Lincoln and Logan County leadership opens the doors for better communication and more collaborative efforts

 

[January 29, 2025] 

Earlier this week, something unusual was taking place at the Guest House Coffee & Pastries in Lincoln. Logan County Board Chairman JR Glenn and Lincoln Mayor Tracy Welch were enjoying a beverage and some frank conversation. The meeting of these two community leaders was something proposed by Glenn as a starting point for a promise he had made in December at the Logan County Board meeting when he was appointed chairperson.

Welch said that he had been happy to hear from Glenn who asked for the meeting. Welch added that creating a better working relationship with the county and its board was something he had hoped for during his tenure as Mayor. He was happy to find a like-minded person in the chairmanship of the board and looked forward to working through the challenges and hiccups of the past that had left the two governing bodies in Lincoln at odds.

Welch started his career with the city in 2016 when he filled a seat as Ward One Alderman. Then in June of 2020 he was appointed to the mayoral position at the resignation of Mayor Seth Goodman. Since then he ran for re-election and is once again up for re-election in 2025.

He is a Logan County native and has worked for State Farm Insurance for the last 20 years.

Glenn is also a Logan County native. His father owned a car dealership in Lincoln and his mother was a teacher. He grew up in the community he is now serving, but left home for college. His aspirations as an attorney led him to several locations across the United States, but he returned to his home county a few years ago. Still a practicing attorney, he now farms.

At the meeting on Monday the two talked about why they were sharing time together and what they hoped to gain for the future of Lincoln and Logan County.

Glenn said that in December he was not really expecting to be nominated and elected by his peers on the board to serve as the chair. However, he said he was flattered by the vote of confidence and had said that he would work to improve communication and transparency of the board.

He said he had talked about the divide between the county and the city and had stressed that he would set goals to try and repair the riffs, and also be more interactive, not just with Lincoln but with all the towns and villages in the county.

Glenn said that he had seen the fracture between the city and county, and to put it simply it was just silly for the two entities to go their own way without consideration of one another and without working together to achieve common goals. Welch agreed. He said that there are topics in the forefront today where that better communication and working together will benefit not just the city but the entire Logan County community. He mentioned the courthouse restoration project and said that there had been a lack of communication to the city and it had caused some problems. These were problems that could easily have been avoided had there been greater communication. He also noted that the future of the Logan Correctional Center is important to everyone in Logan County and that if the county and city or cities can form a united front on the topic they will gain strength in the effort to keep the prison where it belongs in Logan County.

Glenn said that one of the key issues for the county and city is that they come to the realization that they are all “rowing the same boat.” If the two entities are going their own direction and doing their own thing, the boat is not ever going to get anywhere. They shouldn’t just want to work together; they should understand the need to work together.

Welch said another area where the county and city should be in sync is economic development. Both entities want the same thing, to grow the community, attract new business and make the county better.

Glenn said absolutely. The goal should be to reverse the gap between the two entities, and a good place to start is to look for and implement collaborative initiatives. He said the county and city have common goals including a stronger economy, a safer environment for families and good jobs. Welch added that collaborative efforts should be focused on reaching and benefiting the constituents.

Welch mentioned that there was a point in the past where an attempt was made to hold regular meetings of all the mayors and village presidents in the county. The meetings were about problem solving, sharing ideas and practices and learning from one another. He said it was a case where one community might be struggling with an issue that another community had already addressed. The mayors would exchange ideas, talk about what had been done and how it had worked for them. It gave the governing bodies throughout the county the opportunity to learn from one another and feel connected in the struggles.

Glenn latched onto that idea and said he would like to see that come back and that he would like to see the county invited to that table as well. He said everyone can benefit from learning new ideas and solutions to problems.

Glenn said one of the biggest obstacles faced is the old school thought of “we do it this way because we’ve always done it this way.” He said that everyone needs to be open to change and to learning. He added that he knew there were going to be nay-sayers and people who were skeptical of the big picture plan of uniting the community, but he was willing to give it his all. He said that he would show constituents by example as in “don’t watch what I say, watch what I do.”

Asked what the common goals were for the meeting on Monday and what was the low hanging fruit that could be plucked right away.

