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photo by Jessica St. James
Judge Charles Cooper swears in Lawrence County Commissioner Jason Stephens, shown with his wife Juli and sons Sawyer, Wesley and Jackson. Stephens has been elected as president of the county commission.
Taking the Reins
Commission elects Stephens president
Published Tuesday, January 13, 2009
With an election behind them and a new year ahead of them, the Lawrence County Commissioners had their organizational meeting Monday morning.
Jason Stephens was elected commission president; he and fellow commissioners Doug Malone and Les Boggs agreed to schedule weekly meetings at 9:30 a.m. each Thursday, with informal work sessions at 9:30 a.m. each Tuesday.
While the budget is at the top of the list, the commission has other things to consider, too.
Stephens has said he would like to urge the board of elections to consider redrawing the county’s 88 precincts to even out the number of voters in each precinct.
He pointed out some precincts have fewer voters than others, meaning residents in some precincts had to wait in line to vote while other precincts handled fewer ballots.
“We can’t make them do it,” he said. “But I would like to encourage realignment. It would save several thousands dollars and make it more efficient and would be more fair to the voters across the county.”
Another challenge facing county leaders is the aging Dennis J. Boll Group and Shelter Home. The 100-plus year-old facility needs either a massive overhaul or replaced altogether. County leaders have discussed both options but don’t have the money for either.
The Ohio Department of Youth Services awarded the group home a $500,000 grant last fall but at that time both Lawrence County Juvenile Court Judge David Payne and group home director Brett Looney said that is only a small part of what is needed to solve the facility’s problems.
Yet another issue is finding funding for the Union-Rome Sewer District that is under construction now.
The county has gotten some low-interest loans to pay for the project and $5 million in federal funds has been earmarked for it. But county leaders are concerned that this money may be eliminated because of shifting priorities in Washington D.C.
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Comments
Posted by osu (anonymous) on January 13, 2009 at 11:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Man, I waited, no HOPED IN EXTREME ANTICIPATION, that "duh (elusive) plan" would've been unveiled Monday morning.
Since Christmas and New Year's have passed, maybe we're waiting for Easter. We'll find it in our Easter baskets!
Posted by howardhughes (anonymous) on January 13, 2009 at 12:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Looks like they changed meeting times back to 9:30 to make it "more convenient" for the public, what a load of dung.
Posted by Vil (anonymous) on January 13, 2009 at 12:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hold on folks. No reason to complain yet. They county has been run into the ground for I don't know how many years and it was always a Democrat running things. Let us give these guys a chance before we throw them to the wolves.
osu, maybe the 'plan' is something like the business plan the Underpants Gnomes had.
Step 1. Steal Underpants
Step 2. ?
Step 3. Profit!
Posted by osu (anonymous) on January 13, 2009 at 12:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Vil--I believe you're incorrect about who's been running things at the Courthouse. The Republicans have been the majority at the Commission, I believe.
And it was a Republican financial adviser who promised to use that training to help the County. I guess now we have a financial planner, a "planner" and an insurance agent as our 3 Commissioners now.
Hold on!! It's going to be a rough ride.
Posted by Vil (anonymous) on January 13, 2009 at 12:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Heaberlin and Doug Malone are Democrats, as was George Patterson when he was on the Commission. Malone was the last presiding President over the Commission.
I put more faith in a successful businessman to deal with our financial woes over a school teacher. But let us not go there.
Did you see the Bill Gaskins story, osu?
Posted by osu (anonymous) on January 13, 2009 at 12:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Yes, saw it. Bill is a good man; I just wish he'd leave the 1950s behind though. That's my only complaint with him. :)
Patterson acted more like a Republican than a Democrat, and before Malone was elected, the Republicans were in charge much of the time (Herrell, Stephens, that ICU nurse).
All three Commissioners are businessmen (2 insurance agents and a nursing businessman). Last year, 2 of the 3 were businessmen, and look at those results. Maybe it's time we elected more school teachers and less businessmen to these positions?
Burcham's doing his best to bring in the delinquent taxpayers, but the money's going somewhere.
Posted by MasterChef (anonymous) on January 13, 2009 at 1:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I well remember the Commission being led by BOTH parties, but I don't think its really a partisan thing. I've seen public-minded individuals in these leadership positions who juat happen to be from a certain political party.
I quite often have strongly disagreed with commission actions, especially involving the loss of our hospital. But these people were elected to lead, and thats that. By all means voice your concerns about government here. I KNOW at least one commissioner reads these forums, and I suspect more.
Personally, I think this will be a busy and productive commission. FYI, between Stephens and Boggs, I only voted for one.
Posted by Shooter (anonymous) on January 13, 2009 at 2:33 p.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by rooster1410 (anonymous) on January 13, 2009 at 4:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think that we should give this commission a chance. The biggest political joke at the courthouse is RAY DUTEY. To make it worse, he is gonna retire and TIM SEXTON take over. I think that Burcham does a good job in trying to bring in delinquent taxpayers. I also feel that Mr. Lynd does a very good job.
Posted by rooster1410 (anonymous) on January 13, 2009 at 5:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Mr. Boggs told us during his campaign that he could help the county generate money. Since OU is going to start broadcasting the meetings, maybe he is planning on making it "pay per view???" Never know--maybe THAT is "duh plan."
Posted by proctor (anonymous) on January 13, 2009 at 5:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
First order of business for Mr. Stephens is to see a Doctor to clear up his stopped up nose that causes him not to smell the sewer in the Proctorville area. Next would be how the county can get more taxes out of the few people that still work, but can not make it to the daytime meetings to complain.
Posted by Vil (anonymous) on January 13, 2009 at 9:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
rooster, your personal vendetta against Moose is annoying. Do you not realize that anyone who reads these forums on a semi-regular basis doesn't see that?
Dutey is a very good man.
Posted by turbo (anonymous) on January 13, 2009 at 10:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Vil,
I agree with you and so glad to hear you have a positive attitude about someone. Moose and his wife are wonderful people and I am sure he was upset with his granddaughter.
Posted by Vil (anonymous) on January 14, 2009 at 12:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I'd say 'upset' is an understatement. You can't throw a guy in the fire for doing what he could to help out his granddaughter.
Posted by Brutus27 (anonymous) on January 14, 2009 at 9:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I still would really love to know who you are Rooster1410. You obviously have a hatred for Moose & Tim for some reason. Is it jealousy? Moose & his family are wonderful people who genuinely care about the county.
Posted by Vil (anonymous) on January 15, 2009 at 2:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Yeah. Rooster even took a jab at Dutey in another article that had zero to do with him. Looks like someone is obsessed.
Moose, you may want to watch your back. Looks like you may have a stalker.
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