Five Willing to Work with Citizens
Five of the 10 candidates for the Oconee County Board of Commissioners, representing one candidate each for the five open slots, have committed to work with Friends of Barber Creek to establish independent monitoring of the outflow of the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant into Barber Creek.
Sarah Bell, a candidate for the chairman post, stated support for working with the group on monitoring, as did Johnny Pritchett (Post 1), John Daniell (Post 2), Margaret Hale (Post 3) and Chuck Horton (Post 4).
Incumbent Chairman Melvin Davis did not respond to two email messages on the issue. Incumbent Post 1 Commissioner Jim Luke said he was undecided. Incumbent Post 2 Commissioner Don Norris did not respond. Esther Porter, seeking Post 3, said she did not have enough information to offer an answer. Mike Maxey, seeking Post 4, said he was opposed.
On June 10, I sent the following message via email to all of the 10 candidates seeking to be elected to the BOC at the July 15 Republican primary:
Dear Candidates,
We did not get a chance to pose the question below at the June 2 Candidate Forum because there were so many questions from other members of the audience. We ask that you respond to the question now via email. We will post the responses for our members.
QUESTION:
Friends of Barber Creek is pleased that the design for the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant will guarantee water treated to a very high standard and will allow the county to hold water in times of flooding. Now we need help from the BOC in setting up an independent monitoring system. Will you commit to working with Friends of Barber Creek to this end?
The message was sent on behalf of myself and Karen Kimbaris, Tim Price, Joe Block, Eleanor Cotton. We make up the Board of Directors of Friends of Barber Creek.
I followed on June 14 up with an email message, addressed individually to the candidates who had not responded to the first message (Davis, Daniell, Norris, Porter, Horton and Maxey).
For all of the mailings, I used email addresses that I know are working. For Davis and Norris, who never responded, I used their official Oconee County email addresses. For Norris, I used a personal email address as well.
Independent monitoring of the outflow of the Rocky Branch plant is important for at least three reasons.
First, the county has agreed to meet a higher standard than set by the state Environment Protection Division, which has granted the permit to discharge into Barber Creek. The EPD would not register any complaint unless the lesser standard it has set had been violated.
Second, the EPD standards are averages for a month and allow fluctuations during that period.
Third, the EPD, because of funding limitations, relies almost entirely on data reported to it by the plant operators to judge whether the plant meets standards.
Friends of Barber Creek has asked that the county work with it to develop an independent monitoring system. It has not put forward a firm proposal, preferring to work with the county to that end.
Here are the responses of the eight candidates who responded to the email messages, in the order of receipt:
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June 11, Margaret Hale.
Lee,
Have no problem with working with your group to ensure the treatment plant lives up to it promise and potential. This might be a double way to check the quality by organizing monitoring (by both groups) at different times.
Thanks again for Friends of Barber Creeks support in hosting the forum.
Margaret Hale
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June 11, Jim Luke.
Lee
Maybe? I am not sure what you have in mind, could you share some more detail on the proposal.
Jim
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June 11, Sarah Bell.
Dear Friends of Barber Creek:
Independent monitoring is essential, I believe, for ALL water sources in Oconee County. I definitely support an independent monitoring system and will work with you to create and implement one.
Sarah V. Bell
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June 11, Johnny Pritchett
Lee,
If elected I want input from citizens and have no problem with your request.
thanks,
Johnny
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June 15, Chuck Horton
Lee,
Sorry. I do support a monitoring system or systems with which citizens feel comfortable.
Chuck Horton
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June 16, Mike Maxey
Mr. Becker,
I am responding to your question concerning the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant.
My response is that I have great faith in the Oconee County employees that are assigned to the plant to do what is required by the EPD concerning the monitoring. I also trust that Oconee County has employed qualified personnel to perform this and perform it well. If for some reason or another you do not think that the monitoring is up to standards set forth by the EPD then I would be receptive to independent monitoring but not at the expense of the county taxpayer. If you think that the requirements are not being met, to your standard, then it is your right to have an independent monitoring company come in and check those standards and make sure they are correct. Once again, this should not be at the expense of the taxpayer of Oconee County and only paid for with private funding.
I hope this helps you understand my opinion on this matter.
Sincerely,
Michael W. Maxey
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June 17, Esther Porter
Lee,
I am not as informed on this issue . I do know that the EPD has in place monitoring for these types of sites and they are very strict. I have placed a call to Chris Thomas to get info on this subject. Also I read in the booklet from the county that Oconee received a Gold award for the Barber Creek site. I guess I don't understand why you would want an independent group unless you had reason to believe the county was not meeting required testing. I will get back to you after I talk with Chris.
Esther Porter
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June 17, John Daniell
I am open to discussions on this issue. I look forward to hearing more, so the county can address your concerns and increase the level of trust between the government and the citizens.
---------------
I responded to Jim Luke by telling him that we did not have specific plans. I only acknowledged each of the other responses.
Chris Thomas, referred to in Porter's message, was the head of the Oconee County Utility Department until late last summer and resumed that position just this month.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Ethics at Issue at Oconee Candidate Forum
Bid Me Now, Bid Me Later
It is perfectly ethical for members of the Board of Commissioners to do business with individuals and companies that come before them for such things as rezones, as long as no money has changed hands or contracts been written before the BOC has voted, at least three of the candidates for the Board said at the June 2 Candidate Forum at the Library.
Others expressed a different point of view, and at least one seemed confused by the question of ethics.
The second half of the June 2 Candidate Forum contained an exchange that focused on the business interests of the candidates and the potential impact of those business interests on decisions the candidates have made and will make in the future.
That half of the program had been set aside for citizen questioning of the four incumbent commissioners and each of the four challengers.
After being recognized by moderator Russ Page of Oconee Citizens for Responsible Growth, Charlie Baugh asked each of the eight candidates if "it is ethical for a member of the Planning Commission to hear and vote on rezone petitions and then profit by doing work on the project?"
To a candidate, each said it was not, but further questions showed that there really was not agreement on the principle behind question. At least three of the candidates said profiting was acceptable in the case of the Board of Commissioners under some circumstances.
After the question by Baugh, president of Citizens for Oconee’s Future, Page recognized Ann Hollifield, a professor of telecommunications at the University of Georgia. Hollifield is a former television journalist and former editor of a weekly business newspaper, and she is my wife. I could only guess about her question before she asked it and played no role in her being recognized.
"I have a follow up to that I’d like to ask to...address to Mr. Norris and to Mrs. Porter and Mr. Maxey afterwards, because if they are elected they will find themselves in a very similar situation," Hollifield said.
Norris, according to the Oconee County official web site, is chairman of the Board of Directors of North Georgia Bank. Porter and her husband own a building products company. Maxey, who currently serves on the Planning Commission, is president of a company, M&P Grading Contractors.
Hollifield reminded Norris that as an incumbent member of the Board of Commissioners he had been asked by her and others in the past to recuse himself because of his role as chairman of the Board of Directors of North Georgia Bank and he had not done so.
