Ode to the Forum
One of the disadvantages of living in a small media market is that it is hard to access good information. For a long time one of the main sources of information about politics and goings on was the aptly named "Journal forum." The forum-formerly a part of the online edition of the Journal-register- had a cast of characters that even the most creative playwright could not concoct.
The forum had high points, like during the last county election cycle when posters brought real issues to the forefront, and it had its low points, like when posters unjustly trashed a local law enforcement official's reputation. The internet has made it easy to spread rumors behind the guise of a cute screen name, and yet the anonymity provided cover for people that feared repercussion.
There is no question that it was in the best interests of some local officials to get the board pulled down, and at the risk of being labeled a conspiracy theorist, it appeared that there was a concerted effort to hijack posts and up the ante to the point that the Journal had to remove the offending board. If there was an organized effort to destroy the forum, then the person or persons who organized it deserve credit.
The sad byproduct of the forums disappearance is that the Orleans County government has been able to get back to their old ways seemingly without anybody paying attention. At the time of this writing, Tuesday afternoon, the agenda for the September 24th legislature meeting is still posted even though there was a meeting two weeks later that no agenda was posted for. The minutes to the legislature meetings date back to June, which makes them around four months behind, and the jail advisory minutes date back to July. Evidently, the county government is getting either complacent or lazy.
I have heard from a couple of reliable sources that Henry Smith Jr. says that he "does not care what Thom Jennings says." I would say the same of Smith except for the fact that I have no clue what the man has to say. His leadership has proved to be more of the same, backdoor deals and little information disseminated to the public. I would go to legislature meetings but they are held at times convenient for the legislators, not the public.
In fact, they even voted to move the November and December meetings to Tuesday because those meetings fell on a day before a holiday. Wouldn't it be nice if you worked part-time and were able to give yourself an extended vacation? Maybe they could have done the same thing for the rest of the county employees who work the day before Thanksgiving and Christmas, but why would Mr. Smith care what I think about county employees anyway.
Another of the county government's new proposals includes an attempt to have the public comment section moved to the end of the legislature meeting. I guess that means that instead of showing up to a meeting and asking your representative not to vote for something, you can comment afterward that you wished they had not voted the way they had, after which they can tell you that they can't go back and change their vote.
Since Smith and company have failed miserably at keeping the public informed, we can only hope that the forthcoming budget does not include another significant tax increase. In reality, it should not include any tax increase because tax increases in hard economic times stifle growth. I hope that Mr. Smith and company will listen to that advice, because I am not the only one saying it.
The forum had high points, like during the last county election cycle when posters brought real issues to the forefront, and it had its low points, like when posters unjustly trashed a local law enforcement official's reputation. The internet has made it easy to spread rumors behind the guise of a cute screen name, and yet the anonymity provided cover for people that feared repercussion.
There is no question that it was in the best interests of some local officials to get the board pulled down, and at the risk of being labeled a conspiracy theorist, it appeared that there was a concerted effort to hijack posts and up the ante to the point that the Journal had to remove the offending board. If there was an organized effort to destroy the forum, then the person or persons who organized it deserve credit.
The sad byproduct of the forums disappearance is that the Orleans County government has been able to get back to their old ways seemingly without anybody paying attention. At the time of this writing, Tuesday afternoon, the agenda for the September 24th legislature meeting is still posted even though there was a meeting two weeks later that no agenda was posted for. The minutes to the legislature meetings date back to June, which makes them around four months behind, and the jail advisory minutes date back to July. Evidently, the county government is getting either complacent or lazy.
I have heard from a couple of reliable sources that Henry Smith Jr. says that he "does not care what Thom Jennings says." I would say the same of Smith except for the fact that I have no clue what the man has to say. His leadership has proved to be more of the same, backdoor deals and little information disseminated to the public. I would go to legislature meetings but they are held at times convenient for the legislators, not the public.
In fact, they even voted to move the November and December meetings to Tuesday because those meetings fell on a day before a holiday. Wouldn't it be nice if you worked part-time and were able to give yourself an extended vacation? Maybe they could have done the same thing for the rest of the county employees who work the day before Thanksgiving and Christmas, but why would Mr. Smith care what I think about county employees anyway.
Another of the county government's new proposals includes an attempt to have the public comment section moved to the end of the legislature meeting. I guess that means that instead of showing up to a meeting and asking your representative not to vote for something, you can comment afterward that you wished they had not voted the way they had, after which they can tell you that they can't go back and change their vote.
Since Smith and company have failed miserably at keeping the public informed, we can only hope that the forthcoming budget does not include another significant tax increase. In reality, it should not include any tax increase because tax increases in hard economic times stifle growth. I hope that Mr. Smith and company will listen to that advice, because I am not the only one saying it.
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