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Lt. Governor Anthony Brown brings remarks to participants of MBE Procurement and Business conference. by Brian K. Slack at Largo
Senior Procurement Executive, Deputy Chief Acquisition Officer and Assistant Administrator for Procurement Karla Smith Jackson delivers remarks during a NASA Office of Procurement Enterprise Reverse Industry Day event Thursday, April 24, 2025, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)
The ODOT Procurement Office acquires all of the goods, services and outsourced work that our agency needs.
12-13 September, London, U.K.
More information here: www.gartner.com/events/emea/it-financial-procurement-asse...
Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan gives his opening speech to the 23rd Session of the U.S. China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012. The JCCT holds high-level plenary meetings on an annual basis to review progress made by working groups that focus on a wide variety of trade issues. These working groups meet throughout the year to address topics such as intellectual property rights, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, information technology, tourism, commercial law, environment, and statistics. Established in 1983, the JCCT is the main forum for addressing bilateral trade issues and promoting commercial opportunities between the United States and China. The 2011 JCCT meeting was held in Chengdu, China, where China agreed, among other issues, to improve intellectual property enforcement, delink innovation policies to government procurement preferences, and provide a fair and level playing field in China’s Strategic Emerging Industries. USDA photo by Lance Cheung.
General Phillips cited Betsy Ross and the Wright Brothers as some of the first military contractors. See more in the blog entry about his talk at the 2010 NDIA Small Business Conference.
Lt. Governor Anthony Brown brings remarks to participants of MBE Procurement and Business conference. by Brian K. Slack at Largo
Lt. Governor Anthony Brown brings remarks to participants of MBE Procurement and Business conference. by Brian K. Slack at Largo
Lt. Governor Anthony Brown brings remarks to participants of MBE Procurement and Business conference. by Brian K. Slack at Largo
Governor Moore speaking at Senior Procurement Advisory Group Meeting by Anthony DePanise at 100 Community Place, Crownsville, MD 21032
The ODOT Procurement Office acquires all of the goods, services and outsourced work that our agency needs.
In Uzbekistan, UNOPS partnered with KOICA to deliver life-saving medical equipment and supplies to support the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As part of the project, the Tashkent Research Institute of Virology received equipment to improve testing capacity.
© UNOPS/Sharakhmedov Khamdam
3 May 2019. ADB officials present to business communities an overview of the bank’s new procurement framework and its implementation status.
Opportunities in the Pacific were highlighted, as procurement in the region struggles to attract bidders, particularly new entrants.
Visit the event page for more information on this event and the list of speakers.
Lt. Governor Anthony Brown brings remarks to participants of MBE Procurement and Business conference. by Brian K. Slack at Largo
The lead authors of a recent United Nations Environment Programme study of the Global State of Sustainable Public Procurement presented snapshot of the inter…
See more about Global Procurement Colombia
(Posted by China Sourcing Blog)
Lt. Governor Anthony Brown brings remarks to participants of MBE Procurement and Business conference. by Brian K. Slack at Largo
In coordination with Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and with $5.6 million in funding from the government of Japan, UNOPS is supporting Mexico’s COVID-19 response and helping to improve the provision of health services through the delivery of specialized equipment.
In the town of Tlalixtac in Oaxaca, 14 ambulances were handed over in January 2022 and were distributed to remote areas throughout the state.
© UNOPS/BDM Estudio
Lt. Governor Anthony Brown brings remarks to participants of MBE Procurement and Business conference. by Brian K. Slack at Largo
Lt. Governor Anthony Brown brings remarks to participants of MBE Procurement and Business conference. by Brian K. Slack at Largo
5 October 2016- Opening Forum on Procurement for Innovation at OECD.
OECD, Paris, France
Photo: OECD/Michael Dean
Who didn't deliver the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) on time? Who are the middlemen making lots of money?
Why did the UK dispatch 2 x Royal Air Force cargo planes to Turkey only for them to return with most it not to meet the required standards?
Why does a report by a spending watchdog find suppliers with links to Conservative MPs were given priority?
It's a Hospital Heist!
Get yours in a local Aldi store.
