Because We Had a Public Meeting

Do you understand the concept of slight of hand. Let’s review the ‘public meetings’ held by our Mayor and County Commission.

You say the folks will go along with the wheel tax this time because’ we had a public meeting and let everyone know what we were doing.’ Really?

When the Mayor first mention these public meetings taking place, it was announced at the Commissioners meeting in August that there would be two public meetings held TO GET INPUT FROM THE CITIZENS on what they (THE CITIZENS) wanted to do about the jail problem. The purpose was not to ‘let everyone know what we (the County) were going to do!!!’

At that time, property and wheel taxes were the options that were going to be presented for funding this ‘Jail Project,’ even though the wheel tax option had been turned down (BY THE CITIZENS) less than ten month earlier. For whatever reason, the voters said NO, the majority of them (55%) voted NO on wheel taxes.

Remember the question at that time was wheel tax OR property tax. I believe the vote could be view as, NO on wheel tax, do what you say you gotta do. Property Tax. Am I the only one who looks at it that way? I think not.

The Mayor also announced that the plans that were going to be presented at these public meetings had been unanimously approved by our "Jail Committee" yet, when ask, by me, to review whatever the "Jail Committee" had approved, the Mayor admitted that the "Committee" had approved the public meetings, not a specific plan.

The stated purpose of the meetings were TO GET THE CITIZENS INPUT and then the ‘Jail Committee’ would finalize a plan to present to the County Commission for their approval, at a later date.

At the first public meeting, we have the tape, the Mayor again addressed the "plans" that were being reviewed at these public meeting as follows:

"This jail plan that we’re presenting tonight is not the jail plan of the County Commission. This is for public input. This has not been voted by the Jail Committee to be the jail plan, it could be. It could be, after the public hearings go forward, as the jail plan."

Between the first and second public meeting the County Commission voted 19-1 to impose a $36 wheel tax to fund the 9.3 million dollar estimated cost for these same plan, that have not been approved by either the Jail Committee or the County Commission. These are basically the same floor plans that was presented in the 2004.

At the second public meeting, we have the tape, the Mayor again spun the wheel, again. This time it is, this is going to be the plan and we are going to pay for it with a $36 wheel tax. Now what is the citizens input on that?

The rules at this public meeting were, no yielding the floor to a third party, or yielding your time to a third party; Citizens will have 3 minuets to make their comments; after that 3 minuets the citizen can be cut off and will not be recognized by the Mayor again or would not be recognized again for any further input or to address any other issues that might be raised by another citizen, even if it is wrong as rain. The three (3) minuet rule will be strictly enforced, at the second meeting.

The Mayor has this cute little egg timer that he uses for the clock on the three minuets and the time the panel uses to answer any question, counts against the citizens three minuets. Kinda limits you to one question, unless it's a yes or no with no explination or remarks.

Said another way, We’re going to have public meeting this time, as a matter of fact were going to have 2. But we’ll only give the Citizens 3 minutes to say what they have got to say and then we’ll go and do what we want to.

They can’t complain because we held their ‘public meetings’ and let them vent. We have a record of it, too.

Oh, Goody. We have acted like we wanted the citizens input, like we were suppose to. They got no complaint, now. Wrong again.

Ted