
LaFayette, GA – Walker County’s Board of Commission with its newly sworn members met for the first time Thursday night in LaFayette, with new Commission Chair Angela Teems trying not to stray far from an admittedly scripted debut.
Teems spoke much of the evening reading from well prepared notes in presiding over the commission for her first time. She prefaced the meeting with admitting her lack of experience and thanking both the public and board members with their patience going forward as she acclimates to her new role.
Vice-Chair Mark Askew, who was later re-elected to the post by the board, helped shepherd the start of Thursday’s meeting with procedural reminders for the new chairperson in approval of previous meeting minutes.
Modifying the agenda to remove the Walker County pension topic from consideration, due to legal ambiguities in the language, was Teems’ first move as well as adding an appointment and a reappointment to the Water & Sewer Authority. Both motions to amend were approved with a unanimous vote as the board turned to business at hand.
Public Comment began with criticism on the soon to be approved new meeting schedule for commissioners, halving the previously bi-weekly meeting to a single monthly convene.
Chairwoman Teems promptly addressed the concern, by countering future meetings will have preparation time for agenda items. Teems noted with the holidays, her and staff had two days for the current agenda. She also promised an open-door policy for any citizen to voice their concerns as a springboard for commission members.
With topic in mind, the unfinished business from the previous meeting came to a certifying vote to amend the county’s enabling act, which required two called business meetings to be held by commissioners monthly.
Prior to the vote, Vice-Chair Askew tried assuaging the critics’ concerns of the move to a singular monthly commission meeting.
As Askew described, the move to single meetings is an evolutionary transition from Walker’s lone commission government from the Bebe Heiskell era to the current commission form.
“After four years of doing this, pushing and rushing is not the way to do it,” said Askew of average agenda turnaround times of 48 hours required under the current format.
Askew also noted that the single meeting is only a requirement, not necessarily a working template. Askew says the public may see more than the current two mandated meetings monthly, dependent on the topic and time sensitivity.
He said a return to the previous format could as easily be voted upon as easily as the new singular meeting plan, suggesting the public’s patience to see what the board produces with the scheduling realignment.
In a 3-1 vote, with Commissioner Brian Hart dissenting, newly elected District 4 Commissioner Gerne Wilson says he supports the move after consulting with other county government officials who he says favor the single monthly meeting schedule, citing practicality.
In new business before the board, commissioners approved an amendment to the county’s utilities code in order to adopt Broadband Ready Community Standards, required for the county’s participation to comply with the state’s Community Connectivity Program.
The board then addressed the year’s meeting calendar and meeting time, ultimately agreeing to 6pm meetings every first Thursday of the month.
The board also voted to appoint Lisa Richardson as county clerk, as nominated by Commissioner Teems.
The board tabled a decision on the appointment of a new county attorney, as motioned by Commissioner Hart.
Walker County also has a new official holiday observance of June 19th as a civil rights acknowledgment, as approved by commissioners.
Resolutions appointing members to the Water & Sewer, Alcoholic Beverage Commission and Historic Preservation boards were unanimously approved without debate.
Carter Brown and Steve Rogers Jr were unanimously appointed as trustees to the Walker County Pension Plan.
The board’s next meeting is set for February 6 at 6pm in LaFayette.