This last weekend, I was given a flyer that Eric Nystrom has circulated among the voters in his district. It raised a lot of questions.
If you didn’t have farms, farmers, and ranchers then you wouldn’t have the county population. Then you wouldn’t have grain elevators, you wouldn’t have implement dealers and you wouldn’t have the demand for most of the businesses that make up the City of Pratt. Your hospital would fail. You wouldn’t have doctors and other professionals.
Of course, with these things disappearing, there would be fewer people so there would be less support for the schools.
What does the county furnish to All of the citizens of Pratt County?
I . The county clerk keeps records of property ownership and county proceedings; she is the election commissioner and conducts the elections for city, county, and schools.
2. The Register of Deeds keeps the records of title of all of the property of Pratt County. This is not just for Pratt County itself, but also for the City of Pratt. The majority of the records are on residential and commercial real estate in the City of Pratt.
3. The Treasurer collects the taxes, keeps records of the tax payments and remits money to the City of Pratt and other taxing entities in the county. Sells license plates and provide drivers license services.
4. The Sheriff investigates felonies and is the chief law enforcement officer in the county. He assists the city police. He operates the the Jail at no cost to the city. They furnish office space for our city police and Municipal Court. The city pays only half the utilities and no rent.
5. The County Attorney is charged with the duties of prosecuting all felonies, prosecuting juvenile cases, care in need of treatment case. He collects all hot checks for the merchants in Pratt.
6. The county appraiser appraises all of the property in the city and the county. This service again is provided for out of county funds.
The City of Pratt does not pay extra for these services because the law assigns these duties to the County Officials.
I believe that the present county system has your financial interests at heart.
If the roads and bridges were not maintained, the farming, oil, and other interests which contribute to the wealth of our county, would not be able to exist.
The question was raised about how many road graders were allocated to help the City of Pratt in the snow storm. Most of the 16 graders were out with the operators, they had the same problem getting into town that everyone else did. But, they were also needed to help the people in the country get to town to do business. The county had no obligation to furnish three road graders to the city, but they did.
One of the qualities that we look for in a commissioner should be one who respects the law and doesn’t just want to be there for his own self interest. Before you vote, I would encourage you to check on what has been done by Eric Nystrom. A commissioner should respect the law, not just ignore it for his own personal interest. He should avoid conflicts of interest and follow the law.
John V. Black
