Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. will be getting the debated $860,802 boat for patrolling Lake Michigan’s waters after all despite long-running opposition by county commissioners.
The boat has been ordered and delivery is expected in summer 2024, Martinez said in a recent interview.
“I am here to tell you I ordered the boat and we followed procedure,” Martinez said.
The sheriff said he always had the statutory authority to purchase the boat using jail commissary funds and did not need commissioners to sign off on the deal. He said he brought his plans before the body more in an attempt to be transparent than as a request for its approval.
Martinez said after a motion by Commissioner Kyle Allen Sr., D-Gary, to approve the purchase died for a lack of a second at the May meeting, he followed the county’s purchasing manual and using his authority as sheriff to make necessary purchases with commissary funds, initiated the purchase.
That purchase was authorized by the county’s purchasing agent, Brenda Koselke, who reviews county purchases made outside of the bid or request for proposal process for compliance with state law. As the sole authorized user of how commissary funds are spent, Martinez was following the rules when requesting the purchase order.
Still the purchase order initially was canceled. Martinez said he believed the decision to cancel the purchase order was illegal and was considering his options, including suing commissioners for a second time, when the purchase order was reissued.
“They don’t even know their own policies,” Martinez said.
Commission President Michael Repay, D-Hammond, confirmed there is a provision in the state purchasing statute that allows the county purchasing agent to authorize a purchase order as long as it complies with the particulars of other applicable state statutes.
“He put it through. She approved it. We reviewed the statute. That’s about all there is to it. We couldn’t stop it if we wanted to,” Repay said.
Repay said steps made to stop the purchase order shortly after it was approved were in an effort to ensure the law was followed correctly. He said it’s disappointing the purchase was made.
“It’s bad policy. It’s bad government, but it’s to the letter of the law,” Repay.
The boat purchase has been an ongoing issue since 2021 when Martinez first attempted to purchase it for $770,060 with funds from within the department. He previously said the department had been looking to purchase the Metal Shark boat because of the age of the department’s current boats — a 1994 Silver Ships 35-foot Endeavor and a 2013 Silver Ships 29-foot Ambar.
– Original Credit: Lake County Sheriff’s Dept.
The new Metal Shark Defiant, a 38-foot vessel that can reach 60 mph, would replace the Endeavor, Martinez said. The new boat would take eight to 12 months to build once the order is placed.
Martinez said the Indiana Supreme Court had made it clear after the sheriff sued commissioners over purchasing and operation of the jail that the body had no authority over the sheriff’s ability to run his department.
“This is again their attempt to try and smear us. (They) want to nitpick every little thing,” Martinez said.
The purchase repeatedly was deferred after commissioners raised some of the same issues that sank the request. The sheriff’s department was forced to request the transfer approved by the county council to pay for the boat be rescinded in January 2022.
Since that time, the cost of the boat has gone up. The sheriff’s department also found a grant from the Department of Homeland Security that would cover 75% of the cost, reducing its financial commitment to about $277,634, funds Lake County Police Chief Vincent Balbo said the department has on hand.
Repay has maintained throughout the process the purchase is a poor use of resources when looking at the entirety of the county. Even though the bulk of the purchase is funded by a grant and the sheriff has the money to cover the rest, funding the purchase of an asset is not the only concern, he said, adding operational costs, ongoing liability and stretching staff resources are all of equal concern.
Repay said as a taxpayer he is bothered by the purchase. The boat may be financed largely by grant money, but operating and liability expenses become ongoing once the boat becomes county property, he has said. Commissioners also have questioned how a purchase such as this boat benefits the unincorporated parts of Lake County, which is the area for which the sheriff is responsible.
“It still makes me mad as a taxpayer. I’m a voter. I will never vote for that guy again,” Repay said.
cnapoleon@chicagotribune.com
