 A current topic discussed was the collaboration between the
Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce, the Lincoln & Logan
Development Partnership, Main Street Lincoln, and the Abraham
Lincoln Tourism Bureau.
Andy Anderson explained that the groups have agreed to hire a
consultant as part of this collaboration. Each group will need to
pay $1,000 to help fund the hiring, as will the city of Lincoln and
the county government.
"This is above what was quoted, but there will be other
incidental costs," said Anderson, who added that February will be a
busy month of meetings between the various groups in getting the
effort started.
Chuck Ruben, committee chairman, said that the other groups have
already agreed to pay their share of the fee.
Committee member Andy Meister said that while he hopes the effort
will be fruitful, he is skeptical of whether or not they will learn
anything new as a result.
"How are they going to divide anything up?" asked Meister in
reference to what each organization focuses on.
"In theory it's a great idea. But we already know that there are
intersections, that we can combine several of the jobs. It's just a
matter of doing it," said Meister. He added that he was curious as
to what the city of Lincoln would have done after beginning to
oversee the tourism bureau.
Ruben said he feels that the groups are really paying for outside
advisement on the strengths and weaknesses of each group and what
could be altered for better purposes. He also said that in recent
years, people who have been hired to direct some of these programs
have left in relatively quick time frames, and this effort could
explore a better alternative.
"This type of thing has worked before," said Anderson, who added
that other areas in the Midwest have used the same strategy.
"There's no guarantee that this is going to work, but we can at
least approach it and see what can be done."
"It will be nice to cooperate," added Ruben.
The effort will take place over a period of 90 days early this
year and will strategically examine each organization's mission,
governance, functions and responsibilities. The groups will explore
the best organizational structures to provide the most efficient and
effective services to advance Lincoln and Logan County.
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The committee members approved of the expenditure, and it is
expected to be voted on by the whole board this month. The money
will be taken from the county office expenses line item.
Also discussed was a potential amendment to the health
department's budget for 2014. The department's finance officer,
Sally Gosda, was present to explain the situation at hand.
In late 2013, due to major losses in funding to various programs,
the health department was faced with a difficult choice: whether or
not to continue offering services via the Illinois Breast and
Cervical Cancer Program. Initially, the state government denied the
request of the Logan County Department of Public Health for
financial aid to continue the program.
The denied request was for an amount equal to $42,000. However,
in late November the state reversed their decision, granting the aid
to the department through the end of July. As a result, a change
would need to be made in the budget to reflect the incoming revenue.
With this money, the county health department will be able to
continue offering the services of the Illinois Breast and Cervical
Cancer Program. The committee members voted to approve the changes.
The tax levies will not be altered as a result of these changes. The
full county board will need a two-thirds majority vote for any
motion to pass.
Committee members present for the meeting were Chuck Ruben, Andy
Meister, Andy Anderson (replacing Terry Carlton on the committee)
and Rick Aylesworth. Guests included Jonathan Wright, state's
attorney; Mary Kelley, circuit clerk; Vicki Dugan, county treasurer;
and Sally Gosda of the health department.
[By DEREK HURLEY]
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