Wow! For a long time now, I have asked the county commission to put committee agendas and minutes on the Hamblen County website.
At long last, County Mayor David Purkey and his staff have finally done it. And it wasn't hard at all.
Click here to see the agenda for tomorrow's October 12 Finance Committee meeting. [You will also see that agendas for nine Finance meetings long gone by (January 09-September 09) have just now been posted, and if you hit on archives, even older agendas are available.]
[NOTE: The chairmanship of the Finance Committee has been changed by Chairman Stancil Ford. Ford has removed Joe Spoone from his position as Finance Chairman. Ford has named Commissioner Louis "Doe" Jarvis, who was appointed earlier this year to replace Joe Swann, as Chair of this year's Finance Committee. Joe Spoone is rumored to be contemplating a run for County Trustee, a position being vacated by Bill Brittain who is running for County Mayor. Ford is the one who named Spoone as Finance Chair for 08-09, but he has replaced Spoone as Chairman for the current 09-10 year.]
The Public Services agenda for October 12, 2009, is here. As with Finance, Public Services agendas for Jan 09-Sept 09 have just now been posted, and if you hit on archives, even older agendas are available.
When I made a request for posting of agendas and minutes of committee meetings in late 2006/early 2007, committee minutes were posted for January 2007 and then no more minutes. Agendas were posted from January 2007-August 2008 and then no more.
Even when the Mayor and his staff stopped posting the agendas, I continued to ask privately and in public meetings for better use of the website, more information, and agendas and minutes in particular. Because I believe in open and accountable government, I am extremely pleased to see that the agendas for tomorrow's meetings have not only been posted--but they were posted BEFORE the meeting.
NOTE: An article in the local newspaper dated September 18, 2009, Page A-3, had stated that agendas would be posted after the meetings had taken place. From the article Beginning in October, Shelton (Amber Shelton, the Mayor's Executive Assistant) will post committee agendas but not until after the committees have met, she said. The next paragraph quotes Shelton: "We're looking at putting them on before but sometimes there's just not enough time before the meetings. This way (posting the agenda after the meeting), people will have a reference so they can look back and see when an issue was discussed."
When this article appeared in the paper, I, like most people, questioned the usefulness of an agenda posted AFTER a meeting. I knew that committee agendas are prepared and printed and mailed out to commissioners about 5 days before the committee meetings, so I knew the agendas could be posted online about 4-5 days before the meetings in order to give citizens and taxpayers a heads-up on what is coming before the committees--if the Mayor wanted it done.
The next web project should be to post MINUTES of these committee meetings. It's important to know what is going to be discussed (Agendas), but it's just as important to be able to see the minutes of those meetings to find out who was present, what discussion took place, what recommendation, if any, is coming out of the committee to the full commission, and the record of votes taken.
And, finally, a very important change would be to have those committee meetings at a time when citizens and taxpayers can actually attend if they want to.
You can have an agenda and you may be interested in a particular item that is going to be discussed, but unless you are retired or don't work or can take off work for an extended and uncertain period of time, you probably can't make it to a set of meetings that start at 11:30 AM with no set time for any meeting except for the first one.
Stancil Ford was elected to the commission in 2006 and became chairman in September 2006. Stancil, as Chairman, changed committee meetings from an afternoon meeting time to 11:30 AM and said that he changed to the 11:30 meeting time so people could attend the meetings on their "lunch hour." Give me a break!
Stancil and several commissioners are retired. Other commissioners own their own company or have high managerial positions that allow them to leave work and attend these 11:30 AM meetings without losing pay. Working citizens and taxpayers don't have the same scheduling luxury that these commissioners have. Stancil could change the meetings to a more taxpayer-friendly meeting time next month if he wanted to. Of course, other commissioners could also bring this up for public discussion if they wanted to see taxpayer-friendly meeting times.
The commission meets as a body once a month at 5:00 PM on the Thursday after the 3rd Monday. At commission meetings, it's usually just push-a-button, record the vote, and meeting adjourned.
Committees of the full commission meet on the second Monday of each month. Committees are where the real discussion, if there is any, takes place, before an item is sent to the full body. More time is allowed for public input at committee meetings. Committees should meet at or near 5:00 PM like the full commission does--a more taxpayer-friendly meeting time--instead of 11:30 AM meetings which effectively shut out the average working taxpayer.
Showing posts with label Amber Shelton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amber Shelton. Show all posts
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
September 19, 2009 Hamblen County Website To Get An Update (Finally!!)
I have publicly asked county commission several times to update the county website and to make it easier to access information about county government. Here and here.
