Outgoing commissioners reflect on tenures
Outgoing McLeod County commissioners Kermit Terlinden and Jon Christensen pointed with pride to some of the county’s accomplishments during their tenures.
Both were invited by Board Chair Paul Wright to say a few words at the start of their final meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 30, as their terms came to an end.
Terlinden noted that when he first got on the County Board eight years ago, it was considering a huge jail project.
“Then the recession hit,” said Terlinden. And the County Board scrapped its plans.
But, Terlinden said, the county has come up with a more modest plan that will serve the county for years to come.
Christensen pointed also to the acquisition of the Shamla property east of the courthouse, which will help the county’s downtown complex grow, if needed, in the future.
Christensen said that while the county tried to plan for the future with its jail project and retrofit of its material recovery facility (MRF) in Hutchinson, it also had immediate issues to confront, such as flooding.
Both commissioners warned their successors to be prepared for a “huge learning curve,” in Terlinden’s words.
Terlinden said he was fortunate to have four senior commissioners “take me under their wing” when he joined the board.
“That was a big plus, because there is a lot to learn,” said Terlinden.
Christensen said that he thought that 17 years as a township supervisor would prepare him for his role as a county commissioner.
Then he got his first agenda and packet of information. Christensen said the packet ran to hundreds of pages.
“It was quite a surprise — the magnitude of what you have to deal with,” said Christensen.
For more, see the Jan. 7 print edition of The Chronicle.
