next time you buy that burger, how do you know it's not going to make you sick? Who inspected the kitchen where it was made, and do you trust them?
Bon apetit!
E-mail: msever@recordpub.com
Telephone: 330-296-9657