By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
After working with students and teaching social studies and government for more than three decades, Ellis resident Chris Rorabaugh will look to use that knowledge in the practical sense as a candidate for first district Ellis County commissioner in Tuesday’s general election.
Rorabaugh, D-Ellis, faces Republican Butch Schlyer and independent candidate John Walz.
Why are you running for County Commission?
Rorabaugh said that while teaching many of his students would push him to run for office and it’s something he had always thought about doing. When the first district seat on the county commission opened this election cycle, he decided he would give it a try.
“I always thought I wanted to try it (run for public office) and really wasn’t sure what I wanted to try,” Rorabaugh said. “I really didn’t want to stick around to the school board and city council stuff because that’s too close to home.”
Employee morale
Rorabaugh said they after talking with employees he believes there is a morale problem within the county right now.
“I would like to get out and see what people are doing and show that I care and see if there’s some improvements or maybe we do need to cut somewhere,” he said.
He said he doesn’t want to micromanage and believes County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes does a great job leading the department heads. But he added there are a lot of departments and he would like to talk with them about the issues they are facing.
“There’s good things going on in Ellis County and I think the public needs to know that. Maybe we need to get that stuff on social media a little more,” Rorabaugh said.
Are you in favor of a county-wide sales tax?
He also called the budget one of the key issues facing the county heading into the next term.
Rorabaugh said he believes it will have to take a little bit of everything to improve the county’s financial situation. That would include possibly raising property taxes, (although he said he’s just like every other resident and isn’t a fan of higher taxes), cutting services or implementing a county-wide sales tax.
The county’s half-cent sales tax used to pay for renovations to the Law Enforcement Center and the jail and the construction of the Emergency Management Services building was allowed to sunset at the end of September.
“I was told it raises a little over a million dollars a year and it’s not real invasive in your life. You don’t really notice it compared to property tax,” Rorabaugh said.
He said when talking with constituents he did not get any negative feedback about the possibility of implementing a sales taxes as compared to the pushback when discussing an increase in property tax. Rorabaugh said it’s something he definitely wants to look at if elected.
A proposed county-wide sales tax would have to be approved by Ellis County voters.
Commission salary and employee benefits
Rorabaugh said he if in favor of cutting the salary the commissioners receive and eliminating benefits they receive.
“These are part-time positions, and I don’t feel like they should get health insurance, period, and I don’t feel like they should get KPERS retirement,” Rorabaugh said.
He acknowledged that the job might take up more time than it just being part-time but said that he isn’t afraid to work the needed hours.
“I don’t think the commissioners deserve that fringe benefit.”
In 2018, the commission budgeted $54,786 for insurance for the three commissioners and another $5,276 for KPERS withholdings. For the three commissioners’ salaries, they budgeted $124,017.
Rorabaugh said cutting the health insurance and KPERS and a 50-percent cut in commissioner salaries wouldn’t solve the county’s budget issue, but it would be a good start.
“I think the commissioners can show some leadership, saying hey we’ll take a hit if your guys (other county employees) will take a smaller hit on your health insurance,” Rorabaugh said. “I don’t think cutting their salary 5 percent is going to go anything.”
He said they might also have to look at having the county employees pay more of their insurance in the future.
Wind
Rorabaugh continues to be a big proponent of continuing to development wind energy in Ellis County. He said he would be interested in the county looking at a recruiting firm to help to continue wind development.
He said it seems like everywhere you go across the plains there are wind turbines and wind farms being developed and said he would like for Ellis County to benefit from that development as well.
“It’s not going to happen overnight obviously, it’s probably going to take another six to eight to 10 years,” Rorabaugh said. “But whoever got this going six to eight years ago, thank heavens for them.”