Court to Decide Fate of Petition -May 13th, 2008-
OPEN GOVERNMENT PLAYS NO PART IN DECISION
After six weeks, on May 1, 2008, Florence County Councilman James Schofield broke the silence surrounding the citizens’ petition to lower the countywide Road System Maintenance Fee. The petition which had been signed by 11,000 citizens was submitted to the Clerk of County Council on March 20th.
In an address that lasted twenty-five minutes, Schofield announced that a court of law would have to decide the matter. Mr. Schofield stated that appropriations cannot be repealed by petition.
As far as the public knows, prior to Mr. Schofield’s address (May 1, 2008) there has been no public discussion of the petition by county council. The agenda for the May 1st council meeting did not indicate that Mr. Schofield would address the issue. Therefore, a citizen rebuttal was impossible.
Mr. Schofield made his remarks under the agenda committee reports, specifically the Administration and Finance Committee, of which he is a member. Mr. Schofield did not indicate that this committee actually met or that minutes were taken. Mr. Schofield stated that none of the councilmen supported lowering the Road Maintenance Fee. At what public meeting did the councilmen reach this consensus? When was a public vote taken informing the public of this unanimous decision? At what meeting did they jointly decide to let Schofield be their spokesperson? When was this matter decided by vote? No timetable was given as to when legal action would be taken.
Unfortunately, open government once more was absence in this decision process. If this matter is important enough for 11,000 people to sign a petition, then it is important enough to be discussed by county council, as a body, in an open meeting. If taxpayers’ money is going to be spent to dispute a petition signed by 11,000 taxpayers’, then the people have the right to know more about the process through open government.
(SEE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR FOR CITIZEN INPUT ON THIS SUBJECT)