"So if you don’t believe, Sir, that being chairman of the board of the bank that is financing the project you are voting on is not a conflict of interest," Hollifield said, "would you please give us an example of what would be a conflict of interest that you would recuse yourself from."
Norris said that he is "no longer chairman of the board of North Georgia Bank," but he did not deny that he is still a member of that board. He said if a rezone "comes before the Board (of Commissioners), and the bank has a financial interest in the rezone, I would recuse myself. What happens in many cases is, when the rezone comes before the board, the bank has no financial obligation. Later on, it sometimes, it may acquire an interest in that. But, again, too, I don’t make loans."
Hollifield then asked Porter and Maxey to respond. Porter is challenging incumbent Commissioner Margaret Hale, and Maxey is challenging incumbent Commissioner Chuck Horton.
Porter said her company does business with the county and that she would not vote on any issue in which she had a business interest. She didn’t indicate how she would vote if there was the potential of future business coming from an issue being decided on by the Board of Commissioners and had difficulty following the line of questioning.
Mike Maxey did understand, and he gave a clear answer. He said he would gladly bid on projects after he voted on their approval.
"Three months later, if a project manager, if a general contractor, whatever the case may be, comes to me and asks me to put a bid on a project, I’m going to submit the bid," he said.
Commissioner Hale thought the issue was more complex than that. "It is a tough, ethical thing to evaluate," she said, and then indicated that she recused herself when a piece of property she had owned in the past was up for rezone.
"I went to our county attorney and I said I’m not comfortable sitting and listening to this," Hale said, even though she had no financial interest in it at that time.
Incumbent Commissioner Jim Luke also decided to chime in, supporting the position of Norris and Maxey. "It would be hard to run a government without somebody who sells something to that government who might get elected to it at some point," he said.
Commissioner Horton had a simple answer: "I don’t own anything."
John Daniell, who is challenging Norris, is vice president of operations at Boswell Oil Company. The question was not directed to him, and he did not respond.
(A transcript of the entire exchange is available here. Also, the full video is available for viewing here.)
The position taken by Norris and Maxey, and, it seems, Luke ignores the simple fact that the commissioners in the construction and development business cannot make money on a rezone if they turn it down, giving those who are likely to benefit from the rezone plenty of incentive to do the rezone.
Across time, as well, commissioners certainly understand who is likely to bring them money in the future based on what has happened in the past.
Luke’s position that business people are going to get elected ignores the point of the question as well. Hollifield did not challenge Norris for running for office or getting elected, but for failing to recuse himself when North Georgia Bank might profit from the decision.
In any small community, of course, the local banks play an important and sometimes crucial role. They also often are involved directly and indirectly in government.
Chuck Williams, the president of North Georgia Bank, is currently the chairman of the Oconee Development Authority, a legislatively created body in the county whose members are appointed by the Board of Commissioners. Williams replaced Amrey Harden in that position last year. Harden is president of Oconee State Bank.
Williams also is an associate director of the Oconee County Chamber of Commerce and a frequent attenders of Oconee County Board of Commission meetings.
In fact, though Williams was not at the June 2 Candidate Forum, he was prominent at the June 4 forum for school board candidates. During the first half of the meeting, he was seated, but he stood at the rear or the room, flanked closely by incumbent Board of Commission Chairman Melvin Davis, for the entire second half of the meeting. (See the picture above, with Williams on the left and Davis on the right.)
In May a neighbor told me he had just visited North Georgia Bank to take advantage of a promotional rate for Certificates of Deposit and a gift certificate of $25 for opening a new checking account.
A few days later, on his advice, I purchased a CD from North Georgia and opened a checking account myself to take advantage of these incentives.
One June 5, I sent an email message to President Williams on the advice of my "Personal Banker" at North Georgia, and asked Williams if he would tell me the names of the Board of Directors of North Georgia Bank, since they are not listed on the web.
He wrote me back this nice message on June 6:
"Good afternoon and thank you for your interest in our organization. I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you for discussion of North Georgia Bank and your areas of interest. Feel free to contact me for consideration of a mutually convenient time if you so desire."
He didn’t provide the names of the members of the Board of Directors.
My CD expires in a couple of months and with it, I guess, my financial link with North Georgia Bank.
Oconee State Bank, where I also have an account, lists the members of its Board of Directors on the web. None of them serves on the Oconee County Board of Commissioners.
It is perfectly ethical for members of the Board of Commissioners to do business with individuals and companies that come before them for such things as rezones, as long as no money has changed hands or contracts been written before the BOC has voted, at least three of the candidates for the Board said at the June 2 Candidate Forum at the Library.
Others expressed a different point of view, and at least one seemed confused by the question of ethics.
The second half of the June 2 Candidate Forum contained an exchange that focused on the business interests of the candidates and the potential impact of those business interests on decisions the candidates have made and will make in the future.
That half of the program had been set aside for citizen questioning of the four incumbent commissioners and each of the four challengers.
After being recognized by moderator Russ Page of Oconee Citizens for Responsible Growth, Charlie Baugh asked each of the eight candidates if "it is ethical for a member of the Planning Commission to hear and vote on rezone petitions and then profit by doing work on the project?"
To a candidate, each said it was not, but further questions showed that there really was not agreement on the principle behind question. At least three of the candidates said profiting was acceptable in the case of the Board of Commissioners under some circumstances.
After the question by Baugh, president of Citizens for Oconee’s Future, Page recognized Ann Hollifield, a professor of telecommunications at the University of Georgia. Hollifield is a former television journalist and former editor of a weekly business newspaper, and she is my wife. I could only guess about her question before she asked it and played no role in her being recognized.
"I have a follow up to that I’d like to ask to...address to Mr. Norris and to Mrs. Porter and Mr. Maxey afterwards, because if they are elected they will find themselves in a very similar situation," Hollifield said.
Norris, according to the Oconee County official web site, is chairman of the Board of Directors of North Georgia Bank. Porter and her husband own a building products company. Maxey, who currently serves on the Planning Commission, is president of a company, M&P Grading Contractors.
Hollifield reminded Norris that as an incumbent member of the Board of Commissioners he had been asked by her and others in the past to recuse himself because of his role as chairman of the Board of Directors of North Georgia Bank and he had not done so.
"So if you don’t believe, Sir, that being chairman of the board of the bank that is financing the project you are voting on is not a conflict of interest," Hollifield said, "would you please give us an example of what would be a conflict of interest that you would recuse yourself from."
Norris said that he is "no longer chairman of the board of North Georgia Bank," but he did not deny that he is still a member of that board. He said if a rezone "comes before the Board (of Commissioners), and the bank has a financial interest in the rezone, I would recuse myself. What happens in many cases is, when the rezone comes before the board, the bank has no financial obligation. Later on, it sometimes, it may acquire an interest in that. But, again, too, I don’t make loans."
