Contributing writer
I have often noticed that the people who shoulder the responsibilities of local office in rural areas, such as mayors, city council members, and county commissioners, receive too much criticism and too few pats on the back. With this in mind, I want to pay tribute and express appreciation to my county commissioner, Dan Holub.
Although Holub and I are on opposite sides of the political fence, that does not diminish my admiration for him. Of course, it does provide opportunities for a lot of good-natured banter. Dan’s favorite nickname for me is “the liberal Democratic press.” On the other hand, when he was complaining publicly about some of the bone-headed moves of the state legislature, I seized the chance to ask him which party holds the majority of that body. He took the remark like the good sport he is.
Such kidding aside, I have seen Holub trying hard to represent and serve all his constituents, not only the ones in the most populous part of the county. Although it took him a long time to accomplish it, I credit him for finally getting some good roads in my end of the county. If you live south of U.S. 56, you may think that doesn’t mean much to you. However, you may need to drive up my way occasionally; now you can do it without fear of breaking an axle. He has taken time to drive the county roads and find out where the problem areas are, then encouraged the commission to take care of those problems.
He is the first commissioner who has made a habit of attending the city council meetings of the towns in his district to communicate what the commission is doing and listen to council members’ concerns. He has also held several town meetings, where he talked about issues the commission is dealing with and fielded questions. A time or two, he has persuaded the other commissioners and some of the department heads to join him at one of these events.
He has done his best to fight the tax exemption given to the gas company for the pipeline crossing our county. As I understand it, this was given by the legislature without even being requested by the company. Thus, Marion County was cheated out of a large source of revenue.
He was instrumental in getting a recycling program started. When the trailer was coming around once a month, he was nearly always the person pulling it. This was another example of his willingness to take his time to serve the residents of Marion County.
A friend who is a county employee tells me that Holub is very responsive to employees’ concerns. If we want a productive work force, such consideration is very important to morale.
Holub has never been content just to attend the County Commission meetings every month. Instead, he spends a lot of his time and energy to provide the best service possible to the citizens of his district and Marion County. Congratulations Dan on your re-election. In this Thanksgiving season, you are one of the blessings many Marion County citizens are thankful for. Keep up the good work.