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Public commenters raise concerns about Portage Manor closure, housekeeping outsourcing and health services
Summary
During privilege of the floor at the Feb. 14 St. Joseph County Council meeting, residents urged updates on highway work, criticized outsourcing of county housekeeping staff, and lamented the 2023 closure of Portage Manor; a resident also asked for expanded HIV prophylactic services at the county health department.
Multiple members of the public spoke during the council’s privilege-of-the-floor period on Feb. 14, raising a range of community concerns including highway safety, county housekeeping contracting, the 2023 closure of Portage Manor and the availability of HIV prevention services.
Tom Rowe requested an update on highway work related to a proposed diamond interchange and asked whether state highway safety boards had provided information, saying traffic conditions were “very dangerous” on the route he uses. Dan Caruso criticized the county’s handling of a decision to outsource housekeeping for county buildings and said employees reported they felt “gut punched” by the December announcement; he said bids had been solicited in the summer and suggested affected workers should have been notified earlier.
Several speakers addressed Portage Manor, a residential facility the council and commissioners previously closed in 2023. Isabella Catanzarite, identifying herself as speaking independently though her father is a council member, said the closure “displaced many people” with disabilities and noted that a former resident, Mark Huffman, was struck by a car and later died after being relocated; she linked the closing to the resident’s subsequent relocation but did not present direct evidence of causation.
Several other attendees expressed concern about the Portage Manor decision; Mike McManus said the closure left the county “without a home for the most vulnerable in our community.” Mary Countryman likened the result to a well-known film allegory and urged more care for vulnerable residents.
Dr. Robert Bennett also used privilege of the floor to describe gaps in sexually transmitted infection services and to call for expanded HIV prophylactic care within the St. Joseph County Department of Health. He said the health department currently refers patients to an outside maternity clinic or a private nonprofit that he described as religious and that he avoids because of its history and name; he called for county-provided prophylactic services to reduce barriers to care.
Council members did not provide immediate policy responses on these public comments during the meeting; the matters raised involved requests for updates, expressed concerns about personnel processes and calls for health-service funding, which would require follow-up by the commissioners, county departments or staff.
