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Some might say the headlines should have read much like a baseball team who had just lost the state title game, "Hall County Commissioners lose battle 3-2," or at least that is about how I saw it after the commission's meeting the other night.
It was clear to me after watching the video posted of the event on The Times' website the next day that there are a lot of changes needed, both with the two who lost and the three who won.
First, one point goes out to the three because there is something called Robert's Rules that help govern the way elected officials (or any organization) operate meetings. It does not matter if it is a board meeting or a town hall meeting similar to what was held the other night. Efficiency within a meeting precludes the ambiguity of its purpose.
Second, while Ashley Bell, Craig Lutz and Scott Gibbs are given one point, they are also deducted a point for being so apparent to berate the other two commissioners for their lack of will to proceed in the correct fashion. You are all adults. No need to act like children, crying "mommy" every chance you see something not going your way.
Third, I do not know Tom Oliver but I agreed with his point that taxpayers deserve to know who is being hired, how much it is going to cost them and the length of time they are being hired for or contracted out. So this is another point being deducted to the new three commissioners in my books.
While it is OK for there to be disagreements among elected officials, there should always be a common ground they can meet back on and discuss in a timely fashion before making rash decisions.
Fourth, I believe that it would probably benefit the people of Hall County the most if Oliver announced he would gladly step down as chairman of the BOC. I feel that when the same person runs things over and over, they are also more reluctant to release that same power, or to at least be accepting of change in how things are being run.
It should not take the public voting him out of office completely to allow for a fresh internal change. He should know that with great power comes great responsibility, and that includes knowing when the correct time comes to relinquish power.
This should be a lesson to all of the commissioners, especially the new ones. Communications are key in winning each battle as it approaches, and believe me, good sirs, you all have a full plate when it comes to your approaching agendas. I wish you the best of luck bringing things back together.
"We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak." — Epictetus.
Now go and listen to your taxpayers as they tell you how they want you to run their county.
Steven Ellis
Gainesville