Commissioner Nancy Phillips and I pushed for a county website from the moment we took office in 2002. A website was established with limited information provided at the start and the addition of a few features later. Even though I did not run again in 2006, I have continued to attend commission meetings and I have continued to prod commissioners to enhance the website.
Finally, there is a response to my voice and to the voices of others who have asked for more information and online services on the website.
Yes, it looks like a more informative county government website is coming. See the current Hamblen County Government website here.
The one county official who has already made the most with her "section" of the website is County Clerk Linda Wilder. She has scanned in county commission minutes and has provided some online services.
One feature that would enhance the usefulness of the clerk's section and of the entire county website would be a key-word search feature. I have proposed this and county attorney Rusty Cantwell has previously agreed that this would be helpful not only to the public but to him in researching prior actions of county commission.
With a key-word feature, a word or words (e.g. "county budget") is entered in a search box and then the site provides a list where that word appears in the website, such as in Planning Commission documents, county commission minutes, agendas, etc. A key-word feature is common on many websites. See the Knox County government website here with its key-word or search feature near the top of the page.
The improved Hamblen County government website will be updated with current information instead of letting old and inaccurate information remain on the website for months after changes occur. Links to state government and local legislators as well as U.S. Senators and Congressmen will be included. A community calendar of events will apparently be added--with information about non-governmental happenings such as Mountain Makins, plays, etc. The website will continue to have links to job opportunities with the county--but frankly these are few and far between and many are filled by officials or department heads without any posting at all.
The newspaper reports that beginning in October, the Hamblen County website will post committee agendas AFTER THE COMMITTEES HAVE MET. Posting agendas after the meeting has already taken place is of zero use to the public or to interested citizens who might attend if they could see an agenda and decide if a topic of interest to them is to be discussed. Posting an agenda after the meeting is about as helpful as locking the barn door after the cow has escaped.
I haven't received an answer to the obvious question about the committee agendas. Why won't the committee agendas be uploaded and posted (or scanned) on the website BEFORE the committee meetings? The agendas are prepared, printed, and provided to commissioners several days BEFORE the committee meetings. Why can't those agendas be uploaded and posted (or scanned) on the website at the same time? The City of Morristown posts agendas on its website before council meetings. Surely, the county can do the same.
Also missing in the planned update of the website is posting the minutes of committee meetings. The minutes of committee meetings are prepared just a few days after the committee meetings take place and are put in commissioners' packet several days before the full commission meeting. Why can't the committee minutes be uploaded and posted (or scanned) onto the website at the same time they are prepared, printed off, and provided to commissioners?
A government website should absolutely include committee agendas, committee minutes, as well as times, actual dates, and places of all government meetings. I would think that both a community calendar and full governmental information could be posted on the county government website. But IF for some reason there is not time or a willingness to do both, I hope the Mayor will choose to place county government information, including agendas and minutes, on the county government website first and add a community calendar at a later date.
A government website is a wonderful means of providing governmental information to a large segment of the public. Let's hope that Mayor Purkey and his assistant Amber Shelton decide to provide full and timely information about meetings, agendas, and minutes. Agendas should be posted on the website before the meetings. Minutes should be posted after the meeting just as soon as they are prepared. The final approved county budget should be posted within 30-60 days of its passage. And a key-word feature should be added so that citizens and taxpayers are not searching for an "information needle" in a "website haystack."
Next would be making the information and packets that are provided to committees and commissioners and the press available online to the TAXPAYERS! Now there's an idea.
Commissioner Nancy Phillips and I pushed for a county website from the moment we took office in 2002. A website was established with limited information provided at the start and the addition of a few features later. Even though I did not run again in 2006, I have continued to attend commission meetings and I have continued to prod commissioners to enhance the website.
Finally, there is a response to my voice and to the voices of others who have asked for more information and online services on the website.
Yes, it looks like a more informative county government website is coming. See the current Hamblen County Government website here.
The one county official who has already made the most with her "section" of the website is County Clerk Linda Wilder. She has scanned in county commission minutes and has provided some online services.
One feature that would enhance the usefulness of the clerk's section and of the entire county website would be a key-word search feature. I have proposed this and county attorney Rusty Cantwell has previously agreed that this would be helpful not only to the public but to him in researching prior actions of county commission.
With a key-word feature, a word or words (e.g. "county budget") is entered in a search box and then the site provides a list where that word appears in the website, such as in Planning Commission documents, county commission minutes, agendas, etc. A key-word feature is common on many websites. See the Knox County government website here with its key-word or search feature near the top of the page.
