County officials, employees must repay vote of confidence

County officials had reason to celebrate last night. The passage of the county's half-percent sales tax as a continuous levy gives the county a guaranteed stream of revenue that is vital to its operations.
This, however, is the morning after, and county officials -- the three commissioners, all the row officers and the judges -- have an obligation to begin repaying the vote of confidence they received Tuesday.
It has been a rough decade for the county. Commissioners have been required every two or three years to seek voter approval of one or the other of the half-percent sales tax issues that provide more than half of the county's general fund income. Several times, those issues failed, and each time that happened the county was driven into a financial hole
The big loser
The biggest hits came in the criminal justice system, for the simple reason that the lion's share of the general fund budget goes to operating the sheriff's department, the county jail, the common pleas courts and the prosecutor's office.
The past three years, the county has been involved in a federal lawsuit that was filed by prisoners at a time when the jail was packed with 800 inmates. Operating under a court order, the jail is now authorized to hold 360 inmates. Additional jailers will have to be hired to bring the facility up to its design capacity of 432.
But while it is important to get criminals off the streets and into jail, it is even more important to provide the speedy trials that the Constitution requires and that will allow convicted felons to be moved from the county jail to a state penitentiary.
That is going to require better case management by the prosecutor's office and the common pleas judges. If the courts show little or no progress in reducing their criminal case backlogs two years from now, it is going to make it difficult to persuade voters to renew the county's other five-year, half-percent sales tax.
Every office counts
Other areas of county operations will also come under the microscope.
The county must pursue consolidation of services that provide an opportunity for savings, especially in the operation of the 911 system and the county courts (the lower courts that handle arraignments, misdemeanors and traffic cases).
The clerk of courts, the recorder, the treasurer and the auditor must all look for ways not only to economize, but to provide a level of service that will encourage county voters to continue their support.
Even departments that are not part of the general fund, such as the County Engineer's Office, must be cognizant of the role they play in making voters feel that they are getting their money's worth.
And commissioners are going to have to demonstrate that they were right to pursue development of Oakhill Renaissance Place as a county office building. We have supported the investment, because it makes sense for the county to own rather than rent and because the former Southside Hospital is not a building that can or should be consigned to the dust heap.
By a wide margin Tuesday, voters rejected an ugly attempt by opponents of that project to damage the credibility of a majority of the commissioners and the county administrator.
But there will always be those who are eager to undercut elected officials for a variety of reasons.
The best defense any elected official has is a record of accomplishment. And building that record -- building a better county and a better tomorrow -- begins today.