Randolph County Health Department Administrator Tom Smith announced his interim replacement during Friday's meeting of the county board, with current health educator/public information officer Stephanie Martin being promoted to the top role.
Smith is set to retire on March 31 after 26 years of service with the RCHD.
In a news release, Smith outlined the skills and attributes he feels Martin has that will enable her to have success in her new position. Martin will remain as interim administrator through the current fiscal year, which ends Nov. 30, and her performance will be reviewed at the Randolph County Board of Health's October meeting.
"Stephanie thinks strategically and has the best interests of the health department and the field of public health in mind when planning," Smith said in the release.
Smith also credited Martin's ability to work well with the other county agencies, including Sparta Hospital, Memorial Hospital, Red Bud Regional Hospital and the Human Service Center.
"She participates (in) the fabric of Randolph County by being an active board member of Puppy Rescue 911 Southern Illinois Animal Rescue Group, a mentor in the Randolph County CEO program, a board member of The Community Foundation of Randolph County and she is the Foundation's Marketing Committee Chair," Smith wrote.
As interim administrator, Martin will be provided a stipend of $6,000, which will be prorated to her bi-weekly salary from April 1 to Nov. 30.
In perhaps his final report to the board, Smith highlighted an article by a University of Illinois at Springfield student and Champaign-Urbana Public Health District administrator Julie Pryde, on "The biggest threat to public health."
In the article, Pryde wrote that she believes the biggest threat to public health "is ignorance and apathy that leads to a weakening of regulations and defunding of programs and services."
"Seemingly educated people believe that their Google search results are as good as rigorous, scientific studies," Pryde wrote. "This leads to a decrease in vaccination and corresponding outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, mumps, pertussis and chickenpox."
Smith also weighed in on the topic during Friday's meeting.
"We're called upon to protect the public from Ebola, H1N1 and we're reaching critical levels on staffing and being able to respond," he said.
During public comment, the commissioners heard from former Randolph County treasurer Zig Jones, who shared concerns about the proposed Public Safety Tax on the April 4 ballot.
Jones stated he had read an interview with Randolph County State's Attorney Jeremy Walker and was concerned about whether the money generated by the tax would go solely toward public safety.
"I just want to make sure that if the county's putting this out there for police and fire, and all that's good, that the money stays for that," Jones said.
"Our intent is to improve our sheriff's department, improve the law enforcement in the county and our offices here (in the courthouse)," said Commissioner Marc Kiehna.
The commissioners were originally anticipated to pass a resolution during the meeting that would formally establish the distribution of the tax, but Kiehna announced it was still being worked on.
"It will be ready soon," he said.
In other news, the commissioners approved three bids for road oil used by the county highway department and the county's road districts.
Marathon Ashland's bid for 52,000 gallons of liquid asphalt and 260 tons of bituminous material was approved for the amounts of $113,360 and $112,764.60, respectively.
The third bid, from E.J. Dougherty Oil Company for 67,000 gallons of liquid asphalt for Group 3, was approved for an amount of $105,860.
ROUNDUP
- General assistance for the period was $700, with no administrative expenses.
- The Randolph County Care Center was reported to have 62 residents.
- The commissioners approved special use resolutions for Bryan Grau and Kenneth Nitzsche. Grau, of Evansville, was seeking to separate 6 acres, with a pre-existing homesite, in an agriculturally-zoned district so that 2.5 acres could go to an adjoining property owner.
Nitzsche, also of Evansville, was seeking to separate 9 acres, also with a pre-existing homesite, with the remaining acreage to go to a family member.
- The board approved the quarterly meeting dates of April 7, April 21, May 4, May 19 and June 2, 16 and 30. The May 4 is a 6 p.m. start, with all others at 9 a.m.
