NEWS - Editorial & Opinion

Editorial

12/21/2009 - After holding an executive session on Dec. 3 to discuss annual appointments to boards, commissions and authorities, the Savannah City Council came into open session that afternoon and held a public vote without discussion, making the following appointments:

Metropolitan Planning Commission: J. Adam Ragsdale.

Historic District Board of Review: Nicholas L. Henry; Sidney Johnson, Edgar T. Gay, Ebony Simpson, 2 Dr. Robin B. Williams.

Chatham/Savannah Authority for the Homeless: Sherrill D. Gilbert, Howard Dawson Sr.

Savannah Zoning Board of Appeals: Brian C. Reese.

Savannah Economic Development Authority: Gregory Parker, Scott Center.

Savannah Airport Commission: Lois C. Wooten.

Cultural Affairs Commission: Dr. Peggy Blood, Gretchen Ernest, Tony Center, Linda J. Evans, Jim Morekis, James B. Blackburn Jr., Gary Michael Levy, April Martin, Mary Prokop.

Economic Opportunity Authority: Gloria S. Brown, Bernetta B. Anderson.

Electrical Appeals and Advisory Board: Patrick D. McCarthy, Tom Rushing.

Park and Tree Commission: Emily Amburgey-Pidgeon, Audrey Platt.

Savannah Hospital Authority: Parnell M. Jones.

Tourism Advisory Committee: David H. Rousseau.

Now that you have seen those names, can you say what companies, industries or other civic interests they represent? 
Do you have any idea why the council deems them suitable for service on these key governmental bodies such as the Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Planning Commission?

Do you know which of your elected officials nominated the appointees, and why…or who else applied?

We didn’t think so.  Let's remember that these are not employees; they are political appointments.

We know many of these appointees both professionally and personally, and we certainly want to assume that they were the most qualified applicants. Most importantly, each of us as residents, voters and taxpayers look to the City Council to appoint people who are free of conflicts, or the appearance of same.

But without an open process, none of us can say for sure.

The list of applicants for each position was not discussed in open session.

Candidates names were not put forward by an elected official, in nomination.

No public discussion took place in open session. The council met privately to hash out the appointments.

So let’s move on to the genesis of the appointment process.

These hermitically sealed selections capped a process that has failed for years to provide sufficient public disclosure and public discussion.

To begin with, a legal notice calling for applicants for boards and commissions is published in the local daily print newspaper in the summer, a publication with increasingly limited reader penetration. That is the extent of the city’s outreach on this front.

The city has ample avenues for publicizing the openings on the boards and commissions that should be used more extensively, including the city’s Web site, public access television channel, through press releases to area media, and in open session City Council meetings.

When members of boards, committees and authorities resign throughout the year, which happens often, there is no mention in the regular sessions of the resignation or how the opening will be filled and when.

So, here’s a New Year’s resolution we ask the mayor and council to consider: We resolve improve the application process by doing some genuine community outreach, and We resolve to undertake the selection process in full public view.