Bacon is in the pan: Greg Bacon elected new Knox County Board chair
by Mike Kroll
Following a
very successful November election, Knox County Democrats amassed solid party
control of the 15-member Knox County Board. Only six sitting members now are
Republicans and this permitted the suspense-free election of Greg Bacon (D-2)
in a straight party-line vote. Outgoing board chair and Republican Allen Pickrel (R-1) nominated Wayne Saline (R-4) and George Knapp
(D-4) attempted to insert Lyle Johnson (D-1) as a wildcard in the race for
board chair but that nomination died for lack of a second. Johnson and Bill
Abel (R-2) were nominated for vice-chairman but Johnson also held the support
of all the Democrats and was also elected 9-6 to that position. A motion was
passed to make that vote unanimous.
Other than
electing the chair and vice-chair, the only other business conducted at this
organizational meeting of the County Board was a vote to continue monthly
meetings with assigned committees rather than meeting twice monthly as a
“committee of the whole” where all county business is discussed in detail by
the entire Board. Historically the County Board has almost always operated
under the committee system with varying number of committees. The elected Board
chair defines the committee structure and assigns committee members and
appoints chairs of each. The County Board tried the committee-of-the-whole
approach when Jan Occhi was chair preceding Pickrel but opted to return to the committee system after
one two-year cycle.
The three
new Board members just elected were sworn in and board member Stephen Johnson
(R-5) announced after the November election that he would be stepping down from
the Board because he moved out of
his district and into Galesburg. It is expected that a replacement for
Johnson's seat will be appointed at the next meeting. By law, it must be a
Republican. David Serven, that party’s unsuccessful
candidate for the District 5 seat won by Jeff Jefferson, is the expected
appointee to that position. He was at the organizational meeting and appears to
have support from members of both parties.
After his
election, Bacon announced that he hadn't yet determined how he would define the
Board committees or who would be assigned where. “I just didn't want to do that
until I knew if I was going to be elected chair. I sort of expect to change
things around a bit but nothing is settled in my mind just yet. I am open to
suggestions and I'm sure I will make some changes in committee structure and
membership but I don't want to lose the value of board experience in the
process.” During the meeting, Bacon announced that until the regular December
board meeting on the 23rd, things will remain essentially the same as before
the election but that he would get in contact with each County Board member
within the next few days to discuss their roles beginning in January.
Asked what
he sees as the most important issues to be dealt with by the County Board in
the next year, Bacon pointed to solving the problems with the courthouse and
developing a sensible long-term solution to the county's space needs. Recent
discussions of remodeling and expanding the existing courthouse have yielded
few attractive answers. The existing courthouse is too small to meet all of the
county's space needs. The old building also needs substantial work to modernize
and make it a safe and practical place to conduct county business. The cost of
doing such work has been estimated at over $20 million but adding the necessary
additional space and parking on the current site may not be feasible or
sensible at any price tag and Knox County simply doesn't have the necessary
funds to take on such a costly project. Nevertheless, County space needs and
other problems at the courthouse have reached a near-crisis situation and the
County Board will be forced to take some action over the next few years. Bacon
has previously stated that he prefers a solution that puts all the County’s
offices under one roof — pretty much eliminating remodeling the current courthouse.
Bacon also
sees the ongoing faltering economy as a concern that the County Board will need
to help address. Knox County has been losing both jobs and population as the
American economy descended into recession but local economic problems predate
the current national economic crisis. Just last month the County Board voted to
renew their participation in the Galesburg Regional Economic Development
Association for at least another year along with maintaining the County's
$30,000 financial commitment. GREDA has faced criticism for years for its lack
of success but just since this summer the criticism has become much more
militant and widespread and many expected either the County Board or the City
of Galesburg — or both — to cease participation in GREDA.
Bacon was
one of those voices of dissent with GREDA but he was won over by the group's
high-profile campaign to once again plead for another chance. It is expected
that the Galesburg City Council will likewise support at least a one-year
renewal of their GREDA participation with a vote before the end of the year. “I
want to give GREDA another chance but I will insist on greater County
participation and input on the economic development efforts. I hope they change
their meeting times so that I can become directly involved but their current
early morning meetings conflict with my work hours. If I must, I will appoint
someone else to sit on the GREDA board but whoever represents the Knox County
Board needs to be very active and report back to the Board.”
Another reoccurring
issue that faces the County Board is the position of a county administrator. A
vocal minority of County Board members are adamant that a county administrator
be hired. They’ve tried this before and it was far from a success. Part of that
had to do with the constant friction between the County Board and several
elected officials who are no longer in office. Officials at all levels say the
cooperation between the various offices is much improved but neither the County
Board nor the county-wide elected officials have ever been able to come to a
consensus on exactly what the duties and responsibilities should be for a
county administrator — if a good one could be hired. The last time they
attempted to recruit candidates for the administrator position, the pool of
applicants was weak. Bacon would take no position on this issue Monday night
other than to say “as far as I am concerned it is certainly not a dead issue
but I don't see us doing anything about an administrator this fiscal year.”
12/4/08