The chairman of the Adams County Republican Central Committee was pleased with results from Tuesday night’s election — as he should have been.

Republicans did not lose any seats on the Adams County Board, and they won open races for Adams County treasurer, regional superintendent of schools and for judge on the Eighth Circuit Court. Phil Hare also was smoked at the polls as Republicans nationwide took back the U.S. House.

“We’re very happy with the way Terry Asher ran,” said Randy Frese. “He really did work hard.”

He also praised Debbie Niederhauser and Bob Adrian who won their races.

Frese talked about how difficult it can be to unseat an incumbent.

“They’ve got their campaign group — their committee — organized already, ready to hit the ground running when a campaign comes along, and it’s sometimes tough for a new guy to break in on that,” said Randy Frese.

Nick Peters, chairman of the Adams County Democratic Central Committee, said he was glad that Democratic candidates won re-election for Adams County sheriff and clerk/recorder, but was disappointed that voters didn’t look at others in the party who were on the ballot.

“If they had taken a closer look at our local candidates especially, I believe we would have taken treasurer and superintendent of schools,” he said. “Apparently, the people weren’t really looking at the issues that close or the candidates that close and just went with this maelstrom of what they thought would be new beginnings.”

Both parties are not going to get much time off, as city elections are approaching. Petitions can be turned in starting Nov. 15.

Residents of the Ewbanks area northeast of Quincy will find it interesting that their neighborhood was mentioned at Wednesday’s meeting of the Adams County Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee.

David Potter, a planner with the JEO Consulting Group of Wahoo, Neb., noted only one change was made since last month in the so-called “county land use management plan” (CLUMP) map, which classifies unincorporated areas into three broad categories — agriculture, urban reserve and transitional.

The change he referred to involved the northeast portion of Ellington Township, where Ewbanks is situated. The CLUMP map originally classified this area as “agricultural,” but the section was subsequently changed to “transitional” all the way to the eastern boundary of Ellington Township.

Potter said the consultants changed the classification after some discussions with “those folks” in the township, who informed him “there has been some talk about possibly extending or putting an enterprise zone along 336,” which runs through that section of the township.

Potter said it was simply an oversight that this portion of the township wasn’t classified as transitional in the first place.

This caught the attention of committee member J.D. Albsmeyer of rural Payson, an outspoken opponent of the comprehensive plan who fears the plan could ultimately lead to zoning or other land use restrictions in the rural areas.

“I’m not sure I understand that,” Albsmeyer said, referring to the notion of extending an enterprise zone to the Ewbanks area, which was involved in a notorious battle over a proposed ethanol plant several years ago — an issue that helped precipitate the comprehensive plan.

“That’s where we had all this trouble. That’s where this all started,” Albsmeyer said. “They didn’t want that in there. And an enterprise zone is going to encourage it. That’s why it seems like a contradiction.”

Potter responded: “I guess the potential is out there. That’s what we heard — the potential of trying to maybe even stir some growth and opportunities along 336.”

Albsmeyer added: “It’s just peculiar to me why we would put an enterprise zone through a place that just fought off a multi-million-dollar alcohol plant. That just makes me very curious.”

You can see the CLUMP map by downloading the final draft of the comprehensive plan from JEO’s Web site. The map is on page 144.

For more on Monday night’s City Council meeting, click here.

Alderman Kyle Moore’s campaign pledge to get the city’s budget posted on the Internet is moving forward at a rapid pace.

Moore, a Republican who defeated Democratic incumbent Bob Klingele for a 3rd Ward seat in the April 7 election, made a motion at his first council meeting May 4 directing city officials to get the budget published online, along with monthly updates, by June 1. The matter was referred to the Finance Committee for review.

The Finance Committee discussed the issue Monday night. The committee had no problem with putting the budget on the Internet. That can be easily accomplished by converting it into a PDF document and linking to it from the city’s home page.

The more challenging question, the committee felt, was deciding how to present the monthly updates in a practical format.

“It should be something that’s understandable and useful,” said Finance Committee chairman Steve Duesterhaus.

Duesterhaus thought the project might be so daunting that he announced at Monday’s City Council meeting he may make a motion next week to amend Moore’s original motion by striking the June 1 target date.

“I don’t know if we can make that date,” Duesterhaus said at the start of the Finance Committee meeting, which was held after Monday’s regular council session.

However, City Comptroller Ann Scott came to the rescue by suggesting the council publish a monthly report that’s already being produced by her department. The report shows the amount of money budgeted for each department along with the year-to-date expenditures and balance remaining in each category.

