Alan Cox Is Elected Chair

District 5 Commissioner Alan Cox was elected chairman of the Jasper County commission for 2012 by a 3-2 vote of the commission Monday.

It is the commissioners’ policy to elect a chairman at the first meeting of the new year each year. However, in January, 2012 and 2011, the five voted two-two with one commissioner abstaining.

Therefore, there was not a majority vote, so the sitting chairman remained chair. This year, commissioners agreed to address the issue at each meeting until a majority vote could be obtained.

Monday, when Commissioner Jack Bernard nominated Commissioner Cox as chair, the motion was seconded by Mr. Cox as it was in the previous two meetings this year. However, when the vote was taken, Commissioner Carl Pennamon voted with Commissioners Bernard and Cox to name the new chairman.

Commissioner Pennamon was then elected vice-chair, also by a 3-2 vote. Commissioners Charles Hill and Mary Patrick did not vote in favor of the new chair or vice-chair.

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During this board’s term, Commissioner Pennamon served as chair in 2009, then Commissioner Hill was elected in 2010. In 2011, there was no majority vote, so Mr. Hill remained chair.

The terms of all five commissioners are up at the end of this year. When they seek re-election, districts two and four will be elected for two-year terms, just this once, so that they can move to staggered terms, assuming the local legislation passes.

In the future, some commission seats will be on the ballot in all even-numbered years for four year terms. However, only two or three at a time will be elected, assuring continuity on the board.

The commissioners also could not agree on a closed session to discuss personnel at the end of the meeting, so in a rare occurrence, the commission adjourned Monday morning’s meeting without going into a closed session.

During the meeting, commissioners discussed several topics, and heard from citizens on a number of issues. Again at this meeting, a number of citizens from the Rollingwood Cove/Alcovy Shores areas attended the meeting to ask the commissioners for assistance in improving their neighborhoods.

Julia Harr told commissioners that it was her desire to keep the conditions in the Rollingwood Cove/Alcovy Shores areas before the board. She complained of escalating crime problems, suggesting more daily patrols and re-establishment of a drug task force. She also said the residents there would like crimes investigated promptly and the curfew enforced. Ms. Harr expressed several concerns, and said the community had set up a blog entitled “take our neighborhoods back.”

She also said that she is aware the county does not have a full-time code enforcement officer, but that she felt that more citations could be issued. Ms. Harr’s remarks came at the beginning of the meeting during citizen comments.

Commissioner Bernard told Ms. Harr that he would like for the commission to have a workshop item on that situation, and suggested she get with the county manager and set it up.

Dennis Horion, another resident of the area, said he runs an Adopt-A-Horse program, and told of an initiative under way where he could provide services to the handicapped. He suggested people sentenced to do public service could work with him in his program, and possibly be put to use cleaning up some of the issues in the neighborhoods. He was instructed totalk with the county manager about the program.

Carolyn McCurdy, another resident of the area, said that there were 576 calls to 911 in the area in 2011, and expressed her concern.

Towards the end of the meeting, under commissioner’s items on the agenda, Commissioner Patrick showed numerous photos of code violations in those neighborhoods. She also shared a newspaper article from a Newton County paper about how the county had made a landlord clean up his property. She commented, as others had, that many of the problems stem from short-term residents living in the homes owned by Bruce Whitley. She suggested Mr. Whitley should be made to upgrade his properties.

Commissioner Jack Bernard questioned if the taxes were paid on the properties in question and suggested that would be a way to pursue the landlord. One person suggested a hotel/motel tax being levied on structures that do not require a minimum six-month lease.

A neighborhood meeting is planned for this Saturday, Feb. 11, at noon, for the residents to meet with each other, the sheriff and others who can help with their situation. They have been told the problem is 80 percent juvenile, and the juvenile justice system is not serving them well.

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Early in the meeting, commissioners discussed the forensic recovery of material apparently erased from the computer of former acting county manager Betty Moon. Ms. Moon retired from the county some time ago.

When staff members accessed her computer to find a template after she was gone, they found that everything had been erased. They took it to two different computer services, neither of whom could recover what was erased.

There was much discussion between the commissioners about why they would spend money to find out what had been erased when they had no indication that anything important was missing. Other commissioners said they don’t know what is missing, or if it’s important, until they recover it.

