Ethics and Open Government

6/17/08 Whatever happened to ethical and open government in Fayette County? When running for office our elected officials always claim that is what they want, but what are we getting from our current County Commission?

By now many of you know that our Commissioners violated Georgia’s Open Meetings law and, when the violation became apparent, they covered it up by changing the county’s official records. Only Commissioner Pfeifer fought to get the records to reflect what really happened, but was ignored by the rest of our Commissioners. You can consult my website to see the video and refresh your memory. The video of the meetings leaves no doubt.

This newspaper recently published letters to the editor from Mr. James Wingo and Commissioner Pfeifer that take the County Commission to task for changing the county’s long standing policy of providing very detailed minutes of Commission meetings. You now know only what their votes were, but little more. The pros and cons of an issue, the citizen’s opinions and the Commissioner’s rationale for their vote are now not shared with the public.

Why? Do they believe the public doesn’t care or can’t comprehend what the Commissioners are doing? Do they believe the public “can’t handle the truth”? More likely it is the direct opposite. They fear the public would not tolerate much of what the board is doing if the information was readily available to them. The Commissioners are elected to represent the citizens, to inform them and work for them. They are not there to keep the public in the dark.

In last week’s Citizen, John Thompson’s article points out clearly that the policy was not changed by a public discussion and vote, but rather it was a “staff directive” recommended by the County Attorney. Since when are long-standing policies of such importance changed without the involvement of the Commissioners? I know that Commissioner Pfeifer was not consulted. I also know that the Interim County Administrator can only exercise the authority delegated to him by the County Commission. How did it really happen?

It should come as no surprise that our County Attorney, Scott Bennett, recommended such a change. He was the City Attorney who advised the City Council of McDonough that citizens had no right to film public meetings. It created such a citizen uproar that it ended up as the subject of a Fox News I-Team Investigation aired on Aug. 13, 2007 (Watch Fox 5 Video re: Citizen Muckraker and Scott Bennett). A check of my website will lead you to that video also. The video clearly indicates that Mr. Bennett either didn’t know the law or chose to ignore it.

The Commission created a committee to review and make recommendations as to the top candidates for the position of County Attorney. Mr. Bennett was among the top three recommended to the Board. How could the Board not know the problem and embarrassment Mr. Bennett caused the government and citizens of McDonough? Worse yet, did they know and not care?

When I heard Mr. Bennett was selected I immediately recognized the name. I had met him in Federal Court in Newnan. He was suing Fayette County to force us to allow his client to erect billboards in the county. The Federal Court upheld Fayette County. Mr. Bennett immediately went to Superior Court and sued us there. That case is still pending after numerous appeals. Don’t be surprised if a deal is struck and new billboards begin to appear in the county.

It seems just a bit ironic to me that Mr. Bennett fought so passionately in court for the “First Amendment rights” of his corporate client but he advises the governments of McDonough and Fayette County that our citizens do not have the right to know what their government is doing.
Have you heard or been able to read any detailed discussions about the $3 million dollar pay raises (not including their COLA) recently approved by the Board? Have you heard or been able to read the details of the proposed defined benefit retirement system the Board is preparing to approve for its almost 800 employees? It could potentially have the most significant impact on taxes in our history. Do you know why they would even consider it in these challenging economic times? Will you be informed of the unfunded liability many governments in our area are experiencing because of the prohibitive costs associated with defined benefit programs?

I ask again, what happened to ethical and open government in Fayette County? In my eight years on the Board we had it. Sometimes it makes Commissioners uncomfortable because our citizens ask tough questions and demand rational answers. I believe it is just part of the job. If you can’t explain to people what you are doing and why you are doing it you shouldn’t be in office.

I’m running again because I believe the vast majority of our citizens want to know what their commissioners are doing, whether they agree with them or not. Those of you who know me are well aware that I was always open and candid about what the Commission and / or I was doing and preparing to do, even if I knew you might not agree.

Many times honest input from the public altered the final outcome. It can’t happen when information is kept “under wraps”.

I ask for your vote on July 15th to bring back ethical and open government to our community.

Greg Dunn
Candidate for County Commission
Fayette County

Watch Fox 5 Video re: Citizen Muckraker and Scott Bennett