In an effort to budget time, Citizen Advisory Committee Chair Phil Anderson asked members of the public present at last Thursday and Monday’s public hearings to identify themselves if they were planning on making a comment about Pickens County’s possible move to a multi-person commission.
One man in the front row raised his hand Thursday at Appalachian Technical College. No one raised their hand on Monday at Holy Family Episcopal Church, and this despite the CAC increasing the educational portion of the hearing from the first meeting in the hope of enticing more public interaction.
There were approximately 20 members of the public at each meeting with representatives from the organizing committee filling as many or more seats than the general public.
Anderson did concede in his closing statements on Monday, however, that there is a large amount of information regarding the five basic county governments, and further that discussion of the variations on those forms of government, “would fill up several college-level civics classes.”
At the second hearing, Jon Aldridge, a member of CAC, made a statement without a single general public comment being made. Aldridge pointed out that Pickens County is already home to some excellent examples of the different forms of government being considered by the CAC.
Aldridge said that while the county operates under a sole commissioner, the school board operates along the lines of an elected board with a professional manager (including five part-time members and a part-time chair), and the City of Jasper operates along the lines of a board (the council) with a city manager (the mayor), a strong elected executive position.
Aldridge and other members of the CAC are encouraging the public to attend these public meetings in order to better understand the various styles of government and get a “hand’s on feel” for their differences.
After Aldridge’s statement on Monday, one retired gentleman was inspired to make a brief comment. A man who identified himself as a newcomer to the county said he, “read something in Reader’s Digest 40 years ago”, and it had stuck with him: “For God so loved the world, he didn’t send a committee,” the man said.
He then sat down with no further comment and no response.
Similarly a few members of the public were inspired to ask the CAC questions after closure of the public comment section of Thursday’s meeting. The CAC originally requested the public not ask questions, but when faced with an overwhelming lack of comments, questions were happily entertained.
Stan Barnett inquired what the line of succession would be if “Rob gets run over or has a heart-attack.” Sole Commissioner Rob Jones, sitting in on the Thursday hearing, explained that the probate judge would take a sole-commissioner’s place for 60 days until a special election could be organized.
According to Jones, the probate judge was at one point in charge of elections, which is why the position was initially chosen as successor to the sole-commissioner. “The statute still stands,” Jones said.
Following Jones’ comment, Anderson added that the question of succession is one of many the CAC will be addressing during the October public hearings, when a specific multi-person commission structure will be recommended by the CAC.
Anderson emphasized the CAC will be going to “great lengths” to educate voters regarding advantages and disadvantages of the ultimate choice for a multi-person commission structure. But he also added that comments will still be accepted from the public concerning the final recommended form, and also that modifications could still be made to that form during the last phase of the process.
The multi-person government ultimately chosen by the CAC will be sent to state legislators for approval and will appear on the 2010 ballot.
One man at Thursday’s meeting also expressed great concern about lack of voter involvement in the process thus far.
Anderson informed the gentleman that the CAC’s process of studying commission structure has been widely reported in this publication and also that Anderson himself has recently appeared on local television and radio programs promoting the public hearings.
Anderson added that a longtime resident of the western part of the county told the CAC he thought the volunteer group was doing everything humanly possible to get residents of Pickens involved in the process, “short of going door to door.”
Greg Moore, one of just four Pickens residents who has submitted a comment by mail, made perhaps the most substantial public comment to date at the first meeting on Thursday. Moore told the CAC he is torn between a three person and a five-person commission with a county manager. Moore said he is, at this point, wrestling with the full-time/part-time status of the commission chair, citing concern with handing over too much authority to one person when, “trying to get away from having one [person] in control.”
Moore would like to have control mechanisms in place that would provide transparency for the chairperson’s position and further keep he or she from doing, “everything they want to without county approval.”
Moore also told the CAC he felt they should be prepared to provide specific information about the increase costs involved in moving to a multi-person commission.But in the same breath he noted he didn’t feel a multi-person commission would make government bigger.
“We’ll still have the same millage rate. They can’t raise that without approval,” he said.
He argued the multi-person board would provide a more open, transparent government and that county residents would feel less “intimidated” speaking with their district commissioner over a sole-commissioner.
The next public hearing will be held on Thursday, July 23 at Hill City Elementary at 7 p.m.
The CAC is asking residents attending the public hearing to address the two following questions in their statement.
•If the voters choose to go to a different form of government, what multi-person form of government do you prefer and why?
•What questions must the CAC be prepared to answer when the committee makes a specific recommendation at the public hearings to be held in October 2009?
The CAC is also asking you to submit your comment in writing, including your name and contact information. You can either bring a hard copy with you to the public hearing or you can submit one via e-mail at PickensCAC@gmail.com, or by traditional mail at:
Citizen Advisory Committee
Pickens County Commission Structure
PO Box 2162
Jasper, Ga 30143
Video coverage of the last two hearings, including a video on the introduction to the five basic forms of county government presented by Dave Wills, Government Relations Manager for the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia, can be found at www.pickensprogress.com or www.knowpickens.com.
Look on the Pickens County Progress’ website and following the multi-person commission link for more information about county governments, past coverage of the CAC and other relevant information.
The CAC was created following a non-binding vote last November. Pickens voters overwhelmingly expressed an interest in moving to a multi-commissioner format. The CAC is charged with drafting a workable multi-person form of government that will appear as a binding referendum on the ballot in 2010.
If approved, the multi-member commission would replace the sole commissioner in January 2013 after the current term of Rob Jones ends.
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