Attention subscribers - we have launched a new website! Click here to create your website account for free access.

Commission struggles for consensus

Posted

In a special call meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 2, the County Commission struggled to gain consensus. Accepting new committee assignments was easy, but electing a member to serve as pro tem proved too much for the divided group.

As in the prior regular September meeting, Darrel Hicks and Norman Fraizer both were nominated for the pro tem position. Under Roberts Rules of Order, the manual of parliamentary procedure that directs how commission meetings are to be conducted, the “pro tempore” is the person selected to direct meetings in the event that the chairman is unavailable.

In a role call vote, the commission was evenly divided between the two men. With two members absent, Chairman Ward Plant determined that there was no hope of reaching the necessary 10-vote majority to seat a new pro tem, and postponed the selection to the upcoming regular meeting on Oct. 15.

Commissioners voted unanimously to accept committee assignments, and promptly adjourned the meeting. New committee assignments are as follows:

Budget: Angie Hern (district 1), Hicks (6), Phil Melton (4), Mary Powers (6), Rocky Presson (2).

Highway: Jerry Brandon (4), Gary Furr (3), Ronnie Hopper (6), Kenneth Miller (2), Roseanne Ward (5).

Insurance: Dayna Ferguson (2), Frazier (3), Furr (3), Bill Kee (5), Ward (5).

Law: Sonny Hall (4), Hicks (6), Hopper (6), Kee (5), Don Patton (1).

Property: Kyleah Dye (3), Frazier (3), Rachelle Hill (5), Melton (4), Presson (2).

Ethics: The ethics committee will be comprised of the chairpersons of the other five committees, who have yet to be elected.