Logan County Board
Membership approves JR Glenn as Chair and Julie Bobell as Vice-chair

 

[December 04, 2024] 

The Logan County Board met in the first-floor courtroom of the Logan County Courthouse on Monday, December 2nd for their annual organizational meeting. This meeting is held early in December each year because the county begins its fiscal year on December 1st.

At the beginning of each fiscal year, the board members must perform specific duties, such as swearing in members whose names appeared on the November ballot on election years. This year was such a year, and of the 12 possible seats on the board, eight were up for election or re-election.

Those who were on the ballot included Michael DeRoss, Hannah Fitzpatrick, Joseph Kuhlman, Keenan Leesman, Dale Nelson, Kathy Schmidt, Gil Turner and Jim Wessbecher.

The evening began with the call to order, then Logan County Clerk Theresa Moore presented the certificates of qualification for those who had been elected or re-elected in November. There were only two members present who were not on the ballot. Chairman Michael DeRoss called on JR Glenn and Bob Sanders to examine the certificates and verify the qualifications.

When they completed the task, there was a group swearing in led by Judge Jonathan Wright. All the newly elected were present with the exception of Hannah Fitzpatrick who came in late and was sworn in afterward.

After the swearing, each of the members signed their certificates and their membership on the board became official.

After the roll call was taken, DeRoss called for nominations for a Chair Pro-Tem who would reside over the first few action items on the agenda. Glenn was nominated to be the Chair Pro Tem and took DeRoss’ seat at the judge’s bench.

The first order of business was to elect a new board chairman who will serve for the next 12 month. Dale Nelson nominated JR Glenn and Jim Wessbecher nominated Michael DeRoss. Acting on procedure, Glenn called three times for additional nominations then closed that part of the meeting.

Prior to holding the election there was an opportunity for questions from board members addressed to each candidate for chair. Keenan Leesman said he had several questions he would like to ask.

Leesman’s first question was what was the vision for the county of each of the candidates and how did they plan to lead the board to achieve that vision?

Glenn began saying that he felt that the current board is strong and good. He said he feels the county is pointed in the right direction. He spoke about being open and transparent in all the objectives and projects the county is involved in. He said that the duty of the board is to support the community’s endeavors and do what it can to attract new business and industry into the county.

DeRoss said he felt there were levels of transparency. He said that there should be a greater focus on attending meetings and being open when board members and the public have questions about the actions of the board.

He said that there is a need to strengthen the committees and that committee members should serve multiple terms on those committees and become “experts” on their topics.

DeRoss went on to say that there is a need for greater economic development in the county and that he would work with the Greater Peoria Economic Development Council to that end.

Kathy Schmidt asked Glenn about a comment he had made at another board meeting when “exclusive vs inclusive.” She wondered what he meant by that statement.

Glenn spoke on the “inclusive” saying that he meant that everyone should be involved in the board and all should be well informed. He said they should also seek information and recommendations from individuals with knowledge on the topics.

Leesman asked his next question wanting a definition of “ethical leadership” from each candidate’s point of view.

Glenn said that as an attorney, he lives by a code of ethics that includes many buzz words such as honesty, integrity, and openness. He said again he’s talking about transparency, where there should be no factions, no back biting, no playing “catch as catch can” with fellow board members. He said it should be a board that works together in unity.

Glenn went on to say there should be more rules around per diam, and that board members should not feel justified in running up tabs because they are volunteers.

DeRoss said that the board does have an ethics ordinance, but he feels probably most of the board has not seen or read it. He said that ethics simply put is doing things in the right way, follow statues as they are written “even when we don’t like them.”

He said that members should protect the concept of executive sessions and not talk about those sessions in public.

Leesman asked what the chairmen and the board should do in relationship to city government, how those relationships can be strengthened as well as with other government entities and community leaders.

DeRoss said he was a relatively new member of the board and did not have long standing ties. He said he doesn’t know what has happened in the past to cause friction, and he isn’t sure he needs to know.

He said he would address issues as the come up and would then do his research into them.

Glenn had an opposing view. He said he would do what he can to get to know the issues and understand what has happened in the past because “history does repeat itself.” He said he would dig into the history and get to know what happened and why. He added that it is important to stay connected to the small communities in the county, and to “be present and bridge the gaps” between county and city governments.

Leesman asked what the vision for the committee structure was and how would each candidate make it better or change it?

DeRoss said that he had emailed each board member on this topic.

