McInturf retires from Oxford Board after 20 years

Oxford — After this month, a familiar face will no longer be sitting center at the Village of Oxford board meetings. Neal McInturf decided not to run to keep his spot on the board during the 2020 election. McInturf logged just over 20 years on the board, with 15 of those as chairman.

McInturf started his service to the community as a trustee on the board by filling a vacancy for a seat that was left empty by a resignation before a term was finished. He took the oath of office on July 3, 2000. He had to file to run almost immediately to keep that seat. With only a couple months on the board he felt he was “just getting started” and if elected he could keep going. He won his seat on his own merit that November. Then, in December of 2005 he was nominated and voted in by the board as Chairman and remained in that role through the rest of his time.

McInturf likes to be in a leadership position and was intrigued by that role from college when he was on the student senate. He likes being in a position to try to better an organization or community. But he does say over the 20 years he has seen challenges with businesses and the population. “I don’t think this is unique to just Oxford though,” says McInturf.

He says during his time they worked with organizations like the Furnas Harlan Partnership that tried to address issues with “small town America”. But he also says it is hard to gauge the success of economic devel-opment without a large project.

Another challenge he has faced is town image and trying to find a balance between perfection and good enough in small town Nebraska.

One goal McInturf always felt was important was to “hear people out regardless of my take or input”. He says he may not have always been perfect at that but tried to continue to grow in the way he listened to people.

He also feels it is important to show up. He tried to show his face as much as possible at community functions. No matter where it was or what it was for, a benefit or fundraiser, you could almost bet on seeing Neal and his wife Margaret. “It was important to be there and show support. They’re giving their time and talents and we need to be there to support that.” McInturf again says he was not always perfect at that but did the best he could.

Neal says he considers the Bright Street project a big accomplishment. Redoing the street and bridge on a street that he says connects the two sides of town. They had hoped to receive federal money for the project, but eventually decided the “reality of getting any was not good” and pushed forward. He also says getting the sewer lagoons in was a positive.

He says serving on the board itself gave him a lot of experiences. He went from working with a very experienced board when he first got there to those with little or no experience. He also worked with people with different thoughts and ideas and levels of involvement. He also would encourage those in the public to come to the meetings and share. “The Village Board meetings are not held in the coffee shop,” says Mclnturf, “I would appreciate when people would come to me with ideas or if they were displeased, but would encourage them to come to a meeting.”

One thing he would have liked to do if he stayed was to work on the clinic. He says they currently put a lot of money into the building and long term those buildings will need to be taken down. He says it would take a lot of work to see if it is even worth keeping the clinic and if it is, work to streamline it. Possibly acquiring the old nursing home to tear it down and put up a new building. It could potentially save money over the long term. He says he hopes that is something the town can work on in the future.

Mclnturf says looking back there are occasions where he might have done things a little differently. “Even after twenty years I have never stopped learning new things. But I tried to make the best decision based on the information.” But he says now he is looking forward to working on family projects. He also said with a smile that he needs time to spend with the grandchild that is on the way.

Neal Mclnturf’s Monday nights will definitely not be empty, he will just have a new way to spend them.