Gage County supervisors again reject prosecutor grant

So they are ok with hiring a local attorney and paying them with county dollars. A local firm,that was NOT elected to office, but one the council hand picked to be on retainer to help with the overload. But the council is NOT OK with state money of 96,000 grant to pay for an attorney to do it.

AHmmmm, Hey Folks, whats wrong with this picture. Election time is coming ..... don't forget to vote.

What an embarassment to the state that Gage county does not want to do anything about their number one problem..."underage drinking"

We need new county supervisors.

Sounds like Rex Adams has a personal issue with the County Attorney. Why would you give up free money to fight alcohol related offenses. Why would you waste tax payer money and hire Willet-Carothers, but you turn down grant money. ATTENTION Gage County, Its time for Rex Adams to go!!!!!

get on the se community college website, lincoln campus. it is true ritnour teaches criminal classes at night. and this article he says his attorneys are working nights? while he is getting paid to be lincoln at the same time his help is slaving down here. ritnour should be ashamed for this deal! who would of thought this when we voted for him? the board did do the right thing- ritnour has not and is not doing the right thing!

It would seem our county board is more interesting in making a statement than doing what is best for Gage County. Sad. This is a proven program, and something very much needed here.

Unbelievable - The County Board rejected $96,000 of FREE money. They could have approved the grant with the stipulation that once the grant runs out the position ends and the County Attorney would have to apply for another grant to keep funding the additional attorney. No county funds would have to be utilized.

YEP, WE NEED A NEW COUNTY BOARD!

I am currently selling my house and was planning on moving to Gage County. The way that they voted on this matter makes me think twice about moving there so they can do what they want with my tax dollars. I don't understand why anyone in their right mind would vote this down, it is a 100% funded position with NO STRINGS ATTACHED. It is time that Gage County stops looking the other way at underage drinking. Way to go Ritnour, it is nice to see that you are working hard at keeping the community as safe as possible. I was for the grant before when it would have costed some money, since you can't put a price on a life. Now you and the Office of Highway Safety worked hard to get it fully funded and they still turn it down, it says alot about how things are ran in that room.

I guess we have to deal with this till election time? What a disgrace this board is, not accepting money, but rather pay out money on an overload of cases. With all the DUI cases, the county collects money on fines, what will they collect when someone dies from an alcohol related death?

I can't believe it!!! I thought that after the board reconsidered this grant proposal, that they would surely approve it. The hands that are pouring money into the pockets of the board are indeed powerful!! The pressure of that kind of thing must be tremendous.I feel nothing but pity for the board and feel sorry for us as taxpayers, that we have elected some real EGOS. Shame on you. Hang in there Ritnour.

So let me get this straight, one of the reasons I heard from the Board was that they didn't want to "expand government" by allowing another attorney into the CA's office. OK fine, but please explain to me how just about 2 months ago now they voted in favor of creating an Administrative Services Director position. Gage County is nearly twice as high as the state average in underage drinking.... Drinking and driving costs Nebraskans $130.6 million per year.... If you have lived here for any length of time you know we have a problem with alcohol related offenses.... Whatever personality conflicts are going on between certain board members and the county attorney...GET OVER IT! If the man we elected to prosecute crime in our county believes he needs more tools to do a better job to make this a safer place to live then give them to him. But no, the board has to act like children because they might not like the county attorney on a personal level. Tell me again how this Administrative Services Director position doesn't expand government but adding an attorney to prosecute alcohol related crime would?

I have thought all along that this was a good deal for the County. I was not pleased at the way Ritnour went about it the first time though.

But now I have to question the leadership ability of the County Board. When you have it completely funded, or at least to that extent, you cannot pass it up while spending County Tax dollars on a private firm.

The council doesn't care about the drinking problem in Gage County. Kind of sends a message to the drinkers that they should move to Beatrice where it is more tolerated.

just a guess, but i bet gage county taxpayers would appreciate it if some of these bloggers would get back to work. they are on county time!

Hey "check it out"
So what if Ritnour teaches at night - How many people in this county have more than one job, I have 3. It's his time management, and I really don't see where if he didn't teach that that would free up any more time for him other than his own personal time. You sound like a board member trying to sway public disgust. If you are, stop it. Elected officials should not be allowed to blog anonymously!

Just goes to show how out of touch the council really is on todays issues. Turn down free money to help with alcohol problems, but spend it on a 800,000 dollar fire truck!!! There is something seriously wrong with this county!!

I think the council does care. They care about whether their friends and family or prominent people who have pursuasive power for voters might get prosecuted for driving home drunk from a wedding reception.

Lets get real. You people who really believe that there is free money available must not pay taxes at all. Where do you think grant money comes from, it does not fall out of the sky. The spending has to stop somewhere and I believe the board is doing the right thing.

The money is available. If Gage doesn't take it then another county will. Do you know how grants work? It will go to the next grant request.

