Newspaper Page Text
18-A
The Summerville News, Thursday, October 2, 1986
Advantages Of
Sole Commissioner
from front page
of a board of commissioners with staggered terms in of
fice where someone with experience is always in office at
any given time?
COMMISSIONER MOORE: Based on previous events
in our county and talkin§ with some commissioners in other
counties, as a %fneral rule, it a{:pears that when a sole com
missioner has been defeated, he does not leave the county
in the best of circumstances financially or contracturally
— as would be desired. They have a tendency to liqfuidate
equipment or incur additional expenses and kind of make
it hard on that sucker who beat Ex’em for the job, or to get
back at the people who voted them out of office. However,
in some of tfie counties where a sole commissioner has not
sought reelection — maybe stepping aside —the transition
seems to go very smoothly. It can Ee done. But the transi
tion period is rough under a sole commissioner. There are
some horror stories from some other places. I inherited one
and thought it was the tops until I talked to some of the
other people, and ours was just small compared to theirs.
* * *
THE NEWS: Let's discuss qualifications. One argu
ment for a board of commissioners is that you can have
five parttime people who may have other jobs or businesses
on the board and then you have as county manager a pro
fessional with the background to operate county business
on a day-to-day basis. With a lone commissioner, or a board
where the chairman is elected, you have an individual who
may, or may not, have the background and training
necessary to administer the day-to-day affairs of the coun
ty. How do you view both these situations?
COMMISSIONER MOORE: The county manager is
usually someone who has received at least a college degree.
He has had experience or prior training in governmental
fields. His expertise could be in anything fgrom financial
management to actual engineering related to construction,
depending on what a particular county was looking for. He
could be a tremendous asset to a county. ‘le conducts the
daily operations of the office. He's accoun{@ble to the board
members. He sets the agenda, makes the recommendations
and the board members approve it and he follows through.
The sole commissioner — anyone in political office — is
sometimes referred to as ‘‘the good old boy.” It can be
elected and not be determined on whether he's actually
qualified for that job, if he has any management capabili
ty himself. The only successful operation of that type of
}guovemment, in city or county, would be if he surrounds
imself with qualified people in key positions. I think a sole
commissioner to a lesser gegree of experience can be effec
tive if he has top people in key positions...lf he
acknowledges that %e doesn't have the time to devote to
» one area, not have the knowledge in that particular area,
he can hire someone in that area. I have served on a mayor
city council form of government so my only epxerience with
a “‘commission” is through a city format as a council
member. I know that oftentimes we waited until our mon
thly meeting and things could come before us and we would
vote. At the time, we didn't have a city manager and the
city clerk more or less took care of the gathering of infor
mation and would come in with items laid out, an agenda
for our meeting, and we conducted it that way. As a sole
commissioner, you more or less do it as it gets to you daily.
* *
THE NEWS: Which one do you think is the least ex
pensive? You have a board with its members being paid
a nominal amount each month and a county manager be
ing paid a fairly good salary — and with a sole commis
sioner you have him making a fairly good amount as well.
COMMISSIONER MOORE: I don't believe the actual
salary being paid is the major item of expense for the tax
payers. I believe the management of the county as a whole
Is the issue. In our county, we have 55 people on the payroll,
elected officials included‘.] Certainly, an increase of 10 or an
increase of 10 is going to affect our budget considerably.
In talking with county managers, I find that they're usuall;'
paid at least equivalent, if not higher, based on their chosen
field and their educational background. Generally, they're
paid higher than an elected sole commissioner. What it is
in the larger counties, I don’t know, but I find that the case
in some of the smaller counties.
* * *
THE NEWS: A board of commissioners usually has one
or two meetings a month where people may come and hear
business conducted and to speak on issues they’re concern
ed about. A sole commissioner is ‘‘in session” from the time
he gets up in the morning until he goes to bed at night.
Which concept do you think lends itself to more openness
in the sense of more people knowing what goes on on a day
to-day basis, about what decisions are made?
COMMISSIONER MOORE: The single commissioner,
through the news media, keeps the peop%e informed on at
least a weekly basis, such as in our county. He can use radio
— or television if it's an item of major importance, if it needs
to be out earlier. In our county, we have a quarterly
meeting. We've not really found enough interest in a mon
thly meeting, so we go once a quarter. We have a review
of all major events that have occurred in the previous three
months and we also conclude the meeting with an open
gublic discussion, a question-and-answer session ... We
ave had called meetings. If we have had a crisis come up,
such as our ambulance service last year, we will notify peo
ple through newspaper and radio about a special called
meeting. That is an option available to a sole commissioner,
whereas a board of commissioners certainly could call a
meeting, by giving 24-hour notice under the sunshine law,
but normally those things will occur during their regular
ly scheduled meetings, wiether they be weefily or monthly.
10 HOMES
TO TRAIN SIDING APPLICATORS
(Under Supervision - Fully Guaranteed)
To Apply
SOLID VINYL SIDING WITH INSULATION
Hurry and Send Coupon Below For Details
REMEMBER: VINYL IS FINAL!
IT BELONGS ON YOUR HOME!
