LETTER TO THE EDITOR
I have decided, Primary voters have decided, and in November voters will decide again.
In reference to the front page article “County Travel Questioned” in the September 3, 2006 issue of the Sunday Constitution. First off, show me a business that does not promote continued education and I’ll show you a failing business. Continued education, training and enhancement of personnel is performed in the offices of doctors, lawyers, educators, manufacturers, bankers, athletes, travel agents, military, state and federal elected officials and even journalists. In addition, it is proven that these personnel enhancements are ranked near the top of factors contributing to employee job satisfaction. As an elected official it is the Western District Commissioner’s responsibility and decision to determine who should be trained and what training will best benefit the residents of the Western District. It is somewhat ironic that the lead story in the Business section of the same edition of the Sunday Constitution invites business managers to attend a “laugh while you work” seminar sponsored by the Great Plains Technology Center. The article even points out that any Human Resource professionals attending can receive continuing education credit. Yet Commissioner Ulrich has to justify sending employees to various training classes, including safety training.
To address another point included in the article, at least one group of Western District citizens, living southeast of Cache, chose to pay for their county road to be chipped and sealed. Had nothing been done the county would have the continued expense of regular grading and maintenance of this road. Now that the road is chipped and sealed, it is no longer an ongoing expense for the county. This road was accepted by the previous Western District Commissioner as a gravel (dirt looking) road. When taxpayers living along this road approached Commissioner Ulrich about chipping and sealing this road, a meeting was called with all residents of Logue Road. With all residents in attendance, Commissioner Ulrich explained the lack of funding available and offered a compromise. This compromise was also the same idea the former Western District Commissioner had come up with. This compromise involved the residents of Logue Road assisting with the costs of the estimated $12,000.00 project. It only made sense for the Western District as the cost of maintenance and grading was a continuous expense. Now this road will not need maintenance for several years. Susan Ulrich made a sound, feasible and economic decision for a problem affecting taxpayers in her district. This is also known a business decision and isn’t that what voters want her to do? The continued housing growth and enhancement to roadways play a major role in the county. Property that was once on the County Property Tax Rolls at $800.00 an acre is now listed at hundreds of thousands of dollars. This only gives the county government more money to operate, but the district doesn’t get any of that to improve roadways. The dollars for roadways come from gasoline tax. If it weren’t for the improvement of roads, we would still be driving on dirt roads and may as well be in horse drawn wagons.
Getting back to the original point of the cover article, in business, management personnel may attend training for a job or subject that they may never personally utilize hands on. However, the knowledge of how, when and where is needed to ensure the greatest benefit of an expenditure, such as road repair and maintenance. The voters have elected Susan Ulrich to make those decisions on which personnel should attend training for the Western District. I applaud Commissioner Ulrich’s decision to make sure that her personnel are well trained, so they will be able to make knowledgeable choices and decisions in their jobs. Just because those that attend are females, does not mean they will not ever utilize the training. The office workers may never repair any machinery, spread gravel, pour concrete or chip and seal dusty roads, but if called upon to do so, they could. The more likely scenario would be that one of these office workers may be questioned about a process or procedure having to do with road maintenance or repair. They are now trained to give an intelligent and educated answer to those questions. Being a certified Road Scholar does not necessarily mean that they must perform the work, just like being a certified engineer does not mean they construct the building. The benefits of the training attended by Western District personnel will be determined by the progress, safety of personnel and funding of roads in the Western District. As stated in the article “you decide”, we in the Western District will decide in November on Election Day.
Proud Former Lawtonian,
Proud Current Cache Resident
Proud Comanche County Resident
Proud Team Player for SW Oklahoma
And Respectfully,
Eddie Dabney
