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County
Supervisors: Who Needs 'Em?
Published Saturday,
March 8, 1997
For once, I have
to agree with my conservative friends who say theres too much government.
We must reduce the size of government and save money, starting at the
top. Its time for the County Board of Supervisors (BOS) to
quit.
This is not a criticism of our individual supervisors; ours just happen
to illustrate the problem. The problem is that in 1997, the concept
of low-paid elected lawmakers micromanaging government while ignoring
big issues doesnt work any more. The real government is done
by the managers and staff, anyway.
The supervisors were supposed to provide oversight and policy to the administrators,
but they havent been doing that very well. So, in order to
avoid more mismanagement and save big dollars, well have to downsize
the BOS to zero. The concept is not new in private enterprise, and
Im sure the supervisors will approve.
First, lets review why we dont need the supervisors:
They are not representatives. Its unlikely you can name your
supervisor. They generally dont communicate with you, as I
have anecdotal evidence that they dont answer phone calls or letters.
In general, they dont have e-mail and dont hold meetings with
constituents. Further, they are accountable only in infrequent elections.
They dont ask what the public will is. In fairness, its
nice to see our supervisors Dardick, Knecht, and Van Zant participating
in public forums and the Action Team.
They dont intercede effectively for constituents, not even for developers.
They have no vision. In the case of our BOS, they cant get
consensus on a General Plan or zoning, but worse, they provide no grand
plans for a bright future.
They dont use the bully pulpit. Our Board doesnt encourage
or try to divert public opinion. For example, they neither defend
nor criticize the Sheriff, the DA, or Juvenile Hall problems.
Based on past inaction on many items, they will probably be paralyzed
when the new welfare reform laws kick in and the county gets in deep financial
trouble.
The futility of relying on a BOS was underscored in The Unions
article, Board mulls inmate handling, by Tim Willis on February
26th:
Supervisor Karen Knecht said, We as a board asked that some of these
things be addressed and we were told, No. What on earth
does that mean? The BOS was told, No? If you are
responsible to the people, why did you accept a No?
Further, she said, I dont want to respond any more when we
are not the problem. Talk about being in denial. Trust
me, with an attitude like that, you ARE the problem. You will certainly
be the problem one day when inmate handling in your courthouse gets a
prisoner, a deputy, or a citizen killed.
Once the BOS is gone, the public will get a great cost savings.
Given that a supervisor makes about $27,000 a year plus benefits, and
adds no value to government, wed gain about $135,000 right off the
bat. That will buy some books for the libraries, hire a sheriffs
deputy, buy a patrol car, purchase couple of extra bullets, and get the
carpets in the Rood Center cleaned.
In addition, we get the use of the BOS meeting chamber back. We
can turn it into a revenue source by renting it out for square dances,
RV storage and perhaps agricultural events.
Of course, some of our gains will have to be diverted to establish a recovery
program for ex-supervisors. Well have to build an imitation
BOS meeting room at the Senior Center for pretend meetings,
until the ex-supes finish their withdrawals. Well also need
to start a chapter of Supervisors Anonymous and form a support group.
To show there are no hard feelings, well have to name institutions
and streets after them. Take Karen Drive to Dardick Lane.
Turn left on Antonson Street, go through the Van Zant tunnel, and youll
be at the Grattan Sewage Treatment Plant.
Now within two weeks, I expect The Union will give space to a supervisor
for one of those wimpy You dont know how tough our job is
columns. I agree that its tough, because the idea of a BOS
is out of date and some supervisors have personal limitations. The
Board of Supervisors is the appendix in the digestive tract of county
government, and removing it should be a simple operation.
Barry Schoenborn is a technical writer, and a ten-year resident of
Nevada County. You can write to him at barry@wvswrite.com. The opinions
of columnists are not necessarily those of The Union.
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