NO GIMMICKS
CUT AND MAIL TODAY — NO OBLIGATION
= E'g.taggxséglang Py (615) 354-9165 =
I Rockwood, TN. 37854 . i
i Gentlemen: Under No Obligation. Please contact: I
=.Te s R =
= BAHEES . . eT e I
I .. ... =
} Best TimetoContact ..........AM ..........PM =
= . P . =
| SEND COUPON TODAY! |
It depends, each count! ha?. disti.nct differences.
. 'I‘l:?IE NEWS: Do you have a weekly column or radio
show '
COMMISSIONER MOORE: We do not have an ongo
ing report or anything like that. If we're starting a project,
or received a grant, or made application for a grant or
something like that, we'll type up a little short news release
and it generally will make front paFe news in the local
paper. 8: course, I attend numerous club and various types
of organization meetings and I use that format to keep the
public acquainted with‘whag's go*ing on.
I "I”HE NEWS: Are the quarterly meetings required by
aw’
COMMISSIONER MOORE: N:), I just instituted them.
* *
THE NEWS: What are some of the requirements you
have to meet insofar as auditing and financial accountabili
ty to local le and state and local governments?
COMMEEPONER MOORE: The onl re%nirement is
the audit required by the state, which is d)i’stri uted to the
federal agencies, revenue sharing, for instance. Each coun
ty, within each six months of the close of the business year,
or for the fiscal year, as the case may be, is required to file
a certified audit with the Department of Audits for the
State of Georgia. The state sets certain criteria for those
audits and it is required to be made available to the general
public by the county. Now, by choice in our county, we
publish a rfuarterly gnancial statement, more or less just
to let Feop e know what our income and expenditures have
been for the various departments. Of course, it's always
subject to the final audit . . . we operate a calendar year as
opposed to a fiscal .
THE NEWS: Are the quarterly reports prepared by the
auditors?
COMMISSIONER MOORE: No, they're prepared in
house. It's just a review of receipts and expenditures. It's
broken down by each department. The sole commissioner
is the chief financial officer of the county. All revenues that
are collected by any other department — superior court
clerk, probate judge — in turn are turned over to the coun
ty commissioner and then all bills and all obligations are
paid through the commissioner's office and it's what most
of them (commissioners) do and what I do. It gives an ac
countability of what has been received and to whom it has
been disbursed.
» * *
THE NEWS: What type of cooperation have you had
from other elected and appointed officials, whether it be
financial or otherwise?
COMMISSIONER MOORE: We've had an extremely
good relationship with all elected officials in Dade Coun
tf' As I enter my second term of office this time, all other
elected officials inghe county changed. I'm the only second
term official in the county. But the degree of cooseration
has been maintained throughout both terms and I have
worked with two different of%icials in each office in the past
six years. -
i B
THE NEWS: What is the background on Dade Coun
tians holding a straw vote on going to a board of
commissioners-type government and then having a legal
referendum?
COMMISSIONER MOORE: When I was elected to the
office in 1980, one plank of my platform was that I would
call for a referendum to be held to determine if a single com
missioner or a board of commissioners would be the
preference of the people. Following up, we had a straw poll
on the matter ... In the straw poll, the voters voters) in
favor and then at the time of the binding referendum, the
sole commissioner form of government was favored by the
people. In most any county, there’s sentiment for both
sides.
* * *
THE NEWS: Do you have any other thoughts on the
sole commissioner versus board of commissioners form of
government?
COMMISSIONER MOORE: The only thing that came
to mind a little earlier was the fact of the sole commissioner
— I mentioned it could be good, it could be bad. If a sole
commissioner, for instance, became alienated with a par
ticular municipality or community within the county, he
would have it within hisajaower to relinquish projects or not
provide services e(iuiv ent to other areas of the county
within that particular county. It would not be wise for one
to do that but that is one ba(l’ part of the sole commissioner
form. He has broad powers. He can do a bit as he pleases
as long as he thinks fle can get by with the voters whereas
a board of commissioners, i%"J o¥m Doe'" represents a cer
tain area, he is more or less going to try to see that they
get their fair share if not more. O? the commissioners that
I am aware of in the North Georgia area, I think they all
serve their counties as a whole and I don't believe this has
happened. But past experiences in our own county here,
that very situation has existed and probably led to my be
ing elected to office. I don’t know if it's discrimination
against the people . . . in certain areas it was. He could
abuse the powers of the office, that the people entrusted
to him when they elected him and then the only recourse
the Eeople have is a recall of an elected official or wait un
til the completion of his term in office.
* *
(NEXT: An interview with the chairman of a five
member board of commissioners and the manager about the
advantages and disadvantages of that form of county
government).
Vote Signup
Deadline
Next Monday
The last day to register
to vote in the Nov. 4
?eneral election and on the
ive-member board of com
missioners issue will' be
next Monday.
The Chattooga County
Board of Registrars will be
at the Wal-Mart Discount
Cities store in Summer
ville from 9 am. to 1 p.m.
Saturday.
