This is interesting ...
This email from Athens-Clarke County District 10 Commissioner Elton Dodson to an unspecified number of individuals was forwarded to me by a non-government-connected anonymous tipster. In the email, Dodson discusses the possibility of restoring partial funding to both East Athens Development Corporation and Hancock Corridor Development Corporation ...
Friends and Colleagues:
Obviously, I am very disappointed in the vote last Tuesday to gut EADC and HCDC in that manner that we did. As I said that evening, I know for a fact that each of you had the best of intentions and certainly meant no harm to our community or trust in our government. I defended Commissioner Kinman's integrity then and would do it again any day of the week.
Nevertheless, I fear we have done great harm to public trust and confidence in us and in the OneAthens process. I believe all of us agree that both the EADC and HCDC need to change and become more effective, perhaps even radical reformation. However, as I stated at the meeting, that change must come through proper democratic process. This was an ambush, end of story. We all knew these organizations expected no problems because we never indicated there were any.
However, I believe there can be a happy ending to this. Approximately two weeks before our voting meeting, the board of EADC held a retreat where they admitted to each other that there were some serious issues that needed to be addressed within the organization. They began to structure a plan to fix those issues. Had we not proceeded in secret and informed EADC that we had issues with them, I am sure they would have shared their progress. That is why public deliberation is so important.
You already know how I feel, so I will not belabor the point. I would suggest only this: within the next 30 days I believe these organizations can demonstrate their resolve to become leaner and more effective. I hope that you will consider a vote to reconsider our funding cuts. I am not advocating the status quo. Just that we make some lemonade out of this mess and work to restore the public's faith in our integrity and commitment to open government.
I have asked staff and HED to prepare some information for us that would outline an action plan for these organizations that would result in more accountability for their spending and more apparent success in their programs. I believe it is only right that they be given the opportunity to serve as best they can, especially considering the history and importance of EADC. If they cannot prove they can effectively serve our citizens by the next block grant cycle, I believe that the Commission will be just in stripping away all or a substantial portion of these funds.
Finally, I think you all know me well enough to know that the elitist quote from Sunday's paper was taken out of context. I explain that quote and all my feelings on this on my blog: http://behindtherail.blogspot.com
Thank you for your consideration,
Elton
Friends and Colleagues:
Obviously, I am very disappointed in the vote last Tuesday to gut EADC and HCDC in that manner that we did. As I said that evening, I know for a fact that each of you had the best of intentions and certainly meant no harm to our community or trust in our government. I defended Commissioner Kinman's integrity then and would do it again any day of the week.
Nevertheless, I fear we have done great harm to public trust and confidence in us and in the OneAthens process. I believe all of us agree that both the EADC and HCDC need to change and become more effective, perhaps even radical reformation. However, as I stated at the meeting, that change must come through proper democratic process. This was an ambush, end of story. We all knew these organizations expected no problems because we never indicated there were any.
However, I believe there can be a happy ending to this. Approximately two weeks before our voting meeting, the board of EADC held a retreat where they admitted to each other that there were some serious issues that needed to be addressed within the organization. They began to structure a plan to fix those issues. Had we not proceeded in secret and informed EADC that we had issues with them, I am sure they would have shared their progress. That is why public deliberation is so important.
You already know how I feel, so I will not belabor the point. I would suggest only this: within the next 30 days I believe these organizations can demonstrate their resolve to become leaner and more effective. I hope that you will consider a vote to reconsider our funding cuts. I am not advocating the status quo. Just that we make some lemonade out of this mess and work to restore the public's faith in our integrity and commitment to open government.
I have asked staff and HED to prepare some information for us that would outline an action plan for these organizations that would result in more accountability for their spending and more apparent success in their programs. I believe it is only right that they be given the opportunity to serve as best they can, especially considering the history and importance of EADC. If they cannot prove they can effectively serve our citizens by the next block grant cycle, I believe that the Commission will be just in stripping away all or a substantial portion of these funds.
Finally, I think you all know me well enough to know that the elitist quote from Sunday's paper was taken out of context. I explain that quote and all my feelings on this on my blog: http://behindtherail.blogspot.com
Thank you for your consideration,
Elton
posted by Jmac at 5:58 PM
2 Comments:
What Elton is suggesting about having some meeting with these agencies prior to the vote - wouldn't that be completely unprecedented? I mean, I'm pretty sure that this has never been done and probably should never be done.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
From what I know of these agencies, rather than considering restoring the funding, I'd like to see an investigation to determine whether we can recover some of the past funding.
Far too much has been spent on administration and travel that should have been going to actually assist our poorest citizens and revitalize some badly neglected areas.
Who is responsible for oversight of these agencies? Who should be held accountable for the money that did not go for the designated purposes? Why has this been allowed to go on for so long?
These are the questions that the public should be asking. Not one more dime until we get some answers. It's way past time for some "tough love".
Al
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