Last night, the Dougherty County Taxpayer’s Association had another meeting, this one to try and find candidates to fill the three Commission seats coming up for election this year. The group, which has tried to block the downtown bond issue as well as fought against what they describe as an illegal property reassessment, now has City Commissioners in their scope, citing two recent scandals as evidence that the City Commission isn’t proactive in regards to the citizens needs.
Ward 2 Commissioner Dorothy Hubbard has missed the point, claiming that she was willing to have a dialog with citizens on those same issues. Dougherty County Taxpayer’s Association’s Richard Thomas pointed out the Jolivette situation and the current trials and tribulations of Don Buie, asking why they didn’t get involved?
What Commissioner Hubbard seemed to miss was that there are some things that shouldn’t require a “dialog” or anything else. It’s a matter of right and wrong. It just doesn’t get any more basic than that, and the citizens of Albany shouldn’t be expected to weigh in on some things. The Albany Herald, the Albany Journal, and SWGA Politics are just three of the places where citizen’s voices were heard regarding how desperately Jolivette needed to be gone, and how Buie needed to at least be suspended during the investigation.
When City Manager Al Lott, who answers to the Commission kept both men on the job, where was the Commission? Where has the Commission been on a whole host of issues?
Three out of every four Albany City Commission meetings are held during the typical work day. Only one is held during a time when most people can make it without losing work. Not only does this limit who can actually try to run for a Commission seat, but it also makes it more difficult for citizens to make the meetings. So, you might ask, why not just make the meetings that have issues important to you?
It’s a fair question, and it’s not that hard to do…or so you’d think. As of 5:30 AM this morning, there was no agenda for the next meeting posted on the City’s website. It’s Friday morning and nothing. The meeting is Tuesday. For many, the time to ask their boss if they can take off for a meeting is today. Unfortunately, they don’t have a freaking clue what will be going on.
Since we don’t have any idea what’s going on at meetings, we’re forced to trust Commissioners to do what’s right. We elect them based on certain principles we believe they have. They campaign on issues, and we trust that they’ll stick with them. For you, maybe they did and maybe they didn’t. I’m not judging on this one right now.
However, the Dougherty County Taxpayer’s Association membership doesn’t seem to feel that their principles have been represented. Now, could Ward 2 voters have contacted Commissioner Hubbard about their feelings? Absolutely, and they should have. But that also doesn’t absolve Commissioners from exercising their own sense of right and wrong and doing what needs to be done without prompting from the tax payers.
Now, in all fairness, Commissioner Hubbard is far from alone in this, and she’s right in that people should be involved in the process. What the Commission as a whole needs to understand is that when you have meetings at a time when most people can’t go, and call them “working” session and the one evening meeting the “regular” meeting, it creates the illusion of exclusion. As such, people view the process as exclusionary. So don’t be surprised when people think they’re being excluded.
What Commissioner Hubbard needs to understand, and the rest of the Commission, is that the dialog they want may not be in their email boxes or on their answering machines. Instead, it’s on SWGAPolitics.com and the SquawkBox. It’s where people can voice their opinions publicly because they want folks to know what they’re thinking, because they don’t really think anyone on the Commission gives a damn unless it’s public. Right or wrong, that’s how it is.
So now the City Commissioners need to step up and start to understand why they’re now under fire from the Dougherty County Taxpayer’s Association. Frankly, a good fight for these seats may just be what this city needs.
