Resident wants to be paid to serve

Published 12:00 am Thursday, April 10, 2003

Richard Epley is willing to serve … for a price.

Epley, an Austin Township farmer, is the president of the Mower County Townships Association. A week ago, the Mower County Board voted to form a jail study committee with a cross-section of public- and private sector citizens.

The county board also voted not to pay per diem for the meetings the people attend.

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The jail study committee will meet and discuss how to solve Mower County's jail over-crowding problems. If the solution is a new jail, it could mean an eight-figure sum of money. The per diem paid for preapproved meetings is $40 per meeting.

Epley received a letter from Craig Oscarson, county coordinator, announcing formation of the jail study committee and saying the townships should be represented.

"I think this is wrong," Epley said of the no-compensation ruling. "Speaking for the Townships Association, we have some people who could serve, but they're going to be farmers who will have to get down off the planter in the spring or off the combine in the fall to attend these meetings. Time is money to them at those times of the year."

Richard P. Cummings, 2nd District and chairman of the county board's building committee, said he was willing to take Epley's request under advisement.

Oscarson said the jail study committee could meet from six to eight months or over a year before making a recommendation to the county board.

The meetings must take place at night, according to Oscarson, because a Mower County Third Judicial District judge who has volunteered to serve on the committee and the Mower County Court Administrator cannot meet during the day when they are performing their jobs in the court system.

Oscarson said the jail study committee will be asked to return to the county board with a final recommendation for a "fully developed proposal" to solve the county's jail woes.

The proposal, according to Oscarson, should "mirror the community's feelings."

Ray Tucker, 2nd District commissioner, said he knows township officials from the eastern two-thirds of the county who want to serve on the jail study committee.

"They're all scared about how much this will cost farmers, because farmers pay such a large share of the property taxes," he said.

Dick Lang, 4th District commissioner, took a different slant on the issue.

Lang, whose 4th District comprises the city of Austin's 3rd Ward, challenged Epley's assertion that jail study committee members should be compensated.

"The Mower County Board of Commissioners has already discussed and acted on this," Lang said. "We voted there would be no compensation. There are times when you don't have to be compensated for your public service. In fact, I think we must look at all per diem we pay.

This is not a political speech. This is what I stand for."

For the record, each county commissioner receives $21,476 in annual salary, mileage and other reimbursement and the $40 per diem for specific meetings.

The county board's per diem is the same as that received by others who serve on such bodies as the county planning commission or county board of adjustment.

Lee Bonorden can be contacted at 434-2232 or by e-mail at

lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com