Commissioners' actions draw scrutiny
By
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To the editor:
In recent months, I have shared the travails that I have experienced in getting copies of minutes from the Highland County Board of Commissioner’s meetings. Previously, I have documented the fact that I have been unable to get copies of minutes for several weeks, being told that they didn’t exist.
I have even shared the fact the Auditor of Ohio has published concerns regarding the inability of our commissioners to provide minutes in a timely manner. It seems that all of my concerns over proper documentation have not yet been corrected.
At the most recent meeting of the Highland County commissioners, Wednesday, Dec. 28, it was exposed that the commissioners have apparently been staying in session for consecutive days, without notifying the public.
It was revealed that they have been going into recess upon the completion of agenda items, allowing the public attendees to leave, and then returning to session hours and even a day later with no public notice of when they will reconvene or what business is to be conducted.
Those in attendance at Wednesday’s meeting were assured that this was perfectly legal and within the authority of the commission. When questioned about the need for a recent “extra session,” which was apparently held on Thursday Dec. 22, Commissioner Horst explained that they had simply run out of time on Wednesday, Dec. 21 to discuss all the business before them, specifically, the 2012 budget.
The minutes record the passage of 18 resolutions for various items, most notably a series of budget modifications which have since become known as “bonuses” to county employees, ending with a resolution to accept the bid from Baldwin Farms to farm the undeveloped land at the Leesburg Industrial Park under the authority of the commissioners.
Following the documentation of the votes on the resolutions, the minutes note that County Auditor Bill Fawley presented information about the 2012 budget and then it is noted that at 4 p.m. the commissioners went into recess, reconvening at 1 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 22.
Commissioner Shaffer is noted as being absent for the reconvened session on Dec. 22. Lastly, it was noted that at 3 p.m., Mr. Horst moved to adjourn, Mr. Wilkin seconded the motion and they both voted in favor.
As an attendee of the Wednesday, Dec. 21 session, I can attest that the meeting started with Mr. Fawley’s budget discussions, involving projected sales tax revenues and expenses in the coming year, and was followed by the approval of the 18 resolutions. This was all completed prior to 9:30 a.m. and a lull followed awaiting the closing of the bid period for the Leesburg ground previously discussed. The bids closed for the Leesburg ground at 10 a.m., the resolution was then drafted and the approval was voted upon at sometime between 10:30 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. Upon the vote to accept the bid, the meeting seemingly ended with no further business before the commissioners.
The public attendees of the meeting of that morning, including local press representatives, then left the administrative building under the impression that the meeting was over.
My concern is about the 5 1/2 hours of undocumented meeting from 10:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Dec. 21 and the two hours of undocumented session on Dec. 22. Attendees at Wednesday’s meeting were told that the commissioners were discussing the 2012 budget, but nothing about the 2012 budget was documented in the minutes for these time periods of the meeting.
So the questions remain: What did these 7 1/2 hours of meeting sessions involve? Were they discussing how to balance the budget with decreased local government funds and expenses increasing at a rate that outpaces projected sales tax revenue growth? Were they discussing how to get another series of “bonuses” through? Were they discussing means to increase tax revenues? Or were they simply doing nothing at all?
I doubt the latter, since I can’t imagine that they needed extra time to do nothing. In the coming year, the taxpayers and voters of Highland County have decisions to make about who will represent them in two seats on the commission board. How can we expect these same people to be able to take the steps necessary to make Highland County competitive and to build our local economy by attracting business, manufacturers, and jobs when they can’t even perform the most basic functions of a governing body?
They have proved themselves unable to properly document their actions and it now appears that they have resorted to some clever tricks to avoid public oversight of their actions, not to mention their willingness to give away our tax dollars as “bonuses” when we are facing ever more challenging fiscal issues.
The people of Highland County require leaders in government who know how to make things better, not just politicians who know how to play political games.
I urge the citizens of Highland County to get involved, ask questions of our elected servants that hold them accountable, and consider the choices that we have in the upcoming primary and general elections.
We will get the government we deserve, let’s put forth the effort to get better than what we have now.
