Commissioner’s respond to “Will of the People”

To the Editor:

The Rockingham County Board of Commissioners was recently invited to a meeting of the Will of the People Committee for a meeting to be held on Thursday, January 28th, 2010 at the Community College.  The Commissioners had previously expressed openness to a meeting; however, the particular date was not agreed to in advance.  When the invitation came, Thomas Harrington, Chairman of Will of the People, was contacted to express the Commissioners intention to attend the meeting as a group but to ask for another date because the 28th represented a conflict.  This was approximately two weeks prior to the meeting.  Mr. Harrington indicated that notices had already been sent to committee members and that it would not be appropriate to waste the expense of sending the notices by canceling that meeting.  Mr. Harrington did continue to extend the invitation to one or two of the Commissioners if that were the only number who could attend.   However, the Board’s view is that such meetings should be open to the public and that all Commissioners should have the opportunity to attend and emphasize that this particular date was a conflict and had not been agreed to in advance.

The Commissioners are very sensitive to the desires of the citizens to have greater opportunities to speak with and hear from their elected representatives.  These are stressful times, and citizens are rightfully concerned about what public services are being provided and how public resources are being utilized.  At regular County Commissioner meetings there is often a long list of items which must be attended to on behalf of the citizens and those who come to speak often feel “squeezed in” among a number of items.

In order to address the concern for more opportunity for citizens to interact, the Commissioners have renewed efforts to have special town hall style meetings set aside for the purpose of hearing from and sharing with citizens.  One such meeting has already been held concerning the proposed Equestrian Center effort.  Additional meetings are being planned to rotate throughout the County.

Everyday the County’s citizens struggle with growing hardships and the Commissioners as elected representatives of the people face difficult challenges in meeting the needs of the community in public safety, human services, education and in fostering economic opportunity and jobs in Rockingham County.  All of the Commissioners know we need to pull together as a community in these hard times and encourage our citizens to come to our meetings and work with us as we listen to often divergent views and strive to do the best job we can for all the citizens of our county.

Respectfully yours,

Harold A. Bass, Chairman

Rockingham County Board of Commissioners