A procurement management software is a computer program to automate the sale and purchase process in an organization. To know more view this infographics.
Source: magic.piktochart.com/output/22189114-points-to-consider-w...
Lt. Governor Anthony Brown brings remarks to participants of MBE Procurement and Business conference. by Brian K. Slack at Largo
Lt. Governor Anthony Brown brings remarks to participants of MBE Procurement and Business conference. by Brian K. Slack at Largo
3 May 2019. ADB officials present to business communities an overview of the bank’s new procurement framework and its implementation status.
Opportunities in the Pacific were highlighted, as procurement in the region struggles to attract bidders, particularly new entrants.
Visit the event page for more information on this event and the list of speakers.
Lt. Governor Anthony Brown brings remarks to participants of MBE Procurement and Business conference. by Brian K. Slack at Largo
The menu will feature vegetarian and vegan options as well as regional cuisine. Incredibly, 98% of the ingredients on the menu were procured from within 300 miles. This is truly a menu that pays homage to and celebrates local, organic and sustainable food.
Signature dishes include Wolfgang Puck Kobe beef sliders, Sesame Miso Cones with Carolina Yellow Fin Tuna Tartar, and a Charcuterie and Cheese bar. The cheeses come from family owned farms and co-ops and use all organic ingredients. The fish, procured from ProFish, is MSC Chain of Custody certified, which is a comprehensive traceability program that tracks seafood from the point of sale back to an MSC-certified fishery.
There will also be a variety of vegan and vegetarian food offerings, including Locally Grown Organic Vegetable Crudités, Butternut Squash Shooters with Apple, and Vegetable Sushi Rolls with Soy Wasabi Drizzle. The evening culminates with scrumptious desserts around 11 pm, which will include Assorted Cheesecake and Truffle Lollipops, S’mores Parfaits, Mango pudding and Vanilla Bean Pudding Shots,and mini Chocolate Decadence Cakes & Cheesecakes.
Since the nibbles were so gourmet, we knew we had to create libations to match. If you need hydration after rocking out to will.i.am., grab one of the many featured flavors of Honest Tea, delivered in their Honest Tea-branded hybrid Saturn Vue. Feeling particularly patriotic? Reach for President Obama’s favorite flavor, Black Forrest Berry.
Looking for a libation with a bit more zing? Sip the Green Ball’s signature cocktail, the OM-Bama, created by professional mixologist Natalie Bovis (aka the Liquid Muse), author of Edible Cocktails: Garden to Glass. Natalie crafted the OM-Bama using a host of unique ingredients and OM (which stands for Organic Mixology) Cocktail, a new product that is bursting on to the market and into the hands of eco-minded consumers. See if you can identify the secret ingredient!
Looking for a sophisticated sip? Check out our featured wine from New York’s Hunt County Vineyards. Not only do they use sustainable farming practices and compost residual harvest to make soil, but the heating and the cooling for the warehouse, tasting room, and production facility is generated with eight geothermal wells and a vertical-axis wind turbine.
Still hungry at the end of the night? Stonyfield Farms has shipped over frozen yogurt treats, including their chocolate dipped frozen yogurt bars. All food waste and waste from food prep activities will be composted, and all unused food will be used by the Newseum. It is going to be a delicious night!
Lt. Governor Anthony Brown brings remarks to participants of MBE Procurement and Business conference. by Brian K. Slack at Largo
Lt. Governor Anthony Brown brings remarks to participants of MBE Procurement and Business conference. by Brian K. Slack at Largo
5 October 2016- Opening Forum on Procurement for Innovation at OECD.
OECD, Paris, France
Photo: OECD/Michael Dean
Lt. Governor Anthony Brown brings remarks to participants of MBE Procurement and Business conference. by Brian K. Slack at Largo
Terri Sinclair-Olson, procurement and contract specialist in the Office of Procurement, Roseburg notes:
"The fawn was one of a pair. It heard me and turned its head, and I was able to take the picture right before it ran off."
This is Figure 3 from Saarinen and Vesalainen (1994). I'll be using it in presentations and blog posts to argue that the Learning Management System (LMS) approach to e-learning is wrong.
