By Mark Marberry, Ste. Genevieve County Second District Commissioner
The first question asked at the Candidate Forum on July 29 referred to “micro managing” the boards that the county commission is involved with in various functions.
Before diving into the explanation of why the commission may decide to step in and micro manage a board, there are some clarifications that should be discussed about the types of boards. There are three types of boards in regard to Ste. Genevieve County and an explanation should be given to the makeup of the types.
The first type is the elected boards. These are school boards, ambulance boards, the new 911 board, etc. The members of these boards are elected on the April ballot and basically answer to the voters and not to the commission. There are some caveats to this that will not be discussed in this article.
The second type of board is the New Bourbon Port Authority Board. Three members are appointed by The Ste. Genevieve County Commission, three are appointed by the Perry County Commission and one is elected by the other board members. The port authority is its own governmental body and the commission’s relationship with the port is somewhat complex.
The third type of board is appointed by, and answers to, the commissioners. The Community Center Board is an example of this and is what has been a topic of contention in the news lately.
The main thing to remember about the community center is that it is a facility owned and operated by the county. The meaning of this statement is that the county commission is ultimately responsible for the financial and physical health of the community center. Another aspect of this ownership is that the community center is a government facility that must follow government guidelines on all aspects of operations. Some of these guidelines can be vastly different from a private entity and are subject to compliance audits from various governmental entities that the county would own the responsibility for, not the board.
The board had also operated on the misunderstanding that the budget generated by the director showed a bill of great financial health. As this had worked previously when county revenues were adequate, it was not an issue of immediacy. Unfortunately, budgets generated by any of the county’s departments are projections-not actual funds held by the treasurer-and are not an indicator of financial health. When the treasurer was faced with dramatic revenue shortfalls compared to increasing expenses due to inflation that do not appear on budget sheets in a real time basis, it involved a dramatic situation and difficulty in convincing the community center board that problems were coming. The situation has been addressed and all parties are moving together on a positive basis.
Micromanaging a board is not something the commission cares to do. There are too many other responsibilities for the commission to deal with on an ongoing basis. Unfortunately, temporarily the commission may have to step in and correct a board on emerging issues or prevent improper spending procedures, one of the many checks and balances that the commission has responsibilities for.