|
doesn’t bode
well for reform
Monday night’s contest for county commission chairman is usually decided in private by the commissioners well before the meeting, but this year’s vote was different.
The failure to elect James Prevatte as chairman by a 4-3 vote was a blow to those who had hoped for change.
Bill Memory was the potential swing vote to side with Prevatte and newcomers Ronald Gore and Ricky Bullard. Instead, Memory decided to stay with the old guard of newly elected chairman Sammie Jacobs and commissioners Amon McKenzie and Lynwood Norris.
Usually, voting blocs are determined early and tend to stay intact until the next election. Barring a realignment of the stars, it’s unlikely that the board’s proclivity for secrecy and closed meetings will change. It is also likely that Jim Varner will remain county manager for the foreseeable future.
This doesn’t mean that Memory or any other commissioner can’t have a change of heart about the flow of public information.
We hope residents will continue to remind commissioners that issues that affect the citizenry and how tax dollars are handled should be conducted in the open, not behind closed doors.