Commissioners hear citizen on desire for community meetings
By SPARKY NEWSOME editor

A citizen challenging the Wilkes County Board of Commissioners to be more individually responsive to its constituents called for public meetings at the district level so that residents would have a better opportunity to communicate with their county representatives. He also pointed out the need for all citizens to work together for the progress of the county.

"Are you going to set up anything in the community so the citizens of this county will be able to voice their opinions about all these taxes and things?" asked Benjamin Willis at last Thursday's regular meeting of the board. He specifically asked about each commissioner having meetings in the individual districts so that citizens could ask questions about issues facing the county.

Willis was concerned that hearings are conducted only at the courthouse and not at the community level. "If there are people that cannot get here," he said, "then the county commissioner that represents their community should set up some kind of hearing right there in that community for the citizens that cannot travel here to voice their opinions - they are still tax paying citizens."

Continuing, Willis said, "We need a hospital real bad and we need a school real bad. But instead of putting all the pressure on you guys to make this decision for us taxpayers, if you set up and get more opinions throughout the community, you'll be able to work better with the people that are paying the taxes. We are paying our money and we have a right ... It's not set up right."

Commission Chairman Sam Moore responded that all of the Wilkes County Commissioners are readily accessible to the voters and each is free to do "whatever he wants to do" concerning meetings in the separate districts. "We have meetings all the time and the public is always invited to attend," he said. Commissioner John Howard, who represents the district in which Willis lives, said he didn't have a problem calling a meeting.

Whoever the commissioner is, Willis said, "it is his job to try to do the best they can for the citizens that have cast their votes and are paying their taxes in this county. The only way we are going to ever get what we need in this county is - we're going to have to work together and we're going to have to pay our taxes together. We are going in the hole every year if we don't start getting together and doing these things."

"We need a lot of things bad," Commissioner Donna Hardy responded. "We need businesses and we need roads. And that's what we're charged with doing and we have a small pot to get it out of." Moore echoed her sentiment and indicated that it is difficult to fund all of the needs of the county.

"If we don't put our voices, our opinions together, and our money together, Wilkes County is going down, down, down," Willis said.

Pie Wilkinson, another citizen in attendance at the meeting, said that in the past, some meetings had been set up so that people could come and express their complaints. But, she said, the only people that showed up were the ones that set the meeting up in the first place. "They [other citizens] are complaining out in the community but they never came," she said.

Mary McPherson, representing the Concerned Citizens of Wilkes County, said that her group has asked all the commissioners to at-

Commissioners appoint tend their meetings but "the only one

that has come has been Sam [Moore]."

Wilkinson offered to arrange transportation for anyone Willis could get who wants to attend the commissioners' next regular meeting. "You give me a list of them," she said, "and we'll go around and pick them up. We'll have them here if they want to come."

All of the commissioners were present at the 2 p.m. meeting on April 12 as were County Administrator David Tyler, County Attorney Charles LeGette, various other county officials, and a number of guests.

Mary Hubbard, Wilkes County tax commissioner, had prepared a list of uncollectible taxes and requested that the board authorize her to remove them from her digests. The list of 32 separate tax bills for 18 different taxpayers totaled just over $30,000 and fell into two categories according to LeGette - those that are uncollectible, and those on which the statute of limitations had run out.

LeGette pointed out that many of the items in the tax bills were personal property items that did not exist for the tax years billed and therefore should never have been billed in the first place. He said the problem with that "stems from a problem in the assessor's office" but now there is a person in that office being trained to handle the situation properly.

LeGette complimented Hubbard on her "outstanding collection rare" and recommended that the commissioners authorize her to remove the bills from the digests. "The next step," he said, "is to make sure it's cleaned up by the tax assessor's office so we don't have these again in the future."

In other business:

.. The commissioners appointed Greg Colvard to fill the unexpired term of Marcus Dill as county tax assessor. Dill has resigned to take another position elsewhere. Commissioners were confident that Colvard would serve well in the position because he has also served on the Equalization Board which required similar training. "That's a good indication that he wouldn't have any trouble at all with assessor training," Tyler said.

In the same motion, the commissioners extended the term to end June 30, 2008, in order to bring the assessor's appointment in line with several others.

.. A resolution authorizing the RDC to transmit a copy of its plan for the county to the state was approved.

.. Tyler reported the collection of $53,528.87 in local option sales tax for the month of January and $82,538.08 in special purpose local option sales tax for the same month.

.. Tourism Director Ashley Barnett gave a brief report on the annual Tour of Homes and on a number of other activities she is working on. She announced that planning for the annual MayFest on May 12 is underway as well as planning for the Cruise-In on the same day. She also reported that donations are being accepted for the annual Fourth of July fireworks show.

.. Moore recognized Wilkinson for her "retirement" and thanked her "for all your years at the hospital and for all you have done for the people of Wilkes County." She responded saying that it wasn't supposed to be a retirement and that, "I love what I do - I really do love it."

The next regular meeting of the commissioners will be on Thursday, May 10, at 7 p.m. in the board room at the Wilkes County courthouse.

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