I was infuriated at the civic breakdown at the Board of Commissioners July 13 meeting, witnessed by an overflow crowd and people live streaming. The meeting is now available for viewing on the county’s website at www.fayettecountyga.gov under the “Agendas/Minutes” tab.
The worst humiliation the citizenry can face is to be not taken seriously by their elected officials. I would have used the term “public servants,” but that is much too generous a phrase for the behavior displayed at the meeting.
There is a large number of Fayette County residents, ordinary people of all ages, professions and persuasions, who believe that if dogs or cats are placed in the custody of the county government that those animals deserve humane treatment and a decent and thoughtful opportunity to be placed in a good home.
The residents believe that animal cruelty is unacceptable [and] that our local ordinances should reflect such. Likewise, they consider the opinions of the voter-taxpayer to be of the utmost importance and they expect inclusion and not to be walled off by some well-paid bureaucrat.
Our citizens should not have to suffer insults from those they elected.
The elected officials should recognize the efforts of groups like the local Humane Society who want to update and improve the quality of our ordinances and our animal shelter. We should not be killing dogs and cats if there is a way to prevent it.
When the Humane Society, every shelter volunteer and those who fund-raise to care for the shelter animals say we urgently need an Animal Shelter Advisory Board, it would be best for the Board of Commissioners to heed their wise counsel.
Everyone deserves respect and vindictiveness is not an appropriate response towards anyone trying to improve the animal control system and reduce the number of animals being euthanized unnecessarily.
Every commissioner has the ability to vote against the proposed amended animal ordinances in front of their constituents at a public meeting, but relying on sneaky tactics to prevent the proposed ordinances from appearing on an agenda is unprofessional, dishonorable and indecent.
Similarly, when a commissioner behaves in such a fashion, it is unbecoming for that commissioner to blame others behind the scenes, but not himself when the citizens hand him an unsympathetic rebuke.
Yes, elected officials, your motions and your votes speak a lot louder than your rhetoric.
I have never been as embarrassed of an elected body as I was on July 13. An overflow audience of concerned citizens was both courteous and respectful as they expressed their displeasure with the county government. It was only after the dreadful response from the elected officials did those citizen-taxpayers begin to seethe.
I invite you to watch the video of the meeting for yourself and determine if this is the sort of government you voted for on Election Day.
Steve Brown, Commissioner
Fayette County Board of Commissioners
Peachtree City, Ga.
