The busy days continue, but I want to take a quick moment to share a few things with everyone.
A few items of interest that the Commission has been working on are below.
• Last Thursday, I had the honor of speaking to a group of middle school students who were at the University of Missouri Extension Center for a leadership presentation. Also presenting were former Silex Superintendent Elaine Henderson and Larry Carter from Carter-Ricks Funeral Home. The students seemed to enjoy the program and were surprised to learn that all three of those of us who spoke had spent a significant portion of our younger years as shy and introverted. I spoke on the importance of planning in leadership and stressed the importance of lifelong learning. This was a great program that I hope continues.
• When you pick up the Journal this week, please take a look at page 13a. I have made the official announcement that I intend to run for a 3rd term when filing starts in 2018. It had gotten to the point that I seldom went out in public without someone questioning whether or not I was going to run, so after much consideration I made my decision. In the past 7 years, we have made a great deal of progress and undertaken a number of endeavors that I would like to see through to completion. First and foremost among these, is our paving program. As Lincoln County continues to grow, I am excited that we are poised to hard surface a significant number of roads in response to this growth. This mindset is what my mother refers to as “follow through.” I would consider it an honor to earn the opportunity to “follow through” on this and other projects.
• Budgets are coming together and we are wrangling with the complexities of health insurance premiums. Overall I am still confident that the final budget document will be solid. As I stated last week, if you have any questions regarding the budget, give me a call or shoot me an e-mail.
• On November 15, my proofreader, editor, and overall right arm will be having knee surgery, so I will be taking a short sabbatical from these updates, so please keep that in mind and keep Blanche in your prayers.
That’s all I have time for now. As always, call, e-mail or stop by the Courthouse if you have questions. Until next week…
Dan Colbert
Presiding Commissioner
