Monday, April 04, 2005
The 4 April BOC meeting
I went to the County Board of Commissioners meeting this morning. I can't say that it was exciting, but it did make me think that finding candidates for local offices shouldn't be as hard as I feared. We don't need lawyers or college professors; the Board has professional bureaucrats (remember back when that wasn't a pejorative word?) ensuring that all the paperwork is in order and able to explain the decisions that needed making in any detail the Commissioners desired. Certainly the Commissioners have a lot of responsibility for the (sometimes) large amounts of money riding on their decisions, and I have no idea how much work they put in between meetings directing ideas to be researched or checking the work of their staffs or lobbying state government or businesses which might be persuaded to move to Halifax County... But it struck me that the most important qualities for local candidates were not quick wits or breadth of knowledge, but just honesty and common sense. And familiarity with the local area would be a good bonus. Ex-police sergeants would do just fine, as would housewives with volunteer experience.
Few of the issues were really contentious, even. On the most contentious issue, 'our' (Republican) Commissioner Minton really shone. Health Director Lynda Smith came in to request that a new position be added to the county payroll, a $20,000/year position for someone to man the animal control facility all day and maybe half-days on Saturdays. The rationale was to free the four animal control officers from having to switch off spending most of the morning cleaning the place and feeding the penned animals. Now, it made some sense because:
a) each qualified animal control officer spends half of every fourth day doing a job that can be done by someone less qualified and lower-paid,
b) having the facility manned all day would save the animal control officers from being called back to the facility to get animals out if someone turned up to claim them,
c) having someone at the facility might prevent people who came to dump unwanted pets off on animal control from finding the place closed and just leaving their animals to run wild, and
d) this extra person (who, you'll remember, has only about half a day's work to do beyond minding the place) might be able to run an adoption program, so fewer animals would have to be destroyed.
Commissioner Minton did a fine job of refuting each of these points without ticking anyone off or even seeming to dominate the conversation. It turns out that the animal control office was cut back to two officers only two years ago in a downsizing, and here it was already back up to its previous strength and wanting to grow further. Ms. Smith, under probing, had only vague guesses as to how often animal control officers were called back to get animals out of the facility when owners came to get them, and had never considered setting fixed opening hours for the mornings to let owners pick up pets when officers were there anyway, cleaning up and feeding the animals. Commissioner Pierce and Vice-Chairman Johnson clearly thought they'd been getting too many complaints about loose animals, but didn't have any specifics to give or know to what degree four animal control officers might do better than 3.5. Vice-Chairman Johnson seemed to think it would be unreasonable to tell a pet owner wanting to get their pet back to wait until the next morning, as there'd be emotions involved (which made me wonder whether people whose pets caused such trouble that animal control had to be called didn't need some sort of talking-to in addition to doing without their pet overnight).
And it was pointed out that a county pet adoption program wasn't necessarily needed: animal control officers now are able to select adoptable animals to take to the Humane Society whenever the latter has room. Sadly, I expect even the Humane Society has to put many of their animals down in Halifax County as everywhere else; getting the county into the adoption business won't likely spare any of our cute little friends and it might well step on the toes of the Humane Society, if their financial patrons start to feel like they're paying taxes to support a rival to a well-run charity.
Commissioner Minton looked a little frustrated as he said that it seemed to him like the Board was adding to the county payroll at each meeting, and said that he wasn't going to support any new positions without real justification. It seemed to me that he was getting at least Commissioner Manning onto his side, but the rest of the Board was looking for some sort of compromise, perhaps a part-time worker for nine months to see how that worked out? Commissioner Manning went along with it on a 4-1 party-line vote. Commissioner Minton's last word on it was asking what sort of metrics would be used to decide if the position was a success. None were offered; the success of this 'temporary' position will apparently be contingent on Commissioner Pierce's and Vice-Chairman Johnson's subjective opinion about the complaints they get.
The other contentious issue was the mere acceptance of a progress report on a study of regional wastewater systems in Halifax and Northhampton Counties, a study funded by something called "Halifax Horizons" (sounds like a lobbying group or state-funded nonprofit, in any case, we're probably paying for it, now, later, or indirectly). I tried to follow what the study was finding, but the gist of it was what Phillip Brown of the Herald later summed up succinctly as "Roanoke Rapids' wastewater processing plant is working at only about half its capacity, and is (therefore?) the most expensive plant in the area. Eastern Northhampton County has a number of local wastewater plants which are inadequate". Other tidbits the study had uncovered were that Weldon has some excess capacity (just enough that they're not required to start feasibility studies toward expanding capacity), and that a plan to connect eastern Northhampton County wastewater plants to Roanoke Rapids' processing facility would cost $33 million. That's a one-way connection, to treat water and dump it into the Roanoke. No water systems in Halifax or Northhampton Counties need to get fresh water piped in. Anyway, the 'study' looks predestined to recommend a 'regional solution' to the 'problem' of excess capacity here and out-of-specs effluent controls there. I couldn't tell if it was a well-meaning state study telling our Commissioners what they already knew, some nonprofit pushing regionalization for its own sake, or a front organization for a contractor who wants to sell us a $33 million pipeline, but Commissioner Manning was having none of it and insisted that the board not 'accept' or 'approve' the interim report lest it be thought to commit the Board to something later. I think they agreed to tone it down to 'accept for consideration' or something like that, heck, it was someone other than the county paying for the study, they couldn't very well decide not to listen. Maybe someone will put out a boondoggle alert, or a reasonable proposal could emerge, but for now the Board consensus is properly cautious.
