Opinion - Sept. 3, 2009

The right question. Just the wrong answer.

It has finally been asked.

County commissioner Greg Partch asked at the bi-weekly commissioners meeting if they should go back to meeting every week.

The other two commissioners said ‘no.”

Weekly meetings, of course, have been the routine for county commissioners for years. It was just this year that they decided to cut their meeting schedule roughly in half.

It was a strange decision.

For one thing, the county is facing tremendous financial difficulties. The entire organization is being asked to cut back. Department heads, both elected and appointed, have been given strict budget limits and are expected to operate within those budgets. Wages have been frozen and cutbacks are expected to continue. A severe year-end budget deficit is on the horizon.

This is a time for leadership at the county.

Instead, the commissioners have cut their public board meeting schedule. This reduces their public communications, which, in light of open government requirements, greatly reduces their legal discussions and conversations and opens them up for violations of those requirements. It also puts a burden on other departments which are required to pass information and decisions to the commissioners.

It was a strange decision for another reason.

One justification for the trimmed meeting schedule is the reduction of overtime. The clerk of the board of commissioners or designated replacement also attends, making sure the meetings are properly run and recorded. Apparently, being at the commissioner’s meetings interrupts her other work and causes her to earn overtime.

The commissioners are asking for tighter payrolls and more expense control in all areas of the county. They want the department heads to run their shops on less and, hopefully, without dramatic service cuts to the public. Ignoring what they are expecting of others, the commissioners simply cut their public meetings and their service to the public. Surely, they can figure out how to conduct regular weekly meetings without running the county into the red. It is no more than they are asking of the other departments.

The question Partch asked was the correct one. The answer from the other two commissioners was wrong.

The correct answer, of course, is “yes,” the commissioners should meet in open public forum at least once a week.

Let us hope all the other county managers can be more proactive about meeting their responsibilities.

Gordon Forgey

Publisher