Editorials - 05/16/02

Commissioners should formulate policy together

If, as we were told back during the years of appointed manager/elected manager debates, a professional manager's job is to implement and carry out policies formulated by the five-member board of commissioners, why have we repeatedly seen the county manager spend time and energy rewriting proposed policy at the behest of individual commissioners?

We must have missed something. We thought that if one board member had an idea, he or she would discuss it with the whole group during a public session. A consensus could then grow out of a dialogue involving all five members and new policies could be drafted.

If the conditions proposed by an individual member did not meet with group approval, then the county manager would never need to waste time preparing them because they would not be incorporated into the new policy he will be charged with implementing.

Last Thursday's unexpected changes to the proposed heavy industry ordinance prove our point.

Commissioners had already spent time during two meetings discussing the draft ordinance. Extensive community comments had been heard during a May 2 public hearing, and commissioners expected to pass an ordinance May 9 before the expiration of a moratorium on asphalt plant construction.

It didn't happen, largely because of another set of changes proposed by Commissioner Roberta Crawford and prepared by county Manager Ken Westmoreland. Despite the fact that other board members had not even heard - much less approved - Crawford's ideas, Westmoreland spent time compiling them.

The ensuing confusion was reminiscent of debates over the county's proposed helicopter ordinance, which was ruled unconstitutional the first time it was tested in court. With an ordinance banning helicopters on the table, Westmoreland appeared with an ordinance regulating helicopters that he had written at the request of another commissioner.

Where is the improved efficiency?

We do appreciate Crawford's efforts to improve the ordinance, and her recommendation to include pollution-reducing measures such industries must add is a good one. However, without an organized approach and consultation with the county attorney, there still may be sections of the ordinance that are neglected.

The confusion surrounding this particular ordinance makes us worry that the completed ordinance could be struck down on its first test, just as the helicopter ordinance was.

Commissioners need to work together and get this one right.

Back to Archive: 05/16/02.