What's Going On With the Jail Project?

At the August planning meeting for the Board of County Commissioners, the Chairmen of the County Commission, Mayor Davis, who is also the Chairmen of the Jail Committee, announced that there would be a ‘public meeting’ on the Jail project at 7 pm on Tuesday, September 6, 2005 and a second one in October.

This ‘public meeting’ is suppose to present "a plan that was unanimously approved by the ‘Jail Committee’ at a meeting on July 28, 2005." The Chairman/Mayor/Chairman also announced that the lawyers have found the plans to be acceptable.

My first question is, How many folks knew there was going to be a meeting of the Jail Committee on July 28th? How many folks knew the purpose of the meeting was going to be to approve a final plan to present to the County Commission for their approval, that would among other things, resolve all this pending litigation over the Hardin County Jail?

I have expressed my concern for the adequacy of the public notice that the Mayor or Jail Committee was giving regarding their public meetings to Mayor Davis. The response, as I understood it was, I talked to CTAS and thay said that putting a notice on the bulletin board in the lobby of the Courthouse a day or so ahead of time is all we have to do. Something to do with being a special committee and conducting routine business.

The answer will be, either The Mayor and Jail Committee determined that the jail issue is one that would not be expected to be of interest to the general public or there has been a routine violation of the State Sunshine Law, again. Of course, any actions or approvals of the Committee of any plan would be void and held for nought.

It was not adequate notice based on the totality of the circumstances as would fairly inform the public, nor was it intended to be.