By Katie Northcott, News Director
On Friday, Dec. 12, Bedford County Mayor Chad Graham responded to concerns about the newly formed Wastewater Advisory Committee.
Peterson Media Group reached out to Graham for a statement after Shelbyville NOW posted on its Facebook page expressing concerns that the committee added a new member without approval and failed to livestream its first meeting.
“It took exactly one meeting for the newly formed Wastewater Advisory Committee to confirm what many Bedford Countians already suspected: the Good Ole Boy Network is still alive, still operating, and still shaping county decisions from behind the scenes,” the post read.
The post had amassed over 200 interactions at the time of this article.
David Thomas, who authored the post, reported that a local developer was added to the committee by Planning Commission Chairman Jeff Sweeney. Thomas said that the committee decided it would not livestream any of its meetings.
“The County Commission had already made its expectations clear: these meetings were to be livestreamed so citizens could observe the discussions, understand the process, and stay informed about decisions that will impact development, infrastructure, and the future of Bedford County,” Thomas said.
Bedford County Commissioner Drew Hooker introduced a clarification to the motion to form the committee at the Bedford County Board of Commissioners meeting on Nov. 11. That clarification introduced an expectation that the committee livestream its meeting. The rest of the Commission seemed to agree to this expectation. However, that expectation was never formally added to the motion through a vote.
Graham’s statement to Peterson Media Group responding to public concern is copied below:
The wastewater committee is a purely advisory committee, intended to research the situation and make recommendations. We’ve appointed committee members, but the committee is obviously free to bring in anyone they like to help them with their work – the more information they can gather, the better their recommendations will be.
As for the livestreaming issue, we’re currently streaming county commission meetings and the commission’s four standing committees. We’re open to expanding that, but if we are to set a policy of livestreaming all government meetings, including advisory committees and what have you, it would be the county commission’s responsibility to agree to funding that, since it involves additional man-hours and technology from our IT department.
Those meetings are open to the public, and have been for decades under state law, whether they are livestreamed or not. Livestreaming is an additional way to make them available, but there are costs involved.
For more information about the controversy surrounding the Wastewater Advisory Committee, click here.
The post Bedford County Mayor Responds to Concerns About Wastewater Advisory Committee appeared first on Thunder Radio.
