Questions for Candidates?

[queenbee]

Since I have been a bad girl for asking questions of a particular candidate, I thought I might start a topic for any questions we might have.

I would really like to see an across the board "town meeting q&a" open to the public. Since that probably won't happen and I can't possibly get to all the meet and greets going on, I will just have to ask the questions here.

Maybe we ask a question and the candidate for that office can quote the question in their reply.

Hopefully just the candidate will reply and not all of the supporters speaking for them.

I will go first?

To all candidates: When you are elected will you keep the "employees" that are currently working and experienced or will you replace them with people of your choice? I realize that is a wide based question because of politics and party positions. Plus personal choices as fellow workers.

When you hire for a position will it be through the department of labor, a county posting, newspaper posting or will it be a "friends only" type of position fill?

[queenbee]

All candidates:

Give me 5 good reasons why I should vote for you. Keep them short and sweet, not political advertising.

[sometimeman]

I an't a candidate "B", am I?

But here is some answers for you:

I'll keep the current employees.
They don't work for me, they work for the county.
When one of them shows they continue to "work" for the former commissioner, they'll be let go for "cause" and the cause will be documented!

Now for your "5 good reasons", just re read Bubba's posts on this board.

[Justin Melick]

I am on record advocating civil service protection for the county employees, which they do not currently have. Under the current state of affairs, the commissioner can fire any employee as he pleases.

The vast majority of employees would be retained. There would be no house cleaning if Melick is elected. Employees do as they are led. Only the grossly incompetent or corrupt would be let go. I do not know of anyone at this time that would fit under those categories.

New job openings would be advertised in the newspaper as is not done now. Everyone would be invited to apply and every application reviewed. Friends and family would be at a disadvantage as I would be less likely to hire them. So keep that in mind.

[Justin Melick]

Five Reasons

Willing to Serve
Know the county and its needs
I treat everyone the same
I keep past, present and future in mind when making decisions
Not afraid to lead an all out assault on problems like drugs


Bonus:
I will never question your Christian character
I am not defensive
I will never call a citizen "undesireable" and suggest they leave

[queenbee]

Thanks Justin.

[genenelson]

Jun 17, 2008 12:28:45 GMT -4 queenbee said:

Since I have been a bad girl for asking questions of a particular candidate, I thought I might start a topic for any questions we might have.

I would really like to see an across the board "town meeting q&a" open to the public. Since that probably won't happen and I can't possibly get to all the meet and greets going on, I will just have to ask the questions here.

Maybe we ask a question and the candidate for that office can quote the question in their reply.

Hopefully just the candidate will reply and not all of the supporters speaking for them.

I will go first?

To all candidates: When you are elected will you keep the "employees" that are currently working and experienced or will you replace them with people of your choice? I realize that is a wide based question because of politics and party positions. Plus personal choices as fellow workers.

When you hire for a position will it be through the department of labor, a county posting, newspaper posting or will it be a "friends only" type of position fill?

Howdy every one

To the first question about employees:

I feel as long as the employees are doing their job, there is no reason to replace anyone, that would not be smart or cost efficient, because they are already trained and know their job, and as for the party's, I look at the person not the party,

Question two, on hiring employees:

Positions would be advertised in the news papers, employment office and County web site, so every one that was interested could apply. However there are a few positions, that might require a quicker decision, because in the time it takes to go through this process to fill a position, this time could affect the operation of the County. Example positions that affect the daily function of the County Government.

Give me 5 good reasons why I should vote for you. Keep them short and sweet, not political advertising:

1. PUT YOUR NEEDS FIRST AND FOREMOST IN THE DECISIONS THAT ARE MADE.

2. LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE

3. NO PROMISES EXCEPT THAT I WILL DO MY BEST FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE COUNTY

4. WORK FOR AND WITH THE PEOPLE

5. WILLING TO SERVE THE PEOPLE

What I am asking of you the citizens, is to go out and find out who and what kind of person that I am. I ask you this because I can tell you whatever on this form. When asked, the people in the County will tell you who I really am. and in that I feel you will find the rest of the reasons to vote for me.

Thank you

Gene Nelson

[southpaw]

I like your # 3 the best. I think that one is the one gives politicians a bad name. Ahhh, partly their actionsare a big part of it to.

[queenbee]

Thanks Gene.

You and Justin both provided great replies and didn't beat around the bush.

I understand about needing someone quick in some positions, everyone knows a quarterback is only as good as his team.

[queenbee]

Do your have any input on how to increase tourism in the county?

I have spoken to friends who worked the Art's in the Park in Blue Ridge and several other Spring shows and in talking with the customers, trying to get a feel for the upcoming year, asked if the economy would affect their travel plans. The reply they received the most was "Yes, they will be vacationing, but closer to home." Meaning that the city folks will either head north to the mountains or south to the beaches.

[genenelson]

Jun 23, 2008 13:07:57 GMT -4 TULIP said:

I would like to know if the candidates are or not in favor of panel of commissioners as opposed to one commissioner. Being a property owner in Union county , I am curious. Thanks

Howdy Every one
To my understanding, the procurer to get a board of Commissioners is, the Commissioner would get Example: Representative Charles Jenkins to summit a bill to the state and if it passed then it would be put on a ballot for the people of the County to vote on.