In summary, an LMS is a package acquisition. However, I argue that e-learning within universities is not routine. It is and is likely to continue for quite some time, to be speculative.
The diagram suggests that using an LMS to solve a speculative requirement is a high risk strategy.
Timo Saarinen, Ari Vepsalainen (1994) Procurement Strategies for Information Systems, Journal of Management Information Systems, 11(2) 187-208
Porter County Infirmary, Valparaiso, Ind.
Date: 1908
Source Type: Postcard
Publisher, Printer, Photographer: Elmer E. Starr (#61394)
Postmark: August 18, 1908, Valparaiso, Indiana
Collection: Steven R. Shook
Remark: During the mid-nineteenth century, a movement was taking place in the United States and Western Europe recognizing the plight of the poor, indigent, and mentally unstable citizens. In the United States, many counties established what were often referred to as poor houses, poor farms, infirmaries, and asylums. Generally, mentally unstable individuals were also housed at these county-established residences, though most states also erected state mental institutions to house those citizens of the state that were deemed to be more problematic for the counties to handle and maintain in an adequate state of care.
The genesis of Porter County’s “Poor Farm” took place on June 7, 1855, when the Porter County Commissioners approved the purchase of 80 acres from William C. Pennock for the sum of $3,000. This land comprised the east one-half of the southwest quarter of Section 26 in Center Township. Pennock became the first superintendent of the Porter County Poor Farm, accommodating the poor in the home already located on the newly purchased property.
On September 1, 1856, a new dwelling constructed by George C. Buel was opened on the poor farm property to house the poor. This structure was had a footprint of 32 x 45 feet and cost the county $2,482, being paid with a combination of cash and county-issued bond revenue. Residents were, for the most part, self-sufficient. Shelter and meals were provided to the residents in exchange for labor in farming and upkeep of the property.
An adjacent 80 acres directly east of the Porter County Poor Farm was purchased by the county for $3,200 in March 1866 to expand the farm to 160 acres. The farm was expanded again on June 16, 1875, when the county purchased all that part of the northeast quarter of Section 35 in Center Township which was lying north and east of Salt Creek and south of a line drawn parallel with the north line of the quarter for $1,200. On June 9, 1876, yet another purchase took place to expand the farm when the county purchased southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 27 in Center Township for $1,200.
The home seen in this image was the third and final home to be located on the Porter County Poor Farm. Designed by local architect Charles F. Lembke, ground was broken for this $25,000 structure soon after the sale of county-issued bonds on August 7, 1905; construction was completed in 1906. Shortly after this building was completed, a barn was erected on the property at a cost of $4,000.
At some point in time before the construction of this building, the Porter County Poor Farm was being more often referred to as the Porter County Asylum. This suggests that the county was transitioning from housing the poor and indigent to include individuals with real and perceived mental deficiencies and what were considered, at that time, socially undesirable characteristics. As reported in early twentieth century county newspapers, the institutionalized included the truly insane, such sociopaths, psychopaths, and the delusional, as well as the poor and indigent, unemployed (bums and hobos), epileptics, adulterers, prostitutes and loose women, homosexuals, alcoholics, and drug addicts. Oftentimes, the Porter County Asylum served as a temporary housing solution before an individual was committed to the Porter County Jail, Indiana State Prison, or one of the state-operated mental institutions. As evident by the writing on this postcard, the name of institution had evolved into the Porter County Infirmary by 1907.
On November 11, 2005, this structure was heavily damaged by an arsonist using kerosene as an accelerant. The extent of the damage was so severe that it was decided to raze the building, which took place during late February and early March 2006.
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The following news item appeared in the August 14, 1903, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
Porter County Business.
