What started off on a fairly good note at least for Sussex County ended with the same dissention, dysfunction and disappointment that has become expected from our leadership.
Board members get into a heated battle as the County Administrator looks for guidance from higher sources because it seems like it’s not being provided from those we elected to do just that.
HBO could sign Tyler and Fly to a pay per view debate and it just might be more profitable than the Cassius Clay – Sonny Liston fight. But it would also probably leave more questions unanswered than those after the classic fight.1) Tyler makes light of economic impact and frustrations of the NON-meetings.
During citizen comments a resident of the county (Blackwater District) got up and suggested that both Tyler and Capel refund the county their $600+ stipend they get per month due to the fact that they were both playing games and not attending in what looked like a blatant attempt to not allow a quorum so that county business could NOT be carried out. It was also suggested that the county refund the citizen approximately $50 to cover the cost of gas and vehicle expense for showing up 3 times for the non-meetings. Tyler joked and said the check is in the mail. Well Mr. Tyler I hope an invoice is presented to the board so you can honor those words “the check is in the mail”. And by the way, since Mr. Tyler stated that Mr. Fly should personally pay over $12,000 in legal fees because Fly did not get a consensus of the Board prior to approving the expenditures (which Fly did call all Board members to get the consensus. Shouldn’t Tyler pay the $50 in travel fees for the county resident, since he said the check would be in the mail without any consensus and ratification from the board? I won’t hold my breath nor should the citizen making the comments because we all know you are NOT a man of honor and will not honor this request either.
2) County Administrator calls for Code of Ethics/Standards of Conduct commitment.
County Administrator Tom Harris is attempting to get the board and all county employees to be a bit (no a LOT MORE) professional and civil in how they interact with the citizens of the county and themselves. Almost 2 years ago, I suggested to the board of supervisors that they needed a code of conduct and an ethics guide because at that time it was evident that the past board did not like each other and could not carry out a meeting without some sad and embarrassing moments. They said that they had done this but in reality only gave it lip service and whatever they had were just words on paper without any commitment to honor by all the board. Let’s hope that Mr. Harris has better luck with this most current attempt and is more successful for the betterment of the county and those of us living here.
3) New Board Members sit in silence as senior members exchange verbal blows.
It must have been a real eye/ear opener for the new board members who for the most part sat back in silence as Tyler and Fly traded verbal blows in a real embarrassing he-said she-said bout. Not knowing all the fine details of what went on it sure looked as if both had an equal contribution to this pathetic display of our elected officials working out a disagreement/misunderstanding. Of all the things they talk about in closed session (which should be called into question) this sure seemed like it could have been resolved in a manner that would not made the Board and the entire County look and feel like they are part of the 6-ring circus.
4) County in the red, can’t seem to manage its nickels, how can it be expected to manage millions, is a tax increase in the works?
During the meeting it was stated that between the school board and the county that the county would be almost 2 MILLION DOLLARS in the red if certain tax credits were not renewed. County administrator did propose that as an incentive for departments being fiscally responsible and saving money that any “saved money” be carried over into next year’s budget as an increase to the normal allocations. While this all sounds good and I hope the board takes the request seriously, I too hope that they put into place some REAL measures to hold the departments and department heads accountable for going OVER BUDGET.
Also as seen in the local paper and further touted at the meeting, the county is the recipient of several grants, upwards of 4.5 million dollars’ worth. While this on the surface seems like a great thing one does not have to go back so many months to see how the county allowed previous grants to wither away with OUT benefiting the county for what they were intended for. HOW can we expect our current board to manage this kind of money when they can’t seem to watch the nickels and dimes in a responsible manner? In the agenda for the meeting it was noted that the board/county has a “policy” in place that allows a county employee a $50 stipend if they elect to use their own cell phone vs using a county provided phone. This seems a bit; no a lot excessive; I know several state agencies that do not allow this for a variety of reasons. To me $50 is more like a entire compensation as that should almost pay all or most of a standard package available from several providers. This is on top of the $600+ stipend, and health care and expense account. What about approval of expending over $250,000 for architect fees for the new office for the Commonwealth Attorney. Just these fees alone should build a nice (maybe the nicest in the county) office building.
5) Tyler calls into question the Sussex Surry Dispatch ability to print the truth and calls for a County Newsletter.
The frost on the cake came late in the meeting when Mr. Tyler suggested that the county begin publishing their own newsletter since they cannot trust the Sussex Surry Dispatch to print the truth. Well Mr Tyler is sure making a major assumption that the county themselves is capable of publishing the truth. They have such a good track record of altering minutes (or allowing the minutes to be altered) of public meetings to suite their own agenda, why would we NOT trust them to publish the truth in their own newsletter.
If people really want to know the truth about what is going on in the county THEY MUST BEGIN TO GET INVOLVED. About 25 citizens showed up at the meeting. This is many more than normal, except for those few instances where folks felt the need to ban together and show up in force to let the county know their displeasure with an issue. In those few instances I believe the Board of Supervisors were taken by surprise and felt the pressure of the “power of the people”. Another way citizens can find out the truth if they cannot attend the meetings is to READ THE SUSSEX SURRY DISPATCH.
