The Fayette County Board of Commissioners’ regular meeting agenda for Thursday night is not particularly lengthy, and what might stand out at this point is what will not be discussed.
County officials are well aware of what lies ahead regarding the late Pota Coston’s seat, but anything regarding that issue will be postponed for a few weeks.
“We’re not ready to bring it up Thursday,” said Chairman Charles Oddo, noting that it would not be best for her family with the meeting coming before her funeral and adding that certain legal details about the process itself need to be worked out.
Coston died Friday, almost six months to the day after she was sworn in.
A special election is looming, but the date for that is one of the details the board will ultimately have to iron out. Until then, the county’s business will continue with four members and the potential for 2-2 votes on key issues.
Democrat Coston proved to be a swing vote almost from the moment she succeeded Republican Allen McCarty in January. She voted with Republicans Oddo and David Barlow to put Oddo in the chairman’s seat in place of Steve Brown, after which Oddo and Barlow voted to appoint her to the vice-chairman’s position.
Another potential wrinkle in the special election is the ongoing lawsuit over district voting. Coston, the first black woman elected to public office in the county, was also the first commissioner chosen by a single district as opposed to at-large voting. The suit brought by the NAACP that led to the 2014 district election is still being litigated.
Thursday’s meeting agenda includes discussion of proposed intersection controls and a tunnel under Veterans Parkway to serve Pinewood Studios and the Pinewood Forrest development. Also under consideration is a $4,523,281 bid for a filtration system improvement project and a possible appointment to the county’s Recreation Commission.