At the last meeting of the council the board of county commissioners asked for an appropriation for the erection of a new county asylum. The council passed a resolution instructing the commissioners to procure plans for such a building as was needed, and fall information as to what was expected. At the meeting held Friday [August 7, 1903], the board had present Mr. Butler, secretary of the Indiana state board of charities, who brought with him the plans of several asylums built in various parts of this state. He had examined the county asylum, and severely condemned it. He showed the plans of the Adams county asylum, which cost about $30,000 to construct. It was equipped with a hospital and insane quarters, as well as separate quarters for the sexes. Its capacity was about 40 inmates. Another plan was submitted with a capacity of about 18 inmates which would cost about three-quarters as much as the larger one. Mr. Butler imparted a great deal of valuable information to the commissioners and the council, and advised that a committee be selected to visit some of the new and modern asylums of the state. The commissioners asked for an appropriation to cover the expenses of such a committee to the amount of $125, but the council thought $60 would be sufficient for the purpose and granted this sum. The committee selected are: C. W. Benton, Frank Quick, H. Bornholt, Hail Bates and A. J. Bowser. This committee will start on its trip Friday of this week, and expects to make a report at the September meeting of the county council.
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The following news item appeared in the August 21, 1903, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
Chesterton Chips.
The committee selected by the county council to make an investigation of various county asylums in this state, and report on the needs of this county for accommodations for its poor, left on its mission last Friday morning. The committee consisted of the three county commissioners, Bornholt, Quick and Benton, and Bowser and Bates, of the county council. They visited the asylums of Marshall, Kosciusko and Adams counties. This committee has a vast amount of work yet to do collecting information to be obtained in this county, and as soon as this is ready a report will be made to the council, probably at a special session. As the editor of the Tribune is a member of this committee, and the report is not yet made, it would be improper for us to say anything at this time. We can say, however, that after the report is made and presented to the council, it will be published in full in all the papers of the county that desire to do so, so that the people of the county will know all about the matter. The committee hops to present a plan whereby a suitable county asylum can be built without increasing taxation or issuing bonds, and after it is built, will be self-sustaining. Some idea of the magnitude of the work will be obtained from the above simple statement. How this can be done is the work the committee will be engaged upon for several days.
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The following news item appeared in the September 11, 1903, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
COUNTY BUSINESS
County Commissioner Benton appeared before the council and reported the result of his committee investigation on the poor house matter. He said that a suitable building with the necessary barns and outbuildings could be built for about $35,000. The opinion of his committee was that the present poor farm was not suitable for the erection of such buildings. He accompanied his report with a map showing the farm, with its swamps and bad lands, and said that the committee would be in favor of waiting a year, and even three or four years before building, rather than build under present conditions. It was the sense of all the council and the board of commissioners that it would not be wise to build on the present poor farm, and the next step in the problem was whether it would be wise to try to run the poor farm on an extensive scale, and depend upon hired help to make the investment pay. Despite the claims of numerous county superintendents, poor farms were not self-sustaining, and the extra cost of management at up the profits of the farm. Not counting the interest on the money invested in a farm and buildings, the best that could be figured out was a deficiency of four or five thousand dollars per year. This amount was created by superintendent's salary, hired help, fuel, insurance, repairs and incidental expenses. The question arose whether it would not be better financiering to get away from the old fashioned idea of farming, which might have been all right in the early days, and take the interest money on the land investment and buy what was needed for the inmates. Prof. Kinsey crystalized this idea into a resolution which he offered, and which was unanimously passed, and which reads as follows:
"Resolved that is is the sentiment of the Porter County Council that it would be to the best interest of the county to sell the whole county farm holdings, and purchase a suitable site of not more than 40 acres, as being the more efficient and economical way of caring for the county's poor, and that the undertaking of extensive farming in connection with the county poor is unprofitable and expensive, and that the county commissioners are hereby instructed to look up suitable sites and prices and report to this body.
"Resolved, That Bates and Bowser, the same committee heretofore appointed to visit county farms, etc., with the three commissioners, continue with the Board of Commissioners in the investigation of sites and prices."
The effect of this resolution will be that until a suitable site can be found at a reasonable price, and some prospect of selling the present poor farm presents itself, there will be nothing doing in the poor house line. The council and commissioners are determined to proceed slowly and with caution in this matter, so that when the work is completed it will be satisfactory to the taxpayers, and of benefit to the inmates.
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The following news item appeared in the September 9, 1904, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
Council Meeting.
The sum of $25,000 was appropriated for the erection of suitable buildings for the county asylum, the month to be raised by the sale of bonds payable in ten yearly installments of $2,500 each, with interest at 4 per cent. A levy of two cents on the one hundred dollars will meet the bonds and interest. The following resolution was passed, which explains itself.
