Herald Editorial Blasts Reives' Proposal

Herald Editorial Calls Reives' Proposal "A Bad Idea."

Editors Note: The county commissioner's finance committee is meeting at 7:30 am Monday. Look for a quick post as soon as it is over. (See original post) It seems that Robert Reives is tired of Jerry Lemmond getting his signals mixed up, and Lemmond having to change his vote. Apparently, Lemmond sometimes hears good arguments during the public comment section before the commission takes up his business and may get carried away and forget how he is supposed to vote. (See Lemmond change his vote when he finds out Reives votes no.) On another occasion he tried to change his vote at the end of a meeting to agree with Reives but was voted down in his request. (See here) Either that or Reives' ego cannot stand the public telling the commissioners what they think. Reives has a comment on every item that comes up and likes to make sure that he appears to know more about any subject than anyone else. His proposal for moving the public comment segment of the meeting to the very end would mean that commissioners would not have public input before making decisions. The Sanford Herald called it a "bad idea" and supported that claim with several arguments. (Read the editorial by clicking this link--it should work and is free.) One statement in the editorial confirms what the e-Lee Dispatch has been saying for months. Noting that Reives was part of the board when the current policy that allows citizens three minutes to comment after the ceremonial opening and consent agenda was approved, the editorial notes, "He wasn't in charge back then." The e-Lee Dispatch has long shown how it is Reives that controls the board and a recent newspaper column explained how he used the black vote to do it. (click here to read column) It is interesting that the chairman of the board when the current policy was put in place was Herb Hincks. Herb Hincks is running for commissioner again and likely to be in a race among commissioners for the chairmanship with Jamie Kelly as the alternative. While Kelly is not on the ballot, Jerry Lemmond and Herb Paschal are. Lemmond would surely support Kelly as chair so a vote for Lemmond is a vote for Jamie Kelly as chairman. Reives has an alliance that delivers black votes to certain candidates using money supplied in part through the Keller family. Jamie Kelly is Oscar Keller's grandson and political heir. That explains the massive direct mail going on now in Lee County at a cost of nearly $50,000. The Herald Editorial says "Lee Countains already feel disenfranchised by the board". In other words, the board does not listen to the citizen's wishes. The editorial concluded "Now the little time the citizens have the board is being subjugated at what looks like the board's ill timed whim. Approving the Reives measure may fit this board's ideology, but that doesn't make it right." Of course now at the eleventh hour,the commissioners are considering funding money to replace two mold-prone buildings based on a Health Department Report (Click here to download) that came after paying a consultant $19,400 to check the buildings for health and security who did not identify mold or its cause. They are counting on people forgetting all those who appeared before them in February telling them of the terrible conditions at Lee County High School. Maybe that is why Reives has brought this up now. There could be one more reason. When Robert Reives loses his temper he loses his judgment, but when he is calm and thoughtful he has a brilliant political mind. Maybe he brought up this "in your face" idea to the public, just so Jerry Lemmond could vote against it and "prove he is his own man." So it will be interesting to see where this one turns out. It is unlikely that after the editorial that the commissioners will go ahead with a proposal the Herald editor described as, "Some on board want you at the back of the line". They may just wait and hope that everyone will forget the Reives-Lemmond connection, and a board under Jamie Kelly will adopt it later as it turns a deaf ear to the public. Update: See Saturday's letter to the editor-click here.