This week when county land management reported that they will be laying off 23 positions, south eugene sorenson admonished the land management department for not putting more thought into making a profit out of using all those emptied cubes to make money. after all, he noted, this is a public asset - lots of real estate --and when he had a business if it tripled in size he would have been looking for office space, he said. thius was an excellent opportunity, he said. i think he is the obvious real brains on the board. i don't know why we haven't figured this out before. the real estate market is the best place to look for business, especially for a public agency. i really think the county ought to put the county budget aside and devote the next several months into figuring out how to responsibly use this public asset - those cube spaces and desks that all those employees will vacate. it's no less than a public outrage that those simpleton county employees have not stepped up to the plate on this issue already. i know there are many businesses that are growing during this economic boom, and looking for office space to locate their burgeoning offices. plus there are many county programs that are planning to provide increased service levels due to the anticipated huge revenue increases while the county spends the secure rural schools money received for the next 4 years on paying down the county debt. i think fleenor is who we need right now as well, to urge land management to drill down and figure out how they can capitlize on this office space. he's the other brains on the board right now. i really don't think anything else, including the county budget or any other thing, should take priority above this issue. i can't wait until handy gets in there so we can really get some sound budget decisions and priority setting at lane county.