Resolved, That there be appropriated by the Porter County Council the sum of $25,000 for the purpose of building a house and heating plant, plumbing and drainage for said building on the Porter county infirmary grounds and lands for housing the indigent poor of Porter county, to include all necessary expenses connected with such improvement, and that the Board of Commissioners of Porter county, Indiana, by proper proceedings, issue bonds for $25,000 for that purpose, as required by law, to be sold at not less than par, but that the said sum of $25,000 must not be exceeded in any event, either in bonds or in money in the expenditures for that purpose, and that the interest on said bonds must not exceed four per cent per annum on the par value of the bonds, interest payable semi-annually, and that said bonds are to run ten years in a series of ten equal payments, beginning one year after the date of issue, one-tenth thereof payable each year during such period. Said bonds not to be sold until after a contract has been let to a responsible bidder, who has given sufficient surety for the faithful performance of his contract, and whose bid shall not exceed the amount appropriated in this resolution.
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The following news item appeared in the January 12, 1905, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
County Business.
Architect Lembke submitted drawings for the proposed new county asylum to the board. These had been drawn on suggestions offered by Commissioner Benton, and show a building 123x95, with three floors, basement, first floor and second floor. The building is to be constructed of brick, trimmed with cement block, with tile roof. It is to be heated by steam, and has nineteen rooms for inmates, eight rooms for the superintendent, besides rooms for laundry, furnace, kitchens, closets, bath rooms and six cells for insane. The plans arrange for a division of the sexes, and provide light and ventilation very amply. The height of the rooms are as follows: basement, nine feet; first floor 10 feet; second floor nine feet. The site contemplated is north and east of the present asylum buildings. The board have taken the plans under consideration, and will act on them at the first meeting in February.
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The following news item appeared in the January 26, 1905, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
CHESTERTON ITEMS.
John F. Wing, of the firm of Wing & Mahurin, architects, Fort Wayne, heard that Porter county contemplated building a new county asylum, and he came to Valparaiso last Saturday to meet the commissioners, and lay before them a plan in the hopes of getting the job. The commissioners had looked at a plan submitted by architect Lambky [Lembke] and had decided to act on the matter at the February meeting. Since Wing has appeared on the scene and has furnished the Board with a lot of useful information, it looks now as though no hasty action would be taken in the matter. The Fort Wayne firm has built public buildings all over the state, and both Quick and Bates agreed that the plans he submitted Saturday were superior in every way to those the Valparaiso man laid before them. This plan calls for accommodations for fifty inmates, with all of the latest improvements in ventilation, hospital quarters, insane wars, etc. It has revealed the fact that no harm can be done to invite architects from all over to come and submit plans, and from the information gathered it will be possible for this county to have a good asylum. The man who furnishes the plans and superintends the work should have no connection with the concern that takes the contract. The TRIBUNE sincerely hopes that this building will be built without friction or even the suspicion of jobbery, and we believe it will. It is well enough to watch, however.
