Dozens were on hand Tuesday afternoon to help Porter County’s Elections & Voter Registration Office celebrate a ribbon-cutting after its space was renovated – again.
The award-winning staff of eight has had a rough couple of years. In 2023, in a mass reorganization effort designed to give several departments more space, they moved from their former locale in the basement of the Administration Building to their current main floor location at 155 Franklin St.
While the streetside address with big plate-glass windows adorned with large decals made it easier for the public to find and access the space, the converted restaurant left a lot to be desired on the inside.
A ruptured water heater flooded the space in February and caused considerable damage to voting machines as the leaking water seeped into the basement, where the equipment is stored.
“It just took a water heater blowing up so this place no longer feels like a restaurant,” said Porter County Commissioner Barb Regnitz, R-Center.
“It still had the hood,” said Elections & Voter Office Director Sundae Schoon. “Grease would come and leak out of it when it would rain. It was gross.”
Porter County Elections &Voter Registration Office Director Sundae Schoon speaks at a ribbon-cutting of the renovated office Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (Shelley Jones/for Post-Tribune)
She teared up when speaking to the crowd of her dedicated staff, amazed that they didn’t bail during the latest fiasco and nine months of upheaval. “They adapted and worked throughout all the chaos,” she said. “You guys shock me and make me proud every single day.”
Commissioners President Jim Biggs, R-North, said he’s visited a lot of other county election offices in his travels. “There ain’t one that’s got a better voter registration than we’ve got,” he said.
The staff took up temporary quarters in the courthouse during the $1.5 million renovation. Perhaps the biggest difference, besides the more professional-looking finishes this time around, is the roomy storage space where the staff can now keep e-poll books and election supplies.
And in the strictest professionalism, the only political favoritism on display in the new space is a partisanship toward the pup with a gallery wall of canine candidates, since Schoon’s French bulldogs are known to run the place.
“We always strive for something new, to be more innovative, to push ourselves to the limit,” said Porter County Clerk Jessica Bailey, who oversees the office. Now, at least, they have the right digs to do it.
Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.