Establishing the office of a Lyon County administrator has been on a lot of people’s minds since the concept was introduced to Lyon County commissioners late in 2005.
A study group formed by the Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce made the suggestion to hire a professional administrator and expand the county commission from three members to five. Commissioners said they prefered to let the public decide, so the Chamber circulated petitions to place the questions on the ballot in the Nov. 7 general election.
The study group’s summary of the proposal said some of the functions of an administrator could include acting as the chief operating officer, overseeing human resources and serving as a liaison to the commission. In other words, a go-to person for the county.
Jeanine McKenna, of the Emporia Chamber of Commerce, spoke in support this week of an administrator.
“We do feel that there are three to four people who do the job of a county administrator,” McKenna said. “But there’s not one person responsible. We feel that it would create better communication.”
Not everyone agrees. County Controller Dan Slater opposes hiring an administrator.
“What is that person going to do that the rest of the county isn’t doing right now?” Slater said. “It is true that your commissioners aren’t full-time people, but you already have a structure that runs county government right now. To pull in another level of administration or stuff without deciding why you’re doing it doesn’t appear to make any sense.”
Lyon County Counselor Michael Halleran recently offered his ideas regarding the hiring of a county administrator. He cited a Kansas Supreme Court case, Lincoln County vs. Wray Nielander and Jack Jackson.
“The ruling dealt with many things,” Halleran said. “One is that the county has absolutely no control of the expenditures of elected officials’ budgets.”
Under the court’s ruling in the case, the only time the commissioners have control of an elected official’s budget is during the budget process. Once the budget is voted on, the elected official takes control of the money. Elected officials also control hiring, promotions, demotions and firings in their departments.
“So how can a county administrator have more control?” Halleran said. “The thing is, they would not.”
Halleran’s said his other concern was costs.
“If we spend (money) for a county administrator, will we gain a proportionate amount of savings?” Halleran said.
Slater said he wasn’t sure what the actual cost of hiring a county administrator would be. There would be salary and benefits and perhaps salary and benefits for an assistant. There would also be office space and equipment. Slater said the administrator might be paid around $90,000 a year plus benefits, but that’s just a guess.
“It does not appear to have a benefit to the taxpayer,” Halleran said. “That person would have no more power than county commissioners.”
Halleran said the benefits to the county have not been laid out to voters.
“These are very serious questions that have not been explained adequately by the circulators of the petition,” he said. “Any time there’s a question of budget and expenditures, that has to be considered.”
McKenna said she doesn’t see the relevance of the Lincoln County case, but it keeps coming up. McKenna said other counties that have administrators were asked about the Lincoln County case.
“Other counties didn’t have concern about the case,” she said. “Everybody felt that the right person in place came in and worked with all the people and created good synergy.”
McKenna said she knows a county administrator wouldn’t have authority over elected officials.
“I don’t see why this goes hand in hand,” she said.
As far as costs go, McKenna said, the study group determined that a full-time administrator would find efficiencies and savings in the government to pay for their position.
Finney County Commissioner Cliff Mayo said in a recent town-hall meeting in Emporia that having a county administrator has given that county someone to hold accountable.
“Everything finally rests on the shoulders of the county administrator,” Mayo said. “We hold him accountable.”
Mayo also said that having a county administrator takes some of the guess-work out of government.
“Some of the technical things coming down the pike were getting complicated for commissioners,” he said.