Sincerely,
Fred Boggess
New Vienna[[In-content Ad]]
In recent months, I have shared the travails that I have experienced in getting copies of minutes from the Highland County Board of Commissioner’s meetings. Previously, I have documented the fact that I have been unable to get copies of minutes for several weeks, being told that they didn’t exist.
I have even shared the fact the Auditor of Ohio has published concerns regarding the inability of our commissioners to provide minutes in a timely manner. It seems that all of my concerns over proper documentation have not yet been corrected.
At the most recent meeting of the Highland County commissioners, Wednesday, Dec. 28, it was exposed that the commissioners have apparently been staying in session for consecutive days, without notifying the public.
It was revealed that they have been going into recess upon the completion of agenda items, allowing the public attendees to leave, and then returning to session hours and even a day later with no public notice of when they will reconvene or what business is to be conducted.
Those in attendance at Wednesday’s meeting were assured that this was perfectly legal and within the authority of the commission. When questioned about the need for a recent “extra session,” which was apparently held on Thursday Dec. 22, Commissioner Horst explained that they had simply run out of time on Wednesday, Dec. 21 to discuss all the business before them, specifically, the 2012 budget.
The minutes record the passage of 18 resolutions for various items, most notably a series of budget modifications which have since become known as “bonuses” to county employees, ending with a resolution to accept the bid from Baldwin Farms to farm the undeveloped land at the Leesburg Industrial Park under the authority of the commissioners.
Following the documentation of the votes on the resolutions, the minutes note that County Auditor Bill Fawley presented information about the 2012 budget and then it is noted that at 4 p.m. the commissioners went into recess, reconvening at 1 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 22.
Commissioner Shaffer is noted as being absent for the reconvened session on Dec. 22. Lastly, it was noted that at 3 p.m., Mr. Horst moved to adjourn, Mr. Wilkin seconded the motion and they both voted in favor.
As an attendee of the Wednesday, Dec. 21 session, I can attest that the meeting started with Mr. Fawley’s budget discussions, involving projected sales tax revenues and expenses in the coming year, and was followed by the approval of the 18 resolutions. This was all completed prior to 9:30 a.m. and a lull followed awaiting the closing of the bid period for the Leesburg ground previously discussed. The bids closed for the Leesburg ground at 10 a.m., the resolution was then drafted and the approval was voted upon at sometime between 10:30 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. Upon the vote to accept the bid, the meeting seemingly ended with no further business before the commissioners.
The public attendees of the meeting of that morning, including local press representatives, then left the administrative building under the impression that the meeting was over.
My concern is about the 5 1/2 hours of undocumented meeting from 10:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Dec. 21 and the two hours of undocumented session on Dec. 22. Attendees at Wednesday’s meeting were told that the commissioners were discussing the 2012 budget, but nothing about the 2012 budget was documented in the minutes for these time periods of the meeting.
So the questions remain: What did these 7 1/2 hours of meeting sessions involve? Were they discussing how to balance the budget with decreased local government funds and expenses increasing at a rate that outpaces projected sales tax revenue growth? Were they discussing how to get another series of “bonuses” through? Were they discussing means to increase tax revenues? Or were they simply doing nothing at all?
I doubt the latter, since I can’t imagine that they needed extra time to do nothing. In the coming year, the taxpayers and voters of Highland County have decisions to make about who will represent them in two seats on the commission board. How can we expect these same people to be able to take the steps necessary to make Highland County competitive and to build our local economy by attracting business, manufacturers, and jobs when they can’t even perform the most basic functions of a governing body?
They have proved themselves unable to properly document their actions and it now appears that they have resorted to some clever tricks to avoid public oversight of their actions, not to mention their willingness to give away our tax dollars as “bonuses” when we are facing ever more challenging fiscal issues.
The people of Highland County require leaders in government who know how to make things better, not just politicians who know how to play political games.
I urge the citizens of Highland County to get involved, ask questions of our elected servants that hold them accountable, and consider the choices that we have in the upcoming primary and general elections.
We will get the government we deserve, let’s put forth the effort to get better than what we have now.
Sincerely,
Fred Boggess
New Vienna[[In-content Ad]]