Mr. Thomasson and Mr. Corrado published an open letter to two new members of the Planning Commission today.
It contains a number of errors:
“Paramount to the committee is the notion that the representatives to the [Planning] commission reflect the community from which they reside and not the views of the County Commissioner who appointed them.”
Board of County Commissioner members win seats to represent the people at large in the county by a majority vote, which constitutes consent by those same people. There is no other mechanism for “reflecting the community from which they [planning commissioners] reside.” The appointments the BOCC make and revoke represent the consent of the governed who elected them.
“Let’s just do it [fracturing an oil & gas well] safely, and that will require involving the community members who are directly impacted by oil and gas development.”
And just how do “Republicans, Democrats, Independents, several engineers, lawyers, scientists and educators, [and] concerned property owners and parents” contribute to safely fracturing an oil & gas well? None of them have any relevant experience performing the highly specialized technical activity of fracturing an oil & gas well.
“[A]t some point, you will most likely be framed, slandered and dismissed for standing up for your beliefs.”
This comment is especially ironic coming from Democrat Party officials who openly collaborate with much of the “framing, slandering and dismissing” directed at those [like this writer] who disagree with their orthodox Leftism on Elbert County political questions.
“Two previous heads of the Planning Commission whose service represented nearly a quarter of a century experience have been run off.”
Plain wrong. One quit and the other was fired for cause. Planning commission members serve at the pleasure of the BOCC. When the BOCC decides that a planning commissioner no longer serves Elbert County, the BOCC can excuse that planning commissioner.
“If you [Elbert County government employees] do not align yourself with two of our sitting County Commissioners, you are not going to be around for very long.”
This is exactly as it should be. If duly elected officials cannot control the government for which they are elected to run, then that government has no accountability to the voters.