Commissioner Bernard said, “If we really believe in open government, we should want to pursue it. It’s an ethical and moral vote.”

Commissioner Cox said that open government is not a choice, it is state law.

Commissioner Patrick suggested it was a witch hunt. “We don’t know of anything missing.”

Commissioner Pennamon said it isn’t about the operator, it is about the information on the computer.

Commissioner Hill asked if they were opening a can of worms, suggesting it was not the first time the commissioners learned of information missing from a computer. The county did not pursue it before, he indicated.

County Attorney Jim Alexander said that it was not discrimination. The county can choose to pursue this, even if it didn’t pursue something different before.

Finally, the commission voted 3-2 to take the low bid to do a forensic search of the computer. Commissioners Hill and Patrick cast the dissenting votes.

Commissioners also spent considerable time discussing putting rumble strips or signage on Hwy. 11 south at Hwy. 380. That intersection is now a four-way stop, but for the last 30 years or so, drivers on Hwy. 11 did not need to stop. Now, many are not stopping, creating a hazard. The Department of Transportation (DOT) indicated it did not see the need for more markings, but that if the commission asked them to, they would put something up.

Commissioners discussed rumble strips, flashing lights, and other signage, getting input from Public Works (PWD) director Will Brown, then voted unanimously to pursue additional signage through the DOT. Because Hwy. 11 is a state route, it is up to the DOT to approve and do the work.

Commissioner Bernard suggested they also look at Hwy. 380 at Hwy. 212, saying he had personally seen that stop sign run. At that intersection, travelers on Hwy. 212 are not expected to stop.

Also concerning roads, Commissioner Patrick had photos of roads where the PWD had not done good work, in her opinion, and a listing of numerous problems that she did not bring photos of.

Mr. Brown said the problem with the pot holes is that the process that has to be used when an area is not completely dry is not a permanent fix, but that the proper repair requires good weather. He did not address each complaint that Commissioner Patrick listed, but said several require considerable work that has to be timed very carefully.

Another item on the agenda was “elimination of animal control and shelter privatization.” Commissioner Pennamon said he wanted animal control on the agenda, but the topic listed on the agenda was misleading. He said that the commissioners need to stay out of the running of animal control. He suggested that the county focus its attention on how the animal shelter was designed to begin with. He suggested they could possibly minimize costs by putting it under the sheriff’s department, since a deputy often accompanies the animal control officer.

“We need to look at how we can better serve the community,” he said.

He suggested that the commissioners, sheriff’s office and humane society personnel need to sit down together and come up with a solution. He said he is talking about reaching out to the Humane Society; he wasn’t talking about shutting down animal control.

After some discussion, they agreed that rather than the whole commission meet with the others, that two commissioners could meet with the other parties. Commissioners voted to form such a committee. Commissioner Hill abstained from that vote.

During the comment portion of the meeting, the commissioners heard from Elaine Starr Freeman on the issue. She told commissioners that “eliminating animal control is an unconscionable waste of taxpayer monies spent to date.” She mentioned several challenges the department had faced, and praised the work of the current acting animal control director. “Please don’t move backward,” she said.

In other action at Monday’s meeting, commissioners:

•Agreed to send out a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the next audit.

•Agreed to ask the Planning & Zoning Commission to look at the minimum square footage requirements in residential areas. Commissioner Patrick said when the economy was booming, the county instituted a minimum square footage of 1,800 for residential areas.

She said since the economy is not so good, and the county is interested in attracting retirees, perhaps that should be lowered.

Commissioner Bernard said there are plenty of houses available with less square footage, and he sees no need to change it. He said it mostly applies to Turtle Cove, as there is not a lot of land in the county zoned residential. After considerable discussion, commissioners agreed to ask P&Z to take a look at it and send a recommendation back to the county.

•Agreed to allow the Emergency Management Agency (EMA) to hire a part-time, temporary employee to help update the hazard mitigation plan. The person’s salary will be paid with grant funds.

•Agreed to serve as the fiscal agent for Family Connection again this year.

•Reviewed the proposed budget calendar that calls for the county budget to be adopted on June 28 with commission work sessions on the budget beginning April 16.

•Heard a legislative update from the county manager.

Before adjourning, those present heard a brief report of an economic development meeting attended last Friday by two commissioners, the county manager and about 30 other community leaders (see related story, page 5).