The Guthrie County Board of Supervisors met yesterday for the second of their bi-weekly sessions.
To begin the meeting, Sheriff Marty Arganbright discussed with the Supervisors his desire to soon have a courthouse safety training session, similar to the A.L.I.C.E. trainings given recently to area high schools. This desire comes in the aftermath of what happened at the Madison County Courthouse on Monday, when a man pulled out a gun inside the courtroom shortly after being sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Arganbright says the security at the Guthrie County Courthouse is better than in most counties, given the presence of jailer and courthouse security operator Michael Herbert. Still, even though Guthrie County Courthouse security might be “ahead of the game” as far as Arganbright is concerned, he’d still like to consider getting metal detectors put in place, especially for when court is in session.
Arganbright says he’d like to hold the active shooter training at the Courthouse “as soon as possible.”
County Engineer Josh Sebern spoke with the Supervisors to conclude the meeting. Sebern asked the Board to accept his promotion of Steve Stringham to road surface supervisor, which will be a new management position and not a union job. Stringham has been with the Guthrie County Road Department as the road grader in Panora.
Sebern says he thinks the promotion of Stringham will “help bring productivity to more positions” within the roads department, and the position will also help with department efficiency.
With more than 1,000 miles of roadway in Guthrie County and more than 300 bridges to oversee, Sebern feels the addition of another management position within the department will not only ease some of the load on maintenance superintendent Randy Clipperton, but it will also help the department “catch problems before they develop.”
Sebern says he has “complete confidence in Stringham and complete confidence the change in management structure is going to work.”
The Supervisors ultimately approved the promotion 4 to 1, with Mike Dickson providing the lone “nay” vote.