What exactly do the commissioners do anyway?

From time-to-time and in various contexts, the question which forms the title of this story is asked and a Tuesday afternoon interview with Vernon County’s three commissioners attempts to let them provide the answer.

“We were elected to serve and protect the people of Vernon County and that broad mission is acted out in quite a number of different ways,” said Presiding Commissioner Joe Hardin.

Northern District Commissioner Cindy Thompson spoke of there being not only the creation but also the managing and execution of a budget across the year as well as employee relations and property management.

“We may not be a large county but there’s a lot involved to govern this county,” she said.

Everett Wolfe, southern district commissioner added, “Everybody who gets elected to our job comes in thinking they pretty much know what this job involves. But talk to them and I promise you that every one of them will tell you how surprised they were at all that goes on which they had no clue about, absolutely no clue.”

With the first thing the commission does in January being the creation of budget, Wolfe said it gave him insight to all the work each courthouse office does.

“I also learned a lot about what commissioners in third-class counties can’t do,” said Wolfe. “While we can set the budget, each official is elected and answers to the people. We’re not their boss; we don’t rule Vernon County.”

Asked about the number of hours they actually put into the job, Hardin provided context saying he looked up the state statutes and was surprised that this has not been updated; county commissions need only meet once per quarter.

He is aware of county commissions which only meet from 9 a.m. to noon one day per week “But I can assure you that all three of us, combined, typically put in about a hundred hours a week; this really is a full-time job.

When Wolfe was elected, his wife was a full-time charge nurse.

“One time we were shopping for groceries and I was stopped so many times she thought it was worse than if I was a doctor,” said Wolfe with his trademark chuckle.

“The statutes require a few things but if you want your county to thrive you have to do more, much more and all of us really care and want that something more for our county.”

Asked about their salaries the presiding commissioner makes just over $34,000 while the other two make over $32,000.

“When it comes to the commission, folks only think of roads and bridges, the budget and managing the courthouse but there’s a whole lot more and this job is what you make it,” said Thompson.

Hardin spoke of monitoring spending and amending the budget once it is set. He said that while the county clerk’s office manages payroll and benefits, the commission handles personnel matters for the 85-90 full and part-time employees while providing direct supervision of the courthouse custodians.

He named weekly oversight of the county’s road and bridge crew, the work of the recycling center, routinely inspecting the buildings and property of the county, preparing bids, drawing up contracts and working on special and longer ranger projects in partnership with other entities.

“We keep in touch with Rep. Pike and Sen. Emery so we know what they’re working on in Jeff City and we tell them what would help us here,” said Thompson.

“Everyone can see the difference at Katy Allen Lake or the new Centennial Hall and Pavilion at the fairgrounds and what we’re slowly doing at the courthouse but taking over and upgrading the emergency-911 center at the jail and before that, the GIS (geographic information system) mapping project to create 911 addresses for each place in the county were big projects that have a huge long-term impact,” said Hardin.

“And the county took over and expanded the recycling center,” added Thompson. “In fact, Joe’s the head over this area’s solid waste district which also means he serves on the state solid waste board as well.”

In 2018, the county recycling center process over 700,000 pounds of materials with well over 500,000 pounds of that being cardboard.

“There’s now close to 90 stops a week we make to area businesses just picking up their cardboard to recycle,” added Hardin. “Think of the money they save and the amount we keep out of the landfill.”

Wolfe spoke of the county’s meandering rivers and miles of roads, meaning there are more bridges than most counties in the state.

“There are exactly 282 inventory bridges,” said Hardin quickly looking up the exact number.

This category requires a minimum width of 22 feet wide and none of these are on state roads.

“Every time we replace an old bridge, we make it at least that wide to give the people of this county the peace of mind to know that licensed professionals are inspecting those bridges every two years,” said Hardin. “We have a few that aren’t wide enough but we’re working on upgrading those.”

In addition, there are the larger bridges which are constructed with federal matching funds.

“Out of all the bridges we’ve got in this county, the latest state inspection found five or six that we need to address and that’s out of a total of about 400,” said Hardin. “A lot of counties are hurting in this area but we’re one of the best in the state.”

The commissioners also made it clear they work hard to maintain positive relations with the elected officials and other entities. All three knew of counties where the commission and sheriff are at war with each other.

“Last March was the first time we got officials from all 20 townships together for a meeting,” said Wolfe. “We distributed their contracts and CART funds (Missouri’s county aid road trust) and I think they enjoyed meeting each other and talking about their similar challenges. We’re going to do it again this year as well.”

The county commission has no power over the townships. While not required to, this year the commission will provide each township with $10,000 for road materials.

Listing the outside groups with which they regularly meet, all three commissioners attend the quarterly meetings of the Local Emergency Planning Committee.

Wolfe attends the monthly meetings of the Vernon County Fair Board and Neal (senior) Center Board.

Thompson attends the monthly meetings of the University of Missouri Extension Council, West Central Community Action Agency, Build VC (the county economic development group she created) and Kaysinger Basin Regional Planning Commission.

As noted above, Hardin chairs Solid Waste District M and serves on a state board from that and participates in meetings of a workforce development group based in Sedalia as well as Nevada’s Citizens to Strengthen Our Hospital, a group working to assist Nevada Regional Medical Center.

“There are some things about this job which can be a bit thankless but each of us ran because we want to make a difference,” said Hardin. “I’ve got four kids, my oldest is 11 and I know what all three of us want is to do what we can to ensure their future and the future of every person in Vernon County.”

The other commissioners were nodding their heads as he added, “Those are not just nice words; we really mean it.”