Time to Shorten County Council Meetings

By Greg Wilson

Editor/Publisher

There was a time when citizen involvement in county government was substantial. In the 1980s and 90s council chambers were often full or close to full with interested Andersonians. In recent years, council meetings have generally attracted maybe a dozen citizens (save for slight bumps in attendance for pubic hearings), and are generally outnumbered by the number of county employees and security for whom attendance is either mandatory or somewhat mandatory. 

There are likely a number of reasons for the poorly attended meetings. People continue to add to their busy lives, and are increasingly jaded when it comes to the political process. 

But one thing is certain, the three-hour-plus meetings which have become a hallmark of the current County Council is not helping attendance. This is particularly true given the actual time given to the business of running and leading the county takes less than half of this time. 

The extra hours could be trimmed with very little effort.

First, a lot of time is spent with council members asking questions concerning the agenda and agenda materials which could and should be reviewed and clarified earlier in the day. The agenda is generally available the Friday before the upcoming Tuesday meeting, allowing ample time for council members to ask questions of each other, the county administrator or county attorney prior to the meeting. 

There was a time when council did indeed hold a pre-meeting on Tuesday mornings prior to scheduled evening meetings. Why those are no longer a part of the schedule seems as mysterious to the council members I asked as it is to the rest of us.

Another, and often even more prominent reason for ultra-long county council meetings is the time allocated for recognition and giving of awards. Shining a spotlight on our neighbors who have contributed to our community or accomplished some milestone is important. But allotting most of the first hour of every county council meeting to such is not the most efficient way for such recognition. Council did attempt to restrict the bestowing of recognition and honors to once a quarter, but the attempt was soon jettisoned. 

Instead, a quarterly special meeting devoted solely to honors and awards would provide more time for attention to those honored and their families, including photo-ops with officials.

Finally, curtailing called executive sessions to a bare minimum, or scheduling such sessions at 5 p.m. as part of an early council start time, would also serve to trim long meetings.

Council is working in a variety of progressive areas to move Anderson County forward as a great place to invest, work and live. Making council meetings more accessible by taking action to curb very long meetings would be one more positive step in that direction.