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Show County hould consider administrative changes It has been discussed, debated and studied by a number of people and organizations in the past few years, but still no one has come up with any real answers or changes. It has been thought of and mulled over. There are a number of people who say that something should be done. There are a number of other people who say that nothing should be done. As with any issue, there are arguments for and against many different sides ; and we don't really have a solution to the problem, but we do think that the new Iron County Commission should serioulsy study and consider the method of administering the county. Iron County is currently administered basically by a three-man, part-time county commission, with the help of several full-time elected officials, most notably the county clerk. For years we think that this form of government and administration worked very well; however, now we think the county has grown sufficiently that something different dif-ferent must be done. The options are numerous and all of them have their various pros and cons. Allowing for a full-time county commission chairman, changing to a five-man county commission, com-mission, and hiring a full-time county planner and administrator seem to be the three most popular options at this time. Again, we are not sure, since we have not ever seen any type of comprehensive study on the options, op-tions, which of these methods or another would be best for Iron County; but we do challenge the county commission, with two new members coming in next month, to serioulsy consider the options and come up wfth a change that would help the county. Why does the county need a change? Basically to make it run more smoothly and efficiently and in the process provide better services at perhaps less cost. A prime example of where a county administrator ad-ministrator of some type could have helped immensely im-mensely is the recent jail controversy. Although the commission had been studying the proposal for over a year, when it came right down to it, the questions on the ballot were drafted hurriedly and changed quickly. There has been a huge amount of controversy; some of it, granted, the citizenry's own fault, but none-the-less, there has been controversy con-troversy which we feel could have been avoided. When we carefully compare how the county is run with how Cedar City is run with a full-time city manager we are somewhat envious, wishing the county could move as smoothly and quickly on important issues. This, of course, is not meant to say that someone in the county is not doing a good job. What this means is that the part-time commissioners do not have the time to adequately serve, and there is no one who is really helping them by doing most of the legwork and organization beforehand. We think that the commissioners themselves will admit that they simply do not have the time to do the job justice. If one doubts the need of such a county administrative ad-ministrative position, all he need do is attend a meeting of the Cedar City Council and one of the Iron County Commission. There is a vast difference. dif-ference. First, the commission meetings last nearly all day twice a month. The city council meets for a couple of hours four times a month ; the total time is probably half that of what the commission meets. Second, notice how the meetings are run. In the Cedar City Council, a problem or proposal is presented, it is discussed somewhat and a decision is usually made. The councilmen have been provided with information before the meeting by the city manager. The legwork has been done. On the other hand, in the county, the commissioners roll up their sleeves, get out their calculators and think every problem through from start to finish, coming to the meeting with very little background. Decisions are drug out, and many times tabled until the next meeting. Iron County has simply become too large and complicated to be run this way any more. Something needs to change. We challenge the commission to make studying of county administration ad-ministration a priority item in the upcoming year. |