Logan County Board to stay in districts with 12 board members and board elected chairman, changes per diems

 

[June 03, 2021] 

At the Logan County Board Regular voting meeting Tuesday, May 18, the board voted on several areas related to reapportionment of the county board.

Board members present were Board Chairman Emily Davenport, Vice Chairman Scott Schaffenacker, David Blankenship, Janet Estill, Cameron Halpin, David Hepler, Steve Jenness, Keenan Leesman, Bob Sanders, Annette Welch and Jim Wessbecher. Bob Farmer was absent.

Reapportionments occur every ten years following a census. By law, counties are required to redraw the county board districts at that time. All board positions must be elected at this point.

Logan County has six districts with two representatives from each district. Usually six of the board members, or one from each district, runs for a four-year term every two years.

Leesman said several motions were being brought forward from the Planning and Zoning Committee. These included keeping the county board size at twelve, remaining in districts (vs at large,) and having the chairman appointed by membership of the county board.

The board also decided whether per diems should remain at sixty dollars, while raising the per diem for the chairman to seventy-five dollars and the vice chairman to seventy dollars. The chairman would also have authority to provide additional stipends for special work based on the board’s consent.

Also under consideration was setting term limits of one appointed term and two elected terms.

At the board workshop, there was discussion and questions about the per diems, term limits and districts.

With per diems, Chairman Davenport said States Attorney Brad Hauge told her the board could not do higher per diems or stipends. She said they need to check with Hauge about this issue.

Davenport is concerned about staying with districts. She has had to appoint a few people during her time as chairman and finds it hard to find people willing to serve.

Everyone on the board supports the whole county and Davenport has not seen certain villages or cities saying they have been left out of something.

Therefore, Davenport said she does not see a problem with going at large [which means members are not serving a specific district]. By sticking with districts, Davenport feels the board is limited.

There may be people interested in serving who are not able to come forward when someone is needed for a specific district. In the past, Davenport has seen members have to step down when they move out of their district even though they would like to continue serving.

Hoping to have parties endorse any candidates that come forward, Blankenship said he wants to do away with political cliquishness. He would like any candidate who wants to run for the board have a right to be interviewed by the board. There are people willing to serve, but Blankenship said they may be restricted by these districts.

Multiple counties are at large. Davenport said the Logan County Board was also at large years ago. Davenport feels districts box the county in and make it harder to find people to serve.

Some parts of the county may want representation from their area. However, Welch said in general, few races are being contested on the ballot.

In December, for example, Welch was elected to just a two-year term because of the reapportionment in 2022.

As far as the districting, Leesman asked board members how they would feel about this area being represented by Chicago if the state went at large. If the county goes at large, Leesman said Lincoln may primarily represent the entire county. Then there may be less focus on rural issues.

One question Davenport had about term limits was what one appointed and two terms meant.

For term limits, Leesman said the Planning and Zoning Committee was looking at someone being appointed and then serving two full terms.

Davenport asked if that would mean a maximum of eight years.

If someone served one appointed term and then two full terms, Schaffenacker said that would be more than eight. The limits would likely be ten or less.

At the county level, Davenport said she does not find term limits necessary. To Davenport, term limits are more important at the state level.

If term limits are set, Welch asked members if they could imagine having more than half of the board be new. She wondered when these term limits would go into effect.

With term limits, Leesman said the general purposes are to prevent corruption and avoid being subjected to lobbyists. He said these are not really issues at the county level.

What Leesman would be more interested in is rotating board chairman, vice chairman and committee chairman every couple years. That way, Leesman said the board would have a fresh group working with the committees. If someone runs a particular committee for many years and something happens, Leesman said others may not be familiar with the type of work done by that chairman.

For board members not appointed, Wessbecher asked if they would be limited to eight years. He thinks it is better to stagger the terms so not that many members would be going off the board at the same time. Having a big project like the one going on at the courthouse now with many new members could be a mess.

At the state level, Davenport said the districts are set up so terms are two years, four years and two years. That way, not everyone is exiting at once.

If everyone must run in two years, Wessbecher asked how the terms would work.

Rather than term limits, Welch is more in favor of saying members can serve a certain number of years. She suggested setting 10 to 12 years.

At the Regular Board meeting, the board approved the motions for keeping the board at 12 members and set up by district. They also approved the county board chairman being voted in by the membership.

The motion to set county board member per diem at $60, chairman per diem at $75 and vice chairman at $70 was amended by Blankenship. Blankenship’s amendment was to add a $65 per diem for committee chairs when chairing a committee meeting. The amendment $65 per diem for committee chairs passed.

The main motion as amended to set county board member per diem at $60, chairman per diem at $75 and vice chairman at $70, and $65 per diem for committee chairs also passed.

The board then voted to send the motions on additional stipends and setting term limits back to the Planning and Zoning Committee for more discussion at their June meeting. There are some questions about whether the county can offer these stipends and concerns about inequity in some of the term limits.

In June, the board will vote on a resolution for reapportionment that includes board size, staying in districts, having the board members choose the board chairman and the changes to the per diems. The resolution needs to be sent to the Board of Elections by July 1.

[Angela Reiners]