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The 12-seat board welcomed three new board members: M.E. "Gene"
Rohlfs, District 4; Arthur "Andy" Anderson, District 5; and Andrew
L. Meister, District 3.
Kevin Bateman, District 6, won his first election. Bateman had
been appointed to fill the unexpired term of Michael McIntosh after
McIntosh became Logan County's state's attorney two years ago.
Veteran board members sworn to new four-year terms were Charles
"Chuck" Ruben, representing District 1, and Robert "Bob" Farmer,
from District 2.
The newly elected and re-elected officials join the following
board members who each have two years remaining: Bill Martin,
District 1; Jan Schumacher, District 2; Rick Aylesworth, District 3;
David Hepler, District 4; Patrick "Pat" O'Neill, District
5; and Terry
Carlton, District 6.
Opening the reorganization meeting, Carlton conducted his last
duty in the public eye as two-year chairman by calling for
nominations for chairman and vice chairman. There were no contests.
Board members offered only one name for each position, and with full
board attendance both nominees received unanimous approval:
In other business the board also made the following approvals:
The chairman of the county board appoints the chair for each
committee and assigns all board members to county committees and
commissions. The chairman then attends and oversees all county
committees and may combine, separate or form special or temporary
committees.
As new board chairman, Farmer asked board members to continue on
the committees where they have been, and he asked that the new
members attend the committees of the board member they replaced
until he would have the opportunity to assess the committees and
make changes.
Farmer made two temporary committee chairman assignments:
Committees are airport and farm, road and bridge, buildings and
grounds, insurance and legislative, planning and zoning, law
enforcement, emergency management, coroner and ambulance, executive
and economic development, personnel, safety, animal control, and
finance.
Most county committees have five board members. Committee
assignments are generally made recognizing experience and skill sets
of individuals and their interests as much as possible.
Committees are arranged when possible to meet back-to-back with
two committees, keeping as many of the same members as possible.
This saves time for board members and costs for the county.
Board members are paid per diem, $35 per day, for meeting
attendance. Whether they attend one or two meetings in the day, they
receive $35 for that day plus 50 cents per mile to and from
meetings.
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Board members also serve as liaisons to other local and state
entities. Those include waste management, public health board, work
force investment, tourism, Main Street Lincoln, government
education, chamber of commerce, General Assembly, Community Action,
regional planning commission, development partnership, community
governments and other groups as needed.
In addition to assigned committee work, all board members are
expected to attend the two meetings of the full board that occur
each month. During the board of whole, committee chairmen report
important information, and at the adjourned session, official voting
may take place.
The new board's first order of business as a full board is at a
special board-of-whole meeting called for the hiring of a new
administrative assistant. Applications have been reviewed for the
position currently held by JoAnne Marlin, who plans to retire at the
end of December.
Other Logan County officials sworn to office for four-year terms
on Monday morning were Sally Litterly, clerk and recorder; Vicki L.
Dugan, first-term treasurer; Steven Nichols, sheriff; and Jean
Anderson, regional superintendent of schools.
Mary Kelley was sworn in after being elected to fill the
remaining two years of the circuit clerk's term. The vacancy was
created when Carla Bender took a state position.
[By
JAN YOUNGQUIST]
Past related articles
2010:
2008:
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