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Commissioners Corner - County Employees
Dedicated & Honorable
Mike Stegall, Darke County Commissioner
While on the campaign trail, I expressed an interest in having the
Commissioners put a monthly column in the paper and on the internet to
keep everyone informed as much as possible about the goings on in the
county. The other 2 Commissioners, Diane Delaplane and Mike Rhoades,
quickly agreed that this would be a great way to connect with the
citizens of the county.
As with most new ideas and plans, we are not really sure how this will
work out. By that I mean some months we may have an abundance of
news to relate, and some months maybe not so much. Either way we
want to keep the community involved as much as possible. We
realize that government can and should be accountable to the people who
elect them, and with that in mind, this will be one way to start down a
path that eventually leads to more trust in our elected
officials.
One thing should be noted here, this will be a complete collaboration
from this column forward between all the Commissioners and I hope to
relate any news our elected officials in the courthouse can contribute.
In my short time as Commissioner, I have found that we have a very
dedicated and honorable group of elected people and their staffs in the
courthouse. Most of them are never thought about until election
time, and that is a shame because I can tell you that everyone who
works in the courthouse is very hard working, and always willing to
help. We are going through some tough economic times right now,
and every department has helped contribute to the financial stability
the county has at this point. I would like to publicly say “Thank
You” to those people for really making the county work, and for helping
me to understand how things work.
Now, for the county news, I can tell you that the Commissioners have
had several meetings with our Senators and Representatives on what to
expect the 2nd half of this year. As of now, all we are hearing
is that for the next 2 years, things are going to be tough. We
are told to expect cuts in every program and that nothing is exempt.
This theme has been repeated to us several times, so we have taken
steps accordingly. We are going to assume the worst possible case
and anything better than that will be a bonus.
It is not all doom and gloom; however, it seems the business climate in
Darke County is on the rise. The new Continental Carbonic plant is
moving along, as is the new American Plastics Recycling on Jaysville
-St. Johns Road. Welcome to these new members of Darke
County.
Our Economic Development Director, Marc Saluk, is working very hard on
job retention and new job procurement. Right now, our Economic
Development Department is working with about 15 companies on new jobs
and job retention. Along with the Partnering for Progress group, the
Chamber of Commerce, and the C. I. C., the job climate in the county is
looking up. This is a collaboration between private enterprise
and government that is proving to be more successful than we could have
hoped. Marc is very positive at this point that we will have some
good news in the next couple of months.
We hope that this column becomes a source of information and discussion
for the people of Darke County. All of the Commissioners believe
that communication with our elected officials and the citizenry is key
to developing a trust and confidence in local government. We invite
everyone to come to a Commissioners meeting anytime. We meet
publicly every Monday and Wednesday at 1:30 in the Commissioners office
located at 520 south Broadway in Greenville. Hope to see you
there!
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