Glenn said that he had seen DeRoss’ email and disagreed with the idea of having smaller committees. He said right now there is an attendance issue with some of the committees and smaller groups would make it harder to achieve quorum.

Glenn said he felt part of the issue is that the board is not as flexible as it could be in scheduling meetings. He said it is an issue because all the board members work and it would be best to try and plan meetings to accommodate work schedules of the members.

Another area where he disagreed with DeRoss was in the moving of the budget to a different committee. Glenn said that the budget needs to stay with the finance committee as that is the committee that reviews income and expenses, and they must have oversight of the budget in order to do their jobs.

Furthermore, Glenn said the role of the chairman is not to initiate change, but to facilitate it. He said the board of the whole should determine changes that should be made, and the chairman should lead in making sure those changes are implemented.

DeRoss said that in order to facilitate change, change should be proposed. He said it is the job of the chair to propose changes. The full board should then consider the proposal, refine and approve the change, then the chair should facilitate the change.

DeRoss said the board should want a chairman who acts like a chairman. He said that committees should set their own meetings, and he defended smaller committees. He said that there should be a five-member committee structure with two “alternates” in attendance. Those alternates could be the board chair and vice chair, and they would not vote except when there were less than three members of the committee in attendance. With less than three members present, the two alternates would then step up and the rules of quorum would be maintained.

Leesman asked what goals the two hoped to set and accomplish in their term.

Glenn said his primary goal is the overarching theme of transparency. He said that the public had a right to speak, ask questions, and receive answers. He sited the situation with the CO2 sequestration, saying that folks had come to the board to discuss it and Glenn felt former Chairperson Emily Davenport had been gracious to allow those people to talk, even though the county has very limited control over the issue.

He said that there needs to be greater transparency in the areas where the board “touches the public” such as in the awards of funding. He said there should be a better process created so that it was not a case of some received money and some didn’t with no real process or procedure om place.

DeRoss said his primary goal was to strengthen the committees with training and experience, thus making them experts on their committee topics. He said that there needs to be open exchanges of knowledge.

He said that his legacy would leave behind a better trained board.

Leesman said he was done with his questions. He added that he had made the list, thinking it is good for the board members to understand who they are putting in charge.

With the discussion ended, a roll call vote was taken.

The first vote was for JR Glenn to be the new board chairman. Those who voted yes were Bobell, Fitzpatrick, Glenn, Kuhlman, Leesman, Nelson, Sanders , Schmidt, and Turner. Those who voted no were DeRoss and Jim Wessbecher.

The second vote was taken on the DeRoss nomination, and the majority rule was “no” with the same members voting no as voted yes for Glenn.

Next up was the nomination for a vice-chairman. There was only one nomination for Julie Bobell who was voted into the position unanimously.

Glenn then moved on to the next agenda items which included appointing a parliamentarian and also assigning committees and committee chairpersons. Glenn said he was not in favor of making those recommendations at this point. He said he wanted sufficient time to speak with board members and discuss with them the committees that they would be willing to serve.

After this there was quite a bit of discussion on how to proceed with December meetings. Glenn said that he felt the current committees and chairs could serve the month of December, and new assignments could be implemented in January.

There was talk about how many of the committees needed to conduct business in December and how the committee meetings could be scheduled now that the month has already started.

In the end of that discussion, the only solid decision made was that the Workshop meeting for the full board would be held on Tuesday December 17th and the Regular or voting session meeting would be held on December 19th. There was a discussion about holding the transportation meeting on December 17th and that Finance, Executive and Personnel, and Zoning might be held on December 10th.

Other topics that were tabled were the adoption of rules, policy and procedure, ethics, per diem and other resolutions.

The final item on the agenda was the “Stateman from the chairperson.” Glenn said he was humbled to have been chosen and vowed to serve with assertive leadership and a mission to “get it right.” He said he felt that “the people should be our focus,” and that he wants to see everyone work together.

After his statement, there was a motion to adjourn, and the meeting was called to its conclusion by unanimous consent.

On Wednesday after the Monday meeting, the December schedule was set and it appears in today’s (Thursday, December 5, 2024, edition of Lincoln Daily News.

The first committee meeting of the month with be the transportation committee on December 9th. Finance, Zoning & Economic Development, and Executive & personnel will be held on December 10th, Building and Grounds will be held on December 11th.

The workshop meeting will be Tuesday, December 17th and the Regular meeting will be held on Thursday, December 19th.

[Nila Smith]