RSS Feed
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Mayor Burns shakes up councilmen, saying, 'I've got to send a message' In what he says is an effort to get certain council members to work together, Mayor Willie Burns shook things up with an abruptly abbreviated meeting Monday night, leaving both council members and citizens stunned that the usual round-thetable comments from councilmen was no longer on the agenda. After the usual reports from tourism, the Chamber, police department, and two minor items were voted on, Mayor Burns said, "This meeting is adjourned." The sudden adjournment took more than one councilman by surprise. "We council members did not know that was coming," Pamela L.G. Eaton, senior council member, said later. No explanation of the change in meeting was made during the meeting. Burns said later that he had e-mailed the agenda to council members beforehand, and said that council members had been briefed on the mayor's new two-part city council meetings. The new plan, which started last week with very little public notice, has the mayor and council meeting in what Burns calls a "business session" one afternoon the week prior to the regular meeting. The council met at its first such working meeting last Wednesday afternoon at 4:45 p.m. There were no spectators and no media present, although officialnotificationwas made of a called meeting. Under the new plan, in the work sessions decisions can be discussed but not voted on. Monday night, then, Burns said, there was nothing for council members to talk about, since the discussion had already taken place Wednesday. Burns said Tuesday that the next working meeting would be March 4 at 4:45. The meeting is open to the public, Burns said, but the public can come only as observers. "The public cannot comment at the working sessions. They can comment at the regular meeting," he said. Councilman Ed Pope Jr. said that he was surprised at the sudden end of the meeting. "I had no idea the mayor was going to do that," he said. "I knew we were having work meetings, but I didn't realize we wouldn't be able to speak at the regular meetings." Pope is concerned about the burden that change puts on the public. "For the last few years, the public has really come out and attended our meetings. I hate to slam the door on that." In an interview Tuesday, Burns said he was surprised at the uproar and defended his decision to limit the input of councilmen during the meeting. "This is just a wake up call for the council. It's an effort to get them to work together. We've got a tremendous amount of things going on here, and we've got to tend to business, not the same old arguments and personal attacks. I've got to lead. I've got to send a message that y'all have got to get together and get a handle on these issues." Burns said he thought that citizens attending both the work sessions and the council meetings would actually be getting more information than they would before. "I don't see where the citizens have a complaint," he said. Beyond the controversy, there was city business conducted at Monday night's meeting. Councilmen voted to approve a beer and wine license for Retro Cinema and Books, with Rev. G.L. Avery voting his traditional opposition. The council also approved an amendment to the city charter to increase the compensation of future mayors and councilmen who complete 120 hours of Georgia Municipal Association training. Washington-Wilkes Chamber of Commerce board member Ed Pope III gave the Chamber report. Pope announced the Chamber would be honoring the STAR student Troy Colvard and STAR teacher Amy Wheatley at a breakfast in March and the mayor and council were invited. Second, the Chamber is in search of membership, Pope said. "Our membership is open to anyone in the community, any company, any person. We have the lowest membership dues of any group our caliber, and we need the input and involvement of everyone in the community to be effective. Our objective is to facilitate the flowof money, goods, and services throughout Wilkes County businesses, and we work to support and expand the business community here." Many people have commented to him and other Chamber board members about how vibrant business on The Square has been lately. "It's better than I've ever seen in my life, but the Chamber board wants to use this as a springboard to further propel ourselves to improve industry, manufacturing, the service industry, and not just tourism." In other reports, David Jenkins reminded those present of the homebuyer's seminar set for February 23 at the Pope Center, and that the Downtown Development Authority would meet February 28. He also said that visitors for the Revolutionary Days weekend were very complimentary toward the city. Sue Davidson relayed the tourism report for Tourism Director Ashley Barnett, reporting the largest yet turnout for Revolutionary Days events from the parade to the wreath-laying ceremony and dinner at The Pope Center.
She also reminded those present of the luncheon honoring Ernie Harwell Friday at noon, and of the Unity Silent Walk February 23.
|
for larger version       |
|||||||||||||||||||||