Hollifield then asked Porter and Maxey to respond. Porter is challenging incumbent Commissioner Margaret Hale, and Maxey is challenging incumbent Commissioner Chuck Horton.
Porter said her company does business with the county and that she would not vote on any issue in which she had a business interest. She didn’t indicate how she would vote if there was the potential of future business coming from an issue being decided on by the Board of Commissioners and had difficulty following the line of questioning.
Mike Maxey did understand, and he gave a clear answer. He said he would gladly bid on projects after he voted on their approval.
"Three months later, if a project manager, if a general contractor, whatever the case may be, comes to me and asks me to put a bid on a project, I’m going to submit the bid," he said.
Commissioner Hale thought the issue was more complex than that. "It is a tough, ethical thing to evaluate," she said, and then indicated that she recused herself when a piece of property she had owned in the past was up for rezone.
"I went to our county attorney and I said I’m not comfortable sitting and listening to this," Hale said, even though she had no financial interest in it at that time.
Incumbent Commissioner Jim Luke also decided to chime in, supporting the position of Norris and Maxey. "It would be hard to run a government without somebody who sells something to that government who might get elected to it at some point," he said.
Commissioner Horton had a simple answer: "I don’t own anything."
John Daniell, who is challenging Norris, is vice president of operations at Boswell Oil Company. The question was not directed to him, and he did not respond.
(A transcript of the entire exchange is available here. Also, the full video is available for viewing here.)
The position taken by Norris and Maxey, and, it seems, Luke ignores the simple fact that the commissioners in the construction and development business cannot make money on a rezone if they turn it down, giving those who are likely to benefit from the rezone plenty of incentive to do the rezone.
Across time, as well, commissioners certainly understand who is likely to bring them money in the future based on what has happened in the past.
Luke’s position that business people are going to get elected ignores the point of the question as well. Hollifield did not challenge Norris for running for office or getting elected, but for failing to recuse himself when North Georgia Bank might profit from the decision.
In any small community, of course, the local banks play an important and sometimes crucial role. They also often are involved directly and indirectly in government.
Chuck Williams, the president of North Georgia Bank, is currently the chairman of the Oconee Development Authority, a legislatively created body in the county whose members are appointed by the Board of Commissioners. Williams replaced Amrey Harden in that position last year. Harden is president of Oconee State Bank.
Williams also is an associate director of the Oconee County Chamber of Commerce and a frequent attenders of Oconee County Board of Commission meetings.
In fact, though Williams was not at the June 2 Candidate Forum, he was prominent at the June 4 forum for school board candidates. During the first half of the meeting, he was seated, but he stood at the rear or the room, flanked closely by incumbent Board of Commission Chairman Melvin Davis, for the entire second half of the meeting. (See the picture above, with Williams on the left and Davis on the right.)
In May a neighbor told me he had just visited North Georgia Bank to take advantage of a promotional rate for Certificates of Deposit and a gift certificate of $25 for opening a new checking account.
A few days later, on his advice, I purchased a CD from North Georgia and opened a checking account myself to take advantage of these incentives.
One June 5, I sent an email message to President Williams on the advice of my "Personal Banker" at North Georgia, and asked Williams if he would tell me the names of the Board of Directors of North Georgia Bank, since they are not listed on the web.
He wrote me back this nice message on June 6:
"Good afternoon and thank you for your interest in our organization. I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you for discussion of North Georgia Bank and your areas of interest. Feel free to contact me for consideration of a mutually convenient time if you so desire."
He didn’t provide the names of the members of the Board of Directors.
My CD expires in a couple of months and with it, I guess, my financial link with North Georgia Bank.
Oconee State Bank, where I also have an account, lists the members of its Board of Directors on the web. None of them serves on the Oconee County Board of Commissioners.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Oconee County to Start Webcasting
Surprise Response to Request
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday night (May 27) agreed to purchase camera equipment to be used to videocast BOC and Planning Commission meetings.
Alan Theriault, county administrative officer, told me on Friday afternoon that he is purchasing two cameras, one for the BOC chamber and the other for the county courtroom, and is exploring web hosting services that will allow the county to post the videocasts and make them available for downloading.
Theriault said he expects the system to be operating by July 1.
The BOC usually holds its twice-monthly meetings in the BOC chamber, but it holds special meetings in the courtroom. The Planning Commission usually uses the courtroom.
The BOC action at the May 27 meeting was in response to a request by Charlie Baugh, Tony Glenn, Russ Page and me at the May 6 BOC meeting. We asked the BOC to explore ways to begin videocasting its meetings.
We asked that the BOC explore cablecasting as well as webcasting and said we would start our own webcasting immediately and continue to do so until the county began providing the service. (The May 27 meeting can be viewed here.)
The request produced not a single response at the May 6 meeting from Commission Chairman Melvin Davis or any of the other four commissioners.
Only Commissioners Chuck Horton and Jim Luke responded to email messages Baugh and I sent to the commissioners after the meeting. Horton said he was not opposed to videocasting; Luke said he was open to discussion of the issue at some point in the future.
Davis, who controls the BOC agenda, included discussion of webcasting of BOC and Planning Commission meetings when the BOC agenda was released to the public on May 23.
Clarke County telecasts its commission meetings on cable and began webcasting about a year ago. Walton County also has telecast its BOC meetings and is exploring webcasting, as is Barrow County.
Oconee County has cable franchise agreements with the three cable companies that serve the unincorporated parts of the county: Charter Communications, Comcast Cable and KLIP LLC, and it collects a franchise fee of 5 percent of annual Gross Revenue from each of the companies.
The Charter agreement includes the provision that the cable company would give the county up to two channels for non-commercial, video programming for education and government access programming and provide to the county a one-time grant of up to $10,000 educational and governmental programming costs once the county began using the first of these channels.
The KLIP and Comcast agreements also include the provision that the cable company would give the county two channels and a one-time grant of up to $20,000 each.
All three cable agreements require the cable operator to provide and maintain the equipment for the sending and receiving of signals from the courthouse, but they do not cover the costs of cameras and editing equipment needed to produce the telecast.
Governments generally use the cable franchise fees to cover the costs associated with production of the telecasts. These franchise fees are passed along to consumers as part of the cable subscription costs, of course, which means that Oconee County cable subscribers have been paying for the franchise fee without receiving anything tangible in return.
Theriault told me on Friday that the county does not want to telecast BOC and Planning Commission meetings on cable because only about 30 percent of the households in the county have cable service.
Chairman Davis in the past and Commissioner Luke in his email message to me expressed concern about people watching the meetings live, rather than watching delayed webcasts. The delay, of course, gives the county the ability to edit what is uploaded to the web.
I had my conversation with Theriault on Friday as I was entering the courthouse to obtain materials the county had provided me in response to an open records request. I had asked for and obtained the three franchise agreements.
All three contracts had been signed in December of 2004.
