It appears to be all but a done deal that Ironton attorney Mark McCown will be named as the next member of the Lawrence County Board of Elections.

McCown, a longtime official in the county’s Democratic Party, would be a good fit on the board and would bring his legal expertise and down-to-earth style to the group.

So far, McCown looks to be the only one interested in the post, something that is a little sad and surprising at the same time.

Still, the job may seem even less appealing if the county commissioners would take advantage of this perfect opportunity and do the right thing to correct a massive inequity when it comes to receiving benefits that correlate to the work performed.

As it is currently structured, members of the board of elections are paid nearly $6,000 a year. They also pay only 20 percent of the expense for their insurance premiums.

Although some may argue that this is an incentive to get qualified people to serve on board that has a very important task of overseeing all county elections, the reality is this simply doesn’t make sense for a cash-strapped county in a time when private sector employees are picking up 50 percent or more of insurance expenses.

Each member’s plan would cost the county more than $10,000 a year, conservatively.

Currently, none of the board members are on the insurance plan, making now the perfect time to make a change. This approach should gradually be applied to all county employees to make shared insurance costs part of the equation for everyone.

Mark McCown will be a good addition to the board and it is unlikely that changing the insurance plan would affect his interest.

Regardless, starting these changes now simply adds up for the county.