Dear Editor,
The Aug. 20th meeting of the Putnam County Commission was an eye-opening experience.
I intended to speak directly to the county manager (Paul Van Haute), but unfortunately, Adam (Nelson, county attorney) was not present, and a substitute county attorney attended in his place.
In Adam’s absence, I inquired about the status of the Jimmy Davis Park Advisory Committee. As usual, my question was met with blank stares, and neither person responded.
After the meeting, I asked the county manager again about Jimmy Davis Park. He directed me to Janie Reid, the chairperson. When I pointed out that this was unacceptable, he referred me to Commissioner Brown (District 2), who seemed complicit in these actions.
When I asked why he (Brown) wouldn’t answer my questions as the COO of Putnam County, he replied that he only answers to the commission. In response, I obtained a copy of his job description, and I plan to attend the next meeting to remind him of the responsibilities he seems to have forgotten.
Our county attorney’s firm will have been paid close to $175,000 by the end of this fiscal year. Despite this, the firm has no formal job description from Putnam County and refuses to answer taxpayer questions unless approved by the chair.
After some research, I found a detailed description of a government attorney’s duties on Adam’s webpage, which I found very enlightening. Since I only have three minutes to speak at these meetings — a rule strictly enforced by Chair Sharp –I’ll need to be concise. However, the citizens of Putnam County must be informed of their rights when dealing with the county commission and its staff.
Interestingly, during the meeting, Chair Sharp asked a gentleman to sign in to speak after the meeting had already started, and this individual was allowed to talk for more than three minutes. It appears the chair exercises his personal discretion in such matters, particularly with those he is familiar with or has personally helped before.
The county manager also did not dot all his I’s and cross all his T’s, causing concern from the developer who is bringing a beautiful new resort to our community. Thankfully, Chair Sharp hustled this through, supported loyally by Commissioners Wooten and Brown. The chair has been personally involved in this project since assisting with the zoning changes.
Regardless, it would be nice if the chair extended his discretion a bit more generously to individuals with whom he does not have a personal relationship. Sharp denied my request for ten more seconds during one of my presentations to the commission and regularly denied other taxpayers extended time when addressing the commission. It’s not as if we’re not the ones paying the bills.
Finally, I want to congratulate Jaden Daniel on being one of 16 Georgians awarded the Congressional Award Gold Medal. I would also like to ask the chair why he did not think this was important enough to announce to our entire community.
Don Sadler, Eatonton