Sometime You Have To Wait

Several good topics are being tracked for the blog, but sometime it is necessary to be absolutely sure that sources are confirmed or for the final shoe to drop. There is an excellent column to read today and a couple of odds and ends.

• Today Kevin Degon has written an excellent column on forced annexation in the Sanford Herald that is a must read. By permission of the Herald we have arranged for you to have access to a clip of the column. (click hear to read the column) The Sanford Herald's current online edition does not allow direct linking to articles, and we appreciate Bill Horner's permission to make this available. A new web format for the Hearld is under development is in the works that will allow direct linking. (read about how to subscribe to their edition). (Read the latest WRAL story on this issue-click here). (Read our earlier post-click here)
  
  
• The most important decisions that the County Commissioners make relate to the budget. How they decide to spend the public's money represents the most comprehensive policy document that is produced each year. From it, the priorities of the county government are set.Lee County government has all the facilities necessary to broadcast and record meetings of its Finance Committee at which it will consider next year's budget on June 5^th, 2008 at 5:30 pm. Despite public comment asking that this meeting be broadcast, Chairman of the Finance Committee, Robert Rieves, has refused to allow the broadcast or recording of this meeting. The reason is simple. Finance Committee Chairman Rieves uses his near total domination of the budget process to control county government and to keep those commissioners that so faithfully follow him "in line." He has no desire for their to be a record that the public can be shown to document the tremendous sense of intimidation that goes into the budget process. Commissioners like Jerry Lemmond need to stop following Rieves wishes and start asserting influence to see that Lee County government is as open to the public as is technically possible. This is something that ought to outrage the public in Lee County just like taking the Sanford Law and Finance Committee meetings off television outraged the voters of Sanford. After the election, the City Council got the message and voted unanimously to start televising the meetings again.
  

• On Monday the Board of Education delivered its budget request in a new format to the Board of Commissioners. The Commissioners had demanded the changed format which is different than what has been used in previous years. It is based on one used in Chatham County. The change in format was substantial and took several weeks for the Board of Education to complete.