School board’s decision to walk out on Monday’s public hearing was grossly irresponsible

Opinion

The Lumpkin County Board of Education’s decision to skip out on a public hearing last week was grossly irresponsible. It demonstrated a callous disregard for the citizens who voted them into office.  There is also a question of the legality of the meeting since a quorum was not present.

The hearing was conducted Monday, Aug. 13 and was advertised in the local newspaper as a public hearing on a tentative tax increase. Public hearings afford citizens the opportunity to speak on a particular issue and they have every right to expect their elected officials will listen.

School board members failed spectacularly to meet that expectation when they scurried into a backroom and allowed Superintendent Dr. Robert Brown to conduct the hearing in their absence.

Asked about the board’s refusal to listen to the citizens, Brown mistakenly stated, “The board is not required to be present. (Public hearings) are for the superintendent to receive comments from the public.”

Public hearings are informational. Their purpose is for citizens to become aware of what their elected officials are doing and for the elected officials to become aware of the public’s sentiment. That awareness is destroyed if elected officials refuse to listen to the people. It causes citizens to wonder if their trust in their representatives has been misplaced.

School board member Craig Poore took to Facebook over the weekend to blame the local media for disseminating “misleading information” and “ill-informed citizens” for not understanding the board’s actions.

In defending the board’s refusal to hear public comments last week, Poore said, “Monday during the hearing we were in executive session and had further business to attend to so we sent our representative to the meeting to report back to us.”

That excuse does not pass the smell test.

Every other school board in the state of Georgia is capable of holding an executive session and public hearing on the same night. They simply open the public hearing, listen to the citizens, close the hearing then go into executive session. It’s not that difficult.

Poore continues his Facebook rant by suggesting citizens,Come by the tire store and sit down with me let’s talk about the issues, or call me, email, or just stop me in Walmart. Hey that’s my job it’s not going to bother me.”

He also states: “What we need as a community is options to offset tax revenue loss.”

No, Mr. Poore, what we need is a school board whose members don’t run and hide from citizens who wish to speak to them at a public hearing.

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