Compere seeking seat on Greene County Commission

Bill Compere, a Certified Public Accountant for 33 years and, until Sept. 30, executive director of the Urban Districts Alliance, announced Oct. 23 his intention to pursue the job of Greene County District 2 Associate Commissioner in the November 2004 election.

Compere served three years as UDA executive director. District 2 Associate Commissioner Jim Payne, who has held the seat since 1988, will not run for re-election.

District 2 lies east of Campbell Avenue and runs north and south geographically to the county borders.

Compere sees his first adventure into politics as a partisan campaign for a nonpartisan job. His goal is to push past the politics side of it to get to the job that I feel like Im qualified to do.

Tackling the fundamental issue of financial shortfall to make sure the government's more efficient and able to live within their means, would be one of Compere's primary concerns, if elected. Also, he would like to see city and county governments function more cooperatively.

A commissioner's job is of an administrative-management nature, Compere said. In fact, he added, the county commissioners call themselves the business managers of the county. His budget-handling experience and seven years of volunteerism as chairman of Vision 20/20 are viable assets for the position, he added.

As for putting campaign machinery in place, Compere will be forming a committee to get the process under way. He has not selected any individuals as of yet.

Compere said an early and ongoing goal will be to investigate how government departments might be combined to increase efficiency and achieve greater utility in their operations.

A bout with colon cancer was effectively treated with surgery and chemotherapy more than a year ago, Compere said, and he has received a clean bill of health from his doctor.

UDA director search

The UDA Board of Directors hopes to name Comperes successor by December.

As of Oct. 15, the deadline for candidates to submit resumes, there were 15 candidates.

Were looking for a specialized position. Its going to take some time, said Rusty Worley, president of the UDA board. Well just have to evaluate the resumes and see what weve got.

Worley said it is a national search.