A Full House

An amazing thing happened this week at the County Commission meeting. We, for the first time in memory, had a full house of Commissioners. Recent months have plagued the Commission and various committees with more vacant seats than those that were filled. Not only do vacant seats mean that parts of the county are not being represented, it also often means that County business is brought to a standstill. Don’t get me wrong, the County Commission has never failed to have a quorum but it did fail to have enough people present to pass a resolution for a waiver for firefighters for vehicle tags with consideration to those that needed to abstain from vote. The item was pulled at the last minute and put on this week’s agenda so the wheels kept on turning but numbers should not be that hard to come by when you have 21 Commissioners.

As for committees, several of those have had to pass on meetings because of lack of a quorum. Even Boards working on important and time sensitive items, like the Jefferson County Industrial Development Board, have struggled to get business done due to absenteeism. We all get sick and we all have thing that come up but we all, also , have obligations. Those that serve on the County Commission get paid, albeit a very small amount, for their service and Joe Doe citizen volunteers his time for committees. It basically comes down to making the business of the people a priority. If you don’t want to serve or you simply don’t have the time to do the job properly, step aside and let someone else take your position.

I was encouraged this week to see a full house and, with the appointment of new IDB members I am hopeful that will solve the problem of a quorum for the Industrial Development Board. Maybe other County committees and Boards will follow suite and their members will show up to get business done.

Recent numbers show that we have a problem with absenteeism at JCHS. Could it be the trickle down from uninterested adults to uninterested students? It is time to get back to upholding commitments and showing up on time and ready to meet obligations. Let’s hope that the resolution for 2019 included being there and being aware. So far, so good. I guess we will see what the next month brings. Adults should really lead by example.