Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

To build a more professional Bourbon County government, we must address a breakdown in basic preparation that is stalling our county business. Lately, we have seen instances where the commission has had to revisit and change votes weeks after they were cast. While correcting a mistake is necessary, the root cause of these unstable votes is a severe lack of due diligence before meetings even begin.

This issue stems from two problematic habits. First, it increasingly appears that some items are intentionally withheld until meeting day to blindside the rest of the board. Second, some commissioners simply aren’t doing their homework. Far too much meeting time is wasted because officials are learning basic details about a project on the fly.

A county commission shouldn’t be a place for on-the-job training during a live vote. If commissioners maintained strong, professional working relationships with county department directors, a majority of these questions could be resolved beforehand. Directors are the experts hired to run our county operations. If a commissioner doesn’t trust them to be the experts, then we have to ask why they are even working there in the first place. But if we do trust them, then consulting with them ahead of time ensures that when a commissioner walks into the room, they actually understand the impact of the vote they are about to cast.

To protect our taxpayers, we need a simple, common-sense rule for county business: very rarely should anything be added to the agenda at the last minute unless it is a genuine emergency.

If a commissioner has a new proposal, they should introduce it during “commissioner comments” first. This allows county staff, the rest of the board, and the public ample time to review the data. Only after the due diligence is done should the item be placed on the agenda for a formal vote at the next meeting.

Our county budget and infrastructure are too important for seat-of-the-pants decision-making. True leadership requires talking to our directors, reviewing the facts early, and respecting the legislative process.

Respectfully,
Josh Jones