McCord, Forkner seek presiding office

By Steve Moyer

Nevada Daily Mail

Tuesday voters will face a host of decisions on various issues and candidates, one of those races is for the Presiding Commissioner of Vernon County. The two candidates for that office are Democrat Bonnie McCord and Republican Arch Forkner. Both candidates answered a questionnaire on several issues facing the county this year.

McCord is, and has been for 14 years, the Southern Commissioner. Forkner was Northern Commissioner from 1987 to 1996.

The county recently began the process of incrementally instituting Emergency 911 service with the naming of county roads and the placement of road signs. Both candidates say grants and cooperation with other local governmental agencies is the way to proceed, but have different priorities on implementing their plans.

Forkner said he would look for grants to complete the E911 system and cooperate with the ambulance board, the Nevada City Council and the sheriff's department to guide the effort. McCord said that equipment purchased through a grant has already been installed and a GIS director has been hired to handle the addressing of county properties, after consulting with the post office. McCord said private roads and subdivisions would have to be named and signed at some point in the near future.

"We hope to do it right the first time and avoid nightmares we have heard about in other counties," McCord said.

McCord said she would weigh and act on the recommendations of the committee formed by Judge James Bickel as well as pursuing other funding sources that may be used for jail construction. Forkner said a tax was needed to fund a new jail and that the commission should locate a site and work with the city government on the land. He suggested letting a private concern build a jail and have the county rent the space or have the county build a kitchen and cells next to the present jail as Lamar has done.

Recently there was a controversy over a local road and bridge that was used by a limited number of people. Forkner said that before closing a road the commission needed to speak to all land owners affected. He said that a barricade and a sign noting the road was closed was up from 2004 to 2006. McCord said the bridge was closed and demolished for safety reasons because it was deemed dangerous after an inspection. The commissions intention was to leave it out as they believed the adjacent land owners had access across their own property.

McCord said her priorities included maintaining a balanced budget and making do with the resources at hand. For safety reasons, she would like to see replacing narrow bridges with weight limits with wider bridges with no weight restrictions. Continued work on establishing an E911 system and a jail facility that is more secure and doesn't leak also were priorities for McCord. Forkner said the sheriff's department took the brunt of the punishment on last year's budget and said further cuts in its budget would be unfair.

"Help with the Nevada Council on a sewer line to eliminate the Rolling Meadows cesspool problem," Forkner said would be another priority.

Forkner said the CART (County Aid Road Trust) fund has stayed at $13,000 for three years after having been at $17,500 in the year 2000. He also stated that the road and bridge crew could run out of work in the next four years. "We have to change course and take on more responsibility for townships," Forkner said.

McCord said she felt she was informed on current issues and was well versed in state laws governing how the county operates and in changes in laws that directly impact the county. She said she has made many contacts and has worked with many different agencies and people over the past 14 years as Southern Commissioner which she feels could be beneficial to the county.

"My background and education is in accounting and business administration, which is helpful, overseeing the county budget," McCord said.