Welch said that one was to address safety. He said that the city and county are both dealing with changes in the law and increased crime, yet the city doesn’t really know what the county is doing to address this and vice versa. If there could be a unity in the efforts of law enforcement that would be a great first start.

He suggested there could be an establishment of liaisons between the city and county. A city representative that would attend county meetings and have a clear impression of what was happening in those meetings. The same would be true with the county appointing a liaison to attend city council meetings. The two liaisons could report back to their boards and help assure that all parties were well informed.

Glenn said he felt like the first low hanging fruit was the act of meeting with Welch. He said communication and getting to a starting point is key.

He added that transparency is also a big issue. He said that a criticism he has heard often is that the county operates in a vacuum. As an example, he said that there had been a “million rumors” about the Logan County Courthouse restoration projects. He said being more transparent and communicating about what is happening at the courthouse would benefit everyone.

Welch said that he wanted the county board and city council to see this action as a positive move in the right direction for the future.

Welch talked about his bi-monthly Coffee with the Mayor events. He said that he knew that attending city council meetings did not always work out for constituents. It was an intimidating venue and one where people might not feel comfortable expressing their feelings and asking questions. He said he felt the coffee meetings had been an answer to that issue. He said most of the time there is a good turnout and people come with questions and comments. Welch added that he would welcome an opportunity to include Glenn in those meetings, and Glenn said he would welcome the opportunity to be there.

The two went on to discuss other topics. Welch shared the reporting system that is used for road and sewer issues, the city utilizes a phone app that Glenn was unaware of, but interested in learning more.

Other big issues that are going to arise include the mandatory changes and improvements to the Logan County Safety Complex and Jail. Glenn said he was looking at re-establishing a safety committee for the county. He said he knows Sheriff Mark Landers does a lot in the county, but the county board is not always well informed.

Glenn said he had re-aligned the committees, moving members and changing leadership roles in the committees to better reflect those who were keen on a topic. He noted the change in the Building & Grounds committee as an example. He said that board member Dale Nelson had been aggressive and proactive in knowing what was going on with the courthouse. Glenn saw him as one who should be leading that committee. He added that since being appointed as Chair of Building and grounds, Nelson had spent at least a couple of days away from his regular employment touring the courthouse and discussing what is going on where, and what issues have arisen and been addressed and what yet needed to be addressed.

The two talked about several other topics including the Fifth Street Road projects, working together for more and better intergovernmental agreements, and being more open with the community via local news sources.

Both agreed there would be more meetings between the two of them, there will be better interactions between the Logan County Board members and city council members, and expressed optimism that over time, the two entities will learn to trust one another and work together on topics that are of great concern for all the constituents of Logan County.

At the end of the meeting on Monday, Welch invited Glenn to attend a city council meeting and introduce himself to the Lincoln alderpersons. Glenn accepted the invitation and attended the Tuesday, January 28th Committee of the Whole meeting.

He came to the speaker’s table and introduced himself. He began saying he wanted to thank Welch for the meeting on Monday and the invitation to attend the Tuesday night workshop session of the city council. He explained that he was elected by the county board to serve as their chairman at the first meeting of the new fiscal year, in December.

Glenn said soon after that election, Welch had reached out to him and said he wanted to get together and talk. Glenn said he had known Welch for a while, and was happy to hear that Welch was interested in talking. Glenn said that he didn’t want any conversations to be about what has gone wrong in the past. He wanted to see the county and Lincoln move forward together and believes that Welch has the same goal.

He said that at the meeting on Monday there had been a lot of good conversation and the two local leaders had agreed that they were in the same boat, and needed to be going in the same direction.

Glenn said that early on he had naively believed that the city and county were in good standing with one another and well informed of one another’s activities. He said he has since come to understand that is not always the case. He said that now that he knows that the two are not always communicating well, he hopes to see that change.

Glenn said that he felt the county board was a collective of good members who will be willing and anxious to build new relationships with Lincoln as well as other towns and villages in the county.

Glenn concluded by saying that he was always open to conversations with city representatives and would invite anyone to reach out to him.

[Nila Smith]