Editorial

ron Ross good choice for key role in Nebraska

Friday, January 2, 2004

The latest addition to Gov. Mike Johanns' cabinet, Ron Ross, was a familiar figure in Southwest Nebraska before being named to a key role in the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services in 1999.

Before going into state government, Ross was a resident of Cambridge, where he first served as administrator of Cambridge Memorial Hospital, then co-founded and served as president of Rural Health Development, a firm which managed 23 hospitals and nursing homes.

Ross's rapid rise in responsibility continues. On Christmas Eve, Gov. Johanns announced he has chosen Ross to be Nebraska's next state treasurer. Ross will replace Lorelee Byrd, who resigned after being convicted of official misconduct.

Ross's neighbors and co-workers in Cambridge applauded the governor's appointment. "Ron does an excellent job with everything he takes on," said Jim Jones, the laboratory director at Tri-Valley Health Systems. "He pours himself into everything."

During Ross's 13 years in Cambridge, from 1986 to 1999, one of his neighbors was Alan Gaskill, former owner and publisher of the Cambridge Clarion. Showing the admiration the community has for Ross, Gaskill said, "Ron is a friendly, efficient, straight-up guy. He did a good job for the hospital here and for Health and Human Services in Lincoln. He will do a good job as the state treasurer, too."

In order to take the treasurer's job, Ross had to take a $47,000 a year pay cut, a fact which Jones hopes is an indication Ross has political ambitions. "He will succeed in politics, just as he has in everything else he has done," Jones said.

Ross, 49, is a native of Deschler. He came to Southwest Nebraska in 1986 after serving as director of corporate services at the Rapid City (S.D.) Rehab Hospital. The new treasurer is a graduate of Wilber High School and the University of Colorado.

Ross and his wife, Diane, have four children and one grandchild.

Even before taking office as treasurer (his first day will be Tuesday), Ross has taken steps to save the office money. He has begun negotiations with Imaging Business Machines LLC of Birmingham, Ala., seeking to return one or both of the optical scanners and some of the software ordered by Byrd. The cost of the scanners and software was $640,000, which Ross regards as excessive and unnecessary.

The Nebraska Republican Party's executive director, Chris Peterson, told the Omaha World-Herald that Ross brings a wealth of experience to the treasurer's job. "The governor needed to find someone competent and with the right skill set, and he certainly did that with this pick," Peterson said.

We agree with Chris. Ron Ross has distinguished himself in every task he has undertaken. Following the misconduct of the former treasurer, it was important for the governor to find a concerned and capable administrator to lead the Nebraska State Treasurer's office back to respectability.

Ron Ross is that person, and, we're proud to say, his leadership talent is due in part to the roles of responsibility he fulfilled in Southwest Nebraska.

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