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The following news item appeared in the October 5, 1905, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
LOCAL NEWS OF THE WEEK
The board of county commissioners went out to the county farm last Monday for dinner. Auditor Corboy and The Tribune man were taken along by Superintendent Henry to see how the new county asylum building was getting on. The work is progressing very satisfactorily, and looks as though it was being well done. The walls are up for the basement and first story, and it is expected that it will be ready for enclosure before winter sets in. It will be at least a year before the building will be ready for occupancy, and if the inmates can be quartered in the new building by this time next year, they will be lucky. Mr. Henry says he does not like the arrangement of the basement, and especially the way provided for the storage cellars on account of the inconvenience of getting to them. Mrs. Henry is worrying about the location and capacity of the cisterns, and unless it is conveniently placed it will mean much work for her. It is proposed to use the old building now used to house the superintendent and inmates for crop storage purposes, leaving them where they are, for a while at least. The poor farm crops are fine this year, and the stock is a credit to the management. Henry and his wife have worked wonders for the county in their management of the county farm, and they are entitled to credit. It will be hard to winter the inmates in their present quarters unless some repairs are made. Cracks almost big enough to throw a cat through are quite plenty and while there will be plenty of fresh air, just how the poor folks can be kept warm is the problem. Mrs. Freeland, who was taken to the asylum a few weeks ago, died recently. Her husband is here, but very feeble. Westchester's delegation seems to be getting on all right, and in fact they all seem to be comfortable. Mr. Henry has managed to get considerable work out of some of the inmates this year, giving each one something he can do. The cripples were stripping seed corn and making it ready for drying, others able to get around were cutting corn, and still others were doing the housework in the inmates' quarters. There is a class who come to the county farm that Mr. Henry wished would go elsewhere. They are those afflicted with loathsome diseases, and lousy. He has no facilities for cleansing them or doctoring them. Representatives of this class are beginning to arrive, and although Henry says he has never yet refused an applicant admittance, he does not know what he will be compelled to do if township trustees continue sending him men like the one he recently received. This individual was a living pest, so loathsome that it was almost impossible to touch him. Caring for the county poor is no snap.
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The following news item appeared in the June 7, 1906, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
County Business
Nothing doing about accepting the County Asylum building. The contractor has finished the job, and is ready to turn the building over to the county. County Superintendent Henry is very much dissatisfied with the building, and it will not be surprising if he does not resign. Under present conditions it will be utterly impossible to keep the building warm. Commissioner Anderson visited the building Monday and made a careful inspection of the work. The ceilings are made of corrugated iron nailed to the joice [sic]. The fittings are imperfect, and Mr. Anderson will object very strongly to accepting that part of the work. He says the joice [sic] should have been stripped, and the iron nailed to the strips, and the joints tooled to place. The window sill, both wood and stone have been laid in flat, and the bottoms of the window frames are perfectly flat, the result being that every time it rains water floods the rooms. In all buildings properly constructed these sills and window frames are slanted outward, so that the water will run away from the building. The county has paid all of the contract price but $1,000, and it is a serious question whether this amount will put the building in a habitable condition. The superintendent of construction is criticized severely for permitting so much poor work to be done on the building. There is no kick on the quality of material. Mr. Anderson says that the brick and lumber in the structure is very good, but the manner in which the walls are laid in the partitions, and especially in conspicuous places, and the botch manner in which joints are made is what gets him. It is very unfortunate that this conditions [sic] exists. It seems that is is utterly impossible for Porter county to get a good piece of public work done any more.
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The following news item appeared in the June 28, 1906, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:
THE POOR HOUSE TROUBLE.
One View of It and Suggestions as to the Cause.
Patched Plans the Primary Reason of the Building's Unsatisfactory Condition.
Porter county's new asylum is just now furnishing the people of Porter county with material to talk about. The building for these wards of the county has been built, and next Monday the board of county commissioners will be asked to accept it from the contractor. It is admitted that this building is unsatisfactory, and an effort is being made to find someone upon whom to fix the blame.
Right on the start, I want to say that I do not for a moment believe that the board of county commissioners or any member of that body has done a single act from an unworthy motive. I believe that a blunder has been made which is the primary cause of all the dissatisfaction now existing. That blunder consisted in the board of county commissioners attempting to build a thirty thousand dollar building for $25,000.
The county council passed a resolution enabling the board of commissioners to build a building at a cost not to exceed $25,000. complete, and provided the money with which to do this. This resolution fully protected the taxpayers of the county against putting any more money into the building. The county council felt that this much money was ample to house a population of eighteen or twenty paupers, and do it well, if the money was judiciously expended. This far the council could go, but no farther. The providing of plans and the construction of the building was in the hands of the county commissioners.
We said a blunder was made. We also believe that Mr. Benton made this blunder. We do not believe that the mistake was made from a bad motive. Mr. Benton championed the cause of "home" talent, and went out of his way to give the people of Porter county any business Porter county had. He had employed Mr. Lembke to build himself a fine home, and Lembke did this work in a manner especially pleasing to Mr. Benton. He wanted Lembke to have the erection of the county asylum. He fully believed Lembke competent to draw the plans and do the work in a manner creditable to the county and to the board. He trusted Lembke.
