A problem of management

County government is in a mess, and the mess is of its own making.

The current crisis is swirling around the New World software purchased for its finance department years ago. It has never been used, despite having cost the county hundreds of thousands of dollars.

That is just the hard cash. The total cost of the software, including all the disruptions, delays and turmoil it has caused, may never be known.

And now there is nobody to operate it. The financial services department has been gutted.

The New World software and the difficulties of getting it on line are just the tip of the iceberg. The fundamental problem is that the commissioners cannot work together. That has bred interdepartmental and personal distrust affecting important parts of the county operation.

Personalities, egos and simple pettiness are all part of the mix. The commissioners are making a bad situation worse.

The scenario starts with an ill-conceived purchase. The expensive new software was apparently not researched well enough. More money had to be spent to bring it up to even minimum requirements. The up-front payment for the solftware did not allow for recourse against the company when the failings of the system were discovered.

Then, despite the bad purchase, it had to be brought on line. After five years, that has yet to be accomplished.

As pressures and frustration mounted, the commissioners changed. Only Greg Partch, a party to the original purchase, remains. The new board of commissioners gradually evolved into a dysfunctional group. Allegations of improper and illegal meetings and secret decision making have marked recent months. Commissioner Michael Largent complained about being left out of the loop while Partch and Pat O’Neill teamed up as if the courthouse was their personal fiefdom. Accusations and counter accusations as well as childish behavior ensued.

At this point, with Partch assuming control of the finance department after such unsuccessful involvement in the past and new accusations of improper or even illegal activities, resolutions are not close at hand.

Around all this is a storm of personal animosities, threats and possible legal action.

The situation has deteriorated. What started as a relatively simple management problem has evolved into a problem of management.

That will be the hardest to fix.

Gordon Forgey

Publisher