County Commission Has a Decision to Make

The Hall County planning commission has an empty seat after the passing of longtime member and community leader Johnny Varner. Varner sadly passed away from a long term illness. He died on June 26th and his void will be felt all across the county. He was not only a member of the planning commission he was also on the Hall County Board of Elections.

Mr. Varner's seat was District 4 of the planning commission. That means the Jeff Stowe, who is the Hall County Commissioner for that district, will get to appoint Varner's replacement. This will be pretty much just a formality unless another commissioner has an objection.

The question is when this will happen. They have already removed Varner from the planning commission website. This makes one think they could possibly do the appointment as early as the meeting on Monday, July 7th. How will they go about it? Will they add it to the agenda that has been published? Will they talk about it in executive session and handle at Thursday, July 10th's meeting?

One major question is why they haven't taken steps to ensure a more transparent process and have this already completed. Mr. Varner has been sick since December. The Planning Commission has been voting with only four members for much of that time. This is not a slight to Varner. The commission should have already taken the steps necessary to complete this. The people of district four deserve better.

If it goes down tomorrow, it will likely be discussed. Then, it will be pushed through to finalize the replacement at the Thursday meeting. Will the candidate be qualified? Many in government act out of self-interest. They don't care about the public or your taxes. It would be blasphemy to replace the seat of a fine upstanding citizen like Varner. Replacing it with someone who does not have the best interests of Hall County at heart would be wrong.

How Can Citizens Make Their Voice Heard

The citizens will not have a voice in this at the meetings. However, they can email the Hall County Commission members of their district. I will post the email below so you can contact your representative. If you don't know who your representative is, please click the button below. It will take you to a map. You can input your address and it will tell you all the details.

Please save these emails, names and phone numbers and let your voices be heard. Please show up at the meetings. Enough is enough. More citizens need to be heard and seen at the meetings. Calling and emailing are perfectly fine. However, to make a major impact, show up at these meetings before they get voted on. Once they are approved it is too late. There is zero chance of changing anything.

County Commission Members With a Conflict on Interest

There are more than one commission member who has a conflict of interest a good bit because of their jobs. I will not name names at this point, but this is totally unfair to the people in these districts. When a conflict arises the commissioners are supposed to recuse themselves. When that happens the citizens in those districts voices can't be heard. Their commissioner can't vote on these issues.

The ONLY way to remedy this is to vote new members onto the commission and demand accountability. The commission, the Board of Education, and other elected county officials have established a system. Only people who are rich, work for themselves, or are retired can run for office.

The meetings are always in the middles of the day or during the drive home. Meetings at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. make it impossible for working people to run for office. Not only that, it makes it to where it is impossible to even attend the meetings and be heard. This has to be changed.

It is time for the people in the county to stand up. They need to confront those who are rooted into their seats. Take back your county and be in control, as much as you can, of where your tax dollars go. Taxes are not going down. This is true no matter what anyone says. Therefore, you better be ready to determine where that money is spent and on what projects.

How to Contact Your County Commission Members

Hall County Commission Meeting Agenda for July 7th -- Click Here

Recent Hall County Commission Meeting Agenda's -- Click Here

Members

The phone number to reach all of them is Phone: 770-535-8288. Light that switch board up like a Christmas Tree!!

 

• David Gibbs, Commission Chairman -- email: dgibbs@hallcounty.org

• Kathy Cooper, District 1 Commissioner -- email: kcooper@hallcounty.org

• Billy Powell, District 2 Commissioner -- email: bpowell@hallcounty.org

• Gregg Poole, District 3 Commissioner -- email: gpoole@hallcounty.org

• Jeff Stowe, District 4 Commissioner -- jstowe@hallcounty.org

One very important thing to remember is this. It doesn't matter what they say. it doesn't matter what their job titles, or profession, are. It doesn't matter how long they have been in office. Lip Service is how these people stay in office along with name recognition. If they don't vote the way you want them to, don't listen to the excuses they will blab about. Hold them accountable and vote them out of office. These people get in office and never want to leave. They work for the people. Not the other way around.

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