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday night (May 27) agreed to purchase camera equipment to be used to videocast BOC and Planning Commission meetings.
Alan Theriault, county administrative officer, told me on Friday afternoon that he is purchasing two cameras, one for the BOC chamber and the other for the county courtroom, and is exploring web hosting services that will allow the county to post the videocasts and make them available for downloading.
Theriault said he expects the system to be operating by July 1.
The BOC usually holds its twice-monthly meetings in the BOC chamber, but it holds special meetings in the courtroom. The Planning Commission usually uses the courtroom.
The BOC action at the May 27 meeting was in response to a request by Charlie Baugh, Tony Glenn, Russ Page and me at the May 6 BOC meeting. We asked the BOC to explore ways to begin videocasting its meetings.
We asked that the BOC explore cablecasting as well as webcasting and said we would start our own webcasting immediately and continue to do so until the county began providing the service. (The May 27 meeting can be viewed here.)
The request produced not a single response at the May 6 meeting from Commission Chairman Melvin Davis or any of the other four commissioners.
Only Commissioners Chuck Horton and Jim Luke responded to email messages Baugh and I sent to the commissioners after the meeting. Horton said he was not opposed to videocasting; Luke said he was open to discussion of the issue at some point in the future.
Davis, who controls the BOC agenda, included discussion of webcasting of BOC and Planning Commission meetings when the BOC agenda was released to the public on May 23.
Clarke County telecasts its commission meetings on cable and began webcasting about a year ago. Walton County also has telecast its BOC meetings and is exploring webcasting, as is Barrow County.
Oconee County has cable franchise agreements with the three cable companies that serve the unincorporated parts of the county: Charter Communications, Comcast Cable and KLIP LLC, and it collects a franchise fee of 5 percent of annual Gross Revenue from each of the companies.
The Charter agreement includes the provision that the cable company would give the county up to two channels for non-commercial, video programming for education and government access programming and provide to the county a one-time grant of up to $10,000 educational and governmental programming costs once the county began using the first of these channels.
The KLIP and Comcast agreements also include the provision that the cable company would give the county two channels and a one-time grant of up to $20,000 each.
All three cable agreements require the cable operator to provide and maintain the equipment for the sending and receiving of signals from the courthouse, but they do not cover the costs of cameras and editing equipment needed to produce the telecast.
Governments generally use the cable franchise fees to cover the costs associated with production of the telecasts. These franchise fees are passed along to consumers as part of the cable subscription costs, of course, which means that Oconee County cable subscribers have been paying for the franchise fee without receiving anything tangible in return.
Theriault told me on Friday that the county does not want to telecast BOC and Planning Commission meetings on cable because only about 30 percent of the households in the county have cable service.
Chairman Davis in the past and Commissioner Luke in his email message to me expressed concern about people watching the meetings live, rather than watching delayed webcasts. The delay, of course, gives the county the ability to edit what is uploaded to the web.
I had my conversation with Theriault on Friday as I was entering the courthouse to obtain materials the county had provided me in response to an open records request. I had asked for and obtained the three franchise agreements.
All three contracts had been signed in December of 2004.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Video Request of Oconee County Commissioners
See 'em Live or On Demand
On May 6, four citizens, including me, used the citizen comments section of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners meeting to ask the Board to begin exploring ways to make a videocast of its meetings available to citizens.
I observed that citizens often are too busy to attend meetings, and the Board should do what neighboring counties are doing already by telecasting its meetings and making them available on the web. I also said that a video of meetings would provide everyone with a complete record of BOC activities.
Russ Page, who is active in farmland protection and has been a frequent attender of BOC meetings, reminded the Board that it has rejected citizen requests in the past for televised coverage, but that the web has created new, less expensive options.
Charlie Baugh, another frequent visit to the BOC chambers who operates a listserv for people in the County interested in what happens there, asked the Board to immediately instruct County Administrator Alan Theriault and County Attorney Daniel Haygood to bring back to the Commission a report on the options available for telecasting, webcasting and providing video on demand of BOC meetings.
Finally, Tony Glenn, active in preservation of the rural nature of the southern part of the county, told the BOC that we are prepared to start creating and distributing video of the BOC meetings on our own if it did not take action.
As is usually the case when citizens speak at BOC meetings, not a single commissioner responded.
Chairman Melvin Davis immediately entertained and obtained a motion to adjourn, and the group ended its meeting.
The Oconee Enterprise, which is the designated legal organ of the county (meaning it is where the County publishes its legal notices) and which usually acts as if it were the official mouthpiece of the county, did not include any mention of our presentation it its account of the meeting.
The Oconee Leader ignored the meeting entirely, which is its habit.
Athens Banner-Herald reporter Adam Thompson included an account of our presentation in his blog, which the paper reprinted in its May 11 edition. Thompson correctly pointed out that the county has rejected the request for video in the past on the grounds it is too expensive, though some of the cost could be born by cable company franchise fees.
Thompson also linked in his blog to a story in the Banner-Herald in October of 2004 in which Chairman Davis was quoted as saying he felt television coverage of meetings would be confusing to citizens.
Here’s the full quote:
"You may just be catching parts of the meetings and not know all the details and get really upset about something. Or you may be pleasantly pleased with something going on, but you don’t know all the details."
Thompson was dismissive of our efforts. His blog had this headline:
"The Mel-volution will (probably not) be televised."
Following the May 6 meeting, I wrote to all five of the commissioners asking them to put our request that they ask Theriault and Haygood to explore the options for videocasting on the May 27 agenda.
Only Commissioner Jim Luke responded. He said he had no position on the issue at present, but he was worried about commissioners "playing to the camera," making meetings too long. He said he will "support some study of the process beginning soon, but not as an agenda item next month."
Luke said the BOC is busy with too many other things at present, and "I don’t see this as an election issue." He copied his message to Baugh, Page, Glenn, the other commissioners and Thompson at the Banner-Herald.
Charlie Baugh also wrote to the five commissioners. Commissioner Chuck Horton sent back a brief message to Baugh saying he has "no problem" with the idea of videocasting BOC meetings.
In my view, the county ought to do everything it can to help citizens get involved and become informed about what it does.
I also think the argument about the need for a full record of BOC meetings is compelling.
At present, as a matter of policy, the minutes of the meetings are very limited.
On Feb. 26, 2008, for example, I used the "Statement and Remarks from Citizens" section of the meeting to ask some questions.
The exchange took just a few seconds more than six minutes, and during it Chairman Davis and Administrator Theriault contradicted information that County Attorney Haygood had given to the Georgia Attorney General’s office in response to a complaint I filed against the county.
In the official minutes of the meeting, approved by the Board, this exchange is reported as follows:
"Lee Becker asked questions about the bids for engineering and design support services for the Rocky Branch Water Reclamation Facility Upgrade Project."
