Efficiency comes in many forms

Are Nebraska prosecutors bogged down with bad checks, truancy and other trivial offenses?

The responsibilities entrusted to a county attorney are some of the most vital to a law-abiding community and, like many things, may be in need of updating.

The Red Willow County attorney probably receives a fair amount of feedback stemming from court and police activity reports generated by the Gazette. That might lead some to argue that his job would be easier if we simply stopped reporting on criminal prosecutions and arrests. We believe that the value of an informed citizen far outweighs any potential efficiency-benefit that change might muster.

In hindsight, we wish the majority of McCook School Board members felt the same in 2010 when they amended board policy relating to passage of agenda items, down from a two reading requirement to one.

A current school board member defended the change during a 2012 candidate forum at the Bieroic Cafe saying, "It's not near as transparent but more efficient."

Two years later, during the 2014 candidate forum, a former board member hinted that opposition to the change may have been justified.

"Right now, a lot of times they bring it to us on Thursday, we vote it on Monday, we don't have time to background check it," the past board member explained.

Efficiency is certainly something private and public entities alike must keep in mind when making operational decisions and we realize it can be a difficult juggling act at times.

From our perspective, the school board may have erred on the side of efficiency, while it looks like the office of county attorney could benefit from shedding a few duties. For instance, student truancy and bad check enforcement may be areas best suited for someone else to handle, perhaps freeing up time for the county attorney to focus on county and criminal matters.

Such a change would require amending Nebraska statute relating to county attorney duties, no easy matter, but perhaps something for District 44 Sen. Dan Hughes to consider during his sophomore year at the state capital.

During the same 2012 candidate forum, the current school board member said that as a first generation college graduate, he firmly believed "education can change your life."

We couldn't agree more and hope state and local leaders appreciate the benefit of having an informed populace to govern.