Even without banishing Ambrosini
How to make county commissioner meetings
shorter and sweeter
______________________________________________________________________
One thing for certain is that Fayette's county meetings really have become a circus. Can that
be turned around? It depends on how much responsibility for creating the circus that the Dem
commissioners want to own and change. Strong arming citizens out the door isn't a solution.

Look at how many, many times the commissioners come completely unprepared for a meeting.
Look at how many times staff don't do their research and due diligence and how many times all
3 commissioners do not have information prior to a meeting.

That's, what? The case every single meeting, yes.




Lots of time is wasted at meetings reading agenda items that have to be tabled for
unacceptable reasons -- i.e., not enough prior due diligence was done. Sometimes, it can't be
helped, but with the Fayette commissioners, it happens way too often.

The commish chair and the second Dem commissioner fail the public in a shameful way when
they do not make sure that the third commissioner has information in hand when they have it.

They really need to stop thinking and acting as though they're worlds smarter than she is, as
they will never know protocol and county and state codes as thoroughly as she does. She
saves their behinds too many times to be treated with such disrespect.

Their withholding of information to her until 5 minutes before a meeting starts makes a meeting
twice as long as it needs to be.



One thing that the public expects at a public meeting is truth. We don't get that on too
consistent a basis in Fayette County.

We get creative bullshit, confusion and unforgivable lies in too many cases. That has to stop.

We have dazed and confused county leaders who forget motions on the table, a chief clerk
who has "oversights" and can't keep up, a solicitor who doesn't usually jump in and clarify
options and an organized minority commissioner who has to make sense out of it all.





The length of a county meeting could be cut considerably if the minority commissioner had all
the information given to her when the other two get it. Handing her the information at the start
of a meeting is a guaranteed way of making the meeting much, much longer than it had to be.

If only the gentlemen behaved as gentlemen and made that one single effort to share
information ahead of time... if only.




On the public's side of the fence, there are problems, too. People are angry, resentful of
restrictions being placed on speaking on agenda items or county issues. Fayette is fortunate to
have concerned citizens who want the county to be a better place.

From the start, the commish chair's infamous gavel hasn't been fairly used. People might have
respected the gavel if he had gaveled inappropriate tones, actions and comments on a
consistent basis across the board. Not one banging of the gavel was heard at the long
February 26th meeting, when the architectural jail ad hoc work group leader sprung from his
seat to point at a citizen and threaten to put his finger up that man's nose.

Nor has the commish chair gaveled his fellow Dem commissioner when he has screamed and
made inappropriate comments to citizens. Why not?

Why, too, has he gaveled negative comments directed towards him, not knowing the difference
between a personal insult and constructive criticism?

Inconsistencies in gaveling is a slap in the face to people who attend county meetings hoping
for a better Fayette. We want our county leaders to be better leaders. Not more arrogant ones,
but better ones.





People speaking on agenda items sometimes could afford to get more organized as well,
possibly by writing down their thoughts and questions beforehand. There's a golden
opportunity to convey a good bit of information and ask pertinent questions quickly in a few
minutes.

If commissioners and staff came better prepared to meetings, if information were shared ahead
of time to all 3, and if citizens weren't lied to or weren't given misinformation, we could have
shorter, sweeter meetings and no circus.

jt
24 May 14

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