County pushes ahead with some new ideas

Earlier this year, Greg Knott, a Republican Champaign County Board member from St. Joseph, and Brendan McGinty, a Democrat from Urbana, asked members to consider some ideas about streamlining government and preparing for its future.

We asked them to offer some thoughts about the challenges the county faces.

McGinty: "The county is working to improve its long-range planning, including but not limited to the areas of technology, land use, finance and capital improvement.

"The county will be analyzing its structure over the next few years, including but not limited to the areas of administration, board size, elected and appointed offices, and more, in an effort to offer the citizens the services they desire as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.

"The county has made great strides in moving its nursing home residents into a beautiful, new home that improves the way we provide services to our seniors, and as we move into the future, continuing to analyze how we deliver nursing home services will remain an important part of our future."

Knott: "The budget is always a concern; there is always far more need than budgetary capacity. We face pressure from the state of Illinois: It doesn't fund all its mandates.

"We also need to think about how the extra square feet of facility added – including the new nursing home and transportation facility – affects the budget. And also there is existing space we still have to have maintain. Brookens (Administrative Center) needs work, and so do parts of the courthouse. What will be the future needs for the county jail?

"We don't have the manpower for all of our needs. It's hard to predict how long the current co-administrators will be around. And we always need to think about maintaining our computers."