Elk Count Commission violates KOMA law

redcliffsw · January 13, 2012, 06:58:52 AM

Why would the county commisssion have the desire to go by the rules?

Delaware sent Joe Biden to Washington. And Washington DC is no better than the local county commission.

Diane Amberg · January 13, 2012, 11:07:55 AM

Very useful Red...we all learned a lot from that smarty pants comment. Everybody is a crook but you?
I'm not sure how being knowledgeable about how things work here makes me elitist, but that's one person's snotty opinion. Boo-hoo and play victim if you must.

Ross thank you for the birthday wishes. I was trying to back into this, but apparently head on is better. No, a law suit shouldn't be necessary. Someone find out the duties of your county lawyer, who I assume is paid and attends all the meetings. Those duties should include being sure the meetings are run legally, according to your KOMA and Roberts Rules, assuming they use them. Lean on him to do his Job!
Yes, our county council here is bigger than your commission because of the population... The President of County Council, 12 council members, each with a staff person, a Clerk of Council and the county lawyer. It shouldn't be any different legally than what you have, except in size.The costs should be proportionally less too. As for money- we don't have any more either!

Services are being downsized, projects postponed and belts tightened.
Perhaps a letter of concern to the county lawyer would be in order and might be enough to get them to shape up and stop being sloppy with the meeting proceedings. That's all I'll say on the matter.....you'll do what you can or you won't.

Ross · January 13, 2012, 11:15:42 AM

Austerity has arrived hasn't it?

readyaimduck · January 13, 2012, 12:46:48 PM

Diane (belated Happy Birthday!!!):
It would be hard pressed to find ANY County Attorney who attends the Commisioner's meetings, especially in SE Kansas. Perhaps, there are a few.
In my Opinion, it's a matter of:
We know what is 'the right thing to do', and we could do it, but for time's sake, let's just speed this up.
I really doubt some County Clerks even know what the ruling for closed meetings are that the motions that precluded it!

ready

Diane Amberg · January 13, 2012, 01:24:51 PM

Thanks for the birthday greeting.

I didn't mean any county lawyer, I meant THE lawyer who represents the county. Surely there is one. If not, then never mind. But small shouldn't be an excuse for not following the rules. Every one of them has a reason. What's the big hurry?

readyaimduck · January 13, 2012, 01:30:09 PM

QuoteI meant THE lawyer who represents the county

...that would be the County Attorney that I mentioned.
Our meetings last 3-4 hours. It gets to be a long day and somethings get left out, I', sure.

ready

Janet Harrington · January 13, 2012, 06:57:55 PM

So, just how does making the public aware that there have been violations committed by our commissioners solve the problem? Don't you think that the commissioners will keep doing the same things wrong over and over and over? I don't know if the county attorney makes any of the meetings or not. I thought I read somewhere that the county was seeking legal advice outside of the county. If it is apparent to people who are in the county commissioners meetings that violations are being committed then why don't those same folks take the next step and report these violations to the Attorney General's office who handles these matters? Writing about these things on this forum is fine. This reaches a few citizens and voters. This reaches the county commissioners even if certain ones say they don't have time to read this forum. That's just bull hockey. Letting everyone know about these violations is okay, but it doesn't take care of the problem. Do something, those of you who are witnesses to the violations.

Wilma · January 13, 2012, 08:28:35 PM

I know one retired county attorney who went to every county commission meeting while he was in office. Too bad he is going the same way the rest of us and reached the age of retirement. I'll bet a lot of Elk County citizens wish he would come out of retirement.

Janet Harrington · January 13, 2012, 09:35:53 PM

I read in the commissioners minutes in the paper that the commissioners needed to talk about the tax sale that they had on Dec. 28th or something like that and that they had to wait for the county attorney to get out of court. Then Mr. Brace brought up some kind of an issue about a piece of property and the county attorney said she would address that issue the day of the sale. Don't know what that was all about. Never heard if the sale happened or not, so I don't know if Elk County had a successful tax sale.

upoladeb · January 23, 2012, 06:16:03 PM

Whats wrong with replacing the tax money that was spent getting the wind farm here,with that "extra money"?