Charlie Baugh's warning about BOC meeting and jail costs
Subject:Board of Commissioners meeting 4/4/06
Something unusual happened at this meeting. The Board had agreed at the Agenda Meeting to place the jail cost approval and funding method (lease purchase) on the consent agenda for this meeting. That meant there would be no further discussion. However when the consent agenda item came up there was considerable discussion resulting in the jail being pulled from the consent agenda. The wording for the motion to approve the jail price and funding mechanism was changed to approve the price and to authorize the Finance Director to come back to the Board with funding options. Folks, this indicates to me that some members of this Board are a little more independent than they have been in the past. If the Board does more than just go through the motions of looking at alternative funding options it will be good for the future considering all the spending that is planned. This lease purchase method of financing spending is just a way for the County Government to spend without going to the voters. The result is the same, the County pays for the spending plus the interest on bonds for the life of the "lease purchase" and County resources are tied up for years.
There were several other items on the agenda most of which were noncontroversial rezones. Of the two controversial rezone requests, one was withdrawn and one was tabled at the previous weeks Agenda Meeting.
Folks, we need to keep an eye on this Board. Remember, 4 of the 5 were elected with substantial builder/real estate/construction industry financial support. They will always pay attention to those who provide the financial support. For those of us who just vote and hope for good government they may pay attention to us if they know we care enough to be informed about their actions. If you are not already a member of a local neighborhood group I encourage you to join if one is available and if not take the initiative to organize. Local press coverage is inadequate and often inaccurate. Your local neighborhood group can keep an eye on issues that impact you and keep you informed.
Charles Baugh
President
Something unusual happened at this meeting. The Board had agreed at the Agenda Meeting to place the jail cost approval and funding method (lease purchase) on the consent agenda for this meeting. That meant there would be no further discussion. However when the consent agenda item came up there was considerable discussion resulting in the jail being pulled from the consent agenda. The wording for the motion to approve the jail price and funding mechanism was changed to approve the price and to authorize the Finance Director to come back to the Board with funding options. Folks, this indicates to me that some members of this Board are a little more independent than they have been in the past. If the Board does more than just go through the motions of looking at alternative funding options it will be good for the future considering all the spending that is planned. This lease purchase method of financing spending is just a way for the County Government to spend without going to the voters. The result is the same, the County pays for the spending plus the interest on bonds for the life of the "lease purchase" and County resources are tied up for years.
There were several other items on the agenda most of which were noncontroversial rezones. Of the two controversial rezone requests, one was withdrawn and one was tabled at the previous weeks Agenda Meeting.
Folks, we need to keep an eye on this Board. Remember, 4 of the 5 were elected with substantial builder/real estate/construction industry financial support. They will always pay attention to those who provide the financial support. For those of us who just vote and hope for good government they may pay attention to us if they know we care enough to be informed about their actions. If you are not already a member of a local neighborhood group I encourage you to join if one is available and if not take the initiative to organize. Local press coverage is inadequate and often inaccurate. Your local neighborhood group can keep an eye on issues that impact you and keep you informed.
Charles Baugh
President
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