Adams County Board Chairman Mike McLaughlin says he doesn’t plan to appoint anyone to the vacant District 6 seat formerly held by John Hibbert until after the Feb. 2 primary election. He will then appoint whoever wins the Republican nomination.

Three candidates are seeking the Republican nomination: Les Post of Golden, Wayne Zimmerman of Camp Point and Frank Giles of Paloma. The winner will face Robert Barry of Liberty — who is unopposed for the Democratic nomination — in the November general election.

McLaughlin could have appointed one of the three Republicans prior to the primary, thereby giving that person a political edge by having “incumbent” status during the election. However, McLaughlin told The Quincy Herald-Whig Tuesday that he opted not to do that.

“I talked to some of the precinct committeemen (in District 6), and a few of them wanted this one or that one, and the others didn’t want to commit because of the election,” McLaughlin said.

So he will simply wait to see who wins and will then name that person to fill out the remaining nine months of Hibbert’s unexpired term.

Appointing someone before the primary carried a certain risk. If the person appointed by McLaughlin didn’t win the primary, the Republican Party would be faced with the awkward situation of having the fill-in Republican appointee serving as a lame-duck while the Republican nominee emerging from the primary would be out campaigning for the general election.

This way, the winner of the Feb. 2 Republican primary will go into the general election with incumbent status guaranteed. This will make that person — whoever it may be — a much more formidable opponent against Barry.

Hibbert, a Republican representing District 6 for the past seven years, resigned from the board in December after he was found guilty of financial exploitation of an elderly person and theft over $10,000. With a felony conviction on his record, he was no longer eligible to serve on the County Board.

A couple more Quincy aldermen are stepping forward with donations as a way to participate in the city’s furlough program. Meanwhile, several others say they don’t plan to participate or haven’t decided if they will.

In an interview this week, Alderman Mike Farha, R-4, said he has directed Comptroller Ann Scott to deduct $10 from each of his next six aldermanic paychecks as his share of the furlough burden.

“I was going to give it to a charity, but I thought that didn’t make any sense,” Farha said. “How can you come up with a furlough program to help defray the city’s costs and then give it to a charity? That doesn’t seem to make sense. So I just told her to go ahead and take $10 for the next six pay periods.”

Alderman Ben Bumbry, D-1, told The Herald-Whig he plans to make a donation this week. “I’ll do my part, too,” he said.

The furlough program was initiated as part of an effort to help the city reduce expenses in the face of a $1.8 million revenue shortfall. All employees were required to take three furlough days without pay by the end of the 2009 calendar year — or provide an equivalent monetary concession.

When the program was initially revealed at the Sept. 28 City Council meeting, Alderman Raymond “Skip” Vahlkamp, D-6, said the furloughs should “start at the top” and involve the mayor and other elected officials, including the city’s 14 aldermen.

Vahlkamp was the first to come forward. He donated the equivalent of three days pay based on his aldermanic salary and expense pay, minus taxes and other routine deductions.

By the end of the calendar year, the only other alderman to come forward was Dave Bauer, D-2, who also donated the equivalent of three days pay — as did the city’s top three elected officials: Mayor John Spring, City Clerk Jenny Hayden and City Treasurer Peggy Crim.

In previous stories, The Herald-Whig reported that Aldermen Dan Brink, R-6, and Mike Rein, R-5, said they didn’t plan to participate in the program, while Aldermen Steve Duesterhaus, D-2, and Kyle Moore, R-3, said they planned to make donations to local charities rather than to the city.

Moore this week provided documentation showing he made a $230 donation to Quanada’s food pantry.

“The amount does not symbolize a certain amount of days I work on behalf of the citizens of the 3rd Ward, but instead is for the total amount of increased taxes that 10 families in the 3rd Ward will see on their bill next year thanks to the City Council’s vote on 12/28/09,” Moore said in a press release, referring to the council’s split decision to pass a tax levy that will bump up local property taxes.

“There can be no doubt that when next year’s tax bill comes due, there will be families who have to choose between paying their tax bill and going to the grocery store,” Moore wrote.

In interviews this week, Aldermen Jack Holtschlag, D-7, and Richard Reis, D-7, said they don’t plan to participate in the furlough program. Reis said he already serves on seven aldermanic committees and does plenty of volunteer work in the community. “What is my $50 going to save the city?” he said.

Alderman Paul Havermale, R-3, said he is “kind of hesitant” about participating in the furlough program. “I haven’t given it much thought,” he said. “As of now I don’t plan to participate. That could change, I suppose.”

Aldermen Virgil Goehl, D-1, and Tony Sassen, R-4, said they haven’t decided if they will participate. “I’m thinking about it,” Goehl said. “I haven’t made up my mind yet,” Sassen said.

Alderman Jennifer Lepper, R-5, had a unique take on the furlough proposal. She thinks the city shouldn’t have instituted furloughs at all and instead should have adopted her suggestion to freeze salary increases for all employees. “I think in the very beginning if we had initiated that, that would have been a good solution,” she said.

Lepper said she hasn’t made any donation “at this time” for the furlough program. She said she would be more eager to participate if a “true furlough” program was conducted for aldermen. Instead of asking aldermen to donate back a part of their pay voluntarily, she would have liked to see the City Council actually call off some of its weekly meetings and everybody stay home and not get paid as a result.

“If they set it up right, I’d be all for it,” she said.