At the March 25, 2008, BOC meeting, the commissioners, led by Commissioner Margaret Hale, questioned Utility Department Director John Hatcher regarding the amount of money Hatcher wanted to spend on consulting work by Precision Planning Inc. for the Rocky Branch sewage plant upgrade.
The exchange took just a few seconds less than eight minutes. Chairman Davis agreed at the end of the exchange to modify the original request Hatcher made of the Board.
The minutes make no reference to this exchange at all and do not reflect the change Hale was able to get Davis to agree to at the meeting.
A third example also is interesting.
On April 8, the BOC voted 3-2 to allow the sale of beer and wine in county restaurants. The controversial decision had been under discussion since the summer of 2007. None of the commissioners said a word to explain her or his vote.
Had they done so, however, it is doubtful the minutes would have reflected the comments.
Baugh, Glenn, Page and I decided in advance to make a video of that meeting. It, at least, is one you can view in your home.
On May 6, four citizens, including me, used the citizen comments section of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners meeting to ask the Board to begin exploring ways to make a videocast of its meetings available to citizens.
I observed that citizens often are too busy to attend meetings, and the Board should do what neighboring counties are doing already by telecasting its meetings and making them available on the web. I also said that a video of meetings would provide everyone with a complete record of BOC activities.
Russ Page, who is active in farmland protection and has been a frequent attender of BOC meetings, reminded the Board that it has rejected citizen requests in the past for televised coverage, but that the web has created new, less expensive options.
Charlie Baugh, another frequent visit to the BOC chambers who operates a listserv for people in the County interested in what happens there, asked the Board to immediately instruct County Administrator Alan Theriault and County Attorney Daniel Haygood to bring back to the Commission a report on the options available for telecasting, webcasting and providing video on demand of BOC meetings.
Finally, Tony Glenn, active in preservation of the rural nature of the southern part of the county, told the BOC that we are prepared to start creating and distributing video of the BOC meetings on our own if it did not take action.
As is usually the case when citizens speak at BOC meetings, not a single commissioner responded.
Chairman Melvin Davis immediately entertained and obtained a motion to adjourn, and the group ended its meeting.
The Oconee Enterprise, which is the designated legal organ of the county (meaning it is where the County publishes its legal notices) and which usually acts as if it were the official mouthpiece of the county, did not include any mention of our presentation it its account of the meeting.
The Oconee Leader ignored the meeting entirely, which is its habit.
Athens Banner-Herald reporter Adam Thompson included an account of our presentation in his blog, which the paper reprinted in its May 11 edition. Thompson correctly pointed out that the county has rejected the request for video in the past on the grounds it is too expensive, though some of the cost could be born by cable company franchise fees.
Thompson also linked in his blog to a story in the Banner-Herald in October of 2004 in which Chairman Davis was quoted as saying he felt television coverage of meetings would be confusing to citizens.
Here’s the full quote:
"You may just be catching parts of the meetings and not know all the details and get really upset about something. Or you may be pleasantly pleased with something going on, but you don’t know all the details."
Thompson was dismissive of our efforts. His blog had this headline:
"The Mel-volution will (probably not) be televised."
Following the May 6 meeting, I wrote to all five of the commissioners asking them to put our request that they ask Theriault and Haygood to explore the options for videocasting on the May 27 agenda.
Only Commissioner Jim Luke responded. He said he had no position on the issue at present, but he was worried about commissioners "playing to the camera," making meetings too long. He said he will "support some study of the process beginning soon, but not as an agenda item next month."
Luke said the BOC is busy with too many other things at present, and "I don’t see this as an election issue." He copied his message to Baugh, Page, Glenn, the other commissioners and Thompson at the Banner-Herald.
Charlie Baugh also wrote to the five commissioners. Commissioner Chuck Horton sent back a brief message to Baugh saying he has "no problem" with the idea of videocasting BOC meetings.
In my view, the county ought to do everything it can to help citizens get involved and become informed about what it does.
I also think the argument about the need for a full record of BOC meetings is compelling.
At present, as a matter of policy, the minutes of the meetings are very limited.
On Feb. 26, 2008, for example, I used the "Statement and Remarks from Citizens" section of the meeting to ask some questions.
The exchange took just a few seconds more than six minutes, and during it Chairman Davis and Administrator Theriault contradicted information that County Attorney Haygood had given to the Georgia Attorney General’s office in response to a complaint I filed against the county.
In the official minutes of the meeting, approved by the Board, this exchange is reported as follows:
"Lee Becker asked questions about the bids for engineering and design support services for the Rocky Branch Water Reclamation Facility Upgrade Project."
At the March 25, 2008, BOC meeting, the commissioners, led by Commissioner Margaret Hale, questioned Utility Department Director John Hatcher regarding the amount of money Hatcher wanted to spend on consulting work by Precision Planning Inc. for the Rocky Branch sewage plant upgrade.
The exchange took just a few seconds less than eight minutes. Chairman Davis agreed at the end of the exchange to modify the original request Hatcher made of the Board.
The minutes make no reference to this exchange at all and do not reflect the change Hale was able to get Davis to agree to at the meeting.
A third example also is interesting.
On April 8, the BOC voted 3-2 to allow the sale of beer and wine in county restaurants. The controversial decision had been under discussion since the summer of 2007. None of the commissioners said a word to explain her or his vote.
Had they done so, however, it is doubtful the minutes would have reflected the comments.
Baugh, Glenn, Page and I decided in advance to make a video of that meeting. It, at least, is one you can view in your home.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Oconee Chair Claims Secrecy Saved County Money
Design Change Real Explanation
Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin claims that the decision to conduct in secret the bidding for the upgrade of the Rocky Branch sewage plant saved the county $70,000.
The claim is based on some questionable comparisons, and it is possible the secret bidding procedures cost the county money.
In his Chairman’s Corner Spotlight on Oconee on the County’s web site, (the file is dated March of 2008, but it remains on the site at this writing), Davis summarizes the outcome of the bidding and correctly states that the state Attorney General rejected my contention that the secret meetings violated the state’s Open Meetings Laws.
Davis then offers the following statement:
"The County saved well over $70,000 in design fees from the original round of proposals as a result of the RFP that was generated for the project and the process that followed."
County Attorney Daniel Haygood, at the Jan. 29 BOC meeting, went to great lengths to justify the secret bidding process as a way to save the county money, so Davis’ assertion is hardly a surprise.
The county had the option of conducting the bidding in the open or in secret.
At the Feb. 26 meeting of the BOC, Davis said the County had saved $40,000 by getting the successful bidder to do design work that had not been included in the original Request for Proposal.
According to documents released by the County in response to an open records request I filed, at a closed meeting on Feb. 7, the members of the Selection Committee reviewing the bids told the three top-rated bidders that the Committee wanted the bidders to reduce their costs before the Committee would make a final recommendation of a winner.
The Selection Committee also told the bidders the county wanted to add design features, namely a "septage" treatment system to treat what septic haulers drain out of septic tanks and a "belt press" to compact treatment plant sludge.