The last day for
re?stering to vote in a
referendum on changing
the form of Chattooga
County’'s government
from a sole commissioner
to a five-member board
rreviously thought to be
ast Monday. However,
citizens may register to
vote in that election until
next Monday, according to
Elsie Echols of the Board
of Registrars.
SHOP CHATTOOGA
COUNTY MERCHANTS
‘ R fasdiaa eI EEETRCIRES TSR T LR SRR REER LS Tfi‘fvf?g’}% FIEY
o ey B S RAR R e e AR b
""" : B’ A L-“f;.?:,;mi» kT ‘l‘}‘ "{T?fiij o J"i‘;t ; Rk Agqi;;R ri gok
.‘1 ;, ;»—— ”v i:I, :, A‘;K {R i ! i ;”;;‘.;‘,’— -‘;;' ¢
o f - U_O : . A
T SAGR STI RaITRL LVo
’. “\\S,qtgt \ "O‘ - 2 "
o AP SACTE (P RS R
[ - - ) -
QO-€ 14..8 & =502 995" 7750 Ay o
- Fal R - :.\~ s P ¥ \ ‘ e
3 e ¢y ‘\/ e #'& i “"%“". \O Pl
AR w‘lu Ll ( 8- ~ 4 [P R :
3 . "4 ’ N L
. Q‘:_"c.i s 4" 77’7‘\‘ » zse_’:‘. v .
BR3OO 770 oL a 50T
§- A, 4 \ " zy' o pr—t A Sf‘«. ! b
LR L el Rl SN R
Ws ' L AR 3 AR Ot e
"’ . R = N, Y N /. ~ - q‘l o] -
s eo T 3 “ 00l 1 e . 7. T . : . 45 M Vel et
i’,:.* RN -4 L .1.5’-:~" ¢ ‘ \M;}NP‘! oo o oeT DL T, i R e
Members of the Summerville Midget
Raiders football team include from left to
right, in the front row, Salvador Powell,
Kevin Perry, Mikkey Perry, Raymond
Young, Maurice Brown, Garrick Evans,
Chris Thompson, Reginald Hines and
Danyell McDaniel; in the second row,
Matt Reynolds, Kyle Duke, John Oxford,
Vincent Notobartolo, Jason Kellett, Stacy
i e OPEN MONDAY THROUGH i 3 k.
summ'%figllu SATURDAY 9:00 A.M.-6:00 P.M. TII"HI(?:‘E
857-2525 OPEN SUNDAY 1-5 P.M. 734-3763
100% POLYESTER
FIBER STUFFIN
% H 12-01. BAG
PUREX BLEACH
1-GALLON Jué
) G9°
SPECIAL! __ccon CLASSIC, DIET COKE,
12-PACK M M@‘; DR PEPPER, SPRITE,
1207, oLy MELLO $269 LIMIT
q L YELLO 4
-~ CHARMIN
BATHROOM TISSUE
4-ROLL ¢ LIMIT
PACK ]
MEN’S BOTANY ‘soo’ 0
it SEA 99 s I 1
QUALITY NE S HEE
QUAKER STATE
-~~~ MOTOR OIL
SUPER BLEND 10W-30,
@] DELUXE 10W-40, SAE 30 HD
— T 89¢umr
QUART CHoICE 6
LIS T\
X
R {OF VTN
SALE
CIRCULAR
Summerville Midget Raiders
Wyatt, Mike Money, Charlie Jarrett and
Brian Jenkins; in the back row, coach
Terry Money, James White, Connor Mid
dleton, David Lindsey, coach Tom
Blackmon, Brian Norton, Gene Callan,
Billy Williamson and coach Shirle
Daniel. Not pictured is Jason Gillilanc{
(Staff Photo by Earl McConnell).
MEDIC ASPIRIN
2., SIOO
DOWNY
FABRIC SOFTENER -
120-01. SIZE /?\
$ 17‘5.99 s@
VALUE Qfl\"//u
BOUNTY
PAPER TOWELS
' 69¢ LUMIT
3 > ]
FROM OUR SNACK BAR—
OUR FAMOUS
JIFFY BURGERS
4.97°
| FOR
TAKE HOME A BAGFULL!
USE OUR
WNANTNA WYY
ONLY 10% DOWN WILL HOLD
ANY ITEM UNTIL DEC. 24th,
WITH REGULAR ,
MONTHLY PAYMENTS ‘
Automobile Fire
The Summerville Fire
Department responded to a call
on g‘ourth Street at 10:16 p.m.
Sunday, according to reports.
A car owned I}y Ted Stan
cil was refiorted afire. Firemen
said gasoline was being siphon
ed from the gasoline tank when
a lighter was used to check pro
gress of the operation.
The fire truck was back at
the station at 10:38 p.m.
Classes
Walker Tech is still accep
ting applications for evening
classes for fall quarter.
There are openings in
blueprint reading, computer
programming, beginning in
come tax, typing, office prac
tice, machine tool, C.§.C..
welding, auto mechanics, heat
and air conditioning, elec
tronics, industrial eFectrical
maintenance, consumer
finance, maintenance welding
and C.A.D.
For additional information,
contact Gilbert Osborn at
764-1016.
e g ey S