If you think that irregularities are limited to Indiana and Florida this voting season, think again. We have noted some strangeness around here in the past week, strange enough that we think residents should mull these points over-and join us in the head scratching.
First off, who has really thought about the fact that the entire Whitmire Town Council and its mayor all seek their seats on the same election cycle? Apparently not the right person, or people, has thought about it, because that is still the case. Granted, many people who live in Whitmire tend to stay there for the long haul; and the folks that do civil service, tend to stay there for the long haul too. (Who can beat Dr. Roche's record on the county's school board? nobody in this state.) So the issue of continuity has not been an issue of contention for the town. But this system of turnover is flawed. Flipping every seat on council at once (including the mayor!) is just begging for trouble. Why you would want to leave this situation in place is beyond us. Commence head scratching please.
Next up are two separate public bodies who surprised us with called meetings at the beginning of the week. Both the Newberry City Council and the county Board of Education decided to get together, and hammer out some discussion. Of course, agendas call these gatherings “work sessions,” but if there is a quorum of members, it's a meeting. It's fairly unusual for those two bodies to meet outside of the regular schedule unless it is budget time, although the city council chalks this up to a new quarterly work session regime. They did just meet last week, but whatever.
We reviewed the agendas for both meetings and both bodies had zeroed in on a couple of hot button issues to discuss. The school board had just one item listed, intra-district transfers/requirements for proof of residency. To those in the community who speak bureaucratic “old speak,” intra-district transfers are called hardship transfers-essentially a school choice certificate that bases a student's attendance on their parents' place of work or afterschool care situations. The board had talked of this topic at its last meeting, and it is one that continues to come up in this county as parents are accused of gaming the system and taxpayers wonder why we are building onto some schools when others seem to empty. After all the talk Monday, the upshot is district officials are working up “options” for the board to consider on the topic. We look forward to hearing them, at the regular meeting, on Monday. *scratch, scratch*
The city's agenda was more varied with solid waste collection, information technology, a citizen recognition program and all sorts of sausage making on the menu. But it was the last item that sealed the deal for our attendance to this off-calendar event, discussing a smoking ordinance. It doesn't take a rocket scientist, or a journalist, to figure out why perhaps the city council would like to hash out the question of whether to ban smoking in workplaces in a more lightly attended meeting. Again, “options” are to be laid out, and Councilman Foster Senn is going to be surveying city businesses on the matter. We are left wondering this week just one thing: what happened to easily predictable schedules for our local elected bodies? *scratch, scratch*
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