When the three bidders came back with their final bids, none had dropped the price. Two, including successful bidder HSF Engineering of Snellville, agreed to add the design features without increasing the price. The single bidder that did increase the price, Brown and Caldwell, added about $40,000.
The winning bid by HSF Engineering employed an alternate design that was $75,000 lower than what it said it would charge for the design specified as the standard in the Request for Proposal. The alternate design was included in the RFP, which was a publicly released document at the time the bidding was initiated.
Davis in his Spotlight column, referred to the "original round of proposals." In fact, the county did have a first round of bidding in the summer of 2007. Davis and his staff tried to get the Board of Commissioners to give the contract to Jordan Jones & Goulding, who submitted a bid of $680,580, or $108,580 higher than the successful final alternate bid by HSF Engineering and $33,580 higher than the bid for the base design submitted by HSF.
HSF didn’t bid in the first round; in the second, it bid $647,000 for the original design, or $75,000 more than its winning bid of $572,000.
JJ&G, who had designed the plant as outlined in the RFP, didn’t bid in the second round.
The first round of bids was evaluated without any secret meetings.
County consultant Precision Planning Inc. of Snellville played a different role in the first round of bidding compared with the second.
In the first round, PPI was involved in the Selection Committee that evaluated the bids, but in the second round, Jimmy Parker from PPI chaired the Committee.
PPI charges the county different fees for its consultancy, based on who is providing the consulting and the nature of the service provided, John Hatcher, Utility Department head, told the BOC at the March 25 meeting. On average, the county pays PPI $100 per hour, he said.
Jimmy Parker attended the secret Dec. 7 meeting of the BOC in Madison, Georgia, at which the Rocky Branch upgrade was discussed. With travel time, that meeting took up nearly a full day.
Parker attended and spoke at BOC meetings on Dec. 18 and Jan. 29. He and fellow PPI staffer and Selection Committee member Jim Sunta also were scheduled to be involved in two secret meetings the Selection Committee held on Jan. 4 and Feb. 7 to review the submitted bids. Since no minutes of those meetings have been released, it isn’t possible to know for sure if they attended.
At the April 1 meeting of the BOC, Hatcher said he expected to pay PPI $42,500 for consulting for the next phase of bidding on construction of the Rocky Branch plant, which would seem to be less involved than the second round of design bids.
There is at least some indication the extensive use of PPI in the evaluation was associated with the decision to conduct the bidding in secret during the second round.
County Attorney Daniel Haygood wrote to me on Feb. 13, 2008, that PPI, not a committee of the Board of Commissioners, was conducting the evaluation of the bids. He copied that letter to the Attorney General’s office, saying there is an "issue of whether the evaluations are actually County records."
The State’s Open Records Laws state clearly that the law does not allow "an agency’s placing or causing such items to be placed in the hands of a private person or entity for the purpose of avoiding disclosure."
At the Feb. 26, 2008, meeting of the BOC, Chairman Melvin Davis acknowledged that the Selection Committee appointed by the BOC, not PPI, was conducting the evaluation of the bids.
Did the county save "well over $70,000 in design fees from the original round of proposals as a result of the RFP that was generated for the project and the process that followed," as Chairman Davis contends?
The change in the RFP resulted in a savings of $75,000, which HSF has said will not adversely affect the quality of water coming out of the plant. The secret "process" did not produce the savings.
The change in the RFP resulted from the rejection by the BOC of Davis’ recommendation from the first round of bids.
Even if the county had gone with the more expensive design, it still would have saved $33,580 simply by ignoring Davis’ recommendation that the contract go to JJ&G in the initial bidding round.
Did the county save $40,000 by negotiating in secret with three of the bidders? One of the three said it would not do the extra work being asked by the county without charging that amount, while two others said they would take on the extra work at no charge.
It is impossible to know if this $40,000 would have been this high had these extras been incorporated in the original RFP, as should have been the case, rather than used as a negotiating tool at the last minute.
Given the fees charged by PPI and the extra work it did as part of the secret bidding process, it is likely that the $40,000 "savings" was offset by the higher fees paid to PPI. It is even possible the secret bidding process cost the county money, rather than saved it.
Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin claims that the decision to conduct in secret the bidding for the upgrade of the Rocky Branch sewage plant saved the county $70,000.
The claim is based on some questionable comparisons, and it is possible the secret bidding procedures cost the county money.
In his Chairman’s Corner Spotlight on Oconee on the County’s web site, (the file is dated March of 2008, but it remains on the site at this writing), Davis summarizes the outcome of the bidding and correctly states that the state Attorney General rejected my contention that the secret meetings violated the state’s Open Meetings Laws.
Davis then offers the following statement:
"The County saved well over $70,000 in design fees from the original round of proposals as a result of the RFP that was generated for the project and the process that followed."
County Attorney Daniel Haygood, at the Jan. 29 BOC meeting, went to great lengths to justify the secret bidding process as a way to save the county money, so Davis’ assertion is hardly a surprise.
The county had the option of conducting the bidding in the open or in secret.
At the Feb. 26 meeting of the BOC, Davis said the County had saved $40,000 by getting the successful bidder to do design work that had not been included in the original Request for Proposal.
According to documents released by the County in response to an open records request I filed, at a closed meeting on Feb. 7, the members of the Selection Committee reviewing the bids told the three top-rated bidders that the Committee wanted the bidders to reduce their costs before the Committee would make a final recommendation of a winner.
The Selection Committee also told the bidders the county wanted to add design features, namely a "septage" treatment system to treat what septic haulers drain out of septic tanks and a "belt press" to compact treatment plant sludge.
When the three bidders came back with their final bids, none had dropped the price. Two, including successful bidder HSF Engineering of Snellville, agreed to add the design features without increasing the price. The single bidder that did increase the price, Brown and Caldwell, added about $40,000.
The winning bid by HSF Engineering employed an alternate design that was $75,000 lower than what it said it would charge for the design specified as the standard in the Request for Proposal. The alternate design was included in the RFP, which was a publicly released document at the time the bidding was initiated.
Davis in his Spotlight column, referred to the "original round of proposals." In fact, the county did have a first round of bidding in the summer of 2007. Davis and his staff tried to get the Board of Commissioners to give the contract to Jordan Jones & Goulding, who submitted a bid of $680,580, or $108,580 higher than the successful final alternate bid by HSF Engineering and $33,580 higher than the bid for the base design submitted by HSF.
HSF didn’t bid in the first round; in the second, it bid $647,000 for the original design, or $75,000 more than its winning bid of $572,000.
JJ&G, who had designed the plant as outlined in the RFP, didn’t bid in the second round.
The first round of bids was evaluated without any secret meetings.
County consultant Precision Planning Inc. of Snellville played a different role in the first round of bidding compared with the second.
In the first round, PPI was involved in the Selection Committee that evaluated the bids, but in the second round, Jimmy Parker from PPI chaired the Committee.
