Give county credit where it's due

Commissioners Marc Eberlein and Bob Bingham, thank you.

You worked hard. You did your best. Even though you didn’t always take the course some folks thought most prudent or fair, you were open and accountable.

Analysts of public service like to ask this question: Are we better off today than we were when so-and-so took office? In this assessment of Bob and Marc’s service to county residents, the answer for many of us is yes. But as always, there’s room for improvement.

One way to improve has nothing to do with the men and women who shuttle into and out of these two- and four-year, CEO-level elected positions. Bingham nailed it last week when he said some serious streamlining has to be done for the commissioners to be more effective. Case in point: When a 10-cent expenditure comes before the board for approval, it’s proof that minuscule and momentous matters are being served on the same platter. And that is the antithesis not just of efficient work but of good governance.

The county is on the right track to at least partially patch this gaping hole. By creating the business analyst position and filling it with a competent person, important financial information that has been siloed or outright blocked by other elected officials can be shared, and that should lead to be better decisions and perhaps to better processes.

Nanci Plouffe, who was hired seven months ago for this new job, is off to a good start. Plouffe’s analysis of key performance indicators — data used to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of government — is helping commissioners and other citizens better understand public safety, budgets, community development and more.

For years, knowledgeable followers of and participants in business and government have concluded that Kootenai County’s political structure is archaic, which leads to some of the problems Bingham and Eberlein routinely encountered. A big step in the right direction would be hiring a county manager so commissioners could focus on the most important issues, but that proposal hasn’t picked up momentum. Perhaps in time it will with new commissioners Bill Brooks and Leslie Duncan coming on board.

Meanwhile, there’s a skilled business analyst to lean on, and she’s committed to gathering and sharing valuable information that should lead to better efficiency. Because of that, we could all be better off tomorrow than we are today.