Story - The Meade County Messenger


Vol. 114, No. 38	September 19, 2007

Process underway to replace ethics commissioner

By LARRY SEE JR.
Messenger Staff

The process is underway to replace one member of the county’s ethics commission, following a unanimous vote Sept. 11 by the Fiscal Court.

Magistrate Tom Goddard moved to replace his member, due to the fact he has only attended five of the last 16 meetings.

Ethics commission members are appointed by the magistrates and serve at the pleasure of Fiscal Court. Members of the commission are in the process of drafting attendance guidelines to remove violators easier.

By removing the person, Goddard said, it would allow him to start looking for a suitable replacement.

Magistrate Herbie Chism suggested, rather than removing the candidate outright, Goddard ought to call him and see about the reasons he hasn’t been attending the meetings.

“He reports to you,” Chism said. “You maybe should call him and see why he has not been attending.”

Goddard responded the member hasn’t responded to phone calls, messages or e-mails sent by the ethics commission chairman Joanne Fitzgibbon. He also said the agendas weren’t being returned, indicating the member hasn’t relocated.

“We need an ethics board that can do something,” Goddard said. “They don’t need to sit there and adjourn because they don’t have a quorum. They have four regular attendees and three who don’t attend. This ethics board is almost useless.”

Magistrate Steve Wardrip questioned if the Fiscal Court was handling the removal properly.

Assistant County Attorney Greta Noe, who said she had not had a chance to review the enabling ordinance for the commission, said as long as the Fiscal Court appointed them, it was perfectly legal for removal.

In other business, members:

• Changed the recycling hours on Saturdays, effective Oct. 7. The new hours will be from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., eliminating the hour and a half of overtime which occurs weekly, solid waste coordinator Mark Gossett said. Recycling operations are open from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. during the week.

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