Commissioners opt for plaque over building name

Too few buildings and too many good employees.

That appeared to be the reasoning given by the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) during their October 5 meeting when they revisited the idea of naming a county building after a former county employee. As was reported previously (see “A building by another name?” on page 1 of the October 6 Saratoga Sun), Encampment resident Gary Jacobsen appeared before the county commissioners to consider naming the road and bridge building in Encampment after long-time employee Dave Acord.

Acord worked for Carbon County Road & Bridge for 44 years and had, for a number of years, cleared the county roads in the southern end of the Platte Valley on his own. According to Kandis Fritz, Carbon County Road & Bridge Coordinator, Acord maintained over 100 miles of county road during the summer months and more than 80 miles during the winter months.

While the BOCCC appeared receptive of the idea, or at least understanding of why Jacobsen would make the request, discussion centered around what sort of precedent it would set in the future. Commissioner Byron Barkhurst proposed the idea of a plaque on the outside of the building, rather than renaming the building, to recognize not just Acord but future employees who would put in multiple years of service.

Barkhurst stood by this idea on October 5, which also had the support of the other four commissioners. 

“I would humbly, and respectfully, state that I still have the same position that I had when we had Mr. Jacobsen before us. I think it’s important to acknowledge their service with the county, as we saw today with Treasurer Bentsen,” said Barkhurst. “I have deep respect for that, and any employee, but I maintain my position today even after all of the reading and studying that I would like to see all employees recognized in a way that we’re able to maybe even go as far as a plaque on the Road and Bridge building exterior that recognizes Mr. Acord.”

“I really think that any large organization, through their recognition of employees, commemorating years of service in meetings like this one, on a plaque on a wall, on the outside of a building I think is very important. People do point and look and remember the people who have served such huge amounts of their lives,” added Commissioner Travis Moore. “I think recognizing that service is hugely important to us but I think we’d run out of buildings and leave people out and so on, so that might not be the route to recognize the numerous folks that have given so much to Carbon County.”

While Chairman John Johnson was in agreement with his fellow commissioners, he also brought up how the request was heartfelt and from a member of the community.

“That struck a chord with me, of course, but I also see a rabbit hole that we might be running down because we don’t have that many buildings and we have too many employees that are good and qualified,” said Johnson. “But to memorialize his request in some manner, I think, is very important.”

During the September 7 meeting, when the other commissioners had expressed concerns about precedent, Johnson had focused on the precedent of a community member bringing the request to the board. 

With the BOCCC leaning more towards a commemorative plaque, Commissioner John Espy suggested the commissioners draft guidelines in regards to how many years of service would be required for an employee to have their name on such a plaque. Barkhurst and Commissioner Sue Jones both stated they would donate to get the plaque built or even help build the plaque themselves.

“I don’t want the feeling to be that we’re not taking any action,” said Barkhurst.

“Quite the contrary. I really believe, from this position, the opportunity to recognize service and how proud we are to be part of that is huge,” added Moore. “If there’s one message we send to our employees, it has to be that.”

The Board of Carbon County Commissioners will have met on October 19 at the Hanna Town Hall in Hanna.

The next meeting of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners will be at 9 a.m. on November 2 at the Carbon County Courthouse in Rawlins.