A consistent running theme through the last few years of Habersham County Board of Commissioner meetings is how difficult it is to find people to serve on community boards.
There is little prestige or money afforded those who serve on bodies like the Planning Commission, the Library Board and the Board of Health to name a few.
But those who do serve on these boards invest their time to help our community. If we are fortunate, these volunteers will serve on boards for which they have specific expertise and knowledge that can help guide the advice given to our elected body of leaders.
At the March county commission meeting, Commissioner Jimmy Tench reared his head from the disembodied universe of Microsoft Teams to vote against several measures, including a pass-through grant for stream bank and riparian enhancements along the Soque River. And, the grant had no county match.
Commissioner Tench also raised a question about planning commission member Bill Gresham advocating for his own client to get a variance for a sign shop that will work mostly with the Northeast Georgia Medical Center Habersham hospital.
Gresham has followed a procedure of recusal and advocacy for clients for many years, but after Commissioner Tench raised the question, County Attorney Donnie Hunt weighed in and said Gresham should be “leaving the room” when this recusal occurs.
That is not the conditions under which Gresham took the position on the planning board, and he has since resigned in the wake of this policy change, or sudden policy enforcement, whichever it is. Either way, our county lost a well-qualified, local professional serving on a community board.
First, the planning commission is not a board that can make independent decisions. The county commissioners still have to approve what they recommend, and they have not always given recommendations a rubber stamp. The planning commission has no real power to affect the lives of citizens save for this – their insight and professional knowledge can be used to mitigate situations where the commissioners might otherwise be uninformed.
That’s not to say the commissioners could not figure it out. But we all have our chosen trades and specialities, so why not have those local professionals serve in the areas where they excel? Why not give the commissioners the advantage of that insight to better make their decisions?
Instead, we once again put politics and personal axes ahead of common sense. It is hard enough to run the county efficiently, but some leaders just keep making it harder and it hurts us all.
We need good people, local-community-minded professionals willing to serve and help us solve the problems of our community.