Now for Lembke. This man is supposed to be a competent architect. I do not believe him to be dishonest. Neither do I believe him to be incompetent. In his zeal to give the county a fine building he forgot expense, and drew plans which could not be executed for less than $30,000. The writer had experts go over these plans and figure the cost before they were offered to the public, and was told that they could not be carried out for less than $28,500 net, without a contractor's profit. Bidders submitted estimates, and none were lower than $30,000, a fair figure. The contract could not be let. The county council was solicited to make an additional appropriation. The commissioners were told to cause plans to be made that could be carried out for the appropriation made in the resolution. Instead of doing this, they undertook to patch the plans of the $30,000 building. There [sic; this] is where the colossal blunder was made. This patching choked the life out of the original plan, and gives us the nondescript building now causing such general criticism.
The architect had pledged himself to furnish Porter county with plans that would give the county farm a building for $25,000 complete, and when he failed to do this, he should have done one of two things, withdraw from the work or prepare new pans. The board erred it agreed to accept patched plans.
The contract was let under the patched plans and specification. Conditions arose which compelled the Commissioners to ask for Mr. Lembke's resignation. He was paid for his plans, and received something like $800 for them. When he was let out, his responsibility ceased. A new man, Henry Lembster was called to complete the work. He was given the plans and specifications, and he says they have been carried out, and that the building has been built according to them. He says he followed the specifications to the letter. He is the county's accredited agent, and the county is responsible for his acts. I do not believe that there are many people in this county who will say that Henry Lembster is either incompetent or dishonest. I have found fault with the building. I pointed out the fact that the windows were set in flat, instead of being bevelled [sic], and that in consequence every time it rained, the rooms were flooded with water. Since then I have seen the specifications and working plans, and I find that the plans compelled the superintendent to have these windows placed just as they are in the building. I find many paragraphs in the specifications ambiguous and difficult to interpret the meaning of. I have questioned the contractor, Mr. Foster, and he says that he left the construction of the building entirely in the hands of the County's representative, and that he has done, is doing, and will do anything the superintendent orders him to do. He says that some of the work is defective, and that he is causing it to be replaced. He talks very reasonable.
It would seem to me, in view of the conditions for some one disinterested, say the judge of the circuit court, to appoint a competent committee, whose work shall be to investigate the whole matter, and place whatever blame there is upon the right shoulders. I do not believe that any person lacking the expert knowledge, or who has not gone thoroughly into all of the facts, can be just in this matter at this time. I have an opinion. It may be right, and it may be wrong. But after it is all said and done, I doubt very much if there is anything to be done now, further than to do the best we can, and make good the defects. The County Commissioners is a judicial body, without bond, and cannot be held legally responsible for any mistake it may make. The plans were bought and paid for, and accepted by Porter County. If these plans were faulty, there is no recourse. All that can be done is to hold the contractor to his contract, and if he has not lived up to the plans and specification, compel him to. The sole judge of this matter is Henry Lembster.
Sources:
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; August 14, 1903; Volume 20, Number 19, Page 1, Columns 5-6. Column titled "Porter County Business."
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; August 21, 1903; Volume 20, Number 20, Page 5, Column 5. Column titled "Chesterton Chips."
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; September 11, 1903; Volume 20, Number 23, Page 1, Columns 6-7. Column titled "County Business."
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; September 9, 1904; Volume 21, Number 23, Page 1, Column 7. Column titled "Council Meeting."
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; January 12, 1905; Volume 21, Number 41, Page 6, Column 1. Column titled "County Business."
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; January 26, 1905; Volume 21, Number 43, Page 1, Column 7. Column titled "Chesterton Items."
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; October 5, 1905; Volume 22, Number 27, Page 5, Column 6. Column titled "Local News of the Week."
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; June 7, 1907; Volume 23, Number 10, Page 1, Column 4. Column titled "County Business."
The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; June 28, 1907; Volume 23, Number 13, Page 1, Columns 3-4. Column titled "The Poor House Trouble."
Copyright 2009. Some rights reserved. The associated text may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Steven R. Shook.