Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2011 10:36:09 -0500
From: Caroline Siverson
Subject: Recent county actions and transparent government
I was present at the January 3 Board of Commissioners meeting, and I have some thoughts on the chat list discussions about the recent staff cuts, the bus service, and citizen participation in official county government meetings.
The Sustainable Communities director position that was eliminated was originally created to promote efficiencies and reduce redundancies in some county government departments. It was created when Chatham County was still responding to a very fast-paced growth period of residential development, which was overwhelming county staff. It’s true that development has since slowed, but it is important to clarify that this position was created to integrate existent department functions. This restructuring was, in fact, “proactive, rather than reactive,” to borrow a phrase that has been used to praise the actions of the new BOC.