This is where I stand on a Board of Commissioners.

I personally believe that a sole commissioner is the more efficient form of local government as long as the person in office was for the people. But it comes down to this, weather you have one commissioner or a board of commissioners, it all depends on who you put in office. The question is, is the person that you are voting for, there for themselves or the people?

Thanks
Gene Nelson

[Justin Melick]

In short I favor a multi-commissioner board. If we wanted to live under dictators, we should have stuck with King George back in 1776.

Here's the long version:

Multi-Commissioner Board
My stance on this issue is also a frequently asked question. I believe that a board of commissioners is a much better form of government than a sole-commissioner. And being as there are only nine counties in the United States that still have sole-commissioners, someone must agree with me.

As everyone knows, one man rule is very efficient. Too efficient. And that is why the President, answers to the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, the Governor has the State House and Senate, Mayors have the city council and the school superintendent has a school board. A sole-commissioner answers to no one and there is no oversight.

Certainly, a benevolent dictator is the simplest and most efficient form of government, but if you know your history, there have been virtually no benevolent dictators in the modern era. Per capita, a sole-commissioner has more power than the president. As citizens, it is not fair to place that much power and responsibility in one person's hands. In Union County, the commissioner is the sole signer on all county checks. This can lead to disaster as we saw recently in Lumpkin County. Their sole-commissioner disappeared with millions of the taxpayer's money, leaving the county nearly bankrupt and close to financial ruin. Lumpkin County has still not fully recovered. As a result, the county switched to a multi-commissioner board.

As with most issues, the commissioner cannot wave a magic wand and change things. A referendum, or an act of the State Legislature would be needed to establish a multi-commissioner board. Because I have such high regard for the will of the people, I would call for a referendum on the issue and place it on the ballot in the next election after, being elected. Single issue referendums are far too costly, so I would never initiate one.

One frequent objection to switching to a board of commissioners is that it would cost the county more money. This is simply not true. Our commissioner is paid $87,000 annually plus $12,000 for expenses. A board of commissioners works part time, receiving a very modest stipend and generally hires a county administrator. When an administrator is hired, the county is assured that the person carrying out the day to day operations of the county is qualified for the job as their credentials and references are checked just like in any other job. The administrator is answerable to the board and the board is answerable to the voters.

Another defense for the sole-commissioner form of government is that if something is wrong, you know exactly who to point the finger at. With a board of commissioners, you still know exactly who to blame, and you have a much better chance of talking to someone in charge if you have a problem. Under the current system, our single commissioner is kept extremely busy running the entire county, particularly if he is a micro-manager. It can be very difficult to get an appointment to see the commissioner. I know of someone who made an appointment with the current commissioner, and on appointment day waited three hours before being told that the commissioner would not be able to see him that day.

It is also true, that with a sole-commissioner if there is something wrong, the voters may well not know it until it is too late. The commissioner's office has no oversight and is virtually accountable to no one. In such a situation, it is very easy to hide financial misdeeds as the commissioner alone controls the purse strings and releases only the financial information he chooses to. When an audit is conducted, the commissioner alone chooses the auditing company and the results of the audit that are released are always extremely vague. No matter how good the auditors are the, annual audit is cursory and it would take a forensic audit to reveal any financial impropriety or incompetence. I am not accusing the current commissioner of corruption, but am rather accusing the sole-commissioner form of government of being dangerous. Absolute power corrupts as you know. Therefore, we better be sure we trust someone absolutely before we let them be our commissioner. We must ask ourselves, whether in this day and time, it is responsible to take such a risk.

The truth is that a sole-commissioner is not more efficient, it is less efficient. With a board, the county is divided into districts with each commissioner charged with making sure their district is taken care of and the needs of its constituents addressed. The work load is shared. When one man is in charge of everything, concerns are inevitably forgotten or neglected. There is no shortage of people in this county who have made road maintenance or other requests and have been waiting months or years for action to be taken.

The sole-commissioner form of government is a very antiquated one. Furthermore, it violates the principle of separation of powers. It may even violate the constitution as I believe that our founding fathers never intended for one man to have so much power with so little oversight. For example, did you know that shortly after taking office, our current commissioner quietly formed a county finance corporation, that allows him to buy and sell county land without the consent of the governed? In other words, the commissioner can buy as much land for the county as he wants, using your money, without ever consulting you the voters and taxpayers. In my opinion, this constitutes taxation without representation. This is something we must never allow in this country ever again.

[bubblebutt2]

Way to go Justin! I wish you could put that in the NGN but we all know that will never happen.

[fairplay]

I don't know about the rest of you but have you noticed the lack of publicity that our newspapers are giving the candidates? most communities have questions by the editors to each of the participants on important issues. All we are hearing is propaganda from one candidate that has already been proven to be a liar by the church people. That statement above by Justin is a brilliant argument against a sole commissioner type of government and the rest of this community should be able to read it. It's sad that we can be controlled by such a idiot and we all just sit around an do nothing about it.

[oscarwho]

The idiot is controlled by the master of lies . Most people who even look at the fish wrapper know better that what the village idiot prints . The public in Union county suffers from the lack of true journalism .