Fred Messerle had it all handed to him. When County Commissioner Nikki Whitty died, Commissioner Bob Main appointed Messerle to take Whitty’s place on the Board. That was splendidly efficient, since Messerle didn’t have to trouble himself with getting elected. There was no scrambling to get votes, no speeches, no campaign expenses, no long wait to get the election results. It was all so very pleasantly efficient.

Traditionally, at the beginning of every new year, the Vice Chairman from the previous year becomes the new Chairman of the Board. But this year, because of an illness in the family, Vice Chairman Cam Parry was unable to fill the position, and so the chairmanship fell to Commissioner Messerle. Again, very efficient! No waiting a year to become the most powerful man in county government. It was just handed to him.

Commissioner Messerle, in his quest for ever greater efficiency to augment his personal power, has no time for the little people. He feels that the state statute requiring the publication of meeting notices, and the one requiring that meetings be open to the public, interfere with the efficient operation of the county. He has no time for such bother. He has an agenda, and he is in a hurry to see it fulfilled. He is intent upon changing the form of county government to what amounts to one man rule — he wants to hire a manager to run the county. That would be ever so much more efficient. A county manager would not have to waste his time being reelected every four years, and he wouldn’t have to concern himself with the whims and vagaries of the electorate. Having a county manager would be supremely efficient. Which brings us to Chairman Messerle’s new rule, his very first, and handed down almost immediately upon becoming chairman!

Chairman Messerle’s new rule is intended to do away with all the nonsensical blather from the little people of the county. His excellent new rule is this: From now on citizens wishing to address the Board of Commissioners will be required to sign up ten minutes before the start of the the BOC meetings. Citizens must arrive at least ten minutes before the commissioners do, or they won’t be permitted to say anything at all. Furthermore, since items on the agendas are written in a manner so obscure that their meaning is often unintelligible, it will be all but impossible to know in advance if there is something that needs to be brought up before the Board. Silencing the citizenry will produce a decided efficiency. It will expedite public meetings so the commissioners can get on with the exceedingly important business of arranging for a hired manager to run the county.