Slick Move By County Executive, Commissioner Holt and Lovell

With all the cunning of a Chicago politician the budget was presented under different terminology this morning, seconded and approved before commissioners even realized they had just voted to approve the budget without even a word of discussion.
Not since the meeting where newly elected commissioners were conned into voting on a controversial procedure they had never heard of has their been such smooth underhandedness displayed.
After the meeting when commissioners realized what had just happened several began to apologize for having voted for the budget believing it would be the second item on the agenda. At least seven commissioners acknowledged that they did not realize they were voting to approve the budget.
Only Commissioners Flacy, Pollard, Reedy and James Harwell voted against approval. Commissioner then changed his vote to approve. Allen Barrett

Hunter Smith Building Is No Longer A County Possession

The Hunter Smith Building was sold this morning for the minimum bid of $50,000.00 to Pulaski First Methodist Church. Congratulations to the church family. Allen Barrett

Why Do Some Do So Little With So Much When Other Do So Much With So Little?

The Chamber Of Commerce with it's president Mr. Wes Kelley, (PES executive), and a director with a salary of $56,000.00 seems out of line with the benefits the county receives in return. The Chamber is controlled by the mayor and his appointments and until recently were double dipping into county funds by taking a contribution from the county then charging the tourism Board, (all the money the county was giving to Tourism), for rent.
The Tourism Board with its Eight Dollar an hour director and volunteers seems far more productive and beneficial to the County. They certainly seemed to be the red-headed step child of the county when it came to funding and certainly received attention similar to Cinderella from the step sisters named City Mayor and Pulaski Electric yet they have accomplished much more for the county than the Chamber has. Why is this?
Allen Barrett

What If There Were No Industrial Recruiter For Giles County?

After much research, requesting copies of the inter-local contract, and just plain tenaciousness, it was revealed today that no inter-local agreement exist. It seems that the agreement the commission had passed several years ago had been vetoed by the former County Executive and the Commissioners never acted to overturn the veto.
Without an inter-local agreement there is no legal obligation to financially support the Industrial Recruiter position or the Industrial Development Board.
This opens the door for a new and much better agreement to be made with much better representation by the county on that Board. Allen Barrett

What Happened At The Special Called Budget Committee Meeting Today?

Last week in the County Commission Meeting the County Budget was sent back to the Budget Committee with a mandate to cut and balance the budget. It was the understanding of most Commissioners and the public in attendance that the Budget Committee was to go through line item by line item and seek out every possible cut.
Ideas were submitted to committee members and were waiting to be asked in the committee meeting when the committee abruptly adjourned.
Commissioner Reedy made a valiant attempt to ask some important and probing questions but after he presented several inconsistencies in the budget that resulted in almost a million dollars in reductions Commissioner Campbell made the motion to adjourn and Mrs Brown seconded it. Then on a vote of four to three the meeting was over. Commissioners Reedy, Flacy and Adams voted to continue the meeting.

Understand that even though the expenditures were reduced there was no cut in the spending. All the reductions were made through an error caused by not updating the numbers after a huge reduction was realized in the insurance cost, due to it having been bid out. In fact $60,000.00 was added to the budget for a bridge on Stevenson Road.
Only in politics can money be added to a budget and have it called a reduction. Allen Barrett

What Happens When A Full Time County Executive Works Part-Time?

One thing that happens, when a full-time County Executive works part-time, is important work doesn't get done.

In a letter dated 30 April 2009 Giles County was notified by the state Environment and Conservation Revolving Fund the $1,750,000.00 project to construct a Decentralized Wastewater System was within the funding zone of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Now in-order to get this stimulus money there were three documents needed from the County Executive by 1 June 2009. They were not provided.
On 11 June 2009 Giles County was given an extension until 10 July 2009 to submit these three documents or the project funding would be lost.
In a letter dated 14 July 2009 the county was notified that since the documents required by 10 July 2009 had not been submitted the project was officially removed from consideration.

Now the question is with a full time County Executive and two secretaries how could an almost two million dollar project be lost because three documents could not be sent to the appropriate address on time? Allen Barrett