HERMANN – A new organization of smaller political entities could give Gasconade County government a greater voice while lobbying legislators in the halls of the Missouri General Assembly.

The Special Districts Association, a group formed last year, represents local government entities such as water districts, special road districts, library districts and other smaller taxing entities. Gasconade County Assessor Julia Baker has been closely monitoring activity in this year’s session of the Missouri General Assembly and has made regular appearances in the halls and committee hearing rooms of the Capitol.

Her action reflect a goal first voiced last year by Presiding Commissioner Tim Schulte, R-Hermann, that a greater effort be made to increase county government input into state legislative decisions.

During a recent County Commission session, Baker noted that a meeting of the Special Districts Association is set for Tuesday, Aug. 18, in the Scenic Regional Library District branch in Owensville. She said that gathering will include a discussion on what is needed by the community of special districts.

Schulte asked how the work of the organization differs from that of the Missouri Association of Counties (MAC), the longtime voice of county government in the state capital. Baker said the new organization will give local governments “another contact with state lawmakers.”

This new organization comes at a time when county commissioners throughout Missouri have been critical of MAC. Schulte has voiced concern several times that MAC has not done an adequate job the past couple years of tracking the many pieces of legislation affecting counties’ property taxes — and keeping the county officials informed of the legislative efforts.

In other matters, County Clerk Lesa Lietzow reported that an inspection of a program began three years ago in the courthouse has proven the program to be a success. Reno-Dry found a substantial decrease in moisture in the storage areas of the courthouse.

The water-removal system uses radio waves to chase water from the walls.

“We are a lot better than we were,” said the county clerk. The recent review was the program’s three-year inspection.

She said she was impressed with the results after three years.

“It’s working well taking water out of the walls,” she said. “We are much better off in three years,” she added, noting that it was clear water was being removed not just from the walls but from the pages of documents that have to be retained for many years. “It was a good report,” she said.

Meanwhile, Lietzow was at the center of a policy that was formally adopted — although it applies to a task she has performed for years — at the May 21 session. The policy formally puts in the employee manual that the clerk is the top watchdog for all the departments in terms of budgeting. In a 3rd-Class county such as Gasconade the county clerk is the chief budget officer, responsible for gathering all departments’ funding requests and crafting a proposed operating budget for funding county government services.

Lietzow also monitors the departments’ use of their individual budgets, proving a half-year report to the Commission.

The lack of a formal policy was noted during the county’s recent review by the Missouri Auditor’s Office.

“It’s mostly about me monitoring what everybody else does, making sure everybody else is balancing their monthly checkbooks,” she said. “That’s what internal control is about and it falls to me.”

Beginning Jan. 1, that role will fall to someone else; Lietzow will be retiring at the end of this year. Chief Deputy Clerk Danielle Norsic is the lone candidate on the ballot to succeed Lietzow, who has been county clerk for about two decades.