PPI charges the county different fees for its consultancy, based on who is providing the consulting and the nature of the service provided, John Hatcher, Utility Department head, told the BOC at the March 25 meeting. On average, the county pays PPI $100 per hour, he said.
Jimmy Parker attended the secret Dec. 7 meeting of the BOC in Madison, Georgia, at which the Rocky Branch upgrade was discussed. With travel time, that meeting took up nearly a full day.
Parker attended and spoke at BOC meetings on Dec. 18 and Jan. 29. He and fellow PPI staffer and Selection Committee member Jim Sunta also were scheduled to be involved in two secret meetings the Selection Committee held on Jan. 4 and Feb. 7 to review the submitted bids. Since no minutes of those meetings have been released, it isn’t possible to know for sure if they attended.
At the April 1 meeting of the BOC, Hatcher said he expected to pay PPI $42,500 for consulting for the next phase of bidding on construction of the Rocky Branch plant, which would seem to be less involved than the second round of design bids.
There is at least some indication the extensive use of PPI in the evaluation was associated with the decision to conduct the bidding in secret during the second round.
County Attorney Daniel Haygood wrote to me on Feb. 13, 2008, that PPI, not a committee of the Board of Commissioners, was conducting the evaluation of the bids. He copied that letter to the Attorney General’s office, saying there is an "issue of whether the evaluations are actually County records."
The State’s Open Records Laws state clearly that the law does not allow "an agency’s placing or causing such items to be placed in the hands of a private person or entity for the purpose of avoiding disclosure."
At the Feb. 26, 2008, meeting of the BOC, Chairman Melvin Davis acknowledged that the Selection Committee appointed by the BOC, not PPI, was conducting the evaluation of the bids.
Did the county save "well over $70,000 in design fees from the original round of proposals as a result of the RFP that was generated for the project and the process that followed," as Chairman Davis contends?
The change in the RFP resulted in a savings of $75,000, which HSF has said will not adversely affect the quality of water coming out of the plant. The secret "process" did not produce the savings.
The change in the RFP resulted from the rejection by the BOC of Davis’ recommendation from the first round of bids.
Even if the county had gone with the more expensive design, it still would have saved $33,580 simply by ignoring Davis’ recommendation that the contract go to JJ&G in the initial bidding round.
Did the county save $40,000 by negotiating in secret with three of the bidders? One of the three said it would not do the extra work being asked by the county without charging that amount, while two others said they would take on the extra work at no charge.
It is impossible to know if this $40,000 would have been this high had these extras been incorporated in the original RFP, as should have been the case, rather than used as a negotiating tool at the last minute.
Given the fees charged by PPI and the extra work it did as part of the secret bidding process, it is likely that the $40,000 "savings" was offset by the higher fees paid to PPI. It is even possible the secret bidding process cost the county money, rather than saved it.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Oconee Candidate Forums Set for June 2 & 4
Meet the Candidates at the Library
A consortium of Oconee County citizen groups announced yesterday that it will hold two Candidate Forums for the July 15 Oconee County primary elections.
The first Forum will be on June 2 and will be for candidates for the Board of Commissioners, including the chairman, and for Coroner.
The second forum will be on June 4 and will be for candidates for the Board of Education.
Both forums will be in the auditorium of the Oconee County Library on Experiment Station Road in Watkinsville. The forums will start at 7 p.m. and last until 10 p.m.
Only Republicans filed for and qualified for the Oconee Board of Commissioner slots.
Sarah Bell and Melvin Davis, both with Watkinsville mailing addresses, are seeking the four-year term of Commission Chairman. Davis is the incumbent.
Jim Luke and Johnny Pritchett have qualified for the four-year term of Post #1 Commissioner. Luke has a Bogart mailing address; Pritchett has a Bishop mailing address. Luke is the incumbent.
John Daniell and Donald "Don" Norris have qualified for the two-year term of Post #2 Commissioner. Daniell has a Bishop mailing address, and Norris has a Bogart mailing address. Norris is the incumbent.
Margaret Hale and Esther Porter qualified for the two-year term of Post #3 Commissioner. Both have Watkinsville mailing addresses. Hale is the incumbent.
Chuck Horton and Michael Maxey qualified for the four-year term of Post #4 Commissioner. Horton has a Watkinsville mailing address; Maxey has a Bishop mailing address. Horton is the incumbent.
Three Republicans also have qualified for the Coroner position: Ed Carson (Bishop), Bill Mayberry (Watkinsville), and Cathleen Quillian-Carr (Watkinsville). Incumbent John Simpson is not running for re-election. The position is for four years.
Ten Republicans have qualified for the Board of Education races.
David Weeks (Bishop mailing address) qualified for the Chairman of the Board. He is unopposed for the four-year term. He currently occupies Post #3 on the Board.
Mack Guest (Athens mailing address) and Ryan House (Bishop mailing address) qualified for the Post #2 position. The term will be for two-years. Guest is the incumbent.
Kim Argo, Carter Brank and Ashley Hood qualified for the Post #3 position. Argo and Brank have Bogart mailing addresses; Hood has a Bishop mailing address. The term will be for two years.
Michael Hunter (Bishop mailing address) and Charles Toney (Watkinsville mailing address) qualified for the Post #4 position. The term will be for four years.
Tom Breedlove (Bogart mailing address) and Kyle Martin (Watkinsville mailing address) qualified for the Post #5 position. The terms will be for four years.
Rich Clark qualified as a Democratic candidate for the Post #5 position. He has a Watkinsville mailing address.
Each of these candidates will be asked to attend or send a representative to the appropriate Candidate Forum. The forums will be open to the public, and the public will have the opportunity to ask questions directly of the candidates.
The Candidate Forums will be moderated by members of the five citizen organizations that set up the forums: Citizens for Oconee’s Future, Citizens for South Oconee County, Friends of Barber Creek, Friends of the Apalachee, and Oconee Citizens for Responsible Growth.
The consortium held a Candidate Forum in 2006 for the Georgia House and Senate races. Citizens for Oconee’s Future organized a forum for the 2004 county elections.
Registration in Georgia is not by party, so anyone can choose to vote in the Republican primary.
If none of the three candidates for coroner or none of the three candidates for Board of Education Post #3 receives a majority, a runoff will be held on August 5.
A voter who voted in the Democratic Primary in July 15 cannot vote in the Republican runoff on August 5, and a voters who voted in the Republican Primary on July 15 cannot vote in a Democratic runoff on August 5.
Five Democratic candidates have filed to run against Republican incumbent U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss.
Incumbent state Senator Bill Cowsert will be opposed in the Republic Primary on July 15 by Tommy Malcom.
Three Oconee County incumbents are unopposed in the Republican Primary. They are Scott Berry (Sheriff), Angela Watson (Clerk of Superior Court), and Hariette Browning (Tax Commissioner). No one has filed to run against District Attorney Ken Mauldin, a Democrat.
