Posted 8:31 am Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Upshur Co. Court Will Now Approve Own Minutes
BY PHILLIP WILLIAMS
Special Correspondent
GILMER -- Sparks flew Monday as the Upshur County Commissioners Court rescinded its 6-year-old decision to discontinue approving its meetings' minutes.
Special Correspondent
GILMER -- Sparks flew Monday as the Upshur County Commissioners Court rescinded its 6-year-old decision to discontinue approving its meetings' minutes.
Although the motion passed without dissent, two of the court's members have appeared to question its legality for different reasons. And County Clerk Peggy LaGrone, whose office compiles the minutes, charged that a commissioner had brought up the idea of approving them for "political" reasons involving her bid for re-election.
The controversy surfaced over an item placed on the meeting agenda by Precinct 1 Commissioner James Crittenden, who has long feuded with Ms. LaGrone. The agenda item read "Discuss and take action for Commissioners Court to receive and approve the court's minutes from this meeting forward."
Crittenden opened discussion of the matter by saying the minutes were "a concern of the court," and thus should be read and approved.
The commissioner said it had been debated whether the court could change what the clerk attests to, but "the minutes of this court is our minutes." He termed it a "disgrace" for "us not to be able to approve" or even see them.
Crittenden also said an area newspaper that surveyed several other counties had found none that didn't approve their commissioners court minutes.
He also said the court should receive minutes of its last meeting 24 hours before its next meeting, not the morning of the next meeting.
Precinct 3 Commissioner Lloyd Crabtree then made the motion to rescind the court's Sept. 15, 2003, vote to discontinue approving meeting minutes.
Before the court voted on Crabtree's motion, Ms. LaGrone said she appreciated him visiting her with his concerns, and charged Crittenden with asking to "withhold information from the public for two weeks," the approximate length of time between the court's regular semi-monthly meetings.
Crittenden said that wasn't what he suggested. He said he put the matter of approving meeting minutes on the agenda years ago, and told Crabtree, "You ridiculed me ... laughed at me" then.
Ms. LaGrone then reiterated her point that "everything (meeting minutes) will not be available on the Internet for two weeks" under Crittenden's plan.
When Crittenden replied that minutes from April were the last he had seen on the Internet, Ms. LaGrone said, "Obviously, Commissioner Crittenden doesn't know where to look" because the information is on a certain Web site.
Then, when Crittenden told Ms. LaGrone that her opponents in the forthcoming 2010 election also had looked, she replied, "This is political." The court then approved Crabtree's motion.
Crittenden then moved to require the court receive minutes from a meeting 24 hours before the next meeting. Crabtree argued that the vote approving his motion had accomplished that, and Crittenden's motion died for lack of a second.
Crittenden argued that Crabtree's motion didn't include a 24-hour provision, to which Crabtree replied that the court couldn't tell Ms. LaGrone to furnish the minutes at that time. But, Crabtree warned, "If she doesn't do it, we won't approve 'em. She can't record the minutes without our approval."
"I disagree. That's not what the (state) statute says," County Judge Dean Fowler said.
Fowler then said that although it makes "no sense to me," the court doesn't approve its minutes under state statute.
The judge implied that other counties' commissioners courts were doing wrong by approving minutes.
After the meeting, Crittenden, who voted for Crabtree's motion, questioned its legality under the state Open Meetings Act because of the way the item was worded on the agenda. Crittenden also disagreed with Fowler's contention that other counties may be acting wrongfully by approving their minutes.
Another critic of Ms. LaGrone, Republican Party of Upshur County Chairwoman Brenda Patterson, said, in a news release issued Monday night, that the clerk, also a Republican, had supported the part of the party's 2006 platform calling for approval of commissioners court minutes. Ms. LaGrone was elected that year.
"The party does not understand why Ms. LaGrone would flip-flop on an issue that is so fundamental to government transparency and accountability," Mrs. Patterson wrote.
