New commissioners are on-deck
A month before taking office as Butler County commissioners, Leslie Osche, Kim Geyer and Kevin Boozel already are getting ready to run the county.
Since Election Day a month ago, the three have been meeting regularly to plan how they will run the county. They will take office Jan. 4.
Commissioners Bill McCarrier, Dale Pinkerton and Jim Eckstein will leave office then.
“We want to be as prepared as we possibly can be when we walk in the door,” Republican Osche of Butler Township said.
Osche said she and the other two are working to get to know each other better and figure out what kind of leadership roles they would be good at.
Republican Geyer of Adams Township said the meetings mainly are pretty casual.
“It's now just open conversation,” Geyer said.
She said they are discussing immediate and long-term goals and objectives.
“We're trying to get organized,” Geyer said.
Democrat Boozel of Mercer Township said their meetings are going well. Despite being the lone Democrat on the board, Boozel said he is not made to feel like an outsider when talking with Geyer and Osche.
“I think we're gelling really well. We leave the parties outside the doors of the meeting,” Boozel said.
Osche said they are developing initial work plans for when they take office. These include plans related to the 2016 county budget that the outgoing commissioners will pass this month.However, she said this is a challenge because the county budget has not been presented, and the incoming commissioners do not know exact figures.“Until they present the budget on paper, we're not going to know,” Osche said.The budget, which will be presented Wednesday, is scheduled to be passed Dec. 30. Osche said this means she and the other two really only have a few days to decide what immediate course to take with the budget since they take office a few days later.“You don't have a lot of time,” Osche said.Geyer said the new commissioners plan to revisit the budget right away, and see what could be done differently.“That's the initial focus,” Geyer said. “Everything is based on that.”Right now, Geyer only has an idea of what the budget is. She has been gathering bits and pieces of information from different officials, but she said she cannot fully respond to the budget until it is presented.Boozel said the three of them are working on different scenarios and contingency plans related to the budget. He said they are trying to look at the budget strategically.“We're going to be prepared regardless of what happens,” Boozel said.
All three traveled to Hershey in November to the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania conference.Osche said it was a good opportunity to discuss issues and meet with commissioners from other counties.“I think it was very insightful,” Osche said.Geyer said many attendees were excited to meet all three of them, noting that Butler is one of the few counties in the state to have three new commissioners coming to office.“They kept calling us the newbies,” Geyer said.Boozel said the conference was a great opportunity to meet with officials. He said that commissioners from other counties already have offered assistance.“The networking is going to pay off in dividends,” Boozel said.While they were there, they visited the state Capitol and spoke with legislators about the state budget impasse. Geyer said this was not a part of the conference, but the three of them decided it would be a good thing to do.“We thought, since we were out that way, let's make the time to do it,” Geyer said.Osche said they had a good talk with legislators, and said the legislators were disappointed with some of the concessions they have to make, but also realize that they need to pass a budget.<h3>Different roles</h3>Individually, Osche is studying policy and procedure, and meeting with county and municipal officials. Once in office, Osche said all three commissioners are planning to sit down with row officers and department heads.Geyer has been meeting with different authorities in the county, such as the airport authority. She also has been putting together informational files.Boozel said he has been looking at different types of software that might be helpful so the commissioners can better share information. He also said he has been working to meet with municipal officials to see what their needs are.Boozel, the special project director for PA 211 Southwest, said he likely will keep his job until about the end of the month. He said Osche and Geyer have worked around his schedule for their meetings.During his campaign, he kept his job — which requires travel to 23 counties — and kept working on a master's degree at the same time.Osche left her position as executive director of the United Way of Butler County to run for commissioner.For the past four years, Geyer has worked in the commissioners' office as McCarrier's assistant. Her last day of work in that capacity will be Dec. 31. On Jan. 4, she will return to work, only she will be sitting at a different desk.“It's going to be really different, in that regard,” Geyer said.She said it is a “unique situation,” but she said she is glad to have her experience working in the county before taking office.