Independents have until July 8 to file as candidates for the November 4 election.
The deadline for voter registration prior to the July 15 Primary is June 16.
Two of the four Oconee Board of Commissioner Posts and two of the four Oconee School Board positions will be filled for two years rather than four in November because the state legislature passed legislation--at the request of the two bodies--to create staggered terms. All terms will be for four years in the future.
A consortium of Oconee County citizen groups announced yesterday that it will hold two Candidate Forums for the July 15 Oconee County primary elections.
The first Forum will be on June 2 and will be for candidates for the Board of Commissioners, including the chairman, and for Coroner.
The second forum will be on June 4 and will be for candidates for the Board of Education.
Both forums will be in the auditorium of the Oconee County Library on Experiment Station Road in Watkinsville. The forums will start at 7 p.m. and last until 10 p.m.
Only Republicans filed for and qualified for the Oconee Board of Commissioner slots.
Sarah Bell and Melvin Davis, both with Watkinsville mailing addresses, are seeking the four-year term of Commission Chairman. Davis is the incumbent.
Jim Luke and Johnny Pritchett have qualified for the four-year term of Post #1 Commissioner. Luke has a Bogart mailing address; Pritchett has a Bishop mailing address. Luke is the incumbent.
John Daniell and Donald "Don" Norris have qualified for the two-year term of Post #2 Commissioner. Daniell has a Bishop mailing address, and Norris has a Bogart mailing address. Norris is the incumbent.
Margaret Hale and Esther Porter qualified for the two-year term of Post #3 Commissioner. Both have Watkinsville mailing addresses. Hale is the incumbent.
Chuck Horton and Michael Maxey qualified for the four-year term of Post #4 Commissioner. Horton has a Watkinsville mailing address; Maxey has a Bishop mailing address. Horton is the incumbent.
Three Republicans also have qualified for the Coroner position: Ed Carson (Bishop), Bill Mayberry (Watkinsville), and Cathleen Quillian-Carr (Watkinsville). Incumbent John Simpson is not running for re-election. The position is for four years.
Ten Republicans have qualified for the Board of Education races.
David Weeks (Bishop mailing address) qualified for the Chairman of the Board. He is unopposed for the four-year term. He currently occupies Post #3 on the Board.
Mack Guest (Athens mailing address) and Ryan House (Bishop mailing address) qualified for the Post #2 position. The term will be for two-years. Guest is the incumbent.
Kim Argo, Carter Brank and Ashley Hood qualified for the Post #3 position. Argo and Brank have Bogart mailing addresses; Hood has a Bishop mailing address. The term will be for two years.
Michael Hunter (Bishop mailing address) and Charles Toney (Watkinsville mailing address) qualified for the Post #4 position. The term will be for four years.
Tom Breedlove (Bogart mailing address) and Kyle Martin (Watkinsville mailing address) qualified for the Post #5 position. The terms will be for four years.
Rich Clark qualified as a Democratic candidate for the Post #5 position. He has a Watkinsville mailing address.
Each of these candidates will be asked to attend or send a representative to the appropriate Candidate Forum. The forums will be open to the public, and the public will have the opportunity to ask questions directly of the candidates.
The Candidate Forums will be moderated by members of the five citizen organizations that set up the forums: Citizens for Oconee’s Future, Citizens for South Oconee County, Friends of Barber Creek, Friends of the Apalachee, and Oconee Citizens for Responsible Growth.
The consortium held a Candidate Forum in 2006 for the Georgia House and Senate races. Citizens for Oconee’s Future organized a forum for the 2004 county elections.
Registration in Georgia is not by party, so anyone can choose to vote in the Republican primary.
If none of the three candidates for coroner or none of the three candidates for Board of Education Post #3 receives a majority, a runoff will be held on August 5.
A voter who voted in the Democratic Primary in July 15 cannot vote in the Republican runoff on August 5, and a voters who voted in the Republican Primary on July 15 cannot vote in a Democratic runoff on August 5.
Five Democratic candidates have filed to run against Republican incumbent U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss.
Incumbent state Senator Bill Cowsert will be opposed in the Republic Primary on July 15 by Tommy Malcom.
Three Oconee County incumbents are unopposed in the Republican Primary. They are Scott Berry (Sheriff), Angela Watson (Clerk of Superior Court), and Hariette Browning (Tax Commissioner). No one has filed to run against District Attorney Ken Mauldin, a Democrat.
Independents have until July 8 to file as candidates for the November 4 election.
The deadline for voter registration prior to the July 15 Primary is June 16.
Two of the four Oconee Board of Commissioner Posts and two of the four Oconee School Board positions will be filled for two years rather than four in November because the state legislature passed legislation--at the request of the two bodies--to create staggered terms. All terms will be for four years in the future.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Oconee Commission Passes on Chance to Explain Beer and Wine Votes
Tongues of Commissioners Tied
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners began publicly discussing an ordinance to allow beer and wine sales in county restaurants back in May of 2007 and held three public hearings before voting to pass the ordinance April 8.
Commissioner Don Norris made the motion to pass the ordinance, and Commissioner Jim Luke seconded the motion. BOC Chairman Melvin Davis then asked if there was any discussion.
Norris and Luke said not a word. Nor did Commissioners Margaret Hale or Chuck Horton.
Davis called the question, and Norris and Luke voted in favor; Hale and Horton voted against.
Davis paused, pulled on his nose, and voted in favor. Then the Board adjourned.
The Board met in a secret meeting on December 7 to discuss alcohol sales in the county, so it is likely each commissioner knew what the other was going to do on April 8 long before the vote.
But the public has not been privy to the thinking of the commissioners.
Davis has been quoted in the Athens Banner-Herald as saying he "put aside" some "personal convictions" in voting for beer and wine sale because it was "in the best interest of the county." The story does not specify what those convictions were.
A video of the vote of the Commission is available at my web site and on YouTube.
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners began publicly discussing an ordinance to allow beer and wine sales in county restaurants back in May of 2007 and held three public hearings before voting to pass the ordinance April 8.
Commissioner Don Norris made the motion to pass the ordinance, and Commissioner Jim Luke seconded the motion. BOC Chairman Melvin Davis then asked if there was any discussion.
Norris and Luke said not a word. Nor did Commissioners Margaret Hale or Chuck Horton.
Davis called the question, and Norris and Luke voted in favor; Hale and Horton voted against.
Davis paused, pulled on his nose, and voted in favor. Then the Board adjourned.
The Board met in a secret meeting on December 7 to discuss alcohol sales in the county, so it is likely each commissioner knew what the other was going to do on April 8 long before the vote.
But the public has not been privy to the thinking of the commissioners.
Davis has been quoted in the Athens Banner-Herald as saying he "put aside" some "personal convictions" in voting for beer and wine sale because it was "in the best interest of the county." The story does not specify what those convictions were.
A video of the vote of the Commission is available at my web site and on YouTube.
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