Now is not the time to go silent

Happy short week! Let’s just dive into it, shall we?

The County Commission meets today.  A data center moratorium is likely the big topic of discussion.
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Looming, though, is the emotional hangover from two weeks ago. Things were said. Things were done. Out in public for all to see and witness.

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There’s a very uncomfortable pattern emerging if commissioners don’t own up to that breakdown.

When citizens are no longer confident that the people in charge have enough self-awareness to acknowledge errors of judgement, even in the heat of debate, the whole system starts to erode. 

That’s the reality facing County Commissioners today. So, two thoughts:

— Chair Diana Finegan. Buck starts and stops with her. She has the gavel. Everything that occurred from the moment she opened that May 12 meeting had her blessing. If I hear or see her point a finger of blame at a single other individual, group, commissioner, or the thin air, I’m going to scream inside.

I got a kick out of seeing our old friend Ron Kitchen Jr. in a Chronicle story the other day, offering his thoughts on what occurred. What the story didn’t mention is that Kitchen is the ONLY chairman to adjourn a meeting early because he could not control the antics of another commissioner.

His example brings up two points.

One, as mentioned, the Chair holds the gavel. He/she decides if there’s a recess. Doesn’t need a vote, consensus, or even a conversation. Things can get heated, and she can say, “We’re taking a 5-minute recess,” hit the gavel, and we all breathe a little bit. Ron Kitchen had no trouble using that gavel.

The second point: There’s a natural tendency, and I’m not saying each commissioner has done this, for the Chair to be liked. I’ve seen commissioners become totally different people when running the meeting. They’re charming and gracious, even a little funny.

The Chair is the only commissioner who regularly interacts with citizens during the Board meeting. It’s easy to let citizens get away with speaking beyond the allotted time, hogging the meeting, waving signs, being disrespectful or, the worst, clapping like it’s a wrestling match.

Decorum. Frankly, it’s been sliding in a downward trajectory for quite a while, well before two weeks ago. It’s Finegan’s job, with encouragement from her colleagues, to shore it up.

— Commissioners sometimes toss out one-liners, and I wonder if they really believe it. Commissioner Holly Davis said something two weeks ago so egregious that it must be discussed.

In the odd debate over whether her Betz Farm agenda item fit the county ordinances to properly notify the public, and the county attorney said it didn’t, Davis said:

“It’s not the law. It’s our county code.”

Well, Commissioner, technically, the code is the law. Not the law like robbery, more the law of jaywalking, but the law, nonetheless.

Interesting that the County Attorney never said the agenda item was illegal. She said it was “inappropriate.” 

Look, tomato, tomato. It’s very simple to me.

This was clearly a ram-it-through-now-no-matter-what situation. Davis could have waited two weeks, done this properly, allowing the community to digest the issue for a decent public discussion. Instead, full steam ahead and ignore the public process.

Call it what you want. Extremely poor ethics. Terrible look. Some people in our community are running to the governor because three commissioners fell over themselves making a developer happy. Yell at Diana Finegan all you want, but no can pin this one on her.

Citizens can’t stand outright arrogance from politicians. Seen it a dozen million times. Rarely turns out well for the officeholder.

Doesn’t have to be that way. Will we see some humility today?  Stay tuned.

Have a terrific Tuesday, friends.

P.S. Our photo today is from that May 12 meeting, when three commissioners inexplicably turned their backs on Sheriff Dave Vincent running the county jail. Another head-scratcher. Just sayin’.

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