Mike Bruner envisions an Allen County commission that is more accessible, more mobile, more civic-minded, and more in touch with the needs of its constituents.
To this end, Bruner, who is challenging current commissioner Jerry Daniels for the District 1 seat, is hoping to reshape the weekly meeting schedule.
Instead of the usual Tuesday-morning roundtable huddle at the Allen County Courthouse a meeting whose 8:30 start-time makes it difficult for the average working person to attend Bruner proposes taking the show on the road. At least once a month.
The commission, says Bruner, could schedule a small fraction of its weekly meetings during the evening hours and stage them at venues in towns other than Iola, in hopes that this would encourage more residents to attend.
Why cant commissioners hold at least one meeting a month in Humboldt, asks Bruner, or Savonburg or Moran or Elsmore or Carlyle or any of the other towns dotting greater Allen County? I would just like for us to take a more energetic approach to civic engagement in the county, said Bruner, who sat down for an interview with the Register on Wednesday.
SINCE FILING for the position in May, Bruner, a 40-year resident of Humboldt, has journeyed the 500 miles of road that make up the countys first district in an effort to meet his would-be constituents.
In his conversations with potential voters, there were three concerns that rang loudest in Bruners ears: One was the just-mentioned inconvenience of the commissions Tuesday morning meetings. The second, said Bruner, pertains to the quality of the districts roads. And the third concern Bruner encounters involves the nature and scope of the countys engagement with local economic development.
ROADS
[One of] the driving things that pushed me into that moment of madness when I decided to file for county commission was frustration over the Highway 169 project, said Bruner, referring to the lengthy construction-related road closure between Iola and Chanute. It was obvious that the state was basically cutting costs by using an unofficial detour on the old highway, and what they were doing was transferring that cost to the county. (The official, state-sanctioned detour encourages motorists to travel many miles out of the way, to U.S. 75., before resuming their north-south trek.)
As a Humboldt resident, Bruner gladly concedes that the de facto detour, which funnels traffic down the old highway and directly through Humboldts townsquare, has been good for that towns burgeoning business district. But, says Bruner, whose daughter and young grandson travel the narrow highway from Carlyle to Chanute almost every day, the safety threat that accompanies the increased traffic cannot be ignored, especially as winter approaches.
Bruner understands that the county commission isnt to blame for the state-initiated road project, but if he were on the commission at the time, he says he would have been more vocal in naming his misgivings.
I would have wanted [Rep.] Kent Thompson and [Sen.] Caryn Tyson there, and I would have let them know that it was a state responsibility, not a county responsibility, said Bruner. I think the state owes us money for the additional maintenance cost.
AS FOR the road projects that are under the countys purview, Bruner is calling on the commission to adopt a more formal road-improvement plan.
We have good county employees, said Bruner, and we have a lot of good roads in the county, so we know we can do it. In fact, Bruner contends that the majority of the gravel roads in his district are well-maintained. [But] then there are some that need a lot of work. You drive the road between the cemetery in Elsmore and the county line theres a problem there, and those people have been wanting some help for a long time. They need their questions answered.
ECO DEVO
Now, this is a very different topic, acknowledges Bruner. Roads and bridges is an absolute responsibility of the county commission. They dont have any way out of that; they have to do it. Economic development, [however], is an optional activity. Theres no legal requirement that [the county] be involved in economic development it just doesnt seem very responsible not to be.
Still, Bruner believes theres room to streamline the commissions approach when it comes to deciding what project or group or business to throw its weight behind. There needs to be a coherent vision guiding the way, says Bruner, because, right now, the process appears ad hoc: Someone will have an idea, then they will come to the county commission and say, You guys have a whole bunch of money sitting in the bank which may be a bit of an exaggeration, but right now the county is a little more flush than a lot of the other taxing entities and then theyll make their pitch, and it might be a good idea…but its not really part of a real comprehensive plan.
A predominant complaint Bruner hears from residents concerns the commissions prior willingness to use county funds to subsidize businesses that might compete with existing businesses in town.