Finance Committee members, as well as Moore, agreed this report would provide a good monthly summary of the budget’s current condition. Mayor John Spring said the report also would give the public a better idea of how unspent General Fund money from each department gets “carried over” from one budget year to the next.

The committee voted to present the proposal to the full council for its consideration at next week’s meeting. The city’s Information Technology department, meanwhile, will be working out the details for posting the budget and the updates.

In other action Monday, the council:

• Confirmed Spring’s appointments of Nathaniel Brooks as chairman and Kirby Eber as vice chairman of the Quincy Preservation Commission. Brooks replaces Janet Conover, who stepped down as chairman after her term expired at the end of April.

• Authorized the Runway Restaurant at Quincy Regional Airport to hold a “Picnic at the Airport” event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 28.

• Authorized the Marine Corps League to hold its “Rose Tag Days” May 15-16; the Disabled American Veterans to hold “Forget-Me-Not” tag days Sept. 11-12; and the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics to hold its annual run June 9.

Monday’s contentious City Council meeting may have been a preview of what’s to come.

The meeting featured three issues that were ultimately decided by the votes of Mayor John Spring after the issues became deadlocked along partisan lines.

In each case, seven Democratic aldermen — Ben Bumbry, Virgil Goehl, Steve Duesterhaus, David Bauer, Robert Klingele, Raymond “Skip” Vahlkamp and Richard Reis — voted in favor of the proposals. Meanwhile, all five Republicans — Paul Havermale, Mike Farha, Tony Sassen, Mike Rein and Jennifer Lepper — teamed up to vote no.

Since eight votes are needed to pass certain types of ordinances involving spending — and two Democratic aldermen, Jack Holtschlag and John Veith, were absent Monday — Spring’s deciding votes became critical to pass the city’s budget and the proposed water and sewer rate increases.

More of the same may be in the offing once the council’s political makeup is transformed from a 9-5 Democratic majority to a 7-7 Democratic/Republican split.

This even split will become a reality Monday when two newly elected Republicans — Kyle Moore and Dan Brink — are sworn in to replace Klingele and Veith, whom they defeated in the April 7 municipal elections.

The 7-7 split still favors the Democrats, since Spring, the Democratic mayor, will still be able to break ties or provide an eighth vote when needed. But the most interesting scenarios will emerge when somebody is absent — as happened Monday when the two Democratic aldermen couldn’t attend.

The first time a Democratic alderman misses a meeting — and all the Republicans show up — the Republicans will be sitting there with smiles on their faces, knowing for the first time in years they can control the vote on certain ordinances, resolutions and motions.

Even though many aldermen, including both newcomers, insist partisan politics shouldn’t play much of a role in City Council activities, it won’t take long to find out if the partisanship question is fact or fiction.

You can be sure of this: Lots of people will be watching closely.

Melvin 'Bud' Niekamp

Tongues were wagging late last week when it was reported that Adams County State’s Attorney Jon Barnard plans to ask Attorney General Lisa Madigan to render an opinion on whether Melvin “Bud” Niekamp, the top vote-getter in the Quincy School Board race, should have to step down from either the School Board or the Adams County Board.

Barnard wants to find out once and for all if it’s “incompatible” for an individual to serve simultaneously in two elected positions — an issue that’s been debated here for years. Niekamp has been on the School Board since 1989 and on the County Board since 1992.

Bill Hrudicka

If Madigan takes up the issue, her opinion could have some big repercussions — and not just for Niekamp, who said he would relinquish his School Board seat if forced to choose one over the other.

Another Adams County Board member, Don McCleary, was just re-elected Tuesday to the Liberty School Board. He — and many others around the region who hold two elected positions — could find themselves in the same boat as Niekamp.

‘They have not heard the last of me’

A Republican who came out on the losing end — 2nd Ward aldermanic candidate William “Bill” Hrudicka — also told The Herald-Whig he plans to jump back into the political fray at some point, even though he got clobbered by a 70-30 margin by Democratic incumbent Dave Bauer.

“I accomplished two goals,” Hrudicka said. “Dave found out he had some competition, which wasn’t much. And the name ‘Hrudicka’ was learned how to be pronounced in Quincy again.”

Hrudicka, who lived in Quincy years ago before moving back, believes this election enabled him to get his foot in the political door. And now that he’s armed with a little name recognition, he’s planning to wedge the door open further next time.

“They have not heard the last of me,” he said. “I’ll still be a thorn in their sides.”