I assume that the County Attorney is voted into office by the people of the county. Voted IN so no one on the council can appoint friends or family that would do the councils’ idding. It would keep the County Attorney office independent.
Now if this is true, then how can the county supervisors appoint a local, private law firm to handle “county
Attorney” overflow? If a firm was to be retained for “overflow”, shouldn’t it have been up for bid and the County Attorney on the hiring committee?

TO CONCERNED:

Once again, the City of Beatrice bought the fire truck, not the County. Please don't use the fire truck as an argument as to what the County is or isn't doing concerning drunk drivers. Also, it is my belief that an attorney isn't going out on patrol to catch the drunks. Maybe the funding should be for more patrol officers, not an attorney. JMO

People ask me if i would ever move back to beatrice, I consistently say no. Why move back to a town that constantly moves forward instead of backwards? This board of supervisors is a joke and dissapointment. For years, the problem of underage drinking has been huge. I was part of it, and then got smart when I saw my friends and family members dying or having such a strong addiction to alcohol it was ruining their lives. Here is a man who wants to improve what has long been a top concern of the community and he is shut down. It truly says a lot about Beatrice. Maybe once, we should stop worrying about roofing a building, repaving a road, or creating unnecessary positions, and help fund a necessary position. Come on Beatrice! What is it going to take a major accident with several deaths for you to wake up?

The Lincoln Journal-Star reports that the Board also voted on whether they needed a new $10,000 audio system in their room. hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I can't believe the audacity the supervisors have! How dare you turn down GRANT money to fund the special prosecutor, then turn around and take my tax dollars to hire someone you decided on, unilaterally! Do you truly NOT believe that Gage County has a huge alcohol problem?? Do you truly believe that offering informational, educational opportunities for the people of Gage county will fix the problem???? A hard stance on breaking the law (driving under the influence, procuring for minors, etc.) is what it's going to take to get people's attention on this. This community has such a long standing alcohol problem that now everyone thinks it's a "right or passage" to drink "because I did it when I was a kid"! The grant money was made available to only a few counties. Why?? Because of the hard and true statistics that show there is a HUGE problem in those counties! This is NOT just something the county attorney's office dreamed up to get extra help! The state is trying to help Gage county, but our "brilliant" supervisors are certain that they know better! I agree with some of the other bloggers - I really hope one (or more) of them gets stopped after a wedding reception or a family reunion or a Husker game! And I hope the county attorney's office prosecutes to the max! How can you possibly say "he's (Ritnour) out of control"?? He's just trying to do his job - uphold the LAW!!!!

I would like to see this put to vote on the upcoming ballot. That way we can see what the citizens of Gage County say. Obvioulsy our elected officials are not listening to us.

It is not free money, but it is money that we have available to us, and at our expense. If you think that because we don't use it our taxes will go down then your the crazy ones. Like stated above, if we do not use it someone else will.

It seems to me that the board is acting like a bunch of children. For onoe thing, if Ritnor is wasting time he is being paid for, come down on him. Not the citizens of Gage County. I know a lot of the drinking problem in the county has to do with parents allowing it. Then woe is me if they have an accident or drink too much. Something needs to be done.

To What and Wowie Zowie! You both are saying we need a new board. Check the records! Two of the longest running incumbents approved the grant, this being Grell and Hagemeier. The newer members on the board are the individuals that are allowing personal personnel problems to interfere with the safety of all Gage county residents and visitors. How sad.

With "Disappointed".

The "education" statment is a joke. Was that supervisor serious when he said that?

Truth and consequenses are the answer to the problem. Not smarter drunk drivers.

Maybe we should apply for some grant money that could 'possibly' educate our county supervisors.

If alcohol is the problem then why not have it help clean up it's mess? Why not impose a tax on alcohol bought within the county and use the proceeds to help fund more vigorous prosecution and preventative education?

It amazes me when I read these blogs. I don't know if people don't read everything that is in the newspaper or if they just retain what they want to. The sheriff has said he is doing his job and picking up alcohol related offenders, and the county attorney has said that he is prosecuting those offenders that are picked up. So why the need for another person in the office. Having the extra attorney in the county attorneys office is not going to keep people from drinking and driving. This comment is for mimi: you keep saying in your blogs that the supervisors don't want to be stopped or have friends/family stopped after weddings. How ignorant is that. The grant states that wedding parties and the such would be patroled and just because the grant was voted against does not mean what you are insinuating. On another note: the other attorneys hired were for civil cases which Mr. Ritnour seems to have no time for, so instead of paying someone for 40 hrs a week and benefits, these attorneys were hired on an hourly wage. Our supervisors are there to keep the budgets intact which is what they are attempting to do.

To Senseless, Regarding the voting record; Grell and Hagemeier voted in favor of the original grant which would have actually cost the county a lot of money. The second go round Hagemeier wasn't even at the meeting, and Grell abstained. Go to gagecountyonline and read the minutes. With respect, just need to get the truth out.

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FREE MONEY IN GOVERNMENT!!!

What this county needs is more boots in the patrol cars, that is where you can really stop drunk driving and underage drinking.