The improved Hamblen County government website will be updated with current information instead of letting old and inaccurate information remain on the website for months after changes occur. Links to state government and local legislators as well as U.S. Senators and Congressmen will be included. A community calendar of events will apparently be added--with information about non-governmental happenings such as Mountain Makins, plays, etc. The website will continue to have links to job opportunities with the county--but frankly these are few and far between and many are filled by officials or department heads without any posting at all.
The newspaper reports that beginning in October, the Hamblen County website will post committee agendas AFTER THE COMMITTEES HAVE MET. Posting agendas after the meeting has already taken place is of zero use to the public or to interested citizens who might attend if they could see an agenda and decide if a topic of interest to them is to be discussed. Posting an agenda after the meeting is about as helpful as locking the barn door after the cow has escaped.
I haven't received an answer to the obvious question about the committee agendas. Why won't the committee agendas be uploaded and posted (or scanned) on the website BEFORE the committee meetings? The agendas are prepared, printed, and provided to commissioners several days BEFORE the committee meetings. Why can't those agendas be uploaded and posted (or scanned) on the website at the same time? The City of Morristown posts agendas on its website before council meetings. Surely, the county can do the same.
Also missing in the planned update of the website is posting the minutes of committee meetings. The minutes of committee meetings are prepared just a few days after the committee meetings take place and are put in commissioners' packet several days before the full commission meeting. Why can't the committee minutes be uploaded and posted (or scanned) onto the website at the same time they are prepared, printed off, and provided to commissioners?
A government website should absolutely include committee agendas, committee minutes, as well as times, actual dates, and places of all government meetings. I would think that both a community calendar and full governmental information could be posted on the county government website. But IF for some reason there is not time or a willingness to do both, I hope the Mayor will choose to place county government information, including agendas and minutes, on the county government website first and add a community calendar at a later date.
A government website is a wonderful means of providing governmental information to a large segment of the public. Let's hope that Mayor Purkey and his assistant Amber Shelton decide to provide full and timely information about meetings, agendas, and minutes. Agendas should be posted on the website before the meetings. Minutes should be posted after the meeting just as soon as they are prepared. The final approved county budget should be posted within 30-60 days of its passage. And a key-word feature should be added so that citizens and taxpayers are not searching for an "information needle" in a "website haystack."
Next would be making the information and packets that are provided to committees and commissioners and the press available online to the TAXPAYERS! Now there's an idea.
Friday, April 03, 2009
April 3, 2009 My "April 1st" Blog Entry Was a Prank! Mayor David Purkey Still Thinks Taxpayers Shouldn't See the Proposed County Budget Online
I received several calls on April 1 and April 2 from people who had read my April 1 post and were excited to find out that County Mayor David Purkey was actually going to post the proposed county budget on the county website.
They were also pleased that my April 1 post reported that Mayor Purkey had actually decided that they--the citizens and taxpayers of Hamblen County--were smart enough to understand what a proposed budget is and that changes might take place during the budget process.
When I pointed out the date of the post (April 1) and the significance of that date (April Fools' Day pranks), one of them laughed and added that she definitely got pranked. Until we talked, she actually thought David Purkey had had a change of heart, had come out in the open, and had decided that the taxpayers pay enough to be able at least to see the proposed county budget online.
I had fun writing the April Fools' Day post, but, no, David doesn't want you to see the proposed budget, and yes, he still thinks little old taxpayers would just be "confused" by the big old budget and budget changes.
David, like 99% of politicians, just wants you to dutifully pay those sales taxes, pay those property taxes, pay those wheel taxes, pay those business taxes, pay those litigation taxes, and on and on and on.
Now that April 1st is over, I'll put a note at the end of that post to let everyone know that nothing has changed in County Mayor David Purkey's Office---
David still does NOT want taxpayers to see the county's proposed budget on the Hamblen County website.
David still thinks taxpayers couldn't possibly understand or handle seeing changes to the proposed budget during the budget process. They would be "confused."
David is still afraid of "someone sitting in a law office somewhere."
And I don't have a clue as to what David's assistant Amber Shelton does for David with those extra FIVE hours per month that she said she has to assist him.
The only thing that is clear at this point is that David will NOT ask her to use those hours to serve the public and post the proposed county budget on the county website.
They were also pleased that my April 1 post reported that Mayor Purkey had actually decided that they--the citizens and taxpayers of Hamblen County--were smart enough to understand what a proposed budget is and that changes might take place during the budget process.
When I pointed out the date of the post (April 1) and the significance of that date (April Fools' Day pranks), one of them laughed and added that she definitely got pranked. Until we talked, she actually thought David Purkey had had a change of heart, had come out in the open, and had decided that the taxpayers pay enough to be able at least to see the proposed county budget online.
I had fun writing the April Fools' Day post, but, no, David doesn't want you to see the proposed budget, and yes, he still thinks little old taxpayers would just be "confused" by the big old budget and budget changes.
David, like 99% of politicians, just wants you to dutifully pay those sales taxes, pay those property taxes, pay those wheel taxes, pay those business taxes, pay those litigation taxes, and on and on and on.
Now that April 1st is over, I'll put a note at the end of that post to let everyone know that nothing has changed in County Mayor David Purkey's Office---
David still does NOT want taxpayers to see the county's proposed budget on the Hamblen County website.
David still thinks taxpayers couldn't possibly understand or handle seeing changes to the proposed budget during the budget process. They would be "confused."
David is still afraid of "someone sitting in a law office somewhere."
And I don't have a clue as to what David's assistant Amber Shelton does for David with those extra FIVE hours per month that she said she has to assist him.
The only thing that is clear at this point is that David will NOT ask her to use those hours to serve the public and post the proposed county budget on the county website.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
April 1, 2009 Mayor Purkey Reverses Himself. He WILL Post the 2009-2010 Proposed County Budget On the County's Website
Wonderful and surprising news from the basement of the Hamblen County Courthouse!
In a press release today, County Mayor David Purkey states that he is going to make sure that the proposed Hamblen County budget for 2009-2010 is available for taxpayers to view on the Hamblen County website!
In the press release, Purkey apologizes for earlier remarks that posting the proposed budget and changes to the budget would "confuse" taxpayers. Purkey now admits that the taxpayers of Hamblen County are smart enough to understand budgets and changes that are made to budgets.
By way of explanation, Purkey states that Hamblen County taxpayers have personal budgets and have had to make often painful changes to their personal budgets during these exceptionally difficult economic times. He adds that these same taxpayers who are struggling with personal budgets should definitely be able to see the county's proposed budget and the spending plan that they will be asked/ordered to pay for!
In another gracious comment, Purkey admitted that he was wrong when he said at a public meeting on March 9 that one of the reasons he didn't want to put the budget online was because he didn't want "someone in a law office somewhere" looking at the budget. Thank you, David.
In a sidenote, Purkey adds that he is going to have his administrative assistant, Amber Shelton, assist with seeing that the proposed budget is posted on the website just as soon as it is available. David just remembered that several months ago --when the commission switched from folders to binders-- Amber pointed out that as a result of the switch she would have an extra FIVE hours every month to help the Mayor!
David has asked Amber to use the extra FIVE hours for May and the extra FIVE hours for June to help the Mayor post the proposed budget and updates on the county's website.
During the other ten months of the year, Amber will use that extra FIVE hours each month to keep the Mayor's office climate-controlled just in case he drops in.
[APRIL 3 UPDATE: The above entry was posted on April 1 and, unfortunately for the taxpayers of Hamblen County, was just an April 1 prank. See my April 3 post for more information]
In a press release today, County Mayor David Purkey states that he is going to make sure that the proposed Hamblen County budget for 2009-2010 is available for taxpayers to view on the Hamblen County website!
In the press release, Purkey apologizes for earlier remarks that posting the proposed budget and changes to the budget would "confuse" taxpayers. Purkey now admits that the taxpayers of Hamblen County are smart enough to understand budgets and changes that are made to budgets.
By way of explanation, Purkey states that Hamblen County taxpayers have personal budgets and have had to make often painful changes to their personal budgets during these exceptionally difficult economic times. He adds that these same taxpayers who are struggling with personal budgets should definitely be able to see the county's proposed budget and the spending plan that they will be asked/ordered to pay for!
In another gracious comment, Purkey admitted that he was wrong when he said at a public meeting on March 9 that one of the reasons he didn't want to put the budget online was because he didn't want "someone in a law office somewhere" looking at the budget. Thank you, David.
In a sidenote, Purkey adds that he is going to have his administrative assistant, Amber Shelton, assist with seeing that the proposed budget is posted on the website just as soon as it is available. David just remembered that several months ago --when the commission switched from folders to binders-- Amber pointed out that as a result of the switch she would have an extra FIVE hours every month to help the Mayor!
David has asked Amber to use the extra FIVE hours for May and the extra FIVE hours for June to help the Mayor post the proposed budget and updates on the county's website.
During the other ten months of the year, Amber will use that extra FIVE hours each month to keep the Mayor's office climate-controlled just in case he drops in.
[APRIL 3 UPDATE: The above entry was posted on April 1 and, unfortunately for the taxpayers of Hamblen County, was just an April 1 prank. See my April 3 post for more information]
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