Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2014 12:01:55 -0400 (EDT)
From: mike dasher
Subject: Why Sally Kost voted for one mtg each month
There has been some back and forth regarding frequency of BoC meetings, and why former Commissioner Sally Kost voted with the Republican majority to reduce meetings from two per month to one. I am sharing her response.
“It has come to my attention that a recent Chatlist post states that I was the one that seconded the motion to go to one County Commissioner meeting per month, rather than two meetings per month. This is true, but I had a good reason for doing so.
I remember clearly the discussion at the County Commissioners’ retreat in January 2012 when we made the decision to go to one meeting per month. I also remember clearly why I supported this move.
Before the Tea Party takeover of the County Board, the commissioners met twice each month, and often held special meetings. Our budget work sessions lasted for days, not hours. The full Board was engaged in the discussions and we often used our work sessions for information gathering from various community groups.
Since the Tea Party take over, the meetings became short, and there was far less discussion by all members of the Board. A review of the minutes will confirm this. I suspected sometimes that some Board members did not know enough about an issue to ask a question, especially since they had limited involvement prior to the 2010 low turnout election that put them in office. And sometimes I felt that some commissioners were making decisions based totally on a right wing ideology, and not really wanting to gather facts.
So yes, I did support going to one meeting per month because the new board majority was not totally engaged in the affairs of the county.”
–Sally Kost
Hope that clears up any confusion.
Thanks,
Mike Dasher