Oh, and if anyone saw me on TV-20 talking to the Black Caucus rally outside, don't get too enthused: I didn't make any converts. I have to admit that it looks suspicious when the three black Commissioners want Commissioner Pierce as Chairman, while the three white Commissioners want Commissioner Minton, but I can't fault the good taste of (white) Democratic Commissioners Manning and Hux for trusting a Republican; I just wish I knew more about the real issues behind the split. If it really is just racism, I'll have to encourage Republicans to condemn it.
Few of the issues were really contentious, even. On the most contentious issue, 'our' (Republican) Commissioner Minton really shone. Health Director Lynda Smith came in to request that a new position be added to the county payroll, a $20,000/year position for someone to man the animal control facility all day and maybe half-days on Saturdays. The rationale was to free the four animal control officers from having to switch off spending most of the morning cleaning the place and feeding the penned animals. Now, it made some sense because:
a) each qualified animal control officer spends half of every fourth day doing a job that can be done by someone less qualified and lower-paid,
b) having the facility manned all day would save the animal control officers from being called back to the facility to get animals out if someone turned up to claim them,
c) having someone at the facility might prevent people who came to dump unwanted pets off on animal control from finding the place closed and just leaving their animals to run wild, and
d) this extra person (who, you'll remember, has only about half a day's work to do beyond minding the place) might be able to run an adoption program, so fewer animals would have to be destroyed.
Commissioner Minton did a fine job of refuting each of these points without ticking anyone off or even seeming to dominate the conversation. It turns out that the animal control office was cut back to two officers only two years ago in a downsizing, and here it was already back up to its previous strength and wanting to grow further. Ms. Smith, under probing, had only vague guesses as to how often animal control officers were called back to get animals out of the facility when owners came to get them, and had never considered setting fixed opening hours for the mornings to let owners pick up pets when officers were there anyway, cleaning up and feeding the animals. Commissioner Pierce and Vice-Chairman Johnson clearly thought they'd been getting too many complaints about loose animals, but didn't have any specifics to give or know to what degree four animal control officers might do better than 3.5. Vice-Chairman Johnson seemed to think it would be unreasonable to tell a pet owner wanting to get their pet back to wait until the next morning, as there'd be emotions involved (which made me wonder whether people whose pets caused such trouble that animal control had to be called didn't need some sort of talking-to in addition to doing without their pet overnight).
And it was pointed out that a county pet adoption program wasn't necessarily needed: animal control officers now are able to select adoptable animals to take to the Humane Society whenever the latter has room. Sadly, I expect even the Humane Society has to put many of their animals down in Halifax County as everywhere else; getting the county into the adoption business won't likely spare any of our cute little friends and it might well step on the toes of the Humane Society, if their financial patrons start to feel like they're paying taxes to support a rival to a well-run charity.
Commissioner Minton looked a little frustrated as he said that it seemed to him like the Board was adding to the county payroll at each meeting, and said that he wasn't going to support any new positions without real justification. It seemed to me that he was getting at least Commissioner Manning onto his side, but the rest of the Board was looking for some sort of compromise, perhaps a part-time worker for nine months to see how that worked out? Commissioner Manning went along with it on a 4-1 party-line vote. Commissioner Minton's last word on it was asking what sort of metrics would be used to decide if the position was a success. None were offered; the success of this 'temporary' position will apparently be contingent on Commissioner Pierce's and Vice-Chairman Johnson's subjective opinion about the complaints they get.
The other contentious issue was the mere acceptance of a progress report on a study of regional wastewater systems in Halifax and Northhampton Counties, a study funded by something called "Halifax Horizons" (sounds like a lobbying group or state-funded nonprofit, in any case, we're probably paying for it, now, later, or indirectly). I tried to follow what the study was finding, but the gist of it was what Phillip Brown of the Herald later summed up succinctly as "Roanoke Rapids' wastewater processing plant is working at only about half its capacity, and is (therefore?) the most expensive plant in the area. Eastern Northhampton County has a number of local wastewater plants which are inadequate". Other tidbits the study had uncovered were that Weldon has some excess capacity (just enough that they're not required to start feasibility studies toward expanding capacity), and that a plan to connect eastern Northhampton County wastewater plants to Roanoke Rapids' processing facility would cost $33 million. That's a one-way connection, to treat water and dump it into the Roanoke. No water systems in Halifax or Northhampton Counties need to get fresh water piped in. Anyway, the 'study' looks predestined to recommend a 'regional solution' to the 'problem' of excess capacity here and out-of-specs effluent controls there. I couldn't tell if it was a well-meaning state study telling our Commissioners what they already knew, some nonprofit pushing regionalization for its own sake, or a front organization for a contractor who wants to sell us a $33 million pipeline, but Commissioner Manning was having none of it and insisted that the board not 'accept' or 'approve' the interim report lest it be thought to commit the Board to something later. I think they agreed to tone it down to 'accept for consideration' or something like that, heck, it was someone other than the county paying for the study, they couldn't very well decide not to listen. Maybe someone will put out a boondoggle alert, or a reasonable proposal could emerge, but for now the Board consensus is properly cautious.
Oh, and if anyone saw me on TV-20 talking to the Black Caucus rally outside, don't get too enthused: I didn't make any converts. I have to admit that it looks suspicious when the three black Commissioners want Commissioner Pierce as Chairman, while the three white Commissioners want Commissioner Minton, but I can't fault the good taste of (white) Democratic Commissioners Manning and Hux for trusting a Republican; I just wish I knew more about the real issues behind the split. If it really is just racism, I'll have to encourage Republicans to condemn it.
