Changing Commission meeting time discussed
The Anderson County Board of Commissioners operations committee met on Thursday to discuss multiple items, including potentially moving public commission meetings to the middle of the day. Other items included discussion on courthouse security and an issue with the current senior center.
County clerk Jeff Cole spoke to the commissioners in attendance — Tim Isbel, Steve Mead, Robert McKamey, Phil Yager, Robert Jameson and Josh Anderson — and wanted to “throw out” the idea of moving meetings to the day.
“I think it’s worth talking about,” Cole said.
Cole asserted that, when commission held daytime quarterly meetings in the past, more people in the courthouse were able to attend. It got the department heads there, which allowed them more input on the meetings.
Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank agreed.
“I love the idea of going back to quarterly meetings,” she said.
She said she spoke on behalf of the people that work inside government.
“Most people are coming in late so they can come to the commission meetings at night,” she said, referring to individuals like Finance Director Natalie Erb and even District 3 Commissioner Denver Waddell, who sat in on the meeting.
District 6 Commissioner Steve Mead was one of the commissioners who spoke against the idea. He mentioned a discussion that took place through the County Technical Assistance Service concerning the challenges in getting people to run for office.
“It’s getting harder and harder to get people to run for office,” he said. “When I first came on county commission in 2010, I worked at the plants. And at that time, we were given paid time off to attend things like government meetings and stuff like that. But that’s all completely changed.”
Even when he retired five years ago, he caught flack for taking time off for meetings, he said.
“If you’re gone during the week, you’re taking vacation hours,” he said.
“We’re eliminating people who would be willing to run for office if you meet during the day… I will point out that the main reason we went to the evening meetings was to make it easier for the public to attend.”
He acknowledged the televised meetings, noting that they made meetings more accessible, but that doesn’t offer the public an opportunity to speak before commission.
Courthouse security
District 4 Commissioner Tim Isbel brought up the need for more efforts to be taken to secure the courthouse.
He said that Circuit Court Clerk Rex Lynch has a plan in place that he wants to bring to operations next month that includes plans for a witness conference room.
He also wants to form a commission committee that works with the courthouse security committee to take action on other security gaps.
Currently, judges, the sheriff and the district attorney’s office are on the courthouse security committee.
“I don’t want that on my shoulders as something we overlook,” he said.
