Point - Counter Point

Lawrence County News and Discussion

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POINT – COUNTERPOINT

Does Lawrence County need a change in its form of government?

YES

Dave Cochenour

The argument for not changing government states that “If it’s not broke don’t fix it.” If this was truly the case we would be locked into the technology and the mindset of the past. Every system, be it mechanical, electrical, societal or political, must reflect current times. Edison’s first light worked fine, but new compact fluorescent bulbs work even better.

Our current form of government was designed for a different time. It was designed for a time when the economy and its resident’s could afford a robust and multilayered county workforce. It has its strengths (as the competition noted) but it also has its weaknesses.

Many of the supporters of a change base their support on the issue of Gary Felasco. I don’t. A thief will find a way to be a thief. I base my argument on efficiency and cost savings.

We have too many row officers to pay, too many deputies to pay, and too much overhead. We have multiple duplicate jobs being done by different offices. This is not a hit on current employees. They deal with the system as it is. The system is too expensive and it continues to grow.

Government is a business and like any business it wants to grow. Yet in this case our economy does not support more services and more employees. Our current commissioners have done a good job holding the line on spending and reducing costs. Yet our population continues to shrink, our home values continue to lower, our median income continues to shrink. Our local municipalities, PA, and the federal government continue to take more and more. How much more are our politicians willing to cut? You see the end result in New Castle where the continuation of employment and the continuation of the status quo nearly bankrupted the city.

There are no minimum requirements for many of the offices. Do you have to be a doctor to be the coroner? What qualifications do you need to be the commissioner? Let’s be frank: Politics is a popularity contest. We as voters spend more time wondering about the political connections of a candidate or how they feel about certain issues than we do about if they are qualified to do a job. Would you have hired an auto mechanic to handle your own money? Now be honest, the answer is no.

I don’t know what form of government is the right one but its needs to be the bare minimum required. We need fewer politicians and more professionals. Are we going to get rid of the political appointments? No. Are we going to get rid of cronyism? No. But one thing will be accomplished. That is letting our leaders know that we care…and we are watching.

Denny Robbins

Change can be a good thing at times when it is needed, but change for change’s sake never did anyone any good.

Several years ago the City of New Castle and Lawrence County as a whole were on shaky ground. Four years ago the newly elected board of Commissioners was faced with a budget that just would not work and had to be reopened. The recommendations of the auditors had gone unheeded for years with literally pages of shortfalls preceding each report. There were elected officials that were taking the short cuts doing their jobs and one in particular that gave himself a large bonus at the taxpayer’s expense.

Only twenty two days before this was written the newly elected Commissioners and row officers officially took office and already major changes are taking place to correct things that allowed their predecessors to get away with the things they did.

In the Controller’s office Mr. Getting’s has identified changes that had to be made in accounting practices and computer hardware and software that will bring the county’s accounting into the 21st century. It will also make each office more accountable and easily tracked.

In the auditor’s reports terms like segregation of duties and lack of written procedures were included in virtually every office. The one department that is under the most scrutiny is the Treasurer’s office because of the former treasurer who was convicted for theft in office. Procedural changes started taking place there almost before the new treasurer took office. In years past there had been only one cash drawer in use by all of the office staff. This practice was discontinued right away and each person in the office is now responsible for their own drawer each day. In each office procedures are being written and job descriptions are being implemented.

In the Commissioners office we have three men who work very well together. Commissioners Dan Vogler and Steve Craig are incumbents and have had 4 years together. Newly elected Commissioner Rick DeBlasio has hit the ground running and the transition has been almost seamless.

We are lucky in that, unlike many other counties, our county government works well together at all levels and it is a very rare moment indeed when partisan politics happens.

As the old adage goes “If it’s not broke don’t fix it.” Over the last four years our county has come a long way from financial chaos to a surplus that will help cover capital improvements that are much needed among other things.

We currently have a study commission charged with determining if a change in the form of government is needed and recommending possible choices. Given the direction things have taken from the start one has to ask if a change of government and the costs it entails is in the